Login
iscover
A business owner has reminded property managers that what their principal doesn’t know, they can’t remedy.
Speaking on a recent episode of The WIRE, Laura Valenti said property managers need to be “bringing the solution” to their principal, not just raising the problems facing their property management teams – and it’s all the more important given the extra stressors facing the industry at present.
Highlighting the current issues with staff burnout and property managers leaving the industry, which Ms Valenti believes to be an even bigger issue than the one-in-four figure commonly cited, she commented: “A lot of staff, they feel that they can’t approach their managers or their principals, but they should take courage and try to have that conversation because the principals, they don’t know.”
“If they’re not told, they don’t know, and even I, who am quite involved in our business and I know what they’re doing and I’ve been there, there are a lot of things that might happen that I am not aware of, and if they don’t tell me, how do I know and how can I fix it?” she continued.
Arguing that no bad can come of it, she has implored property managers to “take the courage and have that conversation”.
The worst that can happen? “The principal can just say no,” she said.
Having herself interviewed numerous property management candidates over recent months due to the property management exodus facing the industry, Ms Valenti said she asks all potential hires who hail from fellow property management teams why they are looking to leave their current role.
According to her, the response is “the same thing everywhere – it’s ‘I don’t get enough support’”.
She then follows up with the question: “Have you approached your principal?”
Common answers reportedly include, “yeah, but they just don’t care” or “I’m too scared to”.
“What I would just say to everyone out there is, can you just talk to your principal and bring them the solution,” Ms Valenti urged.
From her perspective, it’s more useful to strike up the conversation when you can offer up a solution at the same time, rather than just “bring them the problem”.
The business owner suggested that they instead say something like: “Hey, if we got electronic signing, it might cost you a few hundred dollars a year, but look how much you are saving in human resources by having this done.
“Present it in a way that they think, ‘wow, what a great idea!’”
Listen to the full conversation with Laura Valenti here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Grace Ormsby
Grace is a journalist across Momentum property and investment brands. Grace joined Momentum Media in 2018, bringing with her a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from the University of Newcastle. She’s passionate about delivering easy to digest information and content relevant to her key audiences and stakeholders.
Newsletter
