By Rolf Crocker

In my travels around the country, the number one question I get from management company owners is, “How can I find and retain qualified staff?”  Far above software and systems, best practices and pricing, staff development is the number one dilemma facing our industry today.  And it is a question that begs to be asked – “Where are the up-and-comers?”  Industry growth continues to trend upward with no immediate end in sight.  This ‘Experiment that has become an Institution’ (as Evan Mackenzie calls it) is being viewed from those on the outside as a safe and viable niche business.  What are we doing to propagate the species?  We can only swap staff for so long – eventually, the branches on the DNA tree diminish with the results you might expect from that example.  What are we doing about it?

We all know that managers are the gatekeepers.  They are the ones who generally have the trust and confidence of the Board and become our ‘face.’  When it works, it is Heaven – when it doesn’t, it is Hell.  In order to get a handle on this, let’s take a brief look at where we’ve been.

Historically, I can bet you dollars to donuts that none of you went to the Vocational Counselor in High School or College and said, “I’m looking for a challenging and fulfilling career in the Community Association Industry – Can you set me up with the requisite course curriculum?”  In fact, most of us fell into this through sheer, dumb, idiot luck.  We were Board members, Real Estate agents, maintenance personnel (that’s me!), the pool guy or the receptionist at the Management Company.  An oft-told story is that of the old-fashioned Field Promotion – “So-and-so can’t make the meeting tonight.  Here’s the binder and the Board Packet – Good Luck!”  And so, we have lumbered along this track for the better part of the last 35 years.  It has really only been in the last 5 to 7 years or so that we have begun to look at Best Practices for our industry.  However, the subject of staff development remains elusive.

What makes a good Community Association Manager (CAM)?  Even though it is a multi-disciplined profession, one skill above all others defines our level of success.  It is the one skill that is Make-or-Break, Do-or-Die.  That skill is the ability to deal well with people.  This is a skill that is not easily defined, because it needs to work on so many levels.  The unique skill of listening, letting people know they’ve been heard, processing the pressures, demands and expectations of owners, the Board and the Management Company, executing what is required under the law and the governing documents, staving off the “Torch and Pitchfork” committees and, throughout all of it – the ability to develop and maintain TRUST with all concerned – this is the CAM’s domain.

I used to tell my staff the following, which I believe to be axiomatic – “I can teach you skill all day long, but I can’t teach you heart – you either have it or you don’t.”  I know managers who are technically competent – in some cases, technically brilliant.  But the Board and the membership doesn’t ‘feel the love.’  Conversely, I know managers who are less-than-competent, and their Boards LOVE them.  John Maxwell, noted leadership expert, uses the following analogy:  Would you rather be operated on by a Doctor who is technically brilliant, but devoid of character, or a Doctor who’s character is impeccable but is technically incompetent?  The obvious choice is the former.  However, since our field is rarely life-or-death, more often than not, we choose the latter.  Now, realistically, we want a mix of both.  This isn’t an ‘either/or’ but a ‘both-and-more’ choice.  Those that are ‘both-and-more’ become the Rock Stars of our industry.

So – What are we going to do about it?  Can this be tested for?  Should we really be concerned about the shallow talent pool?  I’m kinda busy – besides, it’s easier to replace receptionists than to hire managers…

If you’re still reading this, I’ll assume you want to do something about it.  However, know this before you read on – THIS IS GOING TO COST YOU SOMETHING.  This level of staff procurement requires an investment of time, energy and money.  What will attract the kind of people we need?  We need a shift in our mindset if we want to attract and retain the most qualified folks.  $40,000 a year for 60 hours of high-pressure output and late night meetings probably isn’t a huge draw when other industries are willing to pay more, offer better benefits, and a more normal work week for this level of skill.  We need to view this from a real-world mindset.

The reality is you will be competing in the workforce market place for those individuals that have the skill set enabling them to deal with high-pressure political issues. While these are the special skills that we in the industry search for and rely on, they are by no means unique.  Service industries like Starbucks and Nordstrom’s hire and train such people.  Here are a few ideas I and others have used, that might assist in the search process: 

1. Look for ‘second career’ people coming out of Tech and other backgrounds.  These can be found in droves on websites such as Craig’s List. 
2. Trade Representation at college ‘Career Day’ events.  Set up a booth and actively recruit folks coming out of college.
3. Post career opportunities on College Job Boards.  Offer Internships.
4. Big Game Hunting – People who have this skill set are already employed by restaurants, jewelry stores, Nordstrom’s and other service-related industries.  Always have business cards with you.  If you see someone who really impresses you, hand them your card and tell them you’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse.

So now we have new folks from other disciplines and we are not sure that they will fit into the esoteric world of high tech association management. Do what other industries do – ‘People Skill’ testing.  By and large, if you go into a Starbucks, you’ll find a barista who is polite, friendly and service oriented. Starbucks tests for this quality and if they can test for it, I imagine that we can as well.

The next step will be training. As I said earlier, skills can be taught. Training new recruits that have heart is not hard. There are many ways to train from apprenticeships to formal training. Most of the professional organizations have course curriculum for their respective designations available.  Another subject for another article, but you get the idea.

In the alternative, you can keep doing what you’re doing and become the poster child for the ‘frog in boiling water’ analogy.  Drop a frog in boiling water, it jumps right out.  Place a frog in at room temperature and slowly bring up the heat, and it eventually boils to death.

So, where are the up-and-comers?  It’s kind of like the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ – build it and they will come.  We just need make this issue a priority, do the work and pay accordingly.  Once we show these young recruits that we are a growing professional industry with a long and rewarding work life, we will have good people to choose from. We just need to take the time and make recruiting good people the priority.

Time is growing short.  We’re not the only ones discussing this topic as other companies are facing the same work force problem.  The first company that hits on an idea that works will have the competitive advantage.  But at the end of the day, the biggest win is this – that all of us, industry professionals and homeowners alike, will be well-served into the future because we took the time now to plan for and provide good people.  People with both heart and skill – our Rock Stars of tomorrow.