Topic: Need Help from Some Regional Managers about Hiring Maintenance!

We have 3 properties with 144 units spread about 30 miles apart in a growing portfolio. We have had 2 full-time maintenance techs, who stay behind, due to the age and deferred maintenance issues 2 of the properties have.

I have to replace a full-time tech now! I have received only 1 resume and the owner is telling me the applicant's current salary is too high for us.

What can I say to show the owner we need this person. He's currently making about $5.00 more than we are paying plus bonuses and benefits. We don't even have vacation, paid holidays, etc., nothing but the hourly rate.

Where do you look for data to support hiring someone with more skills, but higher pay?

Hello Sandy,

If the person is good and has the right skills and experience to get the job done, then the owner has to understand one of the biggest reasons people are going to move is when their repairs are not done and or there are multiple trips always to fix a problem. A maintenance tech that has their act together is worth their weight in gold. Maintenance techs can have a direct impact on MRO costs.

Here may be a start to see what others are offering, so there is a comparison! www.jobsense.com/find.php

Nate

Sandy,
Are you a member of the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association? They do a fantastic salary survey every other year and this year was it! If you participate in the survey it's free, and if not, it's available for a fee, and it's READY! www.GreaterCAA.org

Yes, we are! Are you a member? We got the owner to make a decent offer and the tech accepted it. I had to promise the owner we would see a difference in savings in HVAC repair and appliance repair. If not, he'll have to go!!

I will have to participate in the survey!

Sandy,
So glad you hired him! Your life will probably be a lot easier!
As part of his weekly goals, you may want him to report each week on a specific area he saved the company - a specific thing he completed that perhaps you would have subbed out before or a repair he made rather than a replacement, and the amount of money saved. Our site teams report an item of savings each week, which keeps them focused on expense control.
You may also want to set some long term preventive maintenance goals. For example, Scott who works on a late 70s/early 80s property cleaned all the inside and outside coils on 254 units over the winter, and has only had 4 A/C calls this season! It took him and his team's time each week, but think what they're saving on after hours calls, A/C repairs, etc.
Happy Memorial Day!

I think your Owner is lucky to have YOU, Sandy! Sometimes, you get what you pay for and if you pay on the lowest possible level of the ladder with NO benefits, you don't always get the cream of the crop!