Customer Support
Behind every well-run multifamily community is a skilled and hardworking apartment maintenance team — yet these essential professionals often operate behind the scenes without the recognition they deserve.
While leasing teams and office staff may receive the bulk of attention, maintenance teams are the ones responding to emergencies, solving problems on the fly, and ensuring residents feel at home every day.
Fostering a culture where apartment maintenance professionals feel truly seen, heard, and supported isn’t just good for morale — it’s a smart retention strategy that builds stronger, more cohesive teams.
Let’s explore five impactful ways property managers and leaders can better support their maintenance staff and enhance their role within the organization.
Jump to a Section
- 5 Ways To Make Maintenance Teams Feel Seen and Heard
- How To “R.A.M.M.P.” Up Career Development
- Turning Strategy Into Action: It’s Time To Build the Playbook
5 Ways To Make Maintenance Teams Feel Seen and Heard
Maintenance professionals are the backbone of any multifamily property, yet their work is often overlooked amid the hustle of day-to-day operations. While much attention is given to leasing goals or occupancy rates, ensuring your maintenance team feels valued and respected is equally important, especially when it comes to engagement and retention.
Here are five practical ways property managers and leadership teams can make their maintenance teams feel seen, heard, and supported.
1. Simple Human Connection
Building relationships starts with simple gestures and genuine, personal conversation. Adrian Danila, Founder, Multifamily X Consulting, emphasizes the positive impact of simply taking the time to ask a maintenance technician about their day, as well as their hobbies, pets, or favorite foods.
These aren’t just pleasantries; they signal that a person is valued beyond their role. Even more impactful is remembering and referencing these personal details in future conversations. Asking, “How’s your dog doing after surgery?” or “Did you end up trying that new taco place?” shows attentiveness and care — two powerful drivers of employee connection.
2. Acknowledging the Job’s Demands
Maintenance is physically and mentally demanding work. It often involves tight deadlines, unpredictable issues, and a constant push for efficiency, sometimes with little recognition. One way to foster respect is to regularly acknowledge the unique challenges these team members face.
To have an effective apartment maintenance retention strategy, property managers should make it a point to understand their team’s daily responsibilities and express appreciation for the expertise and resilience it takes to do the job well. A little recognition goes a long way in showing technicians that their work is understood and respected.
3. Prioritizing Training and Development
Training shouldn’t just be for leasing or office staff. When maintenance teams are excluded from professional development opportunities, it sends the wrong message about their importance to the organization.
According to Mark, there is a noticeable attendance gap between leasing and maintenance professionals at training events, often because maintenance teams aren’t given the same priority — or time off — to attend.
Property leaders should ensure that maintenance technicians have access to quality training and actively encourage their attendance. Better yet, managers can attend these sessions, too, demonstrating solidarity and a commitment to mutual learning.
It’s a misconception to believe that your budget can’t support what it takes to adequately equip your maintenance teams with the necessary skills and training to care for your properties. In fact, Grace Hill has a comprehensive collection of maintenance-specific training to ensure properties are well-maintained and continue to function at their peak for years to come.
✅ Check out these resources:
- Maintenance Training courses are designed to enhance your team’s performance.
- SkillCat Mobile Maintenance Training provides your team with essential technical skills, enabling you to invest in their careers while improving satisfaction and reducing unnecessary repair costs.
4. Cross-Training and Hands-On Experience
One of the most effective ways to build respect and understanding across teams is through cross-training. When property managers take the time to participate in common maintenance tasks, like changing a garbage disposal or troubleshooting a leaky faucet, they gain a firsthand appreciation for the skills and effort involved.
This hands-on experience not only fosters empathy but also helps bridge communication gaps between departments, creating a shared language and mutual respect that strengthens team cohesion.
5. Career Coaching and Development
Support doesn’t stop at the technician level. Many apartment maintenance professionals aspire to supervisory roles, and property managers can play a key role in helping them prepare.
One strategy Mark uses is conducting “rehearsal interviews” with team members who want to grow into leadership positions. These mock interviews provide a safe space for offering constructive feedback, identifying skill gaps, and building confidence.
By investing time in coaching, offering targeted development opportunities, and outlining clear pathways for advancement, companies send a strong message: We see your potential, and we’re here to help you achieve it.
When maintenance teams feel seen and heard, they’re not just more satisfied — they’re more loyal, more motivated, and more likely to go the extra mile. These five strategies provide a strong foundation for cultivating that sense of value and belonging across your entire team.
How To “R.A.M.M.P.” Up Career Development
Employees at all levels desire to understand their career opportunities and advancement possibilities. More importantly, they want to feel that their supervisor also cares about the trajectory of their career, both in their current position and beyond.
Research and reports by SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) revealed that among high-performing employees, 41% cited insufficient career growth opportunities as their reason for leaving. Yet, only 57% of organizations actually provide career paths for their employees.
As Ragan Decker reports, “When managers hold meaningful career discussions with employees at least once a month, worker engagement levels are higher (55 percent) than when they do so twice a year (42 percent), yearly (29 percent) or never (19 percent).
