5 Challenges You Will Face Hiring a New Property Manager
Author Donatas Kazakauskas
Hiring a new person is often a headache for an employer. The process is not necessarily short and easy. In this blog, I will skip over the process of choosing the best candidate and talk about challenges that might be waiting for the property manager when training a new employee, including technology challenges.
- Mentoring. The employer should guarantee a mentoring program for a new employee. It doesn’t matter if it is a traditional face-to-face mentor, an E-mentor or multiple mentors. Working together with more experienced colleagues is valuable for both mentors and mentees. While the new employee acquires knowledge about the company, its business processes and rules, the mentors get fresh new ideas on how the business could be changed and different procedures improved.
- Business software used in the company. I am talking about the business-management system, the so-called ERP; in this case it could be accounting and other programs, or even Excel. When it comes to daily tasks related to inputting data into the software system(s) used and getting it out, it is important to ensure the right training plan. It can be really hard to use several software pieces at once, especially if that is something completely new for your newcomer. Can you imagine how you would feel if you needed to use property-management software, a customer-relationship management system, accounting software and some Excel workbooks for other tasks? Therefore, the training could be divided into several phases. For example, if your property-management company uses several software systems, you should first teach how to deal with the customer base, from lead to tenant (CRM software). Later, the property manager could learn how to manage properties, make some reports, and check vacancies (property-management software). Finally, he could get to lease-agreement management and billing if necessary, as those are the most complicated areas.
- Documentation. No one thinks about this in advance, especially if the systems used by the company have been in place for a while – everyone knows how to use them anyway! If the property-management company wants to avoid problems with onboarding a new employee and speeding up his entrance phase, all business processes, as well as the software used by the company, should be well documented. There is nothing worse than a new employee having to self-teach how to work. You want him to start working efficiently as soon as possible, otherwise you’re wasting your money, not counting the fluctuation in customer satisfaction when they are being served by an inexperienced person. We say that correct data input leads to the right output. Documentation can save other property managers’ time and money if you need to ask for software training from your software providers. Having documentation is good not only for rookies but also for everyone, because you probably won’t remember every function, especially those you use once per year. It is always good to check your business processes and where you are at from time to time.
- Support. Even after years of working with property-management software, users might ask for some help from the system providers. Not talking about newbies… Having a good software support company is getting not only support and but also improvements for your software with the latest technology and business adjustments. The business environment is constantly changing, and so is the business itself; therefore, you need to adapt your software as well. For example, you have signed a contract with a new tenant with specific details that you can’t input into the software system you use. It would be your software provider’s job to make necessary adjustments for you.
- Clear vision. Knowing what to do and what outcome should follow is mandatory for everyone in the property-management company. Everyone should be familiar with company or department goals and have an idea how to achieve them. If your aim is to have 0% vacancy, you know that there will be no bonus for you if you have free spaces. Having good tools to monitor the current situation and see an agreement’s expiration date will be a big help. A property manager should know that if he’s doing his job right, he’ll be rewarded.
The adaptation process for a new employee can be easy if you are well prepared for it. If the new person feels comfortable with his tasks and has no problems dealing with them, if he is well supported at the outset, it is likely that you won’t lose him quickly and will have a great new property manager on your TEAM!
SOFT4, as a provider of a software solution for commercial property management, is constantly releasing blog articles about how to meet and cope with trends, tendencies, and challenges, and giving suggestions as to how to react to the changing environment in order to stay competitive.
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