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How to Hold on to a Good Manager

One of the biggest problems confronting boards at the millennium is their ability to keep a good property manager for any length of time. A board of directors can often finds itself establishing a relationship with a new manager as an annual event. This is even a bigger problem for the property management companies, since thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours went into training and developing this relationship and now the process begins all over again. If you ask a property manager why they left any particular account, there is a similarity of reasons. If you ask a manager why they quit their job, you also often hear the same reasons.

The typical property manager wears a pager and is on call 24-hours a day. They are often underpaid (compared to their apartment or commercial colleagues), and they typically have 5 to 7 board meetings per month. All you have to add into this equation is subservience to unreasonable board members, abusive owners and uncooperative contractors, and you have a highly trained, experienced professional...sending out resumes.

With this in mind, here are do’s and don’ts for boards and management companies:

Pay people what they are worth. I once read that "if you pay people peanuts...you get monkeys." Adequate compensation is not as big a problem for the entry level, as much as managers with ten plus years of experience. It is a two-edged problem for the management company because in order to be competitive in the market, they have to keep fees low. As a result, revenues cannot justify too many highly compensated staff members.

A board of directors must always remember, "you get what you pay for..." One of the ways to address this is through fringe benefits and incentives. Certain corporate benefits for employees are tax deductible to the company and ultimately costs less to the company than just giving token salary increases, i.e., pre-paid medical, cafeteria plans, retirement plans, etc. By giving a manager an expense account, a car allowance, gasoline card, etc., it is sometimes a better "raise" than a bump on the W-2. Also, by rewarding growth and retention of business, a management company can grow and prosper and the manager has an incentive to do marketing and selling. Another possibility for management companies is to promote senior property managers to supervisory positions and alleviate some properties in their portfolio in exchange for administrative-type duties.

For the self-managed Association, a bonus for a job well done, cost-savings, keeping the budget down, etc. can keep a manager satisfied in a wage competitive market place.

Avoid unnecessary meetings. There was a tendency in the ‘90s to have a meeting just because it is scheduled. Sometimes it seems people meet just for the sake of meeting. Nothing discourages a manager faster than taking them away from their home, their family, their dog, whatever , than to spend night after night at unnecessary meetings for 3, 4 or 5 hours at a time. Further, there is nothing more demeaning than making a property manager sit through a marathon coffee klatch.
A board of directors would be better off utilizing their manager’s time by meeting less, i.e., 4 or even 6 times per year. If a board meets more often, they should be able to suffice with a written report from the manager or pay a premium for the extra meeting. Limiting meetings to 1 to 2 hours is a good start. From the very beginning, a board needs to understand that it should not burn up a manager with lengthy, unnecessary meetings. (It also burns out the Board members!)
Require civility at all times. Believe it or not, some boards (and their owners) need to be reminded on how to conduct themselves. Not schooled in board etiquette, too many people believe that once they sit behind a table, they can check their manners at the door. You can underpay some managers — even work them to death — but the lack of common courtesy and businesslike behavior is the quickest way to send someone packing.
A manager should not be chained to a computer or telephone. Associations need to see their manager working. The property manager needs to work closely with their accounts, their subcontractors and other professionals, and get out on the property. No matter how hard a manager works, unless people see them physically out on the property, associations often do not appreciate how hard the job really is. If the manager has to type the board’s newsletters, minutes and correspondence, take work orders and talk to delinquents, they are no longer just managing the property as professionals. If a management company or self-managed property does not have the resources to staff additional people, they can be out-sourced. The board can pay for a typist, or the management company can have one person take all maintenance complaints. By dividing up some of the most basic administrative tasks, it will make the manager more available to the owners and also reduce some of the stress. It is also the best way for a board to institute a uniform system for quality control and follow up.
Recognize the early warning signs. The easiest way to reverse a "burn out" is to be proactive and respond at the earliest signs. Lethargy, lack of energy, depression, hyper-sensitivity, irritability and short temperedness can often appear in these instances and they should not be ignored. A day off, a vacation, a nice lunch and even a kind word can often keep a manager satisfied and functioning.

The property management industry is composed of many different personality types with varied backgrounds. However, one thing is a given...stress will stop a promising career cold. An underpaid, overworked, overstressed manager will not only be less effective, they can also cost a board or a management company credibility with the unit owners.