VAMA Conference Preview: Speaker Stephanie Graves

Author: Stephanie Graves, CAPS, CAM, NAAEI Faculty

Maintenance related complaints and disappointments has remained one of the top 5 concerns on resident surveys and on line websites for over 5 years straight (1). Be it slow, inaccurate, dirty or non-existent maintenance is a top reason why people are leaving communities and looking for ‘where the grass may be greener.’ Maintenance will make you a property management hero or can be a thorn in your side that you just can’t pull out. No matter how many bells and whistles we add to apartments or amenities we offer quality in servicing our clients’ maintenance MUST be a top concern of any property management organization. So, what are the secrets to maximizing our maintenance teams? How can we ensure that the quality of the work is one that satisfies the customer while maintaining the value of the asset? Are you doing all you can do maximize the key players on your team both inside and outside of the office? 

Here are 6.5 key areas of maintenance focus that will not only ensure better delivery of service but will empower and excite your maintenance teams to do better for the customers and the owners!

1. Get Maintenance Involved in Management Decisions

Collaboration and feedback are leading indicators of employee engagement. To actively seek input from your team naturally makes them more committed to the project and to you! We all want to feel that our opinions are valuable! Seek their input – they are the maintenance experts and they see what is happening IN the apartments!!

2. Communicate and Document Expectations

False or lack of clear expectations is the #1 cause for relationships going bad! It is not coincidence that bad management is a leasing cause to employee’s departure and dissatisfaction with his/her job! Clearly state what each employee is expected to do and not just job duties. How should they act when they talk to a resident? What should they say or not say when in an apartment? These ‘little’ things can weigh big when dealing with your maintenance team!

Additionally, you should seek and agree upon the maintenance team’s expectations of you or the leasing team and of each other! Communication and meeting or exceeding expectations should be a two-way street!!

3. Empower Them To Make A Difference

Does your team know what they can and cannot do? Do they have the power to make a difference? Do you ask for their feedback on how to improve things or do you go about your day delegating and thinking, they will tell me if they need anything? Give them the tools to do upgrades or proactively fix something to make a resident super happy not just satisfied!!

Give them business cards – it is a $40 investment but gives them pride in their work and their presentation of an apartment or job well done!

4. Build Knowledge Between Team Members

Job sharing and understanding where each of your co-workers is coming from can make or break a team. Has your leasing agent ever had to trash out an apartment? Or had to operate a sink or sewer machine? Talk about building a team and respect among each other – walking in one another’s shoes is a great way to not only build a team but build knowledge in the day to day operations in and out of the office!

Include maintenance in training events, not only maintenance related but leasing and service related as well! Educate them on fee increases or changes to policy that they may not have to deliver to the residents but should have some knowledge about to better service the residents. A great example of this is RUBS and water usage – when a maintenance person is in an apartment and sees a leak it’s a great opportunity for him/her to say "please report that leak or I’ll fix that leak now as every drop of water we save can and will reduce the monthly water bills."

5. Inspect What You Expect

Consider the last time you double checked work in progress? Walk units when they are in make ready status. Inspect how things are being fixed and look for opportunities for improvement or savings. When you are actively checking on status and inspecting work you can point out great work rather than deficiencies and find potential issues before the work is completed. Perhaps it would be only a hundred dollars more to replace an entire tile floor rather than to patch several areas – look for those opportunities and then empower your people to do it and make change!!

6. Incentivize Performance

If your team is producing zero defect make readies and apartments are moved in to with nothing on the inventory check list – reward your make ready teams!! This is less work for you and them and happier residents!!!

Consider a maintenance appreciation week once a year – you can budget $50 per employee and get a lot of goodies and rewards for hard work!!

6.5 Seek Positive Feedback

Implement a feedback program for your maintenance team! Include surveys in emails asking about the quality of work or include a survey with every maintenance ticket! Ask for names of people that serviced the apartment. Recognize them in newsletters, spotlights on your website and/or photos in office! Be proud of them and they will be proud of the community!!!

So, the question remains, will residents find that ‘greener grass’ at your community or will you be the next victim of on line complaints and unhappy customers because of a deficiency in the maintenance department? Each of us can make tiny differences to make maintenance the highlight of every resident’s stay with us!!

(1) J Turner, State of the Industry Report 2013