Motivating Managers and More In operations, people skills are a must for success. Go to Hunter’s Glen with Woodward and you’ll see those on display. At the suburban Chicago community, maintenance worker Clintt Riggs greets Woodward as an old friend, not the company CEO.
“[Dave] is very approachable, which I think is important,” says Moore, who worked with Woodward at Archstone. “In this business, we have all levels. We go from maids to divisional vice presidents. They have very different skills sets and very different goals and objectives for their own lives. Understanding that and motivating them is a key, and Dave can do that.”
Woodward motivates them by handing out responsibilities. Other companies don’t entrust their managers with tasks like lease expiration and revenue management, says regional manager Hamilton, who came to Laramar after 20 years at Equity Residential. Woodward gives property-level people leeway in other areas as well, allowing them to manage their budgets and shift expenses where appropriate, such as from marketing to landscaping. The only catch: Their year-to-date expenses must meet the budget. “Dave allows us to manage a property like we are managing our own checkbook,” says Priebe, the property manager at Hunter’s Glen.
Woodward also encourages his people to look for places they can get extra revenue every month. One innovative property manager established reserved parking, earning an extra $400 a month for her property. “That’s an extra $4,800 a year for that property,” Woodward says. “At a 7 percent capitalization rate, that just creates $50,000 or $60,000 worth of value at that property for our investors.”
But there’s always a supervisor watching, in case someone goes too far. One well-intentioned employee wanted to charge an extra $5 monthly for her property’s gym. Since the exercise room is an amenity the company sells as part of its lifestyle–unlike reserved parking–the regional manager quickly intervened.
In addition, Woodward trains his accountants to raise a red flag when they see a problem in the financial reports. “There’s oversight,” he says. “We have our finger on the pulse of everything. We have regional managers and corporate people inspecting the sites regularly.”
