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Property Management By Day... Pirates By Night
8 Plays21 days ago
🎧 Welcome to Thoughts For Rent — the podcast where real estate gets real (and local)!
Hosted by Jenni McKenna, a Las Vegas born and raised seasoned broker, and Owner of McKenna Property Management, this show is your inside look at what’s really happening in the Vegas property management and real estate world. With over 20 years of experience herself - Jenni brings not just knowledge, but heart to the conversation.
Whether we’re talking market trends, property tips, community happenings, or just the everyday quirks of Vegas living, this podcast is all about keeping you in the know.
💬 Real talk. Local stories. Professional insight – provided from a company who has their boots on the ground and hearts in the community.
In this episode, we’re covering some advice from Jenni on how she finds her employees and how she really makes sure to treasure them.
McKenna Property Management, proudly managing Las Vegas homes since 2005 (and loving every minute of it).
Hit subscribe and comment down below to join the conversation! 💛
✨ Stay connected with us!
Instagram: @mckennapropertymanagement
Facebook: McKenna Property Management
TikTok: @TheMcKennaTeam
Website: McKennaPropertyManagement.com
Phone: 702-434-HOME (4663)
Owner/Broker: Jenni McKenna B.29819
#ThoughtsForRent #McKennaTeam #LasVegasRealEstate #JenniMcKenna #PropertyManagement #MarketTrends #PropertyTips #Community
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Realtors Keepin' It Real'
00:00:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Hi everyone, welcome back to Realtors Keepin' It Real. I am Ireland and as always, i have Jenny McKenna, broker owner of McKenna Property Management with me.
00:00:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
And Ireland forgot to say, thoughts for rent. Yes, and this is Thoughts for Rent, Realtors Keepin' It Real. And i call Jenny many things. I call her boss, mom, friend. But I also like to say that she is ah pirate sometimes because when she finds treasure, she likes to hold on to it.
Employees as Treasures
00:00:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think that this is a good little analogy because one of the things that Jenny has always taught me is that finding a good person to work for you, finding a good employee is like finding hidden treasure. And you want to make sure – Finding the diamond. Exactly. Finding that in the diamond. Yes, I agree with you. So we're going talk about not only how to find the treasure, but then after finding the treasure, how to store and hide your booty like a pirate.
00:01:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Absolutely. Hide that booty, protect that booty. That's what you want. So I know that a lot of people have um started businesses. And so this is going to be geared to any business that you are starting, whether that's a real estate career, property management career,
00:01:36
Irelynn Zurflueh
opening up a t-shirt shop, whatever, anything that needs more than yourself. This is what we're going to gear this podcast to. And I feel very, very blessed and very lucky.
00:01:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
And sometimes I think it's just about good luck. But when you do it as long and as often as I've been doing it, maybe there is a little bit of, you know, method to
Finding and Hiring Employees
00:02:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
the madness. And so I thought I would share with you, with Ireland also piping in on what she sees from the outside looking in.
00:02:07
Irelynn Zurflueh
And this should be able to give everybody maybe some thoughts, thoughts for rent, um for maybe when you're developing and expanding your business. So let's just dive right in.
00:02:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. So when you, I mean, you started everything probably around 30 years ago now. So very different things like LinkedIn, oh yeah Monster, any of those advertising companies didn't really exist. We do take advantage of them now.
00:02:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
But prior to that, what was your kind of main secret sauce or what were you looking for? Sphere of influence. Sphere of influence. I still believe in that even to this day. So when there is an opening that is here at McKenna Property Management, I will always tell the team members,
00:02:49
Irelynn Zurflueh
We have this opening. this is they They pretty much know what that position is going to entail. They know what we are looking for. They know the pace that our office is. And so if they've got somebody in their life that they think that would be ah someone that could fit that position, that's kind of my that but that would be my top of choice is fear of influence. Yeah. i am I know that we go to a lot of business meetings and people always throw that out there. It's one of the most commonly reoccurring subject of like, I need to find people. I need to hire somebody.
00:03:23
Irelynn Zurflueh
i think real estate or property management is a little unique because some jobs do require the license, which kind of, you know, shortens your
Hiring for Skills vs. Adaptability
00:03:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
bubble. But one piece of advice that we've gotten before is follow the three B's, which is babysitter, bartender, and I can't remember the third B.
00:03:41
Irelynn Zurflueh
Teacher. For me, a school teacher. So I don't know where the B came in, but it was definitely a school teacher. Yeah. I have found that if you are within those worlds of those three, you have a tendency to know good customer service, communication skills.
