Contributed by Mike Ramsey
Portfolio manager Roberta Maxfield enjoys her job working for several communities, but there are challenges. An assistant helps her field inquiries from clients, but burnout from workplace stress remains a risk, says Maxfield, CMCA, AMS, of Advanced Management Inc., in Bradenton, Fla.
To offset work-related pressures, she exercises, takes frequent walks, and goes out each afternoon for lunch. Maxfield also uses a meditative phone app with soothing sounds at the start of every day.
She’s not alone. Leaders within the community association field are emphasizing the importance of physical and mental wellness for professionals and board members. To this end, Maxfield attended a mindful maintenance workshop last summer organized by the West Florida, Suncoast, and South Gulf Coast chapters of CAI.
West Florida Chapter Executive Director Scott Gilbert says the event covered time-management strategies and tips for curbing conflicts. It is part of an ongoing dialogue in the post-COVID-19 pandemic landscape.
Fallout from work-related stress pervades the U.S. workplace and economy, according to the American Institute of Stress, which estimates billions of dollars are lost through employee absenteeism, decreased productivity, and increased healthcare costs.
CAI President Melissa Ramsey, owner of Mosaic Community Consulting in Lancaster, S.C., has placed the issue of wellness at the top of her agenda. “When you’re doing more to help yourself and feel good, it does impact what you’re doing at work,” says Ramsey, CMCA, AMS, LSM, PCAM, a cancer survivor who has focused on her own physical fitness. “Self-care isn’t selfish. We all need it to show up and be the best version we can be.”
Community manager Bill Overton, PCAM, says frank discussions about the dangers of workplace stress were nonexistent when he began his career in community management in 1989. Traditional U.S. work culture has expected employees to muscle through adversity — a premise he once embraced to his own detriment.
More recently, after widely sharing his story, Overton has emerged as an industry advocate for wellness. Today, he is executive director of the Toscana Country Club Homeowners Association in Palm Desert, Calif., where Overton says he and his bosses are on the same page about work.
Finding a way to cope is essential. “If you’re going to have a good, long career in this space, you have to be able to interact with workplace stress in a healthy, life-sustaining way,” says Alexis Firehawk, a shareholder at CHDB Law in Phoenix and a fellow in CAI’s College of Community Association Lawyers.
In the context of community associations, Firehawk says, managers, attorneys, and board members can find themselves on the receiving end of outbursts when owners become emotional about their homes and quality of life. Meetings can become particularly volatile, she notes, and the challenge for professionals is to acknowledge complaints without being consumed by them.
There are no universal fixes. Everyone experiences workplace stress differently and may need to identify their own tools to offset work-related pressures. Leaders also caution that individuals who are suffering from chronic anxiety and related health problems may need medical help or counseling.
Personal circumstances also may play a role in how people are able to handle stress. Maxfield says her status as an empty nester means she has fewer family obligations to fit into her life. She also appreciates having a remote office, which creates a sort of buffer zone when she is not making on-site visits to her communities.
Career tweaks are another option. Ramsey stepped away from the stresses associated with front-line management to become a consultant. She exercises most days and logs her workouts in a calendar.
Professionals agree the growing discussion about wellness is a net positive regardless of where it may lead individuals. Gilbert, of the CAI West Florida Chapter, envisions additional seminars to explore the topic further.
“Right now,” he says, “just making that small tick in the right direction is the best outcome you can ask for.”
Mike Ramsey is a Chicago-based freelance writer.
Reprinted with permission from the Community Associations Institute
Workplace stress: Community association professionals emphasize wellness – Ungated: Community Associations Institute Blog