The Power of the 3 C's: Communication builds Connection and Community!

The Three C's are the fundamental pillars which are intertwined and crucial for building strong networks. According to Lia Nicole Smith of Satisfacts Research, the 2023 Biennial Online Renters Study showcased effective communication and inclusivity matters in creating a sense of community. She shares, “If Renters feel that information is not transparent or inclusive, or they perceptive a lack of effort to involve residents, it can negatively impact their sense of community. ”

Despite having a variety of technological options available for communication with residents, it seems that technology alone is not sufficient. While software that enables staff to email and text, and AI that can assist in communication content, nothing can replace human to human communication. Only onsite team members possess the necessary knowledge about what is happening on the property. Therefore, as an industry, we must focus not only on how and what we are communicating, but also why we are saying it. It's important for everyone to understand the reasoning behind the message when speaking with residents, prospects, and colleagues. Understanding the "why" in communication is crucial for providing context, inspiring action, building comprehension, and cultivating positive relationships. It contributes to effective and meaningful communication.

• Communication: Is the foundation

• It involves sharing information, thoughts, ideas, and feelings clearly and openly. Good communication skills help in conveying messages accurately, avoiding misunderstandings, and promoting understanding between individuals or groups. Effective communication isn't merely about transmitting words; it's about ensuring that the intended message is understood. Whether verbal or non-verbal, clear communication is essential for building trust, resolving conflicts, and fostering healthy relationships.

• When it comes to Onsite team members and residents, open and honest communication forms the basis of trust. Statistics from 2023 Satisfacts Biennial Online Renter Study shows 71.1% of residents prefer text message, 72% overall prefer Email, and 60.8% prefer a phone call. Truly there is not a reason you can be over communicating with residents. We should be focused on sharing more than “rent is due” to our residents. Other opportunities to build communication updates and progress on capital ex projects, monthly aspects which Maintenance is focused on, landscaping maintenance & improvements, amenity updates. Look for the projects or investments being made around the community in which are not usually communicated.

• Connection: The Thread That Unites

• Communication lays the groundwork, but connection is the emotional bond that emerges from it. Communication leads to connection. It's the bridge that links individuals. A genuine connection transcends mere acquaintance; it's about truly engaging with others, listening attentively, and empathizing with their experiences. It cultivates a sense of belonging and support, enriching our lives with companionship, emotional sustenance, and shared experiences.

• What does connection look like for a community? Onsite team members should be focused on creating experiences, not events.,“WOW” moments even on a one to one bases not just for the entire community at once. This can be accomplished by getting to know each resident and celebrating the moments. Things like: et’s birthday, residents birthday, celebrating a monumental moment for a resident, or even doing something unexpected.

• Community: The Tapestry of Togetherness

• As connections solidify, residents form the intricate threads of a community. A community is a group of people who share common goals, interests, or values. Effective communication and strong connections among its members are vital for the community to thrive. A healthy community provides support, collaboration, and a sense of belonging for its residents.

• Do your residents feel their home is a community? The data speaks loudly. From SatisFacts & ApartmentRatings most recent Biennial Online Renter Study shows residents expectations are not being met. Sense of community remains the #1 driver for perception of value in our latest. The gap between expectation (3.93) and reality (3.34) highlights an area for improvement within the multifamily industry. We must go beyond what "we" feel creates a sense of community, and look to what the residents want and need. We are in the business of hospitality and we must focus on serving the resident.

The interplay between these three elements forms the backbone of society. A breakdown in communication disrupts connection; severed connections weaken communities. Conversely, strengthening communication fosters deeper connections, which in turn fortify communities. In our pursuit of a harmonious and thriving community, recognizing the importance of the 3 C's is paramount. So let's embrace the power of Communication, foster meaningful Connections, and contribute positively to our Communities, weaving a vibrant tapestry of understanding, support, and togetherness.

Building Trustworthiness: Elevating Your Company's Brand with Personal Brand Trust Values

The concept of personal brand trust can extend beyond individuals to also influence the trustworthiness of a company. A company's brand is essentially the sum of the perceptions and experiences people have with it, and trust is a fundamental element of a strong and positive brand. 