00:03:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I know that I really believe that computer skills can be taught. I know that a lot of people are like, oh no, you need to know Excel, you need to know word, you need to know this, you need to know that. and And you know what, I'm not necessarily believer in that.
00:04:13
Irelynn Zurflueh
I can say my husband, Max, he worked on the strip at the MGM. And he was a production stage manager. This is many years ago when we first got married. And his um boss came to him and said, hey, Max, you know, Excel, right?
00:04:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
Max had never touched Excel. And he looked at his boss and he goes, oh, yeah. And his boss goes, OK, I want you to put all of the dancers in the Excel and all their start times and a couple other things.
00:04:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
And, you know, Max just sat down, took him about an hour and a half and he learned it. And I honestly believe that is almost the case with any technology. And I also believe technology changes so fast that if you hire somebody who has this particular skill set, who's to say that they're going to continue to evolve that skill set in that particular technology?
00:05:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
So i like the I like the customer service. I like being able to have communication skills. Those are the two top whenever I'm hiring for anything. Yeah. I think nowadays with how could Google is and Reddit threads, most of the time, any technology problem I run into, it's a quick Google search and then I find an article and then it usually helps resolve the problem. And then most of the time, if it's not a quick Google search and it's a very niche thing to like the software I'm working on, almost all softwares have like a help where you can talk to a live person or you can get their articles. So I get what you're saying with that, where it's kind of harder to teach
00:05:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
customer service than it is to teach yeah Excel. I also i'd like to do this one. So if they're coming in for an interview, it doesn't matter what position they're coming in for.
00:05:56
Irelynn Zurflueh
i i know they're nervous. They're going to be very nervous when they're talking to me. They're going to know that, oh, she's the one that's going to hire. You can tell sweaty palms, you know, they're they're going to trip over their words.
00:06:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
None of that really bothers me all that much. But what I do like to do is I like to set them some somewhere where there's a computer And I want them to write me an email. And I'll tell them a topic. It can be a topic that's not even related to property management. It could just be a topic where somebody's really upset about, and I'll make something up.
00:06:26
Irelynn Zurflueh
And it could be, you know, they're upset because their car, they brought their car in and they didn't get what they thought was, ah you know, a proper job. And I want you to put an email together to calm that individual down.
00:06:39
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think that that's one way that you can get somebody to really find out one. And I learned this from somebody who spoke amazing English, but didn't write English very well.
00:06:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
So I found that out because that could have been something that you didn't find out to after you hired them. But you also find out what their crisis mode is, because I have just now thrown them into a situation that
Employee Engagement and Workplace Atmosphere
00:07:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
they had no idea they were going to walk into.
00:07:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
How do they handle the crisis mode? Do they excel or do they get really nervous and fearful and do they back up? Because in my world, I want somebody to go after it.
00:07:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
My theory has always been fail forward or fail your way to success. So. I like that. I've started on a couple of interview sessions with you and we've done the email thing and then we've also had them write, um,
00:07:31
Irelynn Zurflueh
ah just even on an envelope, like write an address as if you were going to mail something. Cause we still do thank you cards and we still, there's still a couple of things that require us to write still, even though it's kind of older, it's kind of starting to age out. Okay. So you may say older, but let me, let me defend that part of it. I do understand that in today's world, everything is pretty much computer, computer generated, but if you're doing anything within the office for communication,
00:07:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
you have to have legible handwriting. So if they're going to be coming into the team and they just need to write a quick, ah a quick post-it note, I need to be able to read that.
00:08:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
And everybody else needs to be able to read that. So I do know that writing is a lost art and and I get it, but I also want to make sure that they're legible, that they, at least what they're writing is legible for the team.
00:08:21
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. I think that it's, I really like even we just hired um somebody recently. His name's Peter. He's a new hire to the team, and he came from Sphere of Influence. um And a lot of other people on our team came from Sphere of Influence.
00:08:36
Irelynn Zurflueh
um But I believe Alonda, who you guys have met on the podcast, was – a random resume hire, if I'm yeah correct. Yes, that is correct. I actually... It's 50-50, I feel like, in the office sometimes. At one point, I did go through a little bit of a ah time where I was having really a really, lot of turnover for the same position. It was the upfront desk position.
00:09:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
So I started doubting what my skill set was for hiring. So I actually went out and found a company that does all the interviewing and then shortens the list and then sends you their top.
