It has always been important to me to have defined pathways for our people to seek out growth opportunities that would still allow them to stay within the NTS family and within my portfolio.  In having that become a reality, some of the old rules had to be thrown away, barriers removed, and a greater collaborative effort invoked at all levels.

Each time a new player is introduced to the portfolio or is promoted to a new position, the dynamic changes.  There is a window of time (approximately 90 days) where that new player is still in the mindset of a “consumer”.  As a consumer, he or she learns their new role, new skills, expectations, where they fit into the team and what they bring to the table from a contribution standpoint.  This is where ALL of the best feedback comes from!  It is the ‘open minded’ period before someone has looked behind the curtain and seen the Wizard, so to speak.

In being willing to modify training and job tasks associated with any one position, we open the door to fluidity between levels of skills in any position.  For example, a new leasing associate who is also a fast learner and a good multi-tasker may soon learn how to post rental payments (typically the task of the Assistant Property Manager).  This allows them to contribute to the team at another level, feel trusted and invested in by management, and become goal oriented toward their next training initiatives.

I encourage managers to work with their team to develop goals with each employee at the beginning of each quarter to focus on three objectives.  These can be any three goals – personal growth, leadership oriented, skill sets and tasks, measurable goals, etc.  Once determined, they create a basic plan to achieve and a plan to measure that achievement.  During the course of each month within the quarter they have touchpoint sessions to review and give feedback and direction if needed.  At the end of the quarter, they can choose to continue with the same goals if they were not mastered or achieved, or they can create a fresh set of goals and objectives. A summary of the year’s achievements is completed at the end of the year and career goals revisited so that we are assisting with the vision of where they fit into the portfolio and how to achieve those goals.

One of the areas I think most companies fall flat is not listening to what employees need to have a positive work / life balance in combination with being dedicated to their job. Older generations in the upper management tier and younger generations in the sub-management tier have very different views on this that will probably soon come to head.  Companies that get on board with being more flexible in their thinking and learning that there is more than one way to get a job done and still done well, will be the ones that excel and have millennials at the doorstep ready to work for them and be long term, dedicated employees!  But, if we do not figure that out, the next level of management will not want the rigid structure of a 9 to 5, 40 to 45 hour a week job.  Their entrepreneurial spirit will not allow for it!

So, what does that world look like in Multi Family?  That’s the question.  Flex hours? (Can take scheduled 2-3 hours in the middle of day each week to play golf, extended lunch, or whatever they want)  Idea Bank? (Hub within the company where they could be paid for a winning marketing idea, protocol change, efficiency upgrade, green initiative, etc.) Drop In Classes ? (Classes on just about anything! – From a computer or at a venue) Video Tours? (Scheduled tours with prospects via IPad or IPhone – helps with the Flex Hours!)

Creativity, Ownership, Collaborative, Engaging – All words that describe what we need as systems of infrastructure for the next leaders to start working at our companies!