It’s no secret that the multifamily industry has been in the middle of a talent war, with turnover rates hitting record highs in the past years.

But Tyler R. Marker, a Director of Marketing and Professional Development at Zidan Management Group, thinks his property management company is not just winning over prospective renters with their Specialized Leasing Initiative—they’re also becoming a go-to employer in the industry.

Read on to learn about their Specialized Leasing Initiative, its impact on turnover rates, and the structure of their centralized team.

Specialized Leasing Initiative

Due to its organizational structure, Zidan Management Group refers to its centralized leasing approach as its Specialized Leasing Initiative. When we interviewed Tyler to learn more about this centralization approach, he shared that Zidan Management Group adopted this initiative to improve employee satisfaction and achieve various renter-specific goals.

“When we started our centralized leasing approach a year and a half ago, our intention was to make our people’s lives better and create efficiencies.”

And they’ve done exactly that—reducing their turnover rate from 58% to an impressive 0%.

At Zidan Management Group’s corporate office, Tyler and his team have restructured roles to focus on specific functions—such as leasing and resident relations—allowing team members to specialize and excel in their areas of expertise.

Leasing Specialist:

  • Handles everything from initial lead management to lease signing, focusing on converting prospects into residents
  • Sales-oriented, focusing on short-term goals
  • Managing 5-6 properties

Resident Relations Specialist:

  • Maintains resident satisfaction by managing community events, handling lease renewals, and fostering long-term relationships
  • Relationship-oriented, focusing on long-term engagement
  • Managing ~2,000 units

Rationale:

  • Equal pay across roles with distinct key performance indicators (KPIs) ensures team members can focus on their strengths—sales for Leasing Specialists and relationship-building for Resident Relations Specialists—without financial incentives skewing role preference
  • ~8 employees will fill these two roles across the 22 properties

Tyler believes technology isn’t meant to replace people but to free them. “The industry hires people to shine in person, but instead, we’ve confined them to computers, handling repetitive tasks like emails, texts, and calls.”

He adds, “Our industry has turned our staff into bots when technology can handle these mundane tasks. By freeing leasing teams from routine work, we allow them to focus on what they love and excel at.”

Tyler attributes the dramatic drop in employee turnover from 58% to 0% to removing mundane tasks and empowering his team with tools like Realync to unlock their creative potential. Read more about Tyler’s success with their Specialized Leasing Initiative and Realync.