Goal setting and managing your employee’s success

Mar 10

*“The success of any company rests on how effectively it focuses on its people.”*

*- Scott Rechler. Chairman and CEO of RXR, innovative Real Estate Investment Manager, Operator, Developer*

What is the best way to manage the people that work for you, to better reach your company goals? In my opinion it first takes setting of company and department goals and then the definition of no more than five key performance indicators, both for the departments and for the employees.

Setting departmental goals is never easy but needs to be linked to the success of the company, its employees and your clients. In other words, you have to define bottom line results monthly, quarterly and annually and then use key performance indicators (KPI” s) to create a road map. Once you have defined the big picture goals you can then break down the KPI’s for your employees.

These KPI’s should be established annually and reviewed on a monthly basis with the employee and the rest of the team. This is the challenge. It means monthly meetings with your individual team members to establish systems to track KPI’s. Most people can only reach 4 to 5 KPI’s at a time, so one has to be reasonable as you develop them, so that you can actually move the needle to achievement.

In addition, you also need to be flexible enough to change the goals as you reach them. Consider rewards for your employees for completing them as well. Some goals are team goals rather than individual employee goals (such as achieving companywide five-star ratings in social media) and incentives need to be in place to reward the team for achieving the goals. This could be annual bonuses, profit sharing or increased time off.

Sample employee KPI’s are reflected below:

Property manager:

Occupancy rate or inversely vacancy rate
Delinquency rate
Maintenance response time
Tenant satisfaction score
Client satisfaction scores
How many clients lost/won/kept
Average property management fees for new accounts
Online social media ratings
Ensuring that clients are making money with their investment.
Measuring annual NOI using this information to track annual increase or decrease in value.
Annual budgets prepared for all properties – on time.

Assistant Property manager:

Tenant satisfaction
How long it takes to get back to a tenant
How long does it take to have a space rent ready for the next tenant
Cost of repairs – is it competitive?
Use of company mandated (licensed and bonded) maintenance companies.
Tenant satisfaction
Certificate of insurance compliance
On time and profitable lease renewals – how long does it take? How many tenants review.

Accounting Staff:

Timeliness of reports – days to complete monthly close and report reviews
Timeliness of bills being paid
Accuracy
Timeline of tenant delinquency and outstanding payables reports
Lack of complaints from property managers
Ease of communication with tenants and clients and resolving their problems
Online rent collection goal 100%
Timely completion of bank reconciliations
On time filing of all 1099’s
What is the best way to manage the people that work for you, to better reach your company goals? In my opinion it first takes setting of company and department goals and then the definition of no more than five key performance indicators, both for the departments and for the employees.

Summary

The best way to steer the growth and success of any company is to involve all of your employees in achieving the company goals. As employees see the relevance of reaching the goals and get rewarded for reaching those goals, the company will perform better, and the tenants and clients will be rewarded with better, more accurate and timely service.

If you overload the employees with too many goals, they will be frustrated, because they believe they don’t have control and second of all it is too much to pay attention to. Designing your plan to limit you employee KPI’s to five goals you can always change them once you have achieved them. At the same time, not setting goals means that your company has lost momentum and is wallowing in the sea of confusion. So, by all means help your employees help you be successful, by setting individual KPI’s.

Clifford A. Hockley, CPM, CCIM, MBA

Cliff is a Certified Property Manager® (CPM) and a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). Cliff joined Bluestone and Hockley Real Estate Services 1986 and successfully merged that company with Criteria Properties in 2021.

He has extensive experience representing property owners in the sale and purchase of warehouse, office, and retail properties, as well as mobile home parks and residential properties. Cliff’s clients include financial institutions, government agencies, private investors and nonprofit organizations. He is a Senior Advisor for SVN | Bluestone.

Cliff holds an MBA from Willamette University and a BS in Political Science from Claremont McKenna College. He is a frequent contributor to industry newsletters and served as adjunct professor at Portland State University, where he taught real estate-related topics. Cliff is the author of two books, 21 Fables and Successful Real Estate Investing; Invest Wisely Avoid Costly Mistakes and Make Money, books that help investors navigate the rough shoals of real estate ownership. He is the managing member of a real estate consulting practice, Cliff Hockley Consulting, LLC., designed to help investors and commercial brokerage owners successfully navigate their businesses. He can be reached at 503-267-1909 or Cliffhockley@gmail.com.