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As a multifamily training professional, you’ve likely asked yourself (and your team) this question: Is it time to refresh our property management training program? Quite frankly, it can be a daunting task to consider, but refusing to address the elephant in the room — an outdated, tired, and ineffective training program — can hurt your business.
As the industry evolves, so do the skills and knowledge required to effectively manage properties and provide exceptional service. Whether facing new challenges or simply wanting to improve employee performance, updating your multifamily training program is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.
In this blog, we’ll explore when to consider making changes to your current program, how to revamp it in three simple steps, and answer some frequently asked questions to ensure your training for property management is as effective as possible.
So, let’s dive into the process of creating a training program that aligns with your property’s needs and enhances your team’s success. The most successful property management training programs are those able to adapt to changing needs and circumstances — and sometimes that means starting over.
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When To Change Your Property Management Training Program
Training programs are essential for maintaining a knowledgeable and efficient workforce, but they shouldn’t remain static. Every company experiences periodic changes that may require a fresh approach to training, and as organizations evolve, so do the needs of their employees, leadership, and industry.
Periodically assessing and updating your property management training program ensures that it stays relevant, effective, and aligned with your company’s goals. But how do you know when it’s time to make changes?
Below are six key indicators that signal the need for a training program update, and recognizing these signs can help you stay ahead of the curve. Whether your company is experiencing growth or noticing a decline in learner engagement, adapting your training strategy can enhance overall performance and keep your workforce motivated and informed.
6 Key Indicators Signaling a Need for a Training Program Update
- Changes in Leadership: New leaders often bring new visions and priorities, which can necessitate a shift in training focus. This may include introducing new training initiatives that align with the leader’s goals or phasing out existing programs no longer considered relevant.
- Changes to Policies, Procedures, or Laws: Organizations operate within a dynamic regulatory environment. As policies, procedures, or laws change — particularly those related to Fair Housing, training programs must be updated to ensure compliance and mitigate legal risks. This may involve revising existing courses or developing new ones to address the specific changes.
- New Courseware and Features: Advancements in technology and instructional design continually lead to new courseware and features. To take advantage of these developments and enhance the learning experience, organizations may need to reevaluate their course load and integrate new courses into their curriculum. However, this must be done carefully to avoid overwhelming learners with excessive content.
- Changes in Employee Preferences: The preferences and expectations of learners evolve over time. For example, younger generations may prefer mobile and self-guided learning experiences over traditional classroom-based training. As a result, organizations may need to adopt better training approaches and delivery methods to cater to these diverse preferences and maximize engagement.
- Company Growth: As companies expand into new markets or experience significant increases in personnel, their training needs may change. New markets may require different skills and knowledge, while increases in personnel may necessitate new training approaches that can effectively reach all learners. This could involve scaling existing programs or implementing new technologies to support a larger workforce.
- Shifts in Learner Engagement: Learner engagement is a critical factor in the success of any training program. Low completion rates and scores may indicate the current approach is ineffective. In such cases, organizations may need to consider a variety of strategies to boost engagement, such as offering past-due forgiveness, adjusting the course load, or even relaunching the training program with a fresh approach.
How To Change Your Multifamily Training Program in 3 Steps
Adapting your property management training program is essential for keeping your team updated on industry standards, policies, and best practices. However, making changes to an existing program can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to balance the needs of your employees with company objectives. A structured approach ensures that the transition is smooth, effective, and well-received by your team.
Depending on how much of a revision is needed, there are multiple strategies you can use to refresh your training. From forgiving past-due training requirements to revising course expectations and relaunching with a fresh focus, these steps will help you create a more engaging and compliant learning environment.
3 Simple Steps To Update Your Property Management Training Program
- Forgive All Past-Due Assignments
If your learners have become overwhelmed by constant past-due alerts, you might want to wipe out past-due assignments and allow them to start over like it’s their first day. This can be an effective way to boost morale while still maintaining the current assignment schedule. - Revise Your Training Requirements
Many companies have had success in providing optional courses to allow learners to be more involved in their own learning. If you want to try a more self-guided learning approach, add new required courses, or reevaluate your course load, consider overhauling your current assignment schedule. This can be an effective way to reinvigorate learners and keep them from getting overwhelmed by two years’ worth of assignments every time they log in. - Relaunch Your Training Program
If your training program needs an “extreme makeover,” you may want to combine one (or both) of the above changes with a campaign designed to generate enthusiasm and buzz for better learner buy-in. Use emails, events, contests, and learning system rebranding to excite learners and connect them more personally to the training system and assignments.
No matter which approaches you take to revamp your property management training program, we recommend starting at the top. Getting buy-in from leadership is the first step to getting buy-in from learners. Review your training requirements, determine what changes need to be made, and then approach leadership with a solution.
Investing in employees’ education directly benefits the company. By taking a proactive approach, you can empower your team with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the multifamily industry.
Property Management Training FAQs
Looking for more information about refreshing your property management training program? Take a look at these frequently asked questions!
Q: How do I engage learners to want to complete their training?
A: Many Training Administrators have difficulty motivating learners to complete assigned training on time. Grace Hill understands this challenge and provides built-in LMS features that gamify, socialize, and encourage participation. Capture your learners’ attention in PerformanceHQ with a personalized dashboard highlighting assigned and recommended courses, company announcements, awards, leaderboards, and more!
Other tips to help boost training participation:
- Build time into busy work schedules.
- Clear obstacles and distractions.
- Make the most of training time.
- Incentivize learners to motivate and reward.
Q: How do you keep people who have done the work motivated to continue when everyone gets forgiveness for past-due assignments?
A: Use awards or contests (or both!) to reward those who have completed the work. For example, everyone who completed their compliance requirements is eligible for a contest. Everyone else gets forgiveness from past-due assignments.
Q: Can I add Grace Hill training and policy content to our Property Management System (PMS)?
A: Technology plays a pivotal role in improving operational efficiency, streamlining training, and enhancing the resident experience. As you evaluate opportunities to integrate systems, you may wonder if adding Grace Hill’s Training or Policies solution to your PMS is possible. Although there are benefits to reducing your tech stack, you don’t want to sacrifice crucial functionality in the process. PerformanceHQ offers advanced learning and policy management features that are unavailable in any PMS today, so we only provide our best-in-class content through our easy-to-use platform.
PerformanceHQ will not burden your staff with complicated software. The intuitive interface is easy to learn and use and has a single login to access training, policies, and more! Plus, its powerful assignment engine saves admin time and ensures employees get the training and policies they need to be successful and compliant. We continually review and update content as regulations change so you can be confident that your training is current, accurate, and comprehensive. Best of all, those content updates are automatic, eliminating the manual process of modifying content kept in a disparate PMS system.
Q: We’re trying to engage our staff. Can Grace Hill explain to our personnel why it all matters?
A: Yes! We are always happy to do this; training program refreshes are often paired with learner reengagement training. You can use that time to show learners around the system and talk to them about the contests and new initiatives. Grace Hill loves partnering with you to lead these virtual sessions.
Ready to take your training to the next level? Learn more about Grace Hill’s Training solution in PerformanceHQ or request a personalized demo today!
