Many Corporations have experienced the challenges associated with having a valued and experienced Condominium Manager move on to another site, another company or maybe even leave the industry all together. This type of movement is becoming more prevalent due to many factors. It is no secret that there are quite a lot of Condominiums in Ontario, roughly 12,690 Condo Buildings with more than 900,000 units, and a decided shortage 4,564 of licensed Condominium Managers to oversee them.

When a Board finds a Condominium Manager who not only has good synergy with the Directors but also fits in well with the Community, they are quite valuable to all parties.

First let’s look at some of the challenges that Condominium Managers face in their role:

• Long Hours – Condominium Management comes with long hours, after hour and weekend calls too.
• Several meetings and educational seminars outside of the standard business day throughout the year.
• Long drives to work – matching a site location close to where a manager lives is challenging to say the least.
• Job complexity and work load.

Condominium Managers take on the position, knowing that every job comes with unique challenges. Managers are generally quite gratified by what they do for their communities and most continue in this industry because they genuinely love it. The intention with this article is not to place the onus on Boards to retain managers, but instead to highlight one easy way that Boards could simply help their valued managers maintain a better work/life balance and avoid burnout from long hours.

At some sites, Board of Directors are hosting their Board Meetings during regular business hours. Let’s do a quick review of the benefits of Daytime Board Meetings:

• The Manager can get home at a reasonable time to have dinner with their family or their four legged best friend. This can be beneficial to the Manager’s overall well being. They will feel less stressed or burned out.
• Increased productivity. If you’re manager has lower stress levels and is better rested then they will naturally be more productive. Daytime meetings can help your manager tackle tasks with a fresh mind.
• Enhanced communication – the communication between the Board and the manager can be more fluid. Managers are more readily available and less tired from working a full day and then transitioning into a meeting for the evening.
• Some Boards find attendance to be better, and everyone’s attention is more focused during daytime meetings. After all, most people tend to get tired or distracted as the evening progresses.
• Professionalism and Respect – valued managers may feel that their time and wellbeing is being appreciated.
• Daytime meetings tend to be more focused since there are often other tasks everyone needs to get back to. This helps conversations to move forward more productively.

For some Boards daytime meetings won’t be an option, even though they do care about their Manager’s welfare. Those Boards could consider setting time limits on meetings, reschedule in-person meetings if there is inclement weather, consider having your manager start later the day of or day after the Board Meeting, or maybe let the manager leave early on the Friday after the Board Meeting. These are small considerations that could be so beneficial to your manager’s wellbeing, and some food for thought.