Lincoln Messenger issue 14 • october 2016
Keeping You and Your Team safe@lincoln page 4
Community Service Mission Moments! page 5
Team Member Number One, Sam Merrick page 6
inspiration
A Letter from Philip “The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do for themselves, in their separate and individual – Abraham Lincoln, July 1st, 1854 capacities.” As we celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Lincoln Military Housing (LMH), it is important for us all to reflect on our individual roles in the success of the company – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. We can easily replace “Government” in the above quote with “Company Leadership,” as our objective is to provide the tools, training and support for each of you to successfully accomplish the daily tasks that make LMH successful. Every two years, we formally ask for your feedback with an Employee Engagement Survey, set to go out again this Fall, we do so because we sincerely want to hear from you, we want you to share your thoughts, concerns and ideas to help us continue to GET BETTER. After arriving in September of 2012, I reviewed the most recent survey and then met with Jarl Bliss, our President, along with all of the Regional Vice Presidents: Steve Browne, Tom Brown, Gail Miller and Chris Crennan, and together we discussed how we could provide solutions to the issues shared. As a reminder, the top five comments were: · ·
“We Need Better Training” “LMH does not use technology to make our job easier
· · ·
“Policies are not consistent everywhere and they are hard to find” “Communication does not always get out to everyone” “I do not know what I need to do to get promoted, we need HR”
Working together with many of you in the field, we have addressed each of those issues brought to our attention, and while we are not done growing, we have made strides with your help. Since 2012, we now have a National Training Director exclusive to LMH, Mimi Morrison, to support our Regional Training Directors and address our training needs. We have implemented Yardi Mobile, Payscan, DocuSign to take advantage of the efficiencies afforded us through these new technologies. We have held multiple meetings to update and revise our policies to ensure more consistency throughout LMH, and organized them on the new Knowledge Center. In addition to this newsletter, we have made efforts to disseminate information in a more timely manner to ensure we are all on the same page. Lastly, over the last two years, our National Director of Staff Development (AKA “HR”), Leslie Sylvester, has worked with many in the field conducting over 100 interviews to finalize our official LMH Job Descriptions. Each team member has a reference on what they need to do to reach the next level of their career. With your help, we have accomplished a lot together, with your feedback, we can do EVEN MORE. Please take the time this year to let us know how we are doing and give us YOUR ideas for doing it BETTER! – Philip Rizzo Vice President of Operations Philip Rizzo is the Vice President of Operations for LMH and is responsible for the overall management and daily operations. As a former soldier and son of an officer, Philip is committed to serving the men, women and families LMH is privileged enough to call our residents.
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department updates
Ratings and Reviews The Power of One SENTIMENT Positive
in this issue
Little Creek’s Sentiment Analysis
AVERAGE RATING Neutral
Negative
Reviews requested by Cameron
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12
inspiration
page 1
A Letter from Philip department updates
9
6
pages 2, 3 & 4
Marketing: Ratings and Reviews The Power of One
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0
Call Center
SEP ’15
Team Development
NOV ’15
DEC ’15
FEB ’16
APR ’16
MAY ’16
JUL ’16
AUG ’16
SEP ’16
Yardi 7S Technology and Innovation Team Member Number One, Sam Merrick lincoln news
pages 3, 4 & 8
Lincoln Employee Milestones RED Shirt Fridays LMH Mission Statement and Core Values services and charities Community Service Mission Moments Lincoln Charities
pages 5 & 7
The topic of ratings and reviews and the impact they have on businesses is not new. However, with new technology and platform integrations, ratings and reviews are more accessible than ever making the impact more significant. In the past, potential residents had to seek out rating and review sites to preview a given business. Now potential residents are presented with ratings and reviews even when searching for our phone number or using a GPS to visit our office. Below are some examples of popular companies that have adopted rating and review integration. • Map applications such as Google Maps and Apple Maps • Search Engines such as Google and Bing More recent statistics show that 92% of consumers read online reviews and approximately 87% of consumers would not consider using a business with an average rating of one to two stars. In our industry specifically, 61% of residents said they would be willing to post a positive review, however,only 16% said they have been asked to post a review. So how should your team go about soliciting or requesting ratings and reviews? It can be as simple as having a
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conversation with a resident that has had a positive experience with us.
