The importance of wellbeing support
Wellbeing support and its place within company culture is a topic we are all familiar with. However, sometimes it is talked about too generally, and the specific wellbeing efforts organisations make for their people, as well as the tangible benefits, are unclear. Some even consider it ‘nice to have’ rather than an essential way to bolster their teams, their people and overall business success.
As recent winners of the ARMA Wellbeing Award, we believe wellbeing shouldn’t be a bolt on, a buzzword or an inconsistent touchpoint. It should underpin all the professional and technical resources a company offers its people.
Why should organisations invest in the wellbeing of their people?
The most recent ARMA and IRPM 2023 Wellbeing Survey report, shaped by responses from over 700 UK property professionals, revealed the range of complex challenges property managers face.
Some of the findings are worrying but the good news is, it’s in our power to change them.
For instance, respondents posted an average ‘happiness’ score that was 18% below the national average and 65% of respondents said their mental health was at risk from their work. Taken together, the survey found that one third of respondents may look to leave the sector over the next three years. We don’t want that to happen, so we need to do everything we can to turn that figure around.
Staff turnover is rarely a good thing. There are significant financial costs, as well as service level and cultural impacts – not to mention the impact on client, customer and other external stakeholder relationships.
HR Review states that overall employee turnover rates in the UK are likely to exceed 35% – so how do we help keep people settled and motivated?
Encouragingly, the ARMA and IRPM data supported the fact that if employers take active steps to reduce their people’s workload pressures and challenges, wellbeing will increase, meaning they’ll be more likely to stay longer and add value to a business.
Our philosophy is simple. We believe that if our people are happy, they will enjoy what they are doing, do a great job for our clients – and want to stay with us. Our company has always had a family culture, so looking after our people is important to us. That means equipping them with the right wellbeing tools and ongoing support to bolster their existing skillsets and help them forge long-lasting and productive relationships with each other and our clients.
How does this affect property managers and leaseholders?
As any leaseholder knows, a productive relationship with a property manager is important for the effective management of their home and building community. The best leaseholder-property manager relationships are long-term and founded on a comprehensive understanding of a development and its community’s requirements and needs.
But the role of a property manager can be challenging. Juggling the wide range of responsibilities the role requires, and navigating conflict, complaint and customer service can be tough – especially if leaseholder emotions are running high.
The pandemic (during which people were confined to their homes), combined with the post-Grenfell building safety environment (whereby some people have incurred large costs or haven’t been able to sell their homes), and increased cost-of-living challenges have heightened the focus on building management like never before. Being able to agilely navigate varying challenges and stakeholders is certainly a skill, but the right support can mean that personal wellbeing is not affected as a result.
A well-supported property manager will have the resilience and confidence to constructively approach challenges and remain positive and happy in their role longer term, a win-win for both leaseholders and property managers.
Encore’s approach to wellbeing
At Encore, we understand the everyday pressures and stresses our property managers face. We are committed to proactively equipping them with tools to help deal with wellbeing issues and offering ongoing and wide-ranging initiatives in these areas
“The ARMA Wellbeing Award recognises that we are a strong family and that we support each other’s growth and development while coping with the challenges our industry brings.”
Joaquim Fillola, Encore CEO
There are three important foundations that we’ve put in place.
First, we believe that having an actual office (despite having agile working arrangements) promotes good wellbeing. Having a collaborative and productive workspace means we can share what we’re working on and, importantly, how we are feeling with our team members and wider colleagues.
Our office space is also the perfect location for regular learning sessions and non-work related team activities which help build long-lasting internal relationships, in a relaxed environment. We find that when people don’t have a base, they can become disconnected and isolated.
Second, we have placed great importance on having systems that really work. It might sound like a given but everyone that joins Encore is amazed at how we do things and the tools we provide to do the job. When they compare us with others, they realise that a lack of integrated systems or having up-to-date information at their fingertips makes life unnecessarily complex, time-consuming and stressful. Having departments not talking to one another, or not having a ‘can do’ culture doesn’t set anyone up to succeed or provide a good service to clients.
Third, we aspire to high levels of professionalism, but we do this within a ‘family’ culture, – not a cold, ‘corporate’ culture that is alienating. We know and understand each other well, and thanks to our high retention rates, many of us have worked together for a long time. We celebrate achievements, encourage each other, share challenges, and pull together when we need support. This allows us to do our best, to succeed and be happy in our work, for longer.
With these important foundations in place, to support and boost the wellbeing of our people, we take a four-pillar approach. Our first pillar, ‘Helping Others’ includes regular foodbank collections, hospice volunteering, as well as a week of activities for Comic Relief. We also champion physical wellbeing.
Our second pillar embraces just that, and includes mid-week exercise sessions and running clubs, to name just a few. Our third pillar, ‘Taking Care of the Self’ provides access to a Smart Health programme which includes access to an online GP, counselling and nutrition advice. We also offer Perkbox subscriptions and give our people their birthday off work.
Our fourth pillar is dedicated to promoting a happier and social workplace, with ‘Bring Your Dog to Work’ days, and enhanced budgets for team building and engagement events.
We’re continually evolving our Encore Academy training programme with new topics on mental health, resilience, self-confidence and motivation. We know a better work-life balance contributes significantly to well-being, so we’ve implemented several initiatives, including reducing hours in the working week and offering a choice of start and finish times.
The benefits of our wellbeing approach
Despite the challenges highlighted in the ARMA and IRPM 2023 Wellbeing Survey, in our most recent company study, over 90% of our people said Encore is ‘a great place to work’. Not only that, 97% said they and their coworkers have ‘a good working relationship’ and 83% said their manager ‘motivates them to achieve their best’.
We can all attest to the fact that being happy in your work means you are likely to stay in a role longer.
We’re pleased to achieve a retention rate of nearly 90% for people who have been with the company for more than 12 months – that’s well above the industry and UK average.
Property management is an interesting, dynamic and professional sector where you can have a big impact on other people and the built environment. It’s our collective responsibility to ensure it remains an attractive sector for current and future people working in it.
We believe that making our workplace as attractive as possible and setting our people up to succeed underpins everything we do. Well supported people havethe resilience and confidence to constructively approach challenges and remain positive and happy in their role, long term.
This benefits not only a business overall, but when individuals are happy, wider teams and client relationships become stronger and longer lasting.
Final thoughts
When it comes to long-term relationships between leaseholders and property managers, the benefits cannot be underestimated. It means leaseholders don’t have to keep adjusting to new faces, new approaches and experiencing the frustration of explaining ongoing issues multiple times. Likewise, property managers who are well qualified to do their job and happy in their role, benefit from seeing the outcomes of their hard work prosper and communities evolve and thrive.
