| The multi-family apartment rental housing industry has faced numerous challenges in the past decade. Research indicates that employees are disengaged and this disengagement is affecting resident satisfaction and having a negative financial impact on this sector of the housing industry (Miller, 2005; CEL & Associates, 2008). Despite documented support in other industries identifying the link between engaged employees and more impressive business outcomes, little research has concentrated on the special needs and challenges of the multi-family apartment rental housing industry. Further, there are limited tools available to assist owners and managers with the task of identifying the characteristic drivers affecting employee engagement. The goal of this research is to assist multi-family apartment rental property owners and managers in their process of talent management by developing an employee engagement model that improves business outcomes. The objectives of this research are: (1) To identify and classify characteristic drivers of a multifamily rental property employees' engagement affect on resident satisfaction; and (2) To develop an Employee Engagement Model (EEM) that allows multi-family apartment rental property owners and managers to define the percentage of satisfied residents for a given average level of engagement score. This research utilizes statistical analysis, neural network techniques, and probabilistic modeling for developing the Employee Engagement Model.;The hypothesis of this research is that: The relationship between an average percentage of satisfied residents satisfaction-score and average level of employee engagement-score is a Burr Distribution with a skewness to the left. The results of this research are expected to assist human resources professionals, managers, and owners of the multi-family rental properties to retain employees and improve resident satisfaction. A panel of experts from the multi-family rental housing industry identified key indicators of employee engagement. Using a survey approach, combined with a comprehensive literature review, a list of key drivers for employee engagement are identified and classified by frequency and similarity. Once significant drivers are selected, an Employee Engagement Model is developed to measure the percentage of multi-family apartment resident's satisfaction determined by the average level of the on-site property employees' engagement. The Employee Engagement Model (EEM) offers a tool for defining the relationship between employee engagement and resident satisfaction in the multi-family housing rental apartment industry. New knowledge is derived in correlations of certain aspects of employee engagement and the likelihood of resident satisfaction to extend their leases, thus improving business performance. It is expected that the Employee Engagement Model (EEM) will provide useful feedback to multi-family professionals in their process of talent management as it relates to improved business performance. It is also expected that further discussions toward improvements in measuring employee engagement and its impact on satisfaction will be prompted by this research. |
