What Makes a Company a
Great Place to Work? By Lynette Bertrand, Communications Manager, CACM
W
e asked executives at companies in our industry who were recognized as being a top place to work. There’s been a massive shift over the past decade in company culture and how employers relate to their staff. In recent years, Human Resource departments across the board have moved away from a top down approach focused on black and white protocols and procedures. Before, organizations pushed out rules and plans and employees complied. But more recently, the power has shifted. Relationships between employer and employee have become more personal. These days, many companies spend just as much time surveying their employees as they do their customers. The 2020s will be all about putting people first, according to LinkedIn’s 2020 Global Talent Trends report. The report, which analyzed survey results from more than 7,000 talent professionals in 35 countries, LinkedIn’s own behavioral data and interviews with experts, found that empathy is reshaping the way employers hire and retain talent.
“Companies are becoming more empathetic not only to attract candidates, but to retain their workforce amid increasing expectations of what employers owe to their people,” the report said. “Companies will work to understand their talent more deeply than ever before in order to better serve them.” Community management companies that have been rated and recognized as “Best Places to Work” all share certain characteristics. They all also report hiring staff despite the COVID pandemic this year. Here are some areas these companies focus on. EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT Powerstone Property Management, ACMC, which has been recognized as a Best Place to Work by the Orange County Business Journal for the past three years, hired Katie Bellows last fall specifically to bolster the company’s in-house training. The Powerstone Academy is an internal training program for managers that covers everything from new legislation impacting HOAs to how to create a budget or interpret association financials. Up until the pandemic, training was held in-person at its offices. Now much of it takes place on Zoom. “A lot of our employees come from outside of the industry,” said Bellows, Director of Talent Acquisition & Growth. “As long as they have customer service and people skills we can train on all of the industry specific skills like how to
create a board packet, the CC&Rs, or putting together budgets.” In-house training is in addition to outside education and certifications offered by CACM. Powerstone classes are led by industry vendors and senior-level employees of the company.
Strong, compelling culture is a recruiting and retention tool “Our senior leadership is so employee centric and focused,” Bellows said. “Growth and development is important to making sure everyone has a path.” Powerstone employs roughly 170. The company has hired more than 25 people during the pandemic, Bellows said. Associa developed its Associa University, an internal training program entirely online five years ago. It includes a mix of videos, business articles and in-house courses to train employees based on their role in the company. The company Continues on page 20
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