What are the components that create trust for a personal brand which leads to an increase in a company’s brand?

Be authentic

One of the best ways to build brand trust is to be authentic and consistent in your marketing. Don't try to be something you're not, or copy what others are doing. Instead, focus on your unique qualities and your target audience's needs and preferences. Show your personality, your passion, and your purpose through your content, your design, and your interactions. Authenticity builds credibility, loyalty, and emotional connection.

Be transparent

Another key factor for building brand trust is to be transparent and honest. This means being open and clear about your products, services, prices, policies, and processes. Don't hide or exaggerate any information, or make false or misleading claims. Instead, provide accurate and complete details, disclose any risks or limitations, and admit any mistakes or failures. Transparency builds confidence, respect, and trustworthiness.

Be responsive

A third way to build brand trust is to be responsive and attentive. This means being available and accessible to your network which is full of customers, prospects, and partners. Don't ignore or delay any feedback, questions, or complaints. Instead, acknowledge and address them promptly, professionally, and politely. Use multiple channels and platforms to communicate and engage with your audience, and provide helpful and relevant information and solutions. Responsiveness builds satisfaction, retention, and advocacy.

Be valuable

A fourth way to build brand trust is to be valuable and useful.  This means providing value and benefit to your audience, not just selling or promoting your products or services. Don't spam or annoy your audience with irrelevant or intrusive content. Instead, create and share content that educates, entertains, inspires, or solves their problems. 

Be ethical

A fifth way to build brand trust is to be ethical and responsible. This means respecting and protecting your audience's privacy, data, and rights. Don't collect or use any personal or sensitive information without their consent, or share it with third parties without their knowledge.. Ethics builds security, reliability, and reputation.

Be adaptable

A sixth way to build brand trust is to be adaptable and flexible. This means being able to adjust and improve according to the changing needs, preferences, and behaviors of your audience, as well as the evolving trends, technologies, and opportunities in the digital landscape. Instead, monitor and measure your performance, and use data and feedback to optimize and innovate your digital marketing tactics. Adaptability builds relevance, differentiation, and growth.

If you have an employee who has built a personal brand, the work the employee is doing is also connecting the dots to the company in so many ways. I couldn’t just choose a few, so bear with me as there are 10 benefits to an employee who has built their personal brand and how it can have a positive effect on a company. 

1. Enhanced Company Reputation: When employees build strong personal brands, it reflects positively on the company. A credible, knowledgeable, and influential employee can elevate the company's reputation within their industry.

2. Increased Credibility and Trust: Employees with strong personal brands often have a dedicated following or network. Their endorsements or recommendations for the company's products or services carry weight, increasing credibility and trust among potential customers.

3. Better Customer Engagement: Employees with well-established personal brands often have a direct line of communication with their followers or network. Engaging with these individuals can improve customer relations and enhance the customer experience.

4. Attracting Talent: A company associated with employees known for their expertise, thought leadership, or innovation becomes an attractive place to work. This can lead to a more talented pool of potential employees wanting to join the company.

5. Content and Thought Leadership: Employees with strong personal brands often create valuable content that positions them as thought leaders. When they share insights related to the company's industry or products, it indirectly benefits the business.

6. Networking and Partnerships: Employees with strong personal brands can open doors to new partnerships, collaborations, or networking opportunities that benefit the company. Their connections can introduce the company to potential clients, vendors, or industry leaders.

7. Amplified Marketing Reach: Employees who actively promote the company through their personal brand can significantly expand the company's marketing reach. Their social media presence, speaking engagements, or contributions to industry publications can all bring positive attention to the business.

8. Increased Sales and Revenue: Engaged and influential employees can influence purchase decisions by recommending the company's products or services. Their endorsements often lead to increased sales and revenue.

9. Brand Advocacy: Employees with strong personal brands are more likely to advocate for the company both online and offline. They can positively represent the brand and its values in various contexts.

