Chalk drawing – Keep educating yourself
Everyone wants to have a productive staff. Really, who doesn’t? Is it a manager’s pipe dream, or is it a reasonable goal, that each working day you are surrounded by a real estate lease management team committed to the same goals as you and your organization?
Pipe dream or not, after 20 years as the prime education resource for the real estate lease management industry, NRTA is the platform from which many industry leaders have in fact built an environment that encourages their staff members to achieve a high level of performance. Time and again we see NRTA veterans who are nurturing a successful working culture within their organization–and the key to this lies within the education culture of the NRTA. In fact at this time there are six NRTA member companies that are sending eight or more people to the annual conference in September. That’s how big-time businesses stay on top.
This is where you get great ROI for your training. Powerful stuff when it comes to the daily real estate lease management challenges we work to control in order to minimize occupancy costs and protect the bottom line performance our CFO’s so dearly covet.
A lot of companies talk the talk about the value of learning, but actually walking the walk means not being afraid to put up cash for employee education. As the saying goes, “it takes money to make money.” Making sure employees have the skills and competencies they need to succeed and contribute to the company’s growth are crucial steps to staying competitive. Not surprising, as noted earlier, many of the highly regarded retail companies consistently send multiple staff members to the NRTA conference.
Providing work-related education is a great way to add to your employees’ skills and knowledge, which they can then apply to help make your business a success. Each webinar, each “how to” professional article, each classroom presentation at our Annual Conference, is a nugget to be explored and evaluated. Employees with access to this training and development have the advantage over employees in other companies who are left to seek out training opportunities on their own.
Training and development provides both the company as a whole and individual employees with benefits that make the cost and time a worthwhile investment. An employee who receives the necessary training is better able to perform her or his job. They become more aware of best practices and proper procedures for basic tasks. Education encourages the employee’s confidence while expanding a stronger understanding of the industry and the responsibilities of his or her job.
Continuous training also keeps your employees on the cutting edge of industry developments. Remember: these are the people entrusted to manage your company’s second or third highest cost center. Employees who are competent and on top of changing industry standards help your company hold a position as a leader and strong competitor within the industry. Making sure employees have the skills and competencies they need to succeed and contribute to the company’s growth are crucial steps to staying competitive.
Retailers as well as other commercial tenants concerned with the proper management of real estate portfolios need to walk the walk when it comes to employee education and training. Every employee has things they want to know, skills they want to learn, and competencies they want to develop.
So as one industry veteran to another, I encourage you to think big. We’re in the 21st century! Build a partnership with NRTA’s higher education offerings. You must set the standard of excellence–and then do it.