To help overcome that hurdle, Tara Samuels, founder and CEO of Multifamily Mentor Matchmaking, developed the acronym R.A.M.M.P. as a tool to help management companies create a strategic roadmap.
Here’s an overview of how to R.A.M.M.P. up career development:
R – Referrals
Tara notes that one of the most underrated recruiting tools in multifamily is referrals; yet they’re at the core of building teams that stick. Maintenance professionals, like everyone else onsite, are in the business of relationships. They sell residents on the value of the community every day through reliability, responsiveness, and service.
So, when it comes to hiring, it makes sense that they’d refer people they know, like, and trust. Whether it’s a friend in construction or a former coworker from another community, these personal networks are often full of untapped potential.
That’s why implementing a robust referral program that goes beyond the basics — think monetary bonuses, extra PTO, or creative perks — is key. A strong referral program not only attracts top talent but also improves retention. When maintenance professionals get to work alongside people they already know and trust, they’re more likely to stay long-term.
If your current referral strategy is underwhelming or nonexistent, it’s time to reevaluate, as it could be your most powerful tool for hiring multifamily maintenance staff.
A – Associations
For many multifamily professionals, joining an apartment association is a career game-changer, and it can be the same for your maintenance team if they’re given the chance. Too often, onboarding focuses on the day-to-day tasks of the job and skips over something equally critical: introducing new hires to the broader industry they’ve just joined.
Many maintenance professionals enter multifamily from other fields, such as construction, and may not fully understand the long-term career opportunities available to them. That’s why it’s crucial to incorporate industry education into the onboarding process. Showcase career paths, designations, and success stories from people who started out just like them and worked their way up.
💡Learn more about onboarding in this on-demand webinar: “The Art of Onboarding: Building Strong Foundations for Employee Success.”
Another idea? Set aside a portion of your compensation budget to cover attendance at local apartment association events, allowing team members to choose events that align with their interests.
Whether it’s a networking luncheon or a maintenance-specific workshop, these events build community, expand knowledge, and help your team feel like part of something bigger than just one property. It’s a low-investment, high-return strategy for engagement and retention.
M – Milestones
Yes, Maintenance Appreciation Week is important — but if it’s the only time your team feels celebrated, it’s not enough. Recognition should be consistent and tied to real accomplishments, not just annual events.
One creative approach is to implement a point-based milestone system. For example, technicians could receive 50 points for completing their first work order, five points for each subsequent one, and a bonus when they reach a milestone, such as their 50th or 100th work order. Those points could then be redeemed for company swag, time off, gift cards, or even professional development opportunities.
This type of recognition turns everyday achievements into moments of pride and motivation. It helps break up the routine and shows that each task — whether it’s fixing a faucet or troubleshooting an HVAC issue — is noticed and valued. Celebrating these milestones boosts morale and builds loyalty, one work order at a time.
M – Mentors
Mentorship shouldn’t be left to chance. Instead of expecting maintenance professionals to seek guidance on their own, proactively pair them with a mentor — someone who can offer real-world advice, model professional growth, and answer questions with empathy and understanding.
Whether it’s a formal program or an informal pairing, mentors give team members a clearer vision of what’s possible. Highlight success stories from people who started as groundskeepers or technicians and worked their way into leadership roles. Share their journeys, ask them to tell their stories, and use that inspiration to fuel the aspirations of your rising talent.
If you don’t have a mentoring structure in place, consider building one. Even a few hours a month of intentional conversation can make a lasting difference in confidence, performance, and long-term retention.
P – Personalized
At the end of the day, people want to feel like more than just a name on a schedule. Personalization helps build that connection, starting with how your company features its team. Showcase maintenance professionals on your website, include them in property tours, or introduce them during move-ins.
Consider having your maintenance team record short video messages to welcome new residents. With Realync, Grace Hill’s virtual leasing and video tools, you can easily create personalized videos. A simple clip — “Hi, I’m Marcus, I’ll be helping keep your home in great shape. I’m a dog dad, a grill master, and proud to work here.” — can go a long way in building resident rapport and team visibility.
You can also take it a step further with personalized follow-ups after work orders. A quick thank-you video after a repair shows pride in work and fosters trust with residents. And that connection goes both ways: Residents gain a greater appreciation for the maintenance team, and technicians feel recognized for their efforts.
👀 To learn more about this topic, watch this webinar to hear from industry experts: “How To Create a Winning Playbook for Recruiting and Retaining Maintenance Teams.”
Turning Strategy Into Action: It’s Time To Build the Playbook
From digital innovation to daily conversations, the most effective apartment maintenance staffing strategies blend human connection, strategic development, and culture-driven innovation.
Recruiting and retention challenges aren’t unique to one company — they’re industry-wide issues that call for industry-wide solutions. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, there is power in taking intentional steps to support the people who keep our communities running.
Whether you’re rethinking your referral program, mentoring your next leader, or simply making space to celebrate small wins, each effort builds toward a stronger, more resilient maintenance team.
Now is the time to put these strategies into practice. Start with one change, and keep going. When maintenance professionals feel seen, supported, and empowered, they won’t just stay — they’ll thrive.