10. Employee Retention and Motivation: When employees are encouraged to build their personal brands, they often feel more valued and empowered. This can lead to higher job satisfaction, improved morale, and increased loyalty to the company.

The one thing to remember regarding building brand trust, is it takes time. It is the long game, one may not see the ROI within 3 months, so patience and consistency is really key to seeing the benefits. Encouraging and supporting employees in developing their personal brands can be a strategic move for companies to leverage the collective influence and expertise of their workforce, ultimately benefiting the business as a whole. 

2024... Where should we focus?

The cliche line, Multifamily is slow to change… on the heels of 2024 our industry I see we need to continue to embrace the change that is needed.  I recently asked the Multifamily Insiders Linkedin Group what they saw as the area’s we needed to focus on and Staff came in first with 55% agreeing. Lisa Russell shared her perspective digging into three specific areas. 

She shares the following:  

1. Digital Transformation: Property management has been slower to adapt to technological changes compared to other industries. Digitizing property management by implementing technologies like AI, machine learning, and robotics could streamline operations, improve efficiency, and save costs.

2. Resident Experience: There's a need for a renewed focus on resident experience. This could be achieved by providing seamless communication channels, quicker response times, and personalized services.

3. Staff Training: Emphasize on ongoing staff training to adapt to new tools and technologies to ensure the workforce is equipped to handle the evolving industry changes. Change management is a vital strategic process needed over the next 5 years.

I absolutely agree with all three of these and believe these all actually tie together. I firmly believe that it all starts with outstanding training.  Industry onsite team’s need continuous training. We as an industry need to invest and focus on our team's need for training. When we invest in our teams onsite they grow personally and professionally, they feel valued, invested in and will continue to deliver an outstanding customer experience. Now staff training needs to involve tech training and we shouldn’t ever lose sight or reduce the training available for team members around technology. Everyone learns differently which really means we should be adding trainers to our corporate teams. In some regards, we need personalized trainers who are experts in specific software or areas of the business. Technology doesn’t make things easier in some regards, sometimes there are more hiccups in making sure technology all works together. (just like we need to personalize our customers experience) 

I recently heard from a former executive of a top NMHC company that between 2020 and 2022, about two dozen new technologies were launched! Everything from self-guided touring, video touring widget, smart home access control, rent reporting, alternative insurance + deposit programs, flexible rent payments, digital asset management tool, more sophisticated reputation management, virtual leasing assistants, virtual events app for residents, contact centers, and the list goes on. 

She went on to say, not all of those directly impacted onsite team members, however, that was absolutely a huge consideration - a number of tools did, and that was really difficult for everyone to shoulder during COVID. So much change across the org, from leadership and business continuity / safety, on down to remote work and managing new technology platforms for onsite teams. The last 3 years have really taken it out of everyone. 

How can we rethink, invest in our onsite teams and cultivate a culture where we all can embrace new technology to better service our employees 

Understanding that scenario was a little over a year ago, and we are still struggling with onsite turn, training, implementing new technology etc. We must focus on our staff and train them with intention. If we as an industry can embrace the digital transformation which includes finding the right marriage of AI to HI (Human Intelligence), we can increase the resident experience. It all starts with investing and training our employees.

Out with Work-Life Balance and In with Work-Life Blend

Evolving definition of Work Life Balance 

Work-life balance was part of most workplace conversations pre-Covid. The concept assumed work and life as two separate entities and tried to give each equal proportions of attention. Covid came with remote working, and many organizations realized that work and life are integral. Work itself is a part of life, and their blending is unpreventable. It took a taste of remote working to realize that and usher in a new concept — work-life blending.

What Is Work-Life Blend? (NOT work life balance). Work-life blending helps employees become more flexible, productive, and mentally healthy. This new concept has moved from being two separate aspects of an employees life, to blending and integrating professional and personal lives in everyday life. Blending work and life can be waking up early to put in more hours so you can create more time for family functions, or relocating to a more serene neighborhood, so you work more productively.

