Cultivating better ideas for property managers: success will come to those who make certain their staff knows their core business so they can deliver maximum results on the company's concept or plan.

Hardly a day goes by when economic woes and the stress that accompanies them are not regaled in press releases, business reports or workplace ethics findings. But much can be taken from a recent article that focused on the premise that our current economic conditions, call for a complete recheck of the way we work and how we can remain successful. The key is a new approach to the operational basics in our business.

The multifamily industry is an incredibly demanding business, but it is also a rich site for innovation, ideas and dreams. Industry professionals know that they must seek out and encourage the peers and leaders--as well as coworkers--that challenge the industry to seek new ways, new methods, new standards and new results.

Yet, more than "seek" and "encourage" those ideas and dreams they must "support" them with the training and systems to make them realities. Think of it as a field being readied for planting. Tilling, aerating, fertilizing, watering--all prepare the best environment for planting the seeds of new ideas.

Operating margins in the industry, however, have shrunk today. Myriad rising costs (just think about insurance and employee benefit costs alone), coupled with Cheap mortgage money, negative job growth and increased vacancies, have hammered operating statements and called into question each "buck" for its required "bang."

Plenty of Fertilizer 

So how can the industry couple the dreams and ideas that keep it enthused and innovative with less money, staff and time to spend? What happens when fertilizer runs low or the tiller breaks down? Are planting these "seeds" a lost cause? No way!

Industry professionals must rethink how to perform their core business and how to meet the very real human needs of residents, employees and owners.

Success does not depend on a clever plan or a hot concept. Creativity is great fun and it helps energize the team, but the "kick" often is short-lived and then becomes copied and customized before the ink is dry on the original plan. More importantly, if the team does not understand the core business, how is it possible for it to deliver maximum results on the concept or plan?

It instead is all about how regular, daily, basic work is performed. If your core business can be done faster, cheaper and better than the other guy, then success is the result. Relentless operational innovation is the best way to establish a lasting and meaningful advantage.

So how is this achieved? For starters, examine the core work and the core workers. Identify what values and results drive the company. Sure, maximized bottom line is every company's goal, but how does your company get it? Superb customer service? Yield management? Repositioning? Extraordinary marketing?

Who's Doing What?

Moving closer to home, take leasing for example. How is leasing perceived as a core business? How can it become better, faster, cheaper? Is the leasing staff well educated? Can its members recognize the "hot water" of fair housing, safety and market issues? Do they understand their role on the team when it comes to resident relations, service team productivity and property operating revenues?

How about the service request response? Can the work orders be completed better, faster, cheaper? First time, every time? Does the maintenance staff understand that inventory management and preventive maintenance are parts of service request response? Good response means stocked inventory at low cost and problems solved before they occur. It becomes clear that industry and company training are essential.

Rethink the workload at the site. Who does what? Is there an easier, more direct way to perform a function? Who is calling back after completed work orders? Who is running errands? Why are you running errands? The questions are endless but they can't even begin to be asked without a staff or leaders that know the basics of the business. And, if they do not have the basic knowledge now how can they possibly take ownership for the property's goals?

Remember the seeds? The new ideas, campaigns and programs? What happens when the seeds are planted in unprepared soil (poorly trained and ill-prepared staff and leadership)? What you will get is minimal growth, if any. The seeds become wasted. And the brilliant and fun, innovative plan is poorly executed.

So, think forward to basics. Productivity and efficiency are born from basic knowledge. If a person knows the job and understands the goal then they can innovate and create even better ways to do it. That is the secret of operational innovation and success. Do not waste the seeds of new ideas and hot concepts planted prematurely in the soil of poorly trained and ill-prepared staff. Make it a point to head forward to the basics.

Susan Weston, CAM, CAPS, is NAA's Education Director. She can be reached at 703/518-6141 Ext. 115.