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Case Study Six: Community - The Negative Impact of Maintenance Short Staffed for an Extended Period
- Situation: Understaffed by one full time Maintenance Technician for over six months.
- Issues were identified in initial community surveys.
- The surveys were followed by focused post-survey action planning.
- Re-surveys of the properties reported significant changes in resident satisfaction and support the position on the returns for investments which improve the resident experience, customer service, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the service request process.
- As shown below, being understaffed had a clear negative impact on resident satisfaction and renewal likelihood on the second year’s scores (versus prior year).
- In year one this community received superior (scores from 4.00-4.49 on a 5 point scale) and exceptional scores (scores above 4.50) for all core service areas, notably regarding the responsiveness, dependability and work quality of the office and maintenance staff. In addition, the percent of residents with outstanding maintenance problems was well below the SatisFacts Index, and the percent “very likely” to renew was well above the Index.
- The impact of being short-staffed in maintenance became clear when reviewing the next survey results, notably the increase in the percent of residents with outstanding maintenance problems. This increased as the staff was unable to keep up with the volume of service requests.
- As our research forecasts, the increase in outstanding problems led to all staff performance scores dropping from 2%-20%, many superior scores fell into the “average” range, the overall score dropped 12% and became “average” and the percent very likely dropped 7 points.
- Residents felt the impact of the staffing problems, and this change negatively impacted retention.
- Residents’ 7% drop in satisfaction with their home is attributed to on-going issues and frustrations.
Five Point (1-5) Scaled Satisfaction and Yes/No Questions |
| |
Year 1: Score or % Yes |
Rating |
Year 2: Score or % Yes |
SatisFacts Rating |
% Improvement |
| Apartment - Appearance, condition |
4.24 |
Superior |
3.93 |
Average |
-7% |
| Office - Courteous, professional |
4.62 |
Exceptional |
3.95 |
Average |
-15% |
| Office - Responsive, dependable |
4.36 |
Superior |
3.93 |
Average |
-10% |
| Maintenance - Courteous, professional |
4.58 |
Exceptional |
4.18 |
Superior |
-9% |
| Maintenance- Response time |
4.42 |
Superior |
3.53 |
Average |
-20% |
| Maintenance – Work quality |
4.18 |
Superior |
4.09 |
Superior |
-2% |
| Maintenance - Problems still exist |
24% |
|
32% |
|
8% |
| Renewal Likelihood - "Very Likely" |
56% |
|
49% |
|
-7% |
| Overall |
4.37 |
Superior |
3.83 |
Average |
-12% |
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