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Posts Tagged ‘Multifamily Mentor’

The Root Causes of Low Employee Morale

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

The Root Causes of Low Employee Morale - Focusing on communication can fix them By John Schaefer

In the movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton and Andie MacDowell, the character of Doug Kinney (Keaton) clones himself so he can get more work done while having more time for his family and to enjoy himself. As you can imagine, everything goes wrong and at the end there are four Dougs and craziness ensues! Things are pretty stressed at his job as a foreman for Del King Construction. One of the best lines is when his counterpart Ken comes up with an idea to get things moving (and to brown-nose the boss a little). Ken states proudly, “At my old job they used to say, ‘if you don’t show up for work on Saturday, don’t even bother coming in on Sunday!’” It was hysterical in the context of the movie (actually Doug wasn’t laughing), but it does lead to one of the root causes of low employee morale.

In these hectic, overworked, understaffed times, it’s easier than ever for managers (who are usually even more overworked than their subordinates) to come across something like the Quintus Arrius line to Roman slaves from Ben Hur, ” . . . we keep you alive to serve this ship, so row well and live!”
It demonstrates how easy it is to come across as a leader who believes that everybody is lucky to have a job, so you better suck it up, keep your nose to the grindstone and don’t complain.

Sadly, this view, while effective during this struggling economy, is killing your productivity today, and will lead to significant retention, recruiting and training costs down the road. The moment your employees begin to feel that you don’t appreciate them and that they’re only on board to row, you have amplified the root cause of low employee morale and it’s going to cost you big time.

Here are five suggestions that will help you to avoid destroying morale and experiencing both the hard and soft costs of poorly engaged employees:

Suggestion #1 - Form Relationships Built on Trust
Strong, effective relationships are built on trust. If you don’t have strong, trust-based relationships with your people, everything you do to recognize them will be seen as manipulation. When employees feel that you are using recognition to “get more out of them” rather than to show that you value them personally, they begin to emotionally disengage and morale suffers. It’s not hard to develop trusting relationships with your people, but it does take time, consistency and integrity.

Suggestion #2 - Show them Respect
The book The One Minute Manager introduces a theory of personal responsibility that allows managers to get maximum results with a minimum of time invested with each staff member. The secret is in showing them respect, defining their expectations and avoiding micro managing. Most employees respond well to being given enough rope to hang themselves, as long as their job is well defined and they are allowed to fail periodically without fear of unrealistic retribution. Respected employees are more alert, creative, and productive. When they do make a mistake, they’ll fix it, move on confidently and don’t make that mistake again.

Suggestion #3 - Nurture Creativity
Once you’ve built trusting relationships and developed a foundation of respect, employees with automatically respond with more creativity. The best way to nurture and benefit from their new-found creativity is to go by the philosophy that there are no bad ideas, only undeveloped ones. Trusted and respected employees with managers who reinforce the fact that they have some flexibility to try new things will surprise you with the creative ingenuity that they bring to their work. The best part is that you get this for the same price you’re paying unhappy employees who are doing just enough to get by.

Suggestion #4 - Build Effective Teams
Team building is a more complex challenge than fostering high morale in individual employees. Here are five problems that many teams develop that keep them from being as effective as they want to be in accomplishing company goals:
·    Absence of Trust - due to invulnerability
·    Fear of Conflict - artificial harmony
·    Lack of Commitment - ambiguity
·    Avoidance of Accountability - low standards
·    Inattention to Results - caused by individual status and ego issues

In the absence of trust, morale is at its lowest and self protectionism becomes the rule. It doesn’t take a PhD in Psychology to realize that this will limit productivity and make work a lot less rewarding for both employees and their managers. This “every man for themselves” attitude destroys teams and makes it impossible to optimize goal setting and achieve corporate objectives in a timely manner; if at all.

By learning to communicate more effectively based on honesty, consistency, vulnerability and respect, your teams will be able to focus unselfishly on common results. This in turn keeps individual egos and agendas in check.

Suggestion #5 - Make it Real
One of the first things to stress with your management team is what’s called “Making it Real”. This means to be genuine and believable in interacting with their people. Employees tend to fall into some common negative habit patterns that employees experience when they feel underappreciated. When your managers understand how to be more open and vulnerable with their staff they work towards trust, respect and improved communication.

“Making it Real” is the answer to the question, “What is the root cause of low employee morale?” Maybe it’s because it’s so simple that it is so often missed, but without your people believing you are genuine, honest and practicing high levels of integrity, any efforts you make to improve morale will be suspect. If you keep this in mind in your dealings with your people, you will be surprised how easy it is to improve morale, so you can enjoy the benefits of higher productivity, better retention, lower costs and an overall happier, more satisfying workplace.

