Trust in training uphold your duty to employees by keeping them informed and prepared.(HIGHER GROUND)

THE PROPERTY MANAGER'S JOB IS ALWAYS A CHALLENGE, WHETHER TRAINING NEW EMPLOYEES OR STARTING AT A NEW SITE AND HAVING TO RE-TRAIN EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE BEEN THERE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. The essential things to emphasize from the start include providing good customer service and honest, fair and equal treatment to all. If employees fail to do the proper thing in regard to handling resident concerns, a resident could file a complaint with IREM for management's violation of Article 12 of IREM's Code of Professional Ethics: Duty to Tenants and Others.

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In addition, every staff member should know the building's emergency procedures, including the fire evacuation plan. This plan must be documented in a manual and approved by the local fire department. It should also be framed and posted on every floor by the elevator. Be sure to also regularly update your list of residents needing special assistance to exit their unit in cases of an emergency. Without an emergency plan and procedures in place, the manager could be considered in violation of Article 10. Compliance with Laws and Regulations.

When hiring new employees, it is especially important to do a background check because employees will have access to the residents' units from time to time. If background checks are not performed on new hires and theft or loss to a resident's unit does occur by the staff, this can be filed as a violation of Article 8. Managing Assets of the Client.

A training manual is very useful to help train new employees on every aspect of the job. It should contain all types of problems, incidents, and even examples of ethical problems that can arise on the job and how they each should be handled.

Another area for staff training involves the cleaning and maintenance staff. Whether outsourced or hired as on-site staff, it is critical that staff have detailed procedures to follow. Obviously, be sure to stress that nothing should be taken or disposed of that belongs to the owners or residents. You should communicate to staff that they cannot take tips for doing private jobs on company time. If employees are caught taking monetary or other benefits, they are violating Article 7. Conflict of Interest.

To ensure staff success, provide the best training possible for each employee, no matter what job that person is going to be doing. Behind every successful manager is a well-trained staff. People will often file a complaint against the CPM or ARM who is managing the building because they feel someone either violated the pledge or one of the articles of the IREM Code of Professional Ethics. Sometimes they will file against the AMO[R] firm. On many occasions, this is just a result of poor management. So be sure to avoid the problems mentioned here by keeping your staff informed and well trained!

EILEEN CONWAY. CPM[R]. ARM[R] (ECONWAY@ROBERTWISE MANAGEMENT. COM), IS A PROPERTY MANAGER FOR THE ROBERT WISE MANAGEMENT COMPANY IN PHILADELPHIA.

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