Let's Blend More…

Both lives (professional and personal)  shouldn’t compete or strike a perfect balance but should be flexible enough to accommodate the other. As the line between our personal and professional lives becomes more blurry, there are overlaps regarding our roles as colleagues, parents and friends,, there are zero struggles for work-life balance and no worries about high work time since work is integrated with social and personal lives. Work no longer denies you the life you want.

Each day spent meeting personal and professional goals increases the work-life blending appeal. We’ve discovered that we can live both lives comfortably while staying productive and physically and mentally healthy. 

It is a Delicate Balance..

When you hear blend, don’t assume that you should work all the time and from everywhere or work while there's other things happening in your personal time. People do need predictable and specific marked time off. We do need boundaries so that we are not working 24/7 and creating burnout. A blend is being able to shut off when needed and still being able to meet your deliverables without being penalized. 

Both Sides are Responsible…

Employees and Employers are both responsible for creating a blend. It is up to both parties to speak up, lean in, be open and communicate. Employers must be flexible and open to the idea that one doesn’t have to have one or the other and an employee doesn’t need to be tethered to a desk or specific office hours. Employees need to feel comfortable and willing to share what they need. The more transparent and honest each side is, the more productive everyone will be resulting in delivering the KPI’s that were set at the top of the year.  

Mentor talks with you, a leader talks to you.

I look back not just on my multifamily positions that I have held, but all of the positions that have allowed me to grow and I reflect that the 5 characteristics listed below are the ones that are truly the most important in a mentor. Every mentor I have had has these characteristics which have led them to be a wonderful leader which shaped my experience and who I am as a person. 

Caring - everyone wants to be cared about

Empathetic - creates an environment where team members feel heard, valued, and understood.

Transparency - we all want to be able to know we are not alone, we can all relate to each other 

Inspiring/Motivating  - everyone strives to want to do better, and when values are aligned, deep emotional drivers are engaged, we are all motivated

Trustworthy/Respected - creates the stable foundation for employees to be flexible, adaptable, and thrive in times of continuous change.

You may ask, why I choose these 6 traits out of the millions of traits that are options. Ultimately we are all humans, and when it comes to humans connecting with other humans, we are all deeply rooted in emotions. We feel, (at different levels), but nonetheless, we are all connected through our nervous system, which affects our thoughts, memory, learning and feelings. It is human nature.  

In addition to managing and motivating people which are great leadership qualities, I believe it's important to remember one can not be an effective leader without being a dedicated mentor. Someone who is a great mentor helps others learn, grow and become more effective in their jobs. 

2023 Company Culture: Is it everything people are talking about?

We all know we are at an all time high of employees being laid off which means employees who are on the hunt for a new position in 2023 have higher expectations in their new opportunity. These applicants will not only be focused on the position it self, title and salary requirements, however the one area employers have to remember which are important to applicants is company culture. This doesn’t mean what is written on the company website or shown on social media. Applicants are reaching out to people whom already work there to see if actions are happening around culture or is it all for show to bring in quality new employees. The old saying, actions speak louder than words really is holding true when it comes to company culture.

With less than 2 weeks until the end of the year, is your company really truly invested in a detailed company culture plan? Have you spend the time and energy to analyze what you did this year? What worked, what didn’t work? What did employees like, what do they want more of? Have you not only listed but have you taken the ideas and implemented them for 2023? Culture to employees is one of the top important aspects. Don’t go into 2023 missing the mark as by the end of 2023 you will not only miss the mark for employees but you will have employees leaving and looking for a new opportunity.

Most recently O.C. Tanner published a white paper focusing on the 5 Culture Trends for 2023.

Culture Trend #1: Employees want more from their work. As I mentioned above, salary requirements and standard benefits are not enough anymore. Fulfillment doesn’t just come from doing the tasks that one is asked to do on a daily basis. Feeling like one has a purpose in their overall position along with the feeling of belonging for a bigger purpose is high priority. When someone doesn’t feel like their is greater purposes, they become rundown and feel like they are on a hamster wheel each day.

What can a company implement in their 2023 plan? As leaders, regardless of how much are on your plate, support and encourage balance, create boundaries for your employees. Hold people to PTO so when they return they are refreshed. Give them flexibility, connect with each-other and even those outside of the company, within their community. Employees want to feel they are being invested in, their leader is a mentor and offer training to better themselves as a person, not just in their specific role.

