Jo-Anne Oliveri ireviloution intelligence demonstrates how to find and keep the staff you need to grow your business.
RETENTION IS how you can unlock a sustainable income stream in your property management business. To achieve retention you must first build a loyal, skilled team; then, using that team, build a loyal client base. What follows are 13 proven strategies that guarantee team retention.
- RECRUITMENT: HIRE FOR ATTITUDE, TRAIN FOR SKILL
When you recruit new team members always remember: hire for attitude, train for skill. That’s because applicants with the right attitude are far better choices than applicants who are set in their ways and cannot be moulded to your agency’s culture. To hire for attitude, clearly articulate the personal attributes needed to fulfil your roles. This helps you hire the right people for the right roles and train them into team members who love to uphold your agency’s culture. - ROLE DEFINITION: DEFINE, REFINE, ASSIGN
You should define, refine and assign every role within your business. This means creating clear descriptions of what each team member does and the standards they must maintain. To do this, outline how each role interacts with every other role, which tasks are shared and in what way. When roles are defined and understood, team members work together harmoniously and productivity ensues. - STANDARDS: MAKE YOUR BUSINESS UNIQUE
Your business standards make your agency unique. Write standards for every area of your business, including personal presentation, service delivery, task completion and customer relations. Written standards mean everyone knows each party’s expectations: your clients know what to expect and your team know how to deliver them. Standards therefore minimise confusion and maximise structure, which leads to increased efficiency and job satisfaction. - POLICIES: GIVE YOUR BUSINESS DIRECTION
Policies provide you and your team with direction. As the business owner, you must write your business’ policies so you are in control of the who, what, when, where, why and how of your agency’s operations. Your written policies should encapsulate legislation, business culture, service standards, processes and codes of conduct. Designing your policies gives your team a clear direction. - TEAM INDUCTION: INDUCT, INDUCT, INDUCT!
Your team needs to be inducted, and induction must never stop. To do this, design a program to ensure new recruits are inducted into every area of your business and continue to receive training once their probation period ends, because induction must be ongoing. That way, team members internalise your business’ vision and values and become agency assets and advocates. - TRAINING: PLANNED, CONSISTENT, ONGOING
After induction comes training. Research shows that employees receiving planned, consistent and ongoing training are more committed to remaining in their current employment than if they are receiving no training and support. So, like induction, train your team members and don’t stop. - CULTURE: ATTRACTIVE AND DESIRABLE
Your business’ culture can attract employees to your business and make you an employer of choice. To create a highly attractive and desirable culture you must plan, implement and proactively manage your business’ values, beliefs and norms. Doing this builds a clear and consistent culture which attracts recruits who want to be part of your business. - ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS: 30 MINUTES AND ONCE A MONTH
One-to-one, 30-minute, once a month meetings with every employee help you manage, measure, monitor, mentor and retain your team. These meetings give critical analysis and compliments where due so individuals improve their performances. They also help you establish how team members are handling positions, whether they are enjoying their roles and if they are suitable for promotion. In essence, they help you get the most out of your team and help your team get the most out of working for you. - CAREER PATHS: PROMOTE FROM WITHIN
As the business owner, it is your job to give each team member a clear career path. You can do this by promoting from within your existing business structure. This gives you the ability to recruit for a basic position, say receptionist, and then induct, train and develop them for the next level of your business. That way, they continue to be the best candidates for the next position up the ladder. This not only keeps your team committed but is a cost-effective recruitment solution. - SCHEMES INCENTIVES: WIN-WIN
A successful incentive scheme is about win-win – it creates a win for your business, a win for your property owner, a win for your tenant and a win for your team. Win-win incentive schemes ensure higher returns for your property owners, higher than average increases in property capital values and higher bonuses for your team. Implementing such an incentive scheme is also a sure-fire way to build your bottom-line, as your team is rewarded for servicing both new managements and current properties. - LEAD FROM BEHIND: NURTURE YOUR TEAM
Leading from behind means seeing everything that is happening in your business. To lead from behind you must implement systems and processes that follow, track and identify what is happening at any point in time. Your eyes are always on your business and your arms always wrapped around your team, keeping them nurtured and supported in their roles. This is how you can become a true leader and win your team’s loyalty. - SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES: DESIGN, DOCUMENT, MANAGE
You must design, document and manage your business’ systems and processes to ensure team members complete tasks consistently. You cannot run a successful business if you continually change your systems and processes, or simply make them up as you go, since your team will never understand their roles and tasks. Instead, design your systems and processes, document them and then teach them to your team. - ACCOUNTABILITY: THE CORNERSTONE OF BUSINESS SUCCESS
Accountability is the cornerstone of a successful business. To keep your team accountable you must implement systems and processes which ensure each team member consistently carries out tasks through to completion. This ensures that your team is always maintaining and protecting your agency’s standards and reputation.
Implementing these 13 proven strategies helps you build and retain a loyal, skilled team focused on growing your property management business.
