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Prioritising the wellbeing of property managers is what the industry lacks, argues this development coach.
Business and personal development coach Hermione Hart joined hosts Grace Ormsby and Sadhana Smiles on a recent episode of The WIRE to discuss why property management would benefit from greater mental health awareness.
Working with property managers as the director of Sidekick Coaching and Consulting has allowed her to take a “helicopter view of the industry” and the issues that plague it.
“We are coming off the back of a few really tough years in the industry, especially with the big B-word, burnout, being obvious in the property management space,” Ms Hart commented.
She identified that staffing is one of the most pressing issues facing property management, particularly with many exiting the industry altogether.
“I just don’t think there is enough support for property managers and the vast array of everything that they have to do these days,” she said
Generating wider awareness of employees’ wellbeing is “the first step to create any change”, Ms Hart explained.
“The more we can have these conversations, it could trigger one boss to go, ‘maybe I do need to spend a bit more time and attention on supporting my stressed-out property managers’,” she said.
She identified that many agencies are setting a new pathway forward by supporting their teams through wellness programs and “Wellness Wednesdays”.
In addition, implementing software that caters to the emotional health of property managers “means that their stress levels are reduced, and they can give better service”, suggested Ms Hart.
“When [property managers] give better service, the clients are actually happier too. Having happier staff is part of the growth of the business strategy as well,” she said.
Moreover, Ms Hart emphasised the adoption of a growth mindset and asking questions such as: “How can we affect change? How can we bring on more change? What can I do to make a difference?”
In her training, the development coach uses the metaphor of a “stress bucket”.
“We all have a limited capacity, but what can we handle in our day-to-day life? There [are] all these different things coming in the top of our stress bucket like work, family and health,” she said.
Ms Hart explained that these various pressures begin to “overflow and explode out the top”, causing a stress response from the individual.
“In an ideal world, everyone should be practising some sort of stress management coping strategies. I know for a lot of us, we live in a society where until something becomes a big enough of a problem, we don’t tend to make a change,” she said.
Ms Hart provided some concluding suggestions moving forward as property managers begin to utilise wellness strategies more effectively in the workplace.
Gaining awareness
“It’s actually giving yourself a moment to check in: ‘how are you?’ How often do we actually just stop and ask ourselves this?” she asked.
Enacting change
Transforming that awareness into visible change is crucial, Ms Hart explained, as well as asking: “Where would I like to be living my life right now?”
You can listen to the full conversation with Ms Hart here.
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