Empowering Excellence: Learning & Development at Capital Square
Learning and Development (L&D) can be a strategic driver of business performance.
In this discussion, three of our firm’s learning and development leaders – Andrea Shaw, Vice President, Learning & Development; Victoria Lennon, Learning Manager; and Steve Wunch, Director, Sales & Leadership Learning – discuss what L&D really means, how it empowers teams, and the initiatives Capital Square is implementing to strengthen talent and support bottom-line results.
Learn how a focused approach to professional growth can help employees and the total firm perform at the highest levels.
Approximate Transcript:
Steve: So, we’re here to talk about my favorite subject, which is learning and development. I’m here with my great partners in learning, Andrea Shaw and Victoria Lennon. Let’s talk a little bit first.
You know, learning and development can be a bit ethereal. People kind of don’t really put their fingers on what it all entails, so for someone who’s watching this, hearing about learning and development in the multifamily space for the first time, how would you guys define what it is that you do and why it’s important to the business?
Andrea: Well, we do what we do because of all of the people involved in the business. So yes, we are a business, but there’s a lot of people that make it work and help it either be successful or not. And so, the more we get the people what it is that they need to be successful on a daily basis, the more successful the business will be.
The more we can tie those things together, the better off everybody is, because they feel like they’re getting what they need to be successful, and they in turn then treat their customers in that way, start building relationships with their vendors in that way, and help us grow not just our culture but our business, and things become more profitable in turn as well.
The more success we can have individually, the more success we have as a team. I think people feel that, and there’s something a little different about feeling a certain way, feeling like you have somebody who’s invested in you when you’re going to work, versus just feeling like you’re going to work for a paycheck.
Steve: Right. Can you tell me a little bit about your roles and how they’re different? Because I know, Andrea, you’re kind of spearheading a global approach to learning, not just for Capital Square Living but also for the Capital Square organization. But Victoria, I want people to understand what your role is and how you play in the learning collaboration that happens between the two of you.
Andrea: Okay, so I’ll go ahead and start, and then I’ll pass it over to you.
I try to take a look at what the organization needs as a whole, and then say, how does that differ from department to department? And then, further from that, how does that trickle down to each of the individual job roles? How can we create programs that can benefit everybody within a particular either department or job role, and be able to develop programs that can appeal to the masses in those areas? Also building our culture, building things like rewards and recognition.
Right now, a big initiative that we’re working through is performance management, which is part of the performance review process, goal setting, and helping people be able to have an aligned vision. So larger scale projects that are either organization-wide or a larger appeal based on each department or particular job role. That’s where Victoria gets into the more granular pieces.
Victoria: So yes, I take more of a granular approach, like she said, on some of the tasks. We definitely worked very closely when we built our “Rise” onboarding program [at Capital Square Living], and I now manage the majority of that. But in addition, some of these large-scale goals that we have, they start on a granular level, such as policy and procedures. I spearhead a lot of our [standard operating procedures] or SOP development. That doesn’t mean I create them, but it means that I’m getting all of the parties in the room that need to have a role in creating policies and procedures, so it’s not made in a bubble, and we’re truly seeing the whole picture.
Then once we build it out with the experts in whatever policy we’re working on, we can then look and say, “Okay, let’s bring in that training element.” Because it’s great to write a policy, but if we don’t train people in what that policy and procedure is, it’s not going to be effective.
Something very unique to Capital Square, that I love, is that the policy is starting from the learning and development side, because again, we have to train people in what we want them to do in order for them to be successful.
The data shows that training people, investing in them, having good onboarding, having a good first experience when they start at a company, that retains people. Ultimately that drives the business forward, because you’re not having to spend as much money bringing new people in.
When you look outside of the cultural aspect, if you just look at the revenue side of it, the business side of it — which is important to point out to some leaders who maintain this as their driving force — I think it’s important to see that Learning and Development does bring a revenue saving aspect. Sometimes that’s hard to see, because if we’re doing our job right, you’ll never see a loss in revenue. But when it’s not done right, you do see it. That’s why it really should be at the forefront in any business.
Steve: I love that.
Andrea: And the great thing is it’s still not where it’s going to be. We’re continuing to build this out because we have opportunity to continue to make it better. And we know that making somebody’s first impression of working here a powerful one, a great one, a memorable one, is going to continue to be important.
As we continue this journey of building out these different kinds of elements and offshoots, we’re going to continue to find things that we can do better. Bringing in additional support teams is one of them. Refining what it looks like physically when somebody comes into the office is really important. Figuring out how there’s nuances between different job roles and departments and what that will look like.
We’re excited about continuing to make this great as we find opportunities to continue to do that.
Steve: And it’s a snapshot of learning, because learning is always changing and growing and reiterating, and that’s exactly what you guys are doing in your process.
Andrea: Absolutely. What’s great about the data is that we see that it’s working. So many people investing their time and resources into this is paying off. The more we do that, we’re going to continue to see those numbers show us that as well, and that’s an important thing for us also: being able to really measure our success, to say, “Is this thing that we’re doing helping?”
Steve: Which is really exciting, and this global approach to learning and development, I think is going to be really full of wins for all of the folks that are within the organization, regardless of which side of the table they sit on, whether it’s Capital Square or Capital Square Living. It just really paints a broader picture and gives everybody an idea of what is possible. That paints the picture for a very bright and happy future.
Victoria: It also helps growth. When you have to bring somebody in from the outside, you now have to teach them all of the history that has gone into it.
Steve: Like starting from scratch.
Andrea: Yes, they come with great knowledge from where they come from, but they don’t know the journey that has led to where you are. So, when you’re able to attain someone and have them grow into a new role, they see the journey. They’re going to see, “Oh, well, Capital Square has done all this. That’s why we’re here.”
Sometimes it takes time for people to learn that, and that’s really important when building the future, to see where you’ve been, so that you don’t make the same mistakes again, and you have a better understanding of the plans moving forward.
Andrea: I love the idea of helping our team members build that legacy. We’re able to help them continue building their own legacy here at Capital Square, and I think with this global approach, it allows for us to more seamlessly see everybody as Capital Square team members and just help them be able to connect the dots better about who does what and how they can best work together.
We have the opportunity to really connect with human beings, which isn’t as common anymore these days. I think that’s such a beautiful gift that we’re able to have in our job roles, but also to be able to highlight that our team members have the ability to make an impact on people’s lives in a really great way.
Steve: 100%.
Across-the-Board Excellence
This is one of our core values at Capital Square. We bring quality, awareness and depth of knowledge to every project and relationship. Our Learning & Development programs are one more example of this value in action.