We are all brand ambassadors for Lincoln Military Housing and each and everyone one of us can have a significant impact on how our brand is perceived online. A great example of the positive impact one person can have is Cameron Qualls, a Maintenance Technician from the Little Creek District in Hampton Roads. While fulfilling maintenance requests, Cameron began requesting residents visit our facebook page and rate the service he just provided. Within a couple months, Cameron himself was able to obtain 11 reviews, all of which were five stars! From January to May the average rating at this site was 1.8 stars. After Cameron’s began requesting reviews the average rating is now a 3.6 and the all-time rating for this site is back up to a 3.3! Great job Cameron, thank you for your dedication to our residents and our team. Sources: Search Engine Land, 2015. SatisFacts, 2015.
department updates
lincoln news
Lincoln Employee Milestones
Call Center
We are proud to have such dedicated, highly skilled and caring team members, always seeking to improve the quality of life for our military families. Please join us in congratulating the members of the Lincoln Military Housing team listed below who are celebrating their milestone anniversaries.
LMH Call Center
Wow! What a SUMMER! What an amazing time of TEAMWORK! For both the call center and the district teams we support. Here are some mind-blowing stats from our summer. From Memorial Day to Labor Day we received a total of 71,995 Lincoln At Your Service maintenance calls, dispatched 9,847 on call tickets, made 4,215 RSS Courtesy Calls, sent out 83 RedFlag notifications, sent out 64,825 SatisFacts Surveys and submitted 84,811 service requests for residents all while working with ONE mission in mind! Exemplary Service! Kudos to our call center team!� A special warm welcome back, Clarice!
Brown Region:
Scott Region:
5 years Kaleen Gage
5 years Stacy Brewster Nichole Collins Adrian Flores Saray Hendricks Juan Perez
Browne Region: 5 years Travis Acord Melissa Arfield Guadalupe Arteaga Marco Calles Mercedes Castillo Jamie Cruz Padilla Anthony Durham Anthony Freer Margarita Lara Michael Phillips Jr. Benjamin Quirino Meza Michael Torres 10 years Lori Credico Charles Brown Virginia Clendenin Jose Lara Hurtado
10 years David Belleisle James Draeger Daniel Murphy Francisco Ruiz Vanesa Valdovino 15 years Heidi Delapena Lucio Gallon Efrain Gutierrez Alshawna Guzman Troy Madsen Jaime Munoz Cynthia Sheridan Thomas Vogt
Crennan Region: 5 years Jennifer Edwards Walter Pringle 10 years AJames Brackett Joseph Medley
LMH Call Center
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department updates forward. Jerrod Demaree, LMH Senior Yardi Engineer, has been diligently working with Yardi, but, despite our best efforts, we need to push our scheduled roll-out into early 2017. We will have more details to share as we move closer to the first part of the year.
Technology and Innovation LMH Safety Committee
Team Development At Lincoln, safety matters. In fact, safety matters so much that, over the past year, we assembled a dynamic team of people to create a formal Safety Committee. Your peers on this committee have worked long and hard to take our safety procedures to another level. The result? We are proud to introduce, the Injury and Illness Prevention Program, also referred to as the IIPP! So what exactly is this I-I-P-P...? The IIPP is designed to help minimize workplace accidents and injuries while improving our overall safety awareness. Think of it this way; Safety should be a part of everything we do, a habit, second nature, a part of our culture. This new program has the specific goal of keeping you and your team SAFE@Lincoln.
IT has continued to improve the network and Windows end-user experience in 2016. We are currently working on several new technologies that we are looking to implement as soon as the end of September with much more to come in 2017. We strive to make employee’s workload easier through harnessing new and innovative technologies. If you have an idea that can automate or alleviate a task through technology, please submit a Help Desk ticket. Your input is greatly appreciated! Okta is coming the first week of October. Okta is an identity management system which will force the second factor of authentication when users attempt to log in off the network; you have probably experienced this with your online banking. See the Okta page on the KC for storyboards on the Okta experience.
lincoln news
RED Shirt Fridays Remember Everyone Deployed (RED) Fridays: LMH teams are wearing red on Fridays to support the sacrifices of servicemen and servicewomen overseas. Thank you, LMH, for showing your support and keeping our troops in your thoughts. If your installation participates, please send all photos to LincolnMilitary@lpsi.com.
