July 26th, 2023
PropertyMe turns 10
PropertyMe
Article by
Did you know that we spend approximately 84,365 hours in the workplace over the course of our lives? While that might seem like a rather depressing statistic it doesn’t have to be. If we invest the time and energy into making our workplace a positive and inspiring environment it’ll allow us to show up as our best selves, reduce stress and produce the best outcomes for the team. After speaking to our community, we’ve accumulated a list of the most common workplace challenges, as well as a cheat sheet on how to work through them. Gone are the days of sweeping your office issues under the rug!
We hear this challenge time and time again from new and prospective community members. As the world is quickly evolving, it’s imperative that we keep up to remain innovative and efficient. This is backed up by statistics, as 70% of businesses are currently working on or implementing a digital technology transformation, meaning that they are upskilling and adapting their practices to be more tech-centric. With this being said, embracing new software and learning new best practices is usually a pain point as agencies can be time-poor, and subsequently view the decision as too difficult. However, we’re strong believers that it’s a little bit of short-term pain for a lifetime of gain.
If you’re a prospective customer wanting to make the change to PropertyMe, we encourage you to take the leap and book a demo today. We offer plentiful yet succinct Training and Onboarding, TrainMe and MigrateMe programs that allow you to make the transition as swiftly as possible. If you’re an existing customer wanting to get the most out of PropertyMe we encourage you to sign up for our LIVE training with trainer Scott, who uses his years of knowledge to impart nuggets of wisdom to our community. Alternatively, you can stay on top of our newest features and releases by signing up for The Loop notifications, to ensure that you never miss a beat.
Stress is the leading cause of high turnover rates in the property management industry, although I’m sure we don’t have to tell you twice. In a post-pandemic landscape, with a cost of living crisis on our hands it’s no wonder that we’re all stressed and overwhelmed with day-to-day life. This is exacerbated for Property Managers whose jobs are highly demanding. While we can’t magically snap our fingers, and change the nature of work for the industry, there are strategies we can implement in the workplace to make it a more comforting and manageable environment. On a broader scale, these strategies can have flow-on effects to positively affect your agency’s absentee numbers and staff retention.
The first step is to think about it practically and ask yourself the question, why are my team displaying high levels of stress? If the answer isn’t clear, perhaps try facilitating an open discussion with your team to gain more clarity. Once you get to the root of the issue you’ll be able to put the appropriate strategies in place and move forward. From here we recommend implementing strategies such as regular team coffee breaks, incentivised annual leave days (if you have the capacity to), and monthly team activities to blow off steam and allow your team to have positive connotations of the workplace.
We can feel you nodding in understanding through the screen at this challenge. As we touched on previously, high turnover is one of the biggest challenges the industry faces as a whole. However, with the industry growing 4.1% over the 2022 FY there’s no better time than the present to continue to work on staff retention and attracting the correct talent. As is the case with the vast majority of these issues, we recommend beginning by putting your detective cap on and getting a clear-cut idea of where the retention issues stem from. More specifically, where in the staff journey is the issue arising? Are you having issues attracting the correct talent, or are your team members leaving the agency after a year? By identifying where in the staff journey you face challenges, it allows you to target correctly. For example, you wouldn’t want to pour more time and money into retaining longer-term staff members if your issue actually occurs at the hiring stage.
If your issue is surrounding hiring and attracting the correct candidates then we recommend starting by constructing a vision of your ideal candidate. You can do this by posing the following questions:
- What skillset does my ideal candidate possess?
- What candidate qualities would complement and improve my current team dynamic?
- How can I support my ideal candidate as they learn the ropes?
Once you’ve got a clear idea of who you want to attract, it’s essential to be honest and concise during the interview process. More specifically, ask your candidates questions that align with your aforementioned vision, and be transparent about what a typical workday looks like at your agency. Don’t forget to supply your new hires with ample amounts of support as they onboard, and make them feel as if no question is a silly question.
This pain point is one that is far too common, as our workload increases, upskilling and education can easily become a second thought. When our plate is full, it’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day motions, and it may be difficult to see the value of setting aside a little time each week to improve our personal and team practices. However, upskilling is so important, not only to stay ahead of the curve but also to simply stay up to date as a team. This is supported by the World Economic Forum who discovered that 50% of all employees will need reskilling within the next five years, due to updates in technology and industry standards.
So how can you prioritise upskilling and innovation? Firstly, mention it to your team leader or manager as they may not have even had it on their radar as a priority. Secondly, we recommend making it seem more manageable. For example, doing 30 mins of upskilling daily seems less disruptive than taking a whole afternoon weekly. By sprinkling learning and education into team meetings and your daily practices, makes it digestible and it will soon become second nature. Lastly, find a schedule that works best for your team holistically. Your team might prefer to focus on their learning after your Friday meeting, or they may prefer to take a day once a month and turn it into a team event. Upskilling doesn’t look the same for everyone, every agency or every industry so find a schedule that works for you.
Lastly, this workplace challenge happens to the best of us as our professional motivation and inspiration levels ebb and flow. Impacted by personal and professional facts, it’s easy to find yourself in a bit of a slump workwise. If you’re in a managerial position, this can also rub off onto your team, and become the new status quo. It is valuable to ensure that your team are motivated and engaged with their work, as motivated employees are 87% less likely to resign.
Thankfully this challenge isn’t an awfully complex one to solve! To improve employee motivation and inspiration levels we encourage you to implement any of the following ideas:
- Set aside brainstorming and creative time in team meetings
- Talk about current news and life outside of work, to get your team to think and perceive things in new ways
- Engage in regular team activities to break up the monotony
- Encourage and foster open communication
- Encourage your team members to change up their scenery, take a walk outside or engage in hybrid work
- Ensure that your team actually take their designated breaks to give their mind a break
- Share memes and industry news to facilitate conversation and free-thinking
We hope you enjoyed our top tips to solve the most common workplace issues! Make sure you stay in The Loop and subscribe to our product updates and new features here.
Article by
