The staffing crisis in the real estate industry has become one of the biggest obstacles to growth for property management companies. Time and again, requests from clients have to be turned down because of a lack of staff. Some long-established management companies have even been forced to give up due to the shortage of staff. More than 31 percent of property management companies in Germany were unable to fill all vacancies last year. What can property managers do to combat the skills shortage? Use modern management software such as Impower. It makes it easier to work with fewer staff - and makes working in property management more attractive for junior staff.
Impower is a software for property managers that uses automated processes to noticeably simplify day-to-day accounting and property management work: from invoice entry with text recognition, to the automated posting of sales and invitations to owners' meetings. With Impower and the appropriate work processes, the processing time of an invoice can be reduced to one minute. With 1,000 units, this corresponds to just under 66 days a year. This not only saves costs - but also personnel.
Accounting issue now eliminated.
"With Impower, booking and invoice approval are now done in one step," explains Tobias-Micha Treder, a property manager from Garmisch-Partenkirchen with 2,500 units. "The property managers have now become a bit like accountants and have additional work to do. On the other hand, bookkeeping has been eliminated," says property manager Treder. There is currently only one half-time position in the accounting department. Before the introduction of Impower, there were two employees.
The example of the Bavarian property management company shows: With the Munich start-up's software, you no longer need a specialist to do the bookkeeping; it can also be done by an office worker or a real estate manager.
New employees no longer have to be trained for a long time. "The training required for the system is close to zero. The colleagues train each other, I am only needed to a small extent," says property manager Treder. Two newly hired colleagues were able to work independently with Impower after just three weeks. "That really is one of the biggest benefits of the new software."
Another advantage of cloud-based software? Home office and mobile working. According to the VDIV's industry barometer, these are the most popular measures taken by German property managers to counteract the shortage of skilled workers. More than 66 percent of participants in the association survey were in favor of this. Impower is right on trend here too: the ERP system finally allows you to work flexibly and from anywhere.
The stress level in the team is reduced by using the software - work is simply more fun.
"Inaddition to making day-to-day tasks easier, you also attract young employees to your company with modern, future-oriented and networked solutions," says Impower Managing Director Jürgen Forscht. You can no longer attract skilled workers to your company with outdated, monotonous programs. Growing professionals are used to regularly installing new apps, says Forscht. The property managers of tomorrow also want to deal with modern and simple systems at work.
Property manager Tobias-Micha Treder is also convinced of Impower's impact on his employees. "My impression is that my colleagues are very enthusiastic about the system. The stress level in the team is also reduced by using the software - work is simply more fun."
