Will Your Next Hire Come From The Ritz?

Executives turn to hospitality and other industries as finding staff becomes increasingly difficult.

By Lynette Bertrand, Communications Manager, CACM

Ask any community management executive what are the top challenges in business today, and you’ll find that hiring and recruiting new staff typically tops that list.

“It’s gotten harder to hire,” admitted Rolf Crocker, CAMEx, CCAM, CEO/Principal of OMNI Community Management, LLC, ACMC. “I needed to find a manager for the East Bay region and it took several months to land one, and it was a referral from a vendor. During the pandemic, most folks were plugged in somewhere else.”

It’s a comment other executives echoed. Despite posting ads on mainstream job boards as well as industry specific sites, filling community management positions has become a difficult hurdle for many companies who have resorted to different tactics. Crocker said what’s worked best for him is “raising people from inside.” Hiring staff as office or administrative assistants and providing them the opportunity to work toward becoming a community manager. “Anyone who starts at an entry level position has the opportunity to become a manager,” he said.

Others have resorted to hiring employees from outside of the industry.

Damian Jenkins, President of The Management Trust’s Desert division, has found success hiring staff from the hospitality industry. Over the last year, that industry has laid off large swaths of employees—many of whom haven’t been able to get their job back or are hesitant to go back fearing that a new virus strain may force another shutdown or limit operations and they’ll find themselves out of a job again.

Hospitality workers come from a wide array of businesses including hotels, restaurants and bars. Jenkins is well connected to that industry after a lifelong career managing high-end hotels and restaurants before making the jump into the community management industry three years ago. So finding some of the top talent was a bit easier through his established network and posting jobs on hospitality specific job sites.

“It’s really working out well for us to hire people who have that hospitality mindset to go above and beyond, first of all for each other as employees, then customers,” Jenkins said. The Desert division is the largest at The Management Trust, employing more than 200 people, mostly because of the number of onsite communities it serves.

Many of these hires are filling hospitality roles at country club operations served by The Management Trust. The company recently launched a new “Trust Hospitality” brand to expand its services beyond community management to include event planning, HR support, IT support, country club operations, facilities maintenance, food and beverage operations, spa operations and more.

Jenkins said some of these hires have also been a good fit for community manager roles.

“One of our hires from hospitality quickly took the bull by the horns and is now managing six communities,” Jenkins said. “A couple of them are small, but he’s doing so well in it. His background is hospitality and he provides great customer service and a balanced approach. We get so many email surveys about him. And he’s also able to help in a lot of other areas like reopening of operations and re-engaging communities with events. He has a background in events. He’s a quick study and just got his designation as well. That’s the type of thing that’s really rewarding to see.”

“It’s really working out well for us to hire people who have that hospitality mindset to go above and beyond, first of all for each other as employees, then customers.”

Workers from that industry are now more open minded to try something different, he added. And association management provides stability. While not recession proof entirely, it is a lot more stable. Compensation and benefits are generally higher than what many of them are used to, and the schedule is also more favorable with regular Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm working hours.

“It’s been quite easy to attract talent from that industry, but the key is investing in them and making sure the first impression is a lasting impression. Training is critical to keeping employees around,” Jenkins added.

Especially if you want to break the typical lifespan of a manager at a post or in the industry overall. Rob Buffington, President of Gordian Staffing, a company that works with HOA managers, said the average lifespan for managers at their jobs is between 18 and 24 months. Buffington, who also owns EastWest Building Works, said he often follows managers as they switch companies or roles.

OMNI’s Crocker also noted it usually takes a new community manager between 18 and 36 months to figure out if they really like what they do, or if they can’t process the stress, to get out.

Buffington, who previously owned a management company, said one of his best hires was an immigration lawyer for 10 years. “He had experience with people from all walks of life and bureaucracy and was detail oriented. He ended up being a wonderful community manager,” he said.

Still, the learning curve is steep for non-industry newcomers, and if you go that route it will require training and mentoring. Newcomers are usually hired into a supporting role as a community support specialist and groomed to eventually be community managers.

OMNI Community’s Crocker has also had success hiring from hospitality.

“I’ve got a site inspector who came from Starbucks and he’s phenomenal,” he said. “If they’re coming out of hospitality, whether they’re restaurant servers or work at Starbucks, they can process the people component. In this business, the hardest thing to process is personality. You don’t get to pick the homeowners or board members. You have to work with the dynamic of all kinds of people without losing your mind.”

Does it mean every new hire should come from outside of the community management industry? Far from it.

“If people have a lot of experience in this business and the right mindset and attitude, I consider people from this industry as well,” Jenkins said. “Just don’t be afraid to hire from a different industry, especially hospitality. It does pay dividends.”

BEST PRACTICES WHEN HIRING

CACM asked Rob Buffington, Damian Jenkins and Rolf Crocker for their best hiring/interviewing practices. Here’s what they said:

• “I involve my entire leadership team in every hire to make sure they’re a cultural fit.”

• “I’m not hung up on HOA experience. In my experience, some of the best hires I’ve made are people with zero experience and no bad habits to retrain. I focus on longevity and if they’re moving jobs every year or 2 years.”

• “We have a conversation about our corporate culture upfront, how we treat each other, that it’s a safe place to fail and make mistakes and if you need help ask, don’t be embarrassed.”

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

• “If you were in my seat today and you were interviewing prospective employees for this position, what qualities would you look for in this individual? When you ask them for qualities they look for in somebody else, they don’t clam up as if you ask for their own core competencies.”

• “What’s the last book you’ve read? I’ve never hired a prolific reader who didn’t turn into a solid employee.”

• “It’s hard to suss out how people deal with the people component in terms of stress, but you can ask questions like, ‘What’s the most challenging situation you’ve ever been through?’”

• “Favorite customer service moment and least favorite customer service moment.”

• “Favorite leader and least favorite boss.”

Lynette Bertrand, Communications Manager, CACM