Silva-Markham Partners Reviews

Although we expect negative reviews from former employees who were terminated for good cause, we would like to address this review as we feel that statements were made without adequate knowledge, and this reviewer left our employ without allowing us the opportunity to hear and address their concerns: We believe that this review is not a current employee, but a former employee who was with us for about 6 weeks and did not have all the facts to back the statements made in the review. The reviewer also gave notice and did not come in to work in the days that followed the notice. We truly believe that family come first, but in the event that an employee states (does not request) that they will be working from home after already calling in for a couple of days, we must step in to address that we do not condone working from home. If we do this for one employee, then we have to allow the same for all, and even the partners come in to the office every day to be a physical presence and support system for the employees. This reviewer was sent to assist on two sites where managers have some tough personal situations that they are working through. To interpret that the employee work stress levels have then “in tears” is not the whole story. Note that the corporate office sent the reviewer specifically to assist the sites that were struggling, and so we don’t understand how this represents a lack of support for our employees Training: The reviewer was hired to assist site staff and was working with a senior employee in the departments for over two weeks, while also being paired with an additional senior site manager that is skilled in the reviewers area of expertise and therefore also able to provide training. The reviewer also had no way of knowing (and did not ask) that the accounting department conducted a training for managers and assistant managers on accounting-related topics, software and policies. This most recent training was on March 20th On April 17th and 18th , managers were trained on how to create variance reports and complete final accounts statements. The company also provides written protocols on subject such as entering purchase orders, invoices, service requests, how to create a visitor as a prospect, an applicant and finally a move in. Other protocols include how to generate the lease, renew a lease, enter a vacating resident into our system, moving them out and assessing applicable charges, reasonable accommodation, pet policies, roommate policies, transfer policies and many other training tools. All protocols are step by step with screen shots. Any manager needing training will As far as turnover, the industry and all related services are experiencing high turnover, due to unprecedented unemployment. Many of our hires have stayed with us for years (several promoted) due to the company culture and support, but yes, some have left to make more money. Our affordable housing sites can’t raise rents to compensate for higher salaries, but we are competitive thanks to having wonderful owner / clients who agree with our belief in rewarding hard work and loyalty. All employees are given a job description, with their offer letter which must be signed by the prospective employee, in agreement that they have read and understand the job requirements. We can only assume that the employee has read what they have signed It is true that cameras have been installed on our sites, usually trying to cover the angle of someone approaching the manager’s desk. Many of our sites are small and have only one employee on site. Although we don’t have time to intently watch them, we can see body language of a possibly disgruntled prospect or resident. We can then call the site to see if they need assistance so that the aggressive person is aware that they are on camera. We can send police if we feel a situation is escalating. We are a growing company and, so yes, lines of responsibility within the VP’s and regionals can be blurred at times, but this reviewer was encouraged to take any concerns that they had to HR on multiple occasions and did not; we can’t address what we don’t know. Also, we think that 6 weeks is a small amount of time to have observed and commented on the areas that were not even in this reviewers department, and therefore the reviewer could not have total knowledge of, or have been exposed to some of the training, policies, etc. that they stated were remiss. We are not perfect, but through communication from our employees as to how we can improve their processes, we collect and are always open to new ideas and efficiencies. Vivian Markham ǀ C.O.O.