Creating workplace cultures that attract, inspire, and motivate high-powered teams

In a recent survey focused on the top challenges currently facing the rental housing industry, the most common challenge of all respondents was "HR, staffing, and recruitment."  50.5% of respondents ranked this as their number one challenge, and 74% of respondents selected it as one of their top three challenges.

Facing one of the toughest talent crises ever experienced by the apartment industry, property management companies must do more than simply promote from within to solve their shortfall. They must keep in mind that property management is one of the most versatile and transferable careers a person can have.

In the US economy, there are currently more job openings than there are unemployed workers. Many employers say they’re struggling to find employees. And job conditions are a mixed bag. Employees more than ever want to – and even insist on – working from home, and even working from anywhere, if their positions are conducive for such.

Innovative companies are using new methods, and are promoting their businesses in clever ways to attract new hires – starting with looking to their residents and putting a new spin on “working from home.”

They’re touting their workplaces as the ideal job by marketing themselves on community websites, showing the comforts their location brings with their best pool area and palm tree images and the words, “Welcome to Your New Office” to help lure the remote-work crowd.

It’s wise to make sure any available career opportunities appear in as many places as possible – such as on company-sent emails and collateral – and encourage word-of-mouth efforts.

Others are partnering with diversity organizations and technical schools and universities – making sure they have a point of contact at each to keep them up-to-date with available career opportunities.

Don’t forget about boomerang employees – those who left the company but might want to return. Make sure they’re seeing the new and exciting things your company is doing.

Consider redefining your company’s culture “brand” by using words, images and messaging that emphasize the employee experience, right down to its job descriptions. Instead of writing job descriptions as a list of tasks, create them in a way that helps prospective employees understand their “mission” in the role, and explain the impact these roles play in the company’s success. Workers today seek a true purpose at the places they work, especially younger employees. And employees of all ages seek the potential for career development.

To attract employees motivated by the prospect of career growth, show how positions offer opportunities to gain skills that will transfer to any type of property in any part of the country, and offer a path towards more senior positions in the future.

To learn more about the research on top property management challenges, check out this summary of the findings on AppFolio Property Manager’s Industry Insights hub.