I recently completed a phone training workshop for an apartment association in Texas. At the end of the workshop I was approached by a woman who had a look of relief and excitement on her face. She took my hand and said, “This is what I have been waiting for!!”

For the next few minutes she told me about her situation. She has been working at her community for about six months and has been struggling on the phone. She knew that she could be better, she just didn’t know how to be better. So for many months she’s been frustrated, thinking that she was the problem; when in reality, she just didn’t have the knowledge to overcome the challenges everyone faces on the phone.

What I think I loved the most was as our conversation ended she said, “I can’t wait to use all of this!” No matter where I am, I always find that most people want, need and desire the tools to be able to do their jobs right. People hunger for information. They want to know what they need to do to succeed.

So why do so many companies skimp on providing their people with the tools to succeed? Why do companies cut corners with their people in ways that they would never do with the physical asset?

• If the pool is green after a busy weekend do you prevent your maintenance team from “shocking” it, because you don’t want to spend the money?
• If a resident calls in a concern with mold, are you just assuming it will go away?
• Are you asking your landscaper to cut the grass on a large community with manual mowers to save a few bucks?

Thankfully the woman’s company invested in her by enrolling her in a training workshop.  If she just gets one more lease per month, would the investment be worth it? If the success she could achieve motivates her to stay on with her company (she seemed like a great person), would that be worth it?

Think about it, what is the ROI on a motivated employee that is excited about doing his/her job?

What You Can Do

The great part of the multifamily industry is that there are a variety of options that you can take advantage of to give your people (and your company) what they need to succeed. As someone who was on the front lines for many years, here are some tips:

• Do not fall for the “One Size Fits All” trap! Not everyone will learn well from web-based only training. Some people fall asleep in the first ten minutes of every seminar they attend, while others love them! Some of your people learn best on the computer, while others will need hands-on instruction and training to succeed. Try offering different platforms for your people to learn from.

• When you consider the cost-don’t forget the potential gain: Too often people ask “What is the cost?” but forget “What can we gain?” As I asked earlier, what is the ROI on an excited and motivated employee?

• Embrace your responsibility to develop the people that work for you!

• Remember that your people are worth it-and so is your company! What more can I add to this?