2022 First Quarter Manager’s Meeting

It is a remarkable thing to see your colleagues in person after a two-year COVID delay. Even more so for those whose jobs keep them so busy it is rare as hens teeth to get away for a couple of hours of professional development. This extraordinary thing happened recently when Curry Real Estate Services’ property management team came together for a work session at the Raymond R. Brock Jr. Hall at Northland Neighborhoods, Inc. (NNI).

“Every one of these meetings is about supporting and developing our managers,” said Effie Tymony, property management coordinator. “Our goal is to take time quarterly to let them hear directly from Curry leadership about company news, orient them to any new technology tools, talk about resident satisfaction and update them about things like fair housing. They come away with a better understanding of how their work directly affects the success of the company.”

This being the first in-person property manager meeting in two years, it came with a good lunch and a fun team building exercise where the managers had to channel their inner engineer to see what team could build the tallest tower made up of toothpicks and marshmallows.

“My team won, by the way,” said Laura Freda, property manager for the Village Gardens Apartments in Kansas City North, about the team building exercise, referencing her childhood experience with Tinker Toys. “I absolutely love working for Curry. I have found everyone always so supportive and Ellen Todd (Curry CEO) is so thoughtful and caring of all the employees.”

Freda said that these meetings are helpful on a lot of levels. “It was nice to be with other managers, learn about company business and some of the new software we will be using. These meetings help me understand the big picture of the business as well as how to serve our residents better. This work is a kind of ministry as we are ministering to people in so many ways in the most important place in their lives – their home.”

Ashley Huddleston, manager of a number of multi-family properties in Liberty, said that it was rare in her experience to work in an organization that invites the property management team to interact with company vice presidents and ownership.

“It is really nice to sit down and have a face-to-face with the boss,” Huddleston said. “Curry’s leadership is different in that the people are very accessible. The company is invested in team building including bringing us together to do community volunteer projects. The leadership team sits down with you, tells you in person what is happening in the company, shows you how something works like our new inspection software. It is so simple yet so helpful.”

Tymony said that while Curry has been doing these property manager meetings for years, they’ve refined how they are organized so that along with general information and fun time together, there are specific goals for each session. “This meeting was all about showing our property managers how they fit into the big picture,” she said. “We got good feedback. They heard that everything they do matters and we appreciate them.”