We had the opportunity to speak with Nicole Moss, the National Learning Manager at Lincoln Property Company, to get her perspective on the importance of learning and development, the company’s challenges this past year, and how Grace Hill has been instrumental in helping overcome many of them.
Nicole began her 26-year long career at Lincoln Property Company in 1995. She has held various roles, including Business Manager, Community Bookkeeper, and Internal Auditor, but for the past 15 years has been the National Learning Manager.
Throughout her tenure, Nicole has seen Lincoln experience overwhelming growth. One thing that has remained consistent is how the company prides itself on believing in the value of people, investing in their knowledge, and investing in their future.
Here is what she had to share:
Nicole, how would you describe Lincoln’s approach to learning and development?
I would say that we have a very strong and somewhat aggressive approach to learning and talent development. It is very much a part of our culture and at the forefront of everything we do. We set our training expectations at the beginning when we develop goals or initiatives for our team members, and we are an integral part of the planning process.
What are some of your biggest challenges around learning and development today?
The dynamic, and incredibly fast, shift in how we pivoted from an in-person approach to a more virtual one because of COVID-19 continues to be one of our biggest challenges. There are some blurred lines and differences in state and city ordinances around the types of tours we now can offer, and keeping up with it all has been a bit difficult.
We are currently developing a training campaign to communicate the expectations we have of our team members by helping redirect people in ways that take advantage of more technology than ever before. It has been a real struggle when you have to take people out of the people part of their role.
What are some of the key things you’ve been able to accomplish with your training program that you’re most proud of?
Our learning paths and the ability to intertwine Lincoln’s proprietary learning with Grace Hill’s catalog. We have been able to create a really great learning path, by position, for all of our team members. It seems very simple, but when you talk about all of the different positions, and how we have done the legwork to create unique learning paths for each, it is one of our proudest achievements.
How would you describe our partnership and the supportive role we play for your company?
I would say that Grace Hill plays a substantial role in our ability to deliver, maintain, and track training. For example, with PolicyPartner, when we are making decisions and releasing new policies, sometimes on a monthly basis, we use our LMS to obtain an acknowledgment that associates have reviewed and are aware of these policies. For us, that is a very critical piece.
With Grace Hill as our partner, we are able to maintain very important record-keeping about policies that are global or that are required by law. The way that we manage and maintain our records is definitely an important element. PolicyPartner really speaks for itself.
How are your teams using technology to communicate with customers about leasing that is different from how you used to do it before COVID-19?
Right now, our leasing teams are using Google Hangouts, Zoom, FaceTime, and other apps to facilitate community tours with prospective clients. That is probably the biggest change. Additionally, many of our communities have partnered with self-guided tour providers like Tour 24 and Pynwheel Self Tour. There are still a lot of prospects and guests who aren’t comfortable with in-person visits, so we’re pivoting our typical processes to accommodate for these changes.
How has Grace Hill been able to come alongside and help with the challenges of this past year?
Grace Hill has always been a wonderful partner. Even in times such as these, you have still been able to accommodate our needs. The biggest thing for us was that we added a lot of new training, and the Grace Hill team was able to go in and quickly execute the entire rollout. They always made themselves available to help, and it speaks volumes, not just for the products but the team itself. For this, I am tremendously grateful.
Partners Focused on People
Lincoln Property Company has been a proud partner of Grace Hill since 2009, when they rolled out the Vision training and PolicyPartner programs. Lincoln later expanded their solution in 2018 to include KingsleySurveys and more recently added Visto to help further support their employees’ continued education through earning NAAEI credentials.
Since 1965, Lincoln Property Company has been building, operating, and overseeing leading residential communities across the globe. With development and investment properties in more than 200 cities, Lincoln is currently ranked the second largest property manager in the United States.