00:09:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
And Alonda was part of that. And it was, um you you actually keep them on short term through that company. And then if you like them, you buy out the contract. that's expensive.
00:09:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
So once I did it once, i was like, I don't know, that's a very expensive proposition. So if you're trying to keep a small business and you're trying to keep your costs down, you almost want to take the time or have somebody on your team take the time to go through the resumes and then not worry about having to buy out the contract of that individual.
00:09:42
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I know right now, I believe your oldest or long-term employee is right at like 20 to 21 years or something? Well, if you count Terry, you're going to be at 22 years. But in actual, we do have an accountant with us that has been with us for 20 years.
00:10:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then it goes 16, 15, 13. fifteen thirteen and So you're even in starting to enter the double digits of people staying with you, which I think is a very...
00:10:12
Irelynn Zurflueh
not ah super unheard of, but definitely unique. So what have been the things that have you've done to keep them around? I always look at it from, if I'm in a position of a workspace, what's going to keep me excited? What's going to keep me there?
00:10:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I really believe that it is stretching. I think that when you stretch an individual, they're going to feel accomplished. They're going to be heard. They're going to feel like they are part of the team.
00:10:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
So I call it keeping your plate full. And Ireland's heard this a bunch of times. Everybody in the office has heard it. When you get so efficient at what you do, you're going to end up with blocks of time, and so your plate no longer becomes full.
00:11:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
And that is dangerous to me. I think that whenever a team member does not have a full plate, they might at that point start looking around and thinking,
00:11:10
Irelynn Zurflueh
this may not be the place I want to be. I'm not really feeling like, you know, I'm valuable here. I'm kind of doing the same thing every day. And I want to reward them for being so darn efficient.
00:11:23
Irelynn Zurflueh
So I'll figure that out. You can kind of see it. And then you go in and you're, and by that time, you kind of know where their skill set is and what they really like doing. And I will create a little another job, like a little something that adds to that so that their plate becomes full again.
00:11:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
So that's number one. Number two is the atmosphere. I think an atmosphere of an office is essential. I think if you're walking in and everybody is down in the dumps because it's a Monday or they got yelled at from somebody that was upset and then they take that all the way through the office, that is not an atmosphere that you want to keep.
00:12:01
Irelynn Zurflueh
So one of the things for me, thank goodness, I think it's kind of one of my superpowers, high energy. And I happen to have a really good outlook on life. I think there's there's something good to look at no matter what. So when I walk into the office, I'm usually one of the first to come in the office.
00:12:17
Irelynn Zurflueh
I set that stage where it's going to be a great day and it's going to be happy. And there has been a couple times where I have woken up and I have been just, I can't shake it. I've been in a really, really bad mood.
00:12:30
Irelynn Zurflueh
I will not go into the office that day because I know by me coming in the office what it will do to everybody else. So I would say optimistic. And then what we do is we have a, why don't you talk about our little 8.50 to 9 o'clock thing that we do?
00:12:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah, so um it used to be every single day where 8.50 to 9, we would do a morning huddle. and the whole team would get together and we'd meet in the conference room. We do it now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
00:12:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
So we went from five days to ah three days and it really is each day is a different theme and we've kind of spiced it up consistently throughout the years, which I also think plays a part to environment is don't let things get dull, you know, every single year.
00:13:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
So at least specifically for this year, Monday is, um, motivational Monday. So whoever's in charge of that morning huddle needs to come in with something motivational to speak about. And then Wednesdays are, uh, we go over the 10 bold truths, which I think we've talked about on this podcast before, but it's the Keller Williams 10 bold truths that they, that, um, he lives by.
00:13:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
and we basically pick one and we talk about it, or we talk about all 10, or we watch a video that relates to one of them. And then on Fridays we do fun Friday. So whoever's picked for that day can bring in a game. Even today we did music trivia.
00:13:51
Irelynn Zurflueh
ah We've played golf before. So that's a little bit more of a free range, do whatever you want kind of day. And then we it gives us a chance to just come together and meet as a team every morning um And off of everybody's energy. So somebody might have had a little rough night the night before, but then Ireland comes in and she's participating and she's talking and we're laughing and she brings something up.
00:14:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
It's really hard when people are laughing and and being involved to stay in that shell of being upset about the night before. So it it really, i think it kind of starts the day off the way you want it in a team atmosphere.