So what happens next...? We piloted the program in August, and we will continue introducing it throughout our locations in California in the near future. Stay tuned for additional details about when it will be introduced in your area next year. Special thanks to our amazing committee members who volunteered many, many hours and put forth PAINSTAKING efforts to make this program possible!
Yardi 7S While we are excited at many of the new functions and added ease of use that the new system will bring, there are still some reporting bugs that need to be worked out before we are ready to move 4
RED Shirt Fridays in Chesterton District
services and charities
Community Service Mission Moments Each year Lewis-McChord Communities partners with local JBLM agencies to host National Night Out / Back To School. The Department of Emergencies Services, Military Police Brigade, JBLM Fire and Rescue, JBLM Commanders, USO Mobile Canteen, and representatives from the local school districts come out to spend time with the families from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Everyone is welcome to attend, and we always have a fantastic turnout. This year was no exception; we hosted approximately 1,500 guests! During this event, families come out to meet one another and enjoy a free hotdog dinner while their children get an opportunity to meet emergency personnel and collect free back to school supplies. We handed out almost $8,000 worth of supplies this year! Each school age child went home with a bag of First Day of school essentials plus a chance to win a loaded backpack worth over $150. While the kids are more excited to climb around in a fire truck or watch a police dog demonstration we received our mission moment when we heard from their parents. The event was a godsend for many military families, including that of Sarah Brunney. The military spouse and mother of five said she spent more than $650 last year to purchase supplies for all her kids. “This is so going to help,� she said, as her children emerged from a lengthy line with a bag each of pens, pencils, binders, folders, and more. Sometimes you have no idea how far reaching your events are until you hear from the families that attend. Because truthfully, the families are not the only ones who benefit, Lewis-McChord Communities does too. Because of our events we have built better relationships with our families, local schools, and JBLM agencies. So really, this is a two way mission moment.
To read the full article written by JBLM Northwest Guardian, visit the Community Services page on the Knowledge Center. (http://www.nwguardian. com/2016/08/04/25306/night-out-eventbig-hit-with-jblm.html)
Employee Engagement Survey The bi-annual Employee Engagement Survey is set to go out this fall. Keep an eye out for more information on the survey and be sure you and your team participate. Your feedback is an integral part of our success.
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department updates connections develop into new friendships and eventually a support network that helps military families during what can be the most difficult times in their lives. Also, the connections and support networks are a key component in ensuring military readiness. “Everything we do we measure against military readiness because the link to quality of life and military readiness is like two sides of the same coin,” Merrick said. “You have to do one to do the other.”
Sam Merrick and Gail Miller
Team Member Number One, Sam Merrick Since the day Lincoln Military Housing opened its doors over 15 years ago, Sam Merrick, National Vice President Military Affairs has been a constant presence. He embodies the mindset of “serving those who serve” and has mentored team members at Lincoln Military Housing and others to grow this industry (Department of Defense privatized housing) into what it is today. In 2001, Sam Merrick endeavored on another adventure with Lincoln Property Company to assist in the transition of management and operations of Navy Housing in San Diego. At that time, his goals were simple, and he was focused on the mission. However, he soon realized that in order for the military housing project to be successful we wouldn’t be able to simply follow the road map of conventional multifamily housing. Sam realized we would need to harness the power of our government partner, both local and national organizations, and companies like Lincoln Military Housing, to ensure success. This realization and the turning point came during one of the first events Lincoln Military Housing sponsored for military families that resided in San Diego Family Housing. Sam thought it would be a great idea to hold a low-key event to welcome families to Lincoln Military Housing. It was a simple event, a pizza party for both parents and children alike. The turnout was phenomenal, mostly moms and their children. The team soon began running around handing out pizza; moms were chatting, and the children were doing what children do best, having fun. During the event, Sam witnessed a mom join the on-going party, and he later learned that she was new to the area and had just said goodbye to her husband who was being deployed. During the welcome party, the mom met families in the same situation. “At the end of the night, I saw her leaving, and she was holding in her hand a piece of paper with four names and phone numbers of spouses she had met,” Merrick said. “She was clutching that piece of paper. At that particular time, what really hit home is how important those gatherings are.” Sam quickly came to the realization that events like this are not just about the free pizza, they are about making connections. These 6
