In today's economy, for every job opening available, there are hundreds of applicants. In working with owners/investors/executive level management, their number one complaint is: there is a shortage of TOP level talent. Many, look outside their organizations to find TOP level talent. And yet, everyday, I hear from people in the industry that feel they are passed over for advancement opportunities and they WANT advancement opportunities. Why the discrepancy?

There is a mis-conception that if you are the best at your what you do, it is only natural that you advance. While this is very true in the apartment industry, it is only HALF of the equation. If you want to double your chances of career advancement - the other half of that equation is this: You MUST learn to speak the language of business.

(Picture provided by daviddmuir through creative commons license on Flickr.)

Whether you are a leasing agent wanting to advance into National Sales Director, or a marketing intern with your eye on VP of Marketing, or a junior accountant wanting to advance to Controller, to Maintenance Technician looking for advancement to Maintenance Director, you must learn to speak the language of business.

What is the language of business? It's not a foreign language - it's learning to communicate your contributions to your organization in terms they can understand AND appreciate. It comes down to 4 words: SHOW ME THE MONEY! Or more accurately, Show THEM the money.

I have attended many "owner's/investor's" meetings. (Sometimes as an owner's representative, sometimes as a management company's representative.) I have been at the middle-management level as well as the executive management level. The one things that is ALWAYS discussed at these owner meetings is - How are "we" doing? And they're not asking about "our" health or "our" welfare, they want to know, how much money is the apartment project making, OR how much money is the apartment project loosing?

How does this help you in terms of your career advancement?

Since you KNOW that this is the number one concern/question for your apartment owners/investors, and in turn your supervisors (middle management AND upper management), you should start speaking in these terms as often as possible.

• It's one thing to say you have increased occupancy from 88% to 90%. It's much more impressive to say, we increased occupancy 2 percentage points, thus adding $24,000.00 in annual income. 2% is a small number, while $24,000.00 in rent is a BIG number. Show them how you made the money.
• It's one thing to admit that you have overspent in marketing (who isn't?), but its another thing to say, we overspent in marketing by $1200.00, but in doing so, we increased our occupancy by 2%, adding $24,000.00 of annual income. Show them that in order to make money, you spent some money, but overall, there is a net positive gain.
• What if you are an A/P clerk who processes bills? How do you quantify your contributions in the language of business? It's one thing to say you enter 500 invoices monthly. It's much more impressive to say, I process over $100,000.00 of payables monthly totaling over $1.2MILLION dollars of payables monthly. Now THAT's impressive!
• What about a caretaker? How does a caretaker quantify their contributions? It's one thing to say you regularly shovel and salt the sidewalk, its another thing to say, because I shovel & salt the sidewalk as well as document each incidence of shoveling/salting Because of this our insurance claims have decreased over previous years, and this year we saw a property insurance savings in the amount of $1800.00.

Owners, investors, (and your supervisors) want to know you understand exactly how your efforts effect the bottom line - whether it is through income generation or expense control, quantify that. Not only is THAT impressive, it shows you UNDERSTAND the BUSINESS part of the apartment industry. Showing that you understand how you impact the bottom line, also shows that you are not a "victim" of this economy - you're telling owners/investor that you have control and more importantly, you are exerting control over the one things owners & investors care about: the BOTTOM line. SHOW them the MONEY!

I'm currently working with several clients to help them find top-level talent for their organizations. Their #1 priority in finding someone is to find someone who understands the BUSINESS side of the apartment business. It seems pretty simple - but as an industry, we are so focused on the customer service side (serving our residents) that we sometimes forget to serve our other customers (our owners/investors) Having been on both sides, I know that there people in the industry who DON'T GET IT, and there are those that DO GET IT, but can't articulate it. If all things are equal, which category do you want to fall in?

1. I DON'T GET IT.
2. I kind of GET IT, but don't know how to articulate it. (In the eyes of your owners & investors, this is the same as #1) - If you are in this category, there is HOPE for you! You can learn the language of business!
3. I GET IT, and I DO know how to articulate it. (This is what everyone wants.)

What other qualities do you feel your owners, investors and supervisors look for in hiring new employees and advancing existing employees? My purpose for asking is to help people understand what your decision makers look for, so that YOU know what to aim for.

Don't get it? RENT SODA. GET IT!

-Daisy Nguyen in Minneapolis, Minnesota MN

Daisy Nguyen is owner and CEO of RENT SODA, a business and marketing consulting company. Become a FAN of RENTSODA, connect on LinkedIn, FOLLOW RENT SODA on Twitter, visit her website, RENT SODA, or read the blog, RENT SODA, Don't Get? GET IT! for more information and regular blog entries.