About the Author:
John Schaefer is a Consultant with more than 20 years of experience helping companies realize and react to what he calls the Employer/Employee Disconnect. John is the author of “The Vocational Shrink - An Analysis of the Ten Levels of Workplace Disillusionment,” as well as The Vocational Shrink The Game and Manager Training Program “Why Should Supervisors Care?”
which gets to the bottom of what they’re really thinking, “what’s in it for me?” www.VocationalShrink.com

Tags: Apartment Employee Performance, Apartment Management, Apartment Operations, Apartment Training, Multifamily Management, Multifamily Mentor, Multifamilypro, On-site Management, Property Management
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Multifamily: If I Knew Then What I Know Now, Part Four

Monday, January 25th, 2010

We asked the attendees of the Multifamily Brainstorming Sessions to complete the sentence “If only I knew then what I know now…,” and the wisdom and insight that they had to offer was simply amazing. Here is some of what they had to share!

I wish I’d known that it’s okay to say to a resident “I’m sorry, I was wrong.” The manager doesn’t always have to be right or have a fear of admitting she or he made a mistake.

I wish I’d known that everyone has a different view to a situation. Corporate policies and procedures are important, but listening to your residents and solving their challenges is the key to success!

I wish I’d known what a “small” industry this is. Everybody knows everybody. Never say anything negative about anyone. It will get back to them. This industry has many thousands of people, and believe me, the all know each other!!!

I wish I’d known the importance of follow-up and how easy it is to develop relationships with people you know for only a few minutes. There are so many different kinds of people and each person can teach us something valuable. Always look for a common bond, and do your best to make a difference in life.

I wish I’d known all the different aspects involved in property management. This includes the marketing, training, recruitment, and vendor services that as a property manager you are often open to. There are so many areas to explore, once you conquer your current position, move on to another challenge.

I wish I’d known the value of brainstorming with other great minds. As you progress in your career, you will be charged with more and greater responsibilities. You might feel that unless you are the “Shell Answer Man” on every issue that you are letting your associates down. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you will learn early the concept of “synergy”, you will be a lot happier, well-rested, self-confident, and more productive than if you try to do it all by yourself.

I wish I’d known the why! I wish I’d been told the reasons for the importance of following specific leasing presentations, techniques, tracking traffic, and Resident service!

I wish I’d known you can’t be friends with anyone you charge for damages in their apartment after they’ve moved out. You can’t always believe in what your residents tell you regarding past due rent, and when they are going to pay. No matter how hard you try to be fair, some resident thinks you are not - to them only. When you try to collect what is due you, they think you’re mean and taking something from them.

I wish I’d known that you must always have an open mind and expand your network. There is always something new to be learned and to teach someone else. Property management is a great field to be in. It will always exist, and there are so many people you can get to know and no two days are alike. There are a lot of different aspects to property management form leasing, marketing, financial, building structure, etc.

I wish I’d known that no matter how much you know, you never, ever know it all. This business is a day-to-day learning experience. If you get upset because you never seem to get it all, forget it. Look at it as a new learning session every day. That’s why it is such a great career - never the same day.

I wish I’d known that “perception is reality”. How others see you is the framework within which they work or deal with you.

I wish I’d known that everyone - residents, staff, etc. - has something to teach you. Patience and sincerity and doing what it takes to get the job done - always takes extra effort.

Never underestimate the general public. They will always surprise you, both good and bad.

I wish I’d known how important it is to start resident retention programs at the time the new resident first moves in. Also if only I’d given one more call-back to the prospect, I might have been able to close on more people, making myself fresh in their minds at all times.

I wish I’d known that listening is the very best communication skill.

I wish I’d realized the importance of learning from one another. Never be afraid to ask!

The one thing that I would like to offer, the one thing I wish I had in the beginning of my career, was the ability to really listen and learn from others. I have been in the business for sixteen years, and have lost the valuable opinions and experiences of my peers early in my career by not learning form their expertise.

I wish I’d known that by a lot of hard work at the start, people do notice what you have contributed to the team, and you can advance up the corporate ladder rather rapidly.

(Editor’s Note: The entries below were transcribed directly from contributors’ handwritten notes. In the interest of best preserving the spirit and full intent of each message, only the most necessary changes have been made to the original content. Grammar and sentence construction have not been corrected. Please bear in mind that in this instance substance is far more important than form, and that nobody’s perfect!)

Tags: Apartment Employee Performance, Apartment Management, Apartment Training, Multifamily Management, Multifamily Mentor, Multifamily Pro, On-site Management, Property Management
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A Looming Transition: Survive the Mass Exodus of Boomers in the Workplace

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

A Looming Transition: Survive the Mass Exodus of Boomers in the Workplace
By Anne Houlihan

In 2011, the oldest of the Baby Boomers will turn 65, marking a turning point in corporate America. As the 76 million Baby Boomers begin to leave the workforce, the United States will experience the most dramatic economic and demographic changes in its history. For the first time ever we are facing a mass retirement movement. To survive unscathed, companies must begin planning and preparation for this transition today.
At first glance, the impending Baby Boomer exodus may seem of little concern to companies. After all, people have been retiring from the workplace for ages. However, companies need to keep in mind that the upcoming retirement years are going to be larger scale than in any other time in our country’s history. With 76 million Baby Boomers leaving the workforce and only 46 million Generation Xers available to take the newly vacant roles, there’s a deficit of 30 million workers. And while the Millennials (also known as Generation Y) number at approximately the 100 million mark, the oldest of them are too young and inexperienced to step into leadership roles.
Therefore, think about your own company for a moment. How will you handle this transition? How will you groom your Generation X workers to step into leadership roles? How are you going to transfer the 40+ years of wisdom and experience that the Boomers possess to your younger workers? How do you plan to keep your company successful and running smoothly with a deficit of workers?
The bottom line is that all companies need to harness the young leadership already in their company so that the Baby Boomer exodus has as little impact as possible on the organization. Use the following tips to help make the upcoming transition period a smooth one.