In the future, when developing new residential communities Lincoln Military Housing remembered and kept the importance of these connections in mind, adding recreation facilities, community centers, and front porches on new homes – all to encourage and facilitate the connection between families and neighbors. “In the military community, families are their own best support group,” Merrick said. “We all want to support them ... but I’m here to tell you that the next door neighbor who’s also a military spouse that’s been here for six months, maybe her spouse is a senior enlisted person, and they really know the ropes and know their way around, can be greater support for a spouse than anything else. They just need to meet.” It has been years since that first event, and Sam continues to help Lincoln Military Housing team members understand and live our mission. Sam is the first to welcome new employees, if not in person, through the Lincoln Military Housing orientation training video, and he carries the message of the importance of taking care of our military families. It is people like Sam with a passion and true commitment to military families that have made a difference in the success of the private-public partnerships. Sam has worked tirelessly to foster the relationships with our government partner to ensure communication was at the forefront of decisions that would ultimately impact our military families. He also helped establish the framework for forming partnerships with local military organizations, such as ASYMCA, that could continue the support of our military families. In 2006, Sam established the Privatized Military Housing Committee (PMHC) under the National Apartment Association (NAA). The PMHC has enabled military housing providers and supporting vendors, collectively to find better solutions and ways to serve military families. Sam served as PMHC Committee Chair for the past nine years. In 2011, Sam was honored with the Founder’s Award for his work in military housing. The Founder’s Award is PHMA’s highest award bestowed to those special individuals who have made major contributions to both PHMA and their individual military service and whose professional and personal lives exemplify the ideals of the association and their peers. “Over the last 15 years with Lincoln Military Housing, Sam has developed a passion for serving the men, women, and families who are serving for our freedom every day. His enthusiasm and commitment to our military families is infectious and has helped shape Lincoln’s residentfocused approach to providing quality homes and connected communities for our residents and their families to thrive in each day,” Philip Rizzo, Vice President of Operations.
services and charities
Lincoln Charities Lincoln Charities has already broken a record for the most amount of assistance given this year in our history! We have been able to provide our Lincoln Family with over $182K in total, helping 23 families this year so far. We have had some fun with our fundraisers such as the 50/50 raffle at Camp Pendleton. Camp Lejeune had a very successful garage sale, and our Dallas area picked up some new bling at a recent Kendra Scott “Kendra Gives Back� with 20% of proceeds benefiting Lincoln Charities. Our LPC Midwest Team also raised over $5000 with their annual LPC Picnic which was a blast! Please talk about us with our new team members, think of cool ways that we can spread awareness of Lincoln Charities, and refer to our page on the Knowledge Center or online at lincolncharities.com. Remember, the best way of allowing us to help others is to donate $1 via Automatic Payroll Deduction.
Debra Perez
Open Enrollment It is almost time for open enrollment! Stay tuned this
Camp Lejeune
fall for more information on 2017 open enrollment from your payroll and benefits coordinators.
join the conversation Connect with Lincoln Military Housing through social media! We would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about the content covered in this newsletter! Please visit LMHFeedback.com to share your comments or suggestions on what you would like to see featured in the next issue. 7
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Lincoln Military Housing Mission Statement At Lincoln Military Housing, our mission is to provide military families with exemplary service in a quality home environment, employees with unparalleled opportunities for personal and professional development, and military partners with quality homes and vibrant neighborhoods.
Core Values
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Balance: We all take responsibility for creating and maintaining a healthy work-life balance for ourselves and each other.
Communication: Our interactions with each other are respectful, we listen with an open mind, provide honest feedback and we are receptive to new ideas.
Commitment: We passionately strive each day to deliver on our mission to serve our residents, our partners and each other.
Empowerment: Each of us is encouraged to take initiative, ownership and make good business decisions in the best interest of those we serve.
Integrity: We are honest and truthful, we
Respect: We strive to treat others as we
do what is right–ALWAYS.
would like to be treated.
LincolnMilitary.com