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REALTOR® ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE
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|  Why employees Stay How four associations use benefits to recruit top talent and keep them happy and productive. By Paul Beakley Association executives have more than their fair share of employee retention challenges compared with their corporate counterparts. According to some AEs, association work can come with low pay, lots of repetition, a slow advancement path, and little glory. This makes the care and feeding of loyal and skilled employees a delicate balance of creative compensation, personalized training, and a friendly work environment. Building a reliable staff starts at the hiring stage. Association employees must wear many hats, and their skills are only one factor at hire. “If you analyze the people who didn’t work out [at my association], it was because their personality was the problem, not their skills,” says Belton Jennings, CEO of the Orlando Association of Realtors®. The reason? “Not everyone can do association work,” Jennings explains. “Some people can’t deal with doing their jobs and watching someone else take the credit.” Association work also can be very repetitive, notes Christine Todd, CEO of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors®. “Every year we have a convention, every year we install new officers, every year we generally do the same things. I have to improvise to break the doldrums.” So, assuming you’ve hired optimistic, can-do employees whose egos are in check and who can learn on the job, how do you keep them from abandoning ship? A positive work environment is a good start. “We’re a very family-friendly environment,” says Bill Malkasian, president of the Wisconsin Association of Realtors®. “The association offers flex-time, liberal personal time, leave time, and vacation time.” There’s always bribery to help motivate people. “I do an awful lot of fun things around the office,” says Todd. “I give out baseball and hockey tickets, and we go to the outdoor theater at a nearby park. I encourage my employees to bring their families. I try to do something fun every three months.” Monetary compensation is also a factor. “It doesn’t hurt to recognize your employees’ value by providing a decent pay scale. Pay your employees somewhere in the middle, or higher, of the local scale,” says George Patt, former AE of the Realtor® Association of West/South Suburban Chicagoland. For those AEs who say they don’t have the budget to pay competitively, Todd says, “It’s the AE’s responsibility to go to the board and fight for salary increases. I’ve heard other executives complain that they just got a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment, and I ask them why they took it.” If the money truly isn’t available in the budget, the executive may have to get creative in finding extra money, such as commissions from store sales or advertising that can be applies to salaries, Todd says. Growth opportunities are also important for employees’ long-term happiness. A lack of career advancement in an association, particularly a smaller one, can lead to stagnation and frustration. “The way you make your staff feel good about themselves, and of value to your organization, is through job enrichment,” Jennings says. “Our scope of operations tends to be very broad, so we give employees different kinds of responsibilities. We also do a lot of in-house cross-training.” Associations that can offer advancement opportunities should make use of them, Todd says. “We always hire from within,” she says. “I encourage our entry-level people to move up. I also find my upper-level managers want greater career training, a chance to earn some designations, and to travel to National Association of Realtors® meetings.” Malkasian helps his senior staff—particularly the lobbyists and attorneys—stretch their career wings by creating “professional growth plans,” and facilitating outside consulting positions. The Wisconsin association’s chief lobbyist, for example, created a consulting firm that works with political clients, with Malkasian’s help. “In many state capitals, your best lobbyists get hired by big companies,” Malkasian explains. “It’s hard to compete unless you have an adequate compensation or attractive work-life benefits package.” Other senior WAR employees who don’t feel the entrepreneurial urge receive customized compensation packages. Malkasian says he has a “special relationship with each manager—one might receive more education reimbursement, while another gets more time off.” Paradoxically, good AEs must be willing to let go of their best employees. “We’ve had two employees move on to become AEs at other associations,” says Patt. “I take it as a compliment that other associations look to our staff as a resource.” Todd agrees. “Executives need to help their best employees move on to a bigger, better position,” she says. “It’s selfish to keep such a talented person locked in with no room for advancement.” Big Time Benefits on a Budget Only when small businesses understand their compensation and benefits options and embrace the spirit of work-life benefits as a way to distinguish themselves from larger corporate entities will they have a fighting chance to win the talent war. Base salary The rule in today’s business climate is that compensation should be commensurate with an individual’s skills and knowledge. Contact an accountant or the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) to determine appropriate salaries, cost ratios, and profit margins in your area. It’s also critical to look at what competitors are offering. Incentives Various financial incentives, such as year-end bonuses, profit-sharing plans, and stock options, keep employees happy and pro-ductive. A little recognition for a job well done also goes a long way toward fostering loyalty and a healthy sense of competition. The key to having incentives appreciated is communicating their costs to employees. Send every employee a personalized statement that breaks out the cost of each benefit, as well as salary and bonuses. These statements usually are mailed out once a year, or made available through always-accessible intranets. Group health Small businesses today tend to insure employees for catastrophic coverage and skip other features that raise premiums. To keep coverage affordable and escape record-keeping chores, purchase plans from a chamber of commerce or other entity. Dental health Experts say that companies are better off instituting employee-pay-all plans than eliminating dental coverage altogether because it still gives employees a plan to follow and possible group rates. Workers’ compensation Standard & Poor’s reports that in most states, premiums are rising anywhere from 30 percent to 100 percent. To keep costs down, shop around for coverage. Retirement savings With an increasing number of American workers changing not only jobs but also careers, portability appeals to employees who’d rather not wait around for five-year vesting on matching contributions at larger companies. Small businesses can set up a 401(k) plan for as little as $2,000 to $3,000 in up-front expenses, or opt for one of two comparable plan structures that were designed as less complicated alternatives: a SIMPLE IRA or a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan. A SIMPLE IRA is not subject to government reporting and is fully and immediately vested for employees. Voluntary benefits Benefits made available on an employee-pay-all basis with group discounts allow employers to amortize the cost of various products and services through pretax payroll deduction. Work-life issues Workplace flexibility offers a competitive advantage for small businesses in that they can better shape jobs toward individuals than large companies can. More small business owners are providing flexible work hours, telecommuting, unscheduled work breaks (to meet dependent-care obligations), and more than two weeks of annual paid vacation. Severance An employment lawsuit easily can decimate a small business. For added protection, have employees sign “no-suit” agreements that shield management from lawsuits in exchange for increased severance benefits. The hard part is convincing employees that the arrangement is a bonus rather than a payoff. What should your staff be making? The American Society of Association Executives recently released a new compensation study focusing solely on nonexecutive association positions. The “Association Staff Compensation and Benefits Study” includes 28 middle-level professional positions such as accountant, ad sales representative, compensation/benefits specialist, controller, education manager/coordinator, marketing specialist, meeting manager, and public relations representative. It also includes 22 nonexempt support/clerical positions such as administrative assistant, accounts payable/ receivable, conference/meeting/ exposition coordinator, customer/member service representative, membership/subscription clerk, mailroom clerk, and receptionist. To order the study, contact the ASAE Member Service Center at 888-950-2723. $125 for members; $195 for nonmembers. TIPS FOR THE STAFF OF ONE Single-staff associations can use the tips above to negotiate with their board of directors for a better compensation package. Dur-ing your negotiations, arm yourself with research on the salaries of professionals in your area with similar duties, on cost-saving options for current or proposed benefits, and work-life benefit alternatives to increased compensation, such as flextime, telecommuting, or an education allowance. Winter 2004 Click here to Send feedback on this article. |
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