Residential Estate Industry Journal 4 | Page 40

THE FUTURE

FINDING & RETAINING THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB

STEYN CITY
RECRUITING AND ACQUIRING TALENT CAN BE A TEDIOUS PROCESS . IT CAN ALSO CHANGE FROM ONE ORGANISATION TO THE NEXT , BUT IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT REMAINS DEFINITE AND CONSISTENT , IT ’ S THAT THE FIRST STEP IN ACQUIRING TALENT IS NOT ACQUIRING TALENT . INDEED , THE FIRST STEP IN ACQUIRING TALENT ACTUALLY STEMS FROM THE INTERNAL CULTURE , FIT AND LEADERSHIP STYLE .
Culture
Do you know what your Homeowner Associations ’ ( HOA ) culture is ? Why would someone want to work for your HOA ? Whether you are aware of it or not , an HOA has a culture and the type of culture differs , depending on the leaders , board members and community manager of an HOA , who all have the power to set the tone for culture . In most cases , a culture cannot be dictated , but it can be communicated as policy and you will be able to spot those who don ’ t adopt it .
Fit
Do you have the right people in the right roles , right now ? Do you have the tools in place to set the team up for success ? Do you have a clear , expressed path
for upward mobility ? Answering no to any of these questions means that the process for acquiring talent is a long way away from getting to the stage where one can actually acquire talent .
Leadership style
Do HOA leaders , board members and community managers know what type of leader they are ? What type of leaders do employees think lead the HOA ? Lee Iacocca , CEO of Chrysler Corporation 1980 , once said , “ I hire people brighter than me and I get out of their way .” While this leadership style may not be for everyone , it would be nice to be able to completely get out of your employees ’ way , and have the confidence that they will be able to get the job done , plus some .
Once you have acquired your talent , you need to train and develop that talent , as individuals and as a team . Workforce learning and development are an absolute must . No matter how talented and experienced your staff are , training and development are a very valuable asset for improving your employees ’ experience . This , used in conjunction with clearly defined roles and competencies , clearly outlined career pathways , mentoring and performance / evaluation tools , should be the number one procedure to ensure that top talent remains the best and that a management team becomes a powerful force in the industry , which , in
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