Tuesday February 25, 2020
1. Risk Mitigation
Did you know that as the employer, your association is responsible for keeping abreast of the ever-changing labor laws, all of the terms and conditions of employment and all potential liability for labor-related decisions and practices? Among other issues, this includes:
- Wage and hour claims
- Time off policies and accruals
- Class actions
- FMLA/ADAAA violations
- OSHA/safety violations
- Discrimination and harassment claims
- Potential for higher workers compensation expenses
- Workers compensation administration
- Payroll administration costs
Why take those risks when a professional management company can use its experience to benefit your community? A good management company has access to in-house legal counsel and a professional human resources department who are able to better understand employment law.
Providing an ethical environment for your associates will also lessen the risk to your association. The right management company will encourage ethical behavior in its associates, such as having an ethics hotline where associates can report any concerns they have, including situations affecting the association’s reputation or financial integrity. The goal is always to prevent or put a stop to any unethical, illegal or unsafe activities before they can cause harm.
2. Staff Training & Development
Education is a priority and management company associates should be provided with opportunities to learn and grow on topics such as:
- Safety/OSHA
- Performance management
- How to conduct interviews and evaluations
- Harassment avoidance
- Employment law
- Technical and soft skill continued education
Are you able to provide this level of education to a staff? Many associations do not have the time or resources to do so on their own. The right management company will provide access to ongoing education and development that will ensure the success of associates, and therefore, your community.
3. Recruit and Secure the Best Talent
A professional management company has the resources to find any necessary and suitable talent to work for your community. The right company will work year-round on recruiting such talent and have access to a rich pipeline of potential team members.
Once a team is in place, are you able to keep and develop it? A management company can provide the education and growth opportunities mentioned above. Associates will stay where they see opportunity. One major factor in high staff turnover is the difficulty for associations to provide comprehensive benefits to their staff. A large management company will leverage its size to provide the benefits that associates want, typically at lower costs than an association can find on its own, including:
- Medical plan
- Dental plan
- Vision plan
- Basic or optional life insurance
- Long- and short-term disability coverage
- Employee assistance program
- Flexible spending accounts
- Health spending accounts
- Vacation accruals
Providing these benefits at lower costs to you will keep both associates and your bottom line happy and healthy. This allows the on-site management team to stay focused on managing the property and the management company to relieve your association with the burden of procuring and bidding out the annual benefits package.
4. Vacancy Management
If this is your direct staff, what happens when your on-site manager resigns or has to go out on family or medical leave? Are your board members sitting in the manager’s chair, approving invoices, providing direction for the remaining staff, recruiting and interviewing candidates? A professional management company can bridge the gap with its own interim staff and maintain continuity of services.
5. Get More Bang for Your Buck
Of course, your management company can handle the administrative functions of processing payroll. Like with benefits, partnering with a larger company offers economies of scale that benefit your association financially.
Your management company will also take on detailed performance improvement plans, personnel reviews, sexual harassment training and all the necessary compliance work that otherwise would bog down your volunteers. In addition to freeing up your time and reducing your stress, this partnership can help you save money on certain insurance costs.
6. More Time and Less Stress
Having the right staff employed by a professional management company means fewer headaches for your board and access to tremendous resources for staff education, development and benefits. Your board achieves its goals with less work to do. Letting a management company handle the human resources and payroll services lightens your board’s workload and frees your volunteers for larger planning and strategy.
The right management partner will take care of the entire hiring process, stay on top of changes in labor laws and more to help your association succeed. That means hiring the right people for the job. To learn more about what goes into creating the best management teams, download our guide, Dream Team: The Key to Success today!