In early 2022, CINC conducted a survey of community managers, management company executives, and board members throughout the country, with the goal of determining the State of the Community Association Management Industry. The feedback and responses indicated several common concerns for the future of the CAM industry, and highlighted a variety of interesting issues including a myriad of staffing problems.

Adequate staffing in an industry as niche as community association management has always been a challenge. In the midst of what many are calling The Great Resignation, it’s more clear than ever before that this problem is here to stay. This is on full display in this year’s State of the Industry survey, in which respondents listed staffing concerns as the second, third, and fourth largest issues facing management companies today. From the growing cost of business (such as increasing staff salaries) to employee turnover, to staff burnout, employment and staffing is on everyone’s mind.

Are We In Another Recession?

Among all of these fears the survey explored, there’s a greater concern rising to the surface: another recession. While many experts have come out and declared that recession fears are largely unsupported, at least as many more are voicing concerns that if the recession hasn’t already arrived, it’s swiftly on the way. That anxiety and worry is weighing heavily on everyone. Many have lived through some kind of economical downturn in recent decades, and these staffing issues are a shared sign of yet another negative shift in the economy. With that in mind, it’s clear why top issues facing the industry seem to relate back to employee retention.

Interestingly enough, the survey also showed that on average, managers are managing a staggering portfolio of 891 doors, and nearly 40% of management company executives are actively managing at least one community association. With such a concentrated workload on a thinning workforce, it’s no surprise that the staffing issues being seen are at the forefront of the industry’s concerns. But the right way to address them seems to be unclear, or taking a low priority, which is only going to exacerbate the problems.

3 Ways to Support Your Management Company Staff

Improving Employee Morale: While many respondents cited staffing concerns as three of the four top issues facing the industry, and even highlighted the problem of high employee turnover, improving employee morale only came in at number four when asked about top goals for management companies. The reality is that the two are tied. Management companies today are finding more and more overworked and underpaid staff. As experienced professionals leave their jobs, or the industry entirely, there are almost no new managers to fill the gaps left behind. And many are being shown to leave in search of happier worklife–whether that’s higher wages, better hours, or general flexibility in their work, the burnout managers face is directly contributing to the high turnover rate management companies are struggling to handle.

Virtual Assistance: Over the last few years, the surge of remote staffing has grown exponentially. The threat of covid gave way to an option many traditional companies had hesitated to embrace: allowing employees to work from home, or enhancing their staff with virtual team members. Both options are now seen as a ‘new normal’ for many. In the same way that improving employee morale will alleviate employee turnover, so could the addition of virtual team support for your staff. Finding full-time, dedicated virtual assistants who can help shoulder the weight managers face in their daily work life will make that 891-door portfolio less of a burden (although let’s face it, that number is still a little outrageous). Instead of worrying about menial tasks like responding to emails or answering phone calls, managers can tackle the parts of the job that their expertise and training directly empower them to do, and leave the generalized workload to a more cost-effective support system.

Adopting Powerful Technology: It all comes back down to alleviating your employee burnout. Because at the end of the day, that’s what’s caused every other problem relating to staffing struggles. Both increasing wages (paying more for the increased workload and longer hours) and employee turnover can be traced back to a feeling of being overworked or undervalued. Providing staff and clients with industry-specific technology designed to reduce time spent on tedious tasks and streamline day-to-day expectations is one of the most effective ways to start solving staffing problems. Fewer managers bogged down by growing workloads means fewer managers leaving the jobs or industry altogether, and reduces the need for management executives to step in and shoulder some of that burden by taking on a portfolio of their own.

A Holistic Remedy

At the end of the day, everything is connected. Supporting your staff and concentrating on their bandwidth and ballooning workload is the key to stopping them from leaving altogether. If you’re looking to introduce new technology for your clients, CINC Systems is ready to step up and help. Call us today for a consultation, or contact us here.