1. Know what you’re up against.
You need to find out as soon as possible how this mass retirement will affect your company. Get with your HR department and find out your workplace demographics. How many Baby Boomers are currently working in the company, what are their positions, and what are their anticipated retirement dates? For example, are all your middle managers positioned to retire in the next five years? Will three key machinists be leaving all at once? Will your sales department shrink by half in the next few years? You need to know what the impact will be on your company so you can start planning and be ready for the transition.

2. Develop a knowledge transfer strategy.
Most companies have policy manuals that detail each position’s job requirements. While such a policy manual is a good start for grooming younger workers, it’s simply not enough. After all, you can only document so much of the day-to-day activities. Plus, there are subtleties of every job—things you do just because experience and knowledge points you in a certain direction. You simply can’t document those kinds of things. That’s why you need to go a step further and develop a strategy/policy/training system for transferring the knowledge and skills of the older workers to the younger successors.

3. Mentor the younger workers.
As part of the knowledge transfer strategy, companies need to implement some sort of mentoring program. For a company to have a successful transition, the younger generation needs to work side-by-side with the older workers for some time. You simply cannot transfer 40+ years of knowledge and expertise overnight. Therefore, if you know that a key person is going to be retiring in three years, have that person start mentoring a younger worker now. Again, this is not something you can do during a new hire’s 90-day training period. True mentoring takes a year to accomplish at the very least. Additionally, the Generation X workers who receive this sort of long-term mentoring will feel more valued and will be more likely to stay with the company long-term.

4. Retain the older workers in some fashion.
Realize that just because someone turns 65 doesn’t mean they want to retire that day. Many of your older workers will want to stay in the workforce in some sort of capacity, either by choice or by necessity. Since many Boomers worked hard to put kids through college or are currently taking care of aging parents, they still need to work well past age 65 just to make ends meet. Others are taking advantage of medical breakthroughs and as a result feel more active and alive than they did when they were younger. In either of these cases, your older workers may be open to staying onboard on a part-time basis or as a consultant. Since they often want to pursue other interests at this stage of their life, being chained down to a 9 to 5 desk job won’t appeal to them. But the more flexibility you offer, the more likely they’ll be to stick around as a resource for the company.

5. Put a strong management team in place.
For your company to get through this transitional period, you need strong management and leadership. You need someone who can empower and motivate both generations to be open-minded and to learn from each other. You need a leader with expertise, not only in your industry, but also in people skills. Realize that a lot of the younger workers don’t have much patience to be side-by-side older workers, because they believe the Boomers aren’t up-to-date on technology or know “how the world really is.” That’s why you need leaders in place who can help people be open to mentoring—both on the giving and receiving side. If your company doesn’t have the right leaders on board, the bottom line will suffer. Your leaders simply must be involved to see this transitional phase through.

A Successful Transition for All
Because the unemployment rate is high right now due to the current economy, companies can draw from that pool of workers to help fill the gap the Boomers will be leaving. But since no one has a crystal ball that can predict the country’s economic future, no one can rely on this “fix” for the long haul. That’s why planning and preparation are so needed.
The coming years will definitely be a challenge for companies, as more people will be retiring than usual. The smart organizations will take a proactive approach and start addressing the issue now. Remember, transferring the knowledge and expertise of your older workers to your younger ones is not something you can do in a few days or weeks. Therefore, you need to adopt a longer-term focus than what you may be accustomed to in order to survive the impending transitional phase. By helping everyone—young and old—work together, your company can be successful and thrive in the years to come.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne Houlihan is president of Satori Seal, where she tripled revenues in one year with her innovative budgeting and leadership techniques. In addition, she is founder of Elevated Leadership International, where she shares more than 25 years of hands-on corporate experience and coaching to help companies of all sizes. Anne helps to improve management techniques, empower employees to be decision-makers, bridge the generational gap and overcome adversity. For information on hiring her, visit www.ElevatedLeadership.com or call 951-235-5405.

Tags: Apartment Management, Multifamily Management, Multifamily Mentor, Multifamily Pro, Multifamilypro
Posted in Mentor articles, Personal Development | No Comments »

Posts Tagged ‘Multifamily Mentor’

The Root Causes of Low Employee Morale

Multifamily: If I Knew Then What I Know Now, Part Four

A Looming Transition: Survive the Mass Exodus of Boomers in the Workplace

Howitz Dunn Management

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