Culture Trend #2: Workplace community is increasingly important. In a world were employees may be spread out, workplace community is even more important than ever before. This goes beyond just a zoom wine down hour. Investing to bring your team together locally or nationally is one of the best investments a company can make. The benefits include increased morale, higher productivity and a sense of belonging. The stats within the O.C. Tanner white-paper is astounding, “ Conversely, according to McKinsey, the top reasons people quit their jobs are they don’t feel valued (54%) and they don’t feel a sense of belonging at work (51%).” “In fact, 72% of employees say it’s important for them to feel part of a community at work. Yet employees are having trouble connecting with their organizations.”

What can a company implement in their 2023 plan? It is not up to the employees to build the connection, companies should have a tactile detailed plan to engage and connect their employees and create a sense of community. Companies should create space, time and planned opportunities for in office and remote employees to feel connection. A detailed culture plan is just as important as a sales budget or a marketing budget.

Culture Trend #3: Leaders are burning out. As a leader myself, or as I call myself a mentor. This couldn’t be more true. Leadership has more on their plate handling multiple jobs not just handling strategy but day to day, in the weeds tasks. Why are we allowing all of this to be on one leader in a department? It is directly leading to burn out,

• Administrative tasks—planning and budgeting, timecard approvals, etc.

• Operational work—project management, attending meetings, hitting deadlines, etc.

• Manage teams—performance reviews, one-to-one meetings, hiring, etc.

• Be a leader—coaching and mentoring, developing, connecting, building culture, wellbeing, retention, etc.

• Strategic planning—innovating, planning, etc.

It is only driving leaders to be poached or to look elsewhere to seek out balance in their lives. “Only 1 in 3 managers are emotionally engaged at work, and managers experienced the highest drop in engagement over the past year.” As a human can only bear so much not only in the work force but balancing their responsibilities outside the position.

What can a company implement in their 2023 plan? Companies should be focused on their leaders. Hiring an additional employee would be the best investment not only for the company but for their leader to be successful. In turn keeping leaders for a longer term, reducing turn over and training new employees to be a leader. Offering support, resources (that means additional employees) and tools to meet the demand they are given.

Culture Trend #4: The rise of generalists. Having a generalist on your team is and can be a great thing, but generalist can and do feel overlooked, as a matter of fact, 52% feel overlooked according to O.C. Tanner published white paper. Since they do so much in so many areas, these employees don’t feel supported or appreciated.

What can a company implement in their 2023 plan? First take a look at each team and assess who within the company may fall in the generalist and make a specific plan for these employees. Although these employees are awesome at handling a variety of tasks, as a leader, find the skills they flourish and excel in and strengthen those. Look at connecting a mentor/leader to these employees so they don’t feel stretched thin and have someone to go to for guidance. These type of people need to feel valued and noticed. Do so by highlighting their accomplishments not only directly to them but to the entire organization.

Culture Trend #5: Symbolic awards build belonging. Amplifying appreciation leads into physical awards. When employees work from home and sometimes may be isolated, seeing a physical symbol of an employees contribution can go a long way. This also allows the employee to showcase how much the company values you them and even for the employee to share on social media

What can a company implement in their 2023 plan? Include symbolic awards for each team, include how long they have been with the company, for contributing to the company values. Hold to these and share these accomplishments not just with the employee but throughout the year on a company wide stage.

Walking out of 2022 and into 2023, each company must remember employee connection, company culture is just as important if not more important to the companies sales plan or marketing plan or any others. Without company culture the employee turn will continue and the companies brand will continue to be weakened. One added piece to remember: this is not something that can be done alone, by one department, seek out platforms to assist like Workvivo. The value a culture driven platform can bring is immeasurable and investing in a platform that can complement your teams will bring an enormous amount of return. Let’s walk into the new year with our heads held high and a solid plan for employees to thrive, flourish and feel appreciated.

*Sats and references from O.C. Tanner