Diversity in Maintenance

              Diversity in not only the maintenance field, but the multi-family industry as a whole can be extremely challenging and forever evolving. With all the different people we come in contact with on a daily basis from prospects to residents to co-works from all different walks of life, it is our job as DEI innovators to be more aware of our un-conscious bias and be more receptive to new ideas and concepts so we can pass that knowledge on to our younger emerging leaders and help create a culture of inclusion in the industry that will keep us moving forward as we continue to see diversity grow in our industry.

              Understanding that having a more diverse work force especially in the maintenance industry presents a lot of new diverse ideas and innovations that can help us grow as individuals as well as professionals is vital to keeping our industry moving forward and staying ahead of the curve. I have managed some large very eclectic teams during my years of doing maintenance and renovations at various properties all with unique and assorted resident bases. Managing an array of team members helped me learn to be more open minded when communicating with some of our Spanish or Arabic speaking employees, that in turn helped me be a more effective communicator with my residents as well. As I spent more time learning to manage and communicate with my team and residents, I learned truly how important it is to hire a distinct variety of team members. Not only will it improve your overall performance as a company, but for example: How can we effectively communicate with residents of different ethnic back grounds if we only hire English speaking employees?  Another thing I’ve learned Is that diversity in the workplace increases employee engagement which will improve employee retention, because people feel more valued and feel that their ideas are heard.  Building a strong team with a range of backgrounds, opinions and skills helps everyone on the team grow in their skills and knowledge and allows more patience and understanding with employees and residents as well as overall team performance.

10 reasons diversity works:

1: Variety of different perspectives

2: Increased creativity

3: Higher Innovation

4: Faster Problem-solving

5: Better Decision Making

6: Increased Profits

7: Higher employee engagement

8: Reduced employee turnover

9: Company Reputation

10: Improved Hiring results