Ensuring your portfolio is hiring for the skills that will get the job done and deliver the best for your customers. 

There are only so many dollars to go around. Training, hiring, retention and associated employee costs take up the largest portion of our operating expense budget. It’s critical to regularly evaluate how these allocated dollars are being used to ensure they provide the best results for your portfolio.  

First, consider whether you are hiring for a general job title or specific skills. Conducting quarterly reviews of your portfolio’s staffing can help identify the skills needed and highlight where you might need to invest in training for current employees. This ensures they reach their potential and understand the value they bring to the organization. At a minimum, before listing an open role, perform a similar review to verify that your job description reflects the specific skills you are seeking. 

For example, if resident retention is suffering, focus on skills that nurture existing relationships rather than a hunter mentality. Both skill sets might fit a leasing consultant job description, but the needs of your portfolio will dictate the specific skills you should seek in a new hire.  

When reviewing service requests, determine whether plumbing or electrical issues are more frequent. This can help prioritize the specific skills you need in a service specialist, rather than casting a broad net for all skills.  

Review how you are leveraging your supplier partners. There are likely ways you can maximize on the service offerings that your existing supplier network has available for you that may help alleviate your team from many day-to-day tasks that they are handling themselves. Training, organization, system capabilities and hiring best practices are just a handful of ways that an invested supplier partner would be happy to support your team, just ask and you will be pleasantly surprised at how much you can gain by leveraging these service offerings.   

Once you determine the skills to prioritize in your search, review your interview questions to assess the likelihood that a candidate, based on their historical performance, will fulfill the role’s needs. This extra step, instead of reusing the same set of interview questions for different openings with the same job title, will improve the effectiveness of your interview process. Practicing the interview questions with an existing team member who possesses the desired skills can also be beneficial. This not only helps refine the questions but also provides a growth opportunity for the team members involved.  

In summary, being specific and proactive in identifying the skills needed for your portfolio will help you fill skill gaps, thereby improving the satisfaction of your clients, team and owners. Let skills be your guide, and success will follow.  

Kelly Brown is President of BGSF Multifamily Workforce Solutions, an NAA National Suppliers Council (NSC) member company. Visit the NSC Directory to quickly find the suppliers, products and services you need through both location and category specific searches.