Personalizing Employee Experiences
00:14:33
Irelynn Zurflueh
We only have 15 on our team. So if this is something where you're you've got a company that's a lot bigger, maybe you dissect it out into different segments. So it's only around 10 to 15 people. It's really nice though, because because we're department-based,
00:14:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
I could go a whole day without talking to certain people just because it's not required. So it is nice to get to see faces that of people I may not even be emailing, people may not even be seeing because that can happen sometimes when it's department-based.
00:15:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then if you are the owner of the company and you can hire this out to one of the team members, but we always put a calendar ah that we set up so that you know what day you're assigned. And then obviously that theme so that you're not just blindsided. Oh, hi, Ireland. You do motivation Monday today.
00:15:15
Irelynn Zurflueh
no. know't She knows that she's got motivation Monday on that day of that month. And we just set up that calendar for the month. And then the other thing that I think, and I'll be totally honest to everybody and and completely transparent The outcome of this energy is the bonus.
00:15:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
The reason this was done was because I was having people show up late for work and I couldn't figure out how I could constantly go in and rather than making them feel terrible for the day because they were late, I created this, which means everybody is to be in the office at 8.50.
00:15:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
We're all in the conference room. Anyone who's late, everybody sees it. It's an absolute automatic accountability. And nobody wants to walk into the conference room and everybody turn and look at them.
00:16:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
So it's one of those accountability things that just happens. So That's why our office starts at 8.50. The phones open up at 9 o'clock. And then I really think it kind of sets for the day. And there's some days where it's kind of boring, you know, and it's like, ah.
00:16:24
Irelynn Zurflueh
And then there's other times where you just walk out and you have so much energy because you've just been laughing. You know, we had a video on Fun Friday where it's all those babies that do funny talks. And and i couldn't stop laughing all day and just set the whole day to just be a positive thing. So that's something that you might want to think about doing super easy.
00:16:42
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think the outcome is really, really good. We've done other, um, in the past years too, we've also kind of, instead of doing the 10 bull truce, we talked about our own personal, uh, values, our, our elevate that we've talked about on here before.
00:16:58
Irelynn Zurflueh
We've also done certain days where we do like accountability days. If we were working on goals, So it is really nice because all you really need is the 10 minutes and then you can decide what to do. And so even if you wanted to do like a TikTok day or you wanted to do a crazy story day or even if you just wanted to – we celebrate birthdays on so on some of our 850 days. So the freedom to do it is very much you can kind of mold it to what you think would be best for your team. And that brings me to the next part. So I don't really believe that you have to be –
00:17:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
an employer that knows all the ins and outs of your employees, I think that there's definitely boundaries and there's privacy and you don't really want to know everything because then when something goes wrong, then you could get pulled into that drama. And I don't think that's healthy for either party.
00:17:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
What you do want to know though, is some interesting things that will surprise them. So for instance, I know that our accountant, and this is years and years ago, he loved dolphins and he had dolphin posters.
00:18:06
Irelynn Zurflueh
i In fact, I think he had ah dolphin tattoo, but anyways, I knew he loved dolphins and I didn't even have to go in and find out all the details. It was pretty obvious. So for one of his anniversary gifts,
00:18:20
Irelynn Zurflueh
Dad and i sent him over down to the Mirage where they had a dolphin experience. And that was something that he never believed. He never thought that a boss would do that.
00:18:32
Irelynn Zurflueh
Give him a day off and send him over to the dolphin experience. So I think that there's just little things that you've got to always be mindful of when you're walking through your office.
00:18:43
Irelynn Zurflueh
I found out that one of our team members had a pretty nasty breakup. And I always feel bad when there's a breakup. And you don't want to go over and have them shed all the stuff because that's just going to rehash all those terrible feelings, right?
00:18:57
Irelynn Zurflueh
So what I did is I just ended up sending ah that individual a little succulent that just said, hey, just want to let you know that I think you're pretty cool and pretty special. And I hope this brightens your day.
00:19:09
Irelynn Zurflueh
And it came a couple days later after I found out. But I think those are the things where you want to make sure that each team member is unique and that their voice is heard, their talents are acknowledged.
Hiring Philosophy and Employee Fit
00:19:22
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think that's how you get longevity. Yeah. I know that, um, you know, Max, I don't know if he does this because he's my dad or because he's my boss, but I will say that it's because he's my boss. He, um,
00:19:33
Irelynn Zurflueh
there's these Japanese chocolate mushroom treats that I love and randomly they'll just be on my desk. So even something as small as giving somebody a treat or a coffee or whatever, like whenever I see those on my desk, I always think, oh, he thought about me.
