“We’re telling our people to ‘Hang on in ’10 and it’s going to be heaven in ’11,’ ” said Beth Van Winkle, President of Milestone Management, at today’s Executive Panel Program for the Society Of Apartment Property Supervisors (SOAPS) held at the fabulous new Eddie V’s restaurant in Town Center.
The annual program features a Q & A with some of the industry’s leading company executives. Questions ran the gamut from anticipated market conditions in 2010 to employee compensation and even bedbugs. Clay Hicks, Director of Operations for Greystar, feels that despite a new learning curve, there’s great opportunity out there for those companies that can meet the challenge. “Clients are changing because of the foreclosures. The styles of properties are totally different from what we’re used to, but as an industry that’s how we can grow as we haven’t ever before.”
Always a popular topic at this program, it didn’t take long for the questions regarding salaries and compensation trends to crop up. The consensus among the panel was that companies will reward performance via results-based bonuses, rather than cost of living adjustments.
Though many acknowledged the challenge in motivating employees in difficult economic conditions, Matthew Summers, Director of Operations for Kaplan Management, shared that their company is cultivating employee loyalty via a new standard medical benefit package that is available at no cost to their employees. Still others indicated a 2010 budget that reflects a two percent increase to salaries, although the distribution of those funds will not be implemented “across the board.”
The topic of crime and property safety was also on the minds of many supervisors. Summers, a former police officer, shared an interesting experience and offered good advice on how best to work with local authorities.
Additional panelists included Stephanie Graves, Marketing and Training Director for Asset Plus, and Matt Anderson, Regional Director of Maintenance for Southhampton Management.
If you’re a management company executive, property supervisor or marketing director and would like to learn more about the SOAPS programs at HAA, email the education department at educ@haaonline.org for an application.