00:19:47
Irelynn Zurflueh
I have a coworker who she's so sweet. She'll randomly buy me peanut M&Ms. I'm like, oh gosh, he thought about me. So it's even small things. Obviously the dolphin exhibit was for an anniversary, but getting those kinds of things on a random Wednesday, oh yeah it brightens up your day for sure.
00:20:02
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think that's really, i think that's what's helped our longevity is that they know that, that, I mean, I like to say we're a family, but you really don't want to be a family in a work environment because that's, that could cross the line.
00:20:14
Irelynn Zurflueh
But I do really look at, at all team members as important people in my life. And so if I would do it for my daughter, my son, my mom, then i would do the same thing for those team members. So The other thing that I would like to to share, and this is something that's a little difficult for me, higher slow, fire fast.
00:20:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
Gary Keller, he has a whole class that you go to. that helps you figure out your missing person. And that stuck with me because sometimes I will always try and give the benefit of the doubt to that individual.
00:20:53
Irelynn Zurflueh
If they're constantly making the same mistake, I understand mistakes are made, but if it's a constant mistake, same one over and over and over, i always am probably too much of a softy.
00:21:05
Irelynn Zurflueh
And I think I need to fire faster. If you know that's not going to work, if you know that that's not the right fit, that that's not the missing person you're looking for, don't drag it on. It's probably easier for them to not to be so involved in the company and fire fast.
00:21:23
Irelynn Zurflueh
Yeah. I think a lot of companies and a lot of people use a 90-day probation or a 60-day probation when they first hire. And I've just always really thought to myself, that is the chance for you to decide on day 90,
00:21:37
Irelynn Zurflueh
You should either be able to say, yes, I see this person being here for a very long time or no I don't. And you should figure it out within the first 90 days and probably subconsciously or consciously you have.
00:21:50
Irelynn Zurflueh
You just need to say it out loud and then make sure that you act accordingly. And go with your gut. I really believe that when you are a business owner, you know your vision of what you want for the company. um And, you know, you can try and tell your vision to somebody, but the truth is, is that complete picture of your vision is only with you.
00:22:11
Irelynn Zurflueh
So if your gut is telling you that this individual is not the right fit and it's not going to help you get where you want to go, just end it. you know give them the opportunity to go out and be part of something that they can help participate and help build, ah even if that's not your particular company. Just like how we said at the beginning, it's like finding treasure. And and sometimes if you go, i mean, I'm not, I've never done this, but I've heard that if you go searching for oil or you go searching for gold, there's going to be some times where you don't strike.
00:22:44
Irelynn Zurflueh
But the minute you strike, You'll feel it and then you'll be able to act accordingly ah to maintain that that treasure that you found because I really do think that employees are
Conclusion: Valuing Employees as Treasures
00:22:54
Irelynn Zurflueh
treasures. too I agree with you 100%. And do not let anybody poach your treasure.
00:23:00
Irelynn Zurflueh
And the way you don't let people poach is you treat them well. You pay them well. And you if they're sick, let them be sick. Let them take the extra day, the next day, even if that's going to cause a little bit of hiccup, let them take the next day and let them feel better.
00:23:16
Irelynn Zurflueh
Or if there's an emotional issue, just let them have the day off. Somebody came in and There was something going on with their family and you could just tell they tell that they weren't quite right, but they didn't want to let me down by missing a day.
00:23:29
Irelynn Zurflueh
and' like, go home, go home. You need to go home. Absolutely. yeah Well, hopefully you guys can take our advice. Hopefully if you're looking for somebody out there, you're looking for your own piece of treasure, you find it.
00:23:40
Irelynn Zurflueh
um And if you have any other advice or you have any suggestions that have worked really well for your own business, feel free to leave a comment below and maybe we can use it and and apply it here and take advantage of it. Absolutely. And if you like getting advice from us and hearing our stories and thinking about different ways you can grow your company, then, you know, click follow, click subscribe. We're on here weekly and you hear from me and Jenny and Max. And so we're always happy to.
00:24:08
Irelynn Zurflueh
Talk about the thing that takes up most of our day. That's right. And you've been listening to Thoughts for Rent. Realtors keeping it real. Share this episode or subscribe. We sure do appreciate you for listening.
00:24:19
Irelynn Zurflueh
And we'll be back next week. Bye. See you next week.