Communities Thrive When Team Members are Appreciated
As an HOA Board member, it’s important to tap existing resources that make your housing association strong. The first place to look is your human resources… How many people contribute to making your HOA a success? There are the obvious folks: Board members, your Arizona HOA Management company, and leaders… but consider who you may be overlooking!
Consider the employees you depend on to keep your landscape beautiful and the accountants who ensure your Arizona Community Association is in good financial shape. Does your HOA have volunteers or advocates (both formal and informal) who have a positive impact? What about nearby businesses and nonprofit organizations who contribute to the well-being of the overall community? The first responders who keep your members safe? Once you begin a list of all of the necessary members of your community, in addition to members and leadership, you might be surprised at how long your list becomes! Don’t forget the media, neighbors with beautiful gardens and walkers who pick up trash!
Once you’ve identified all who make up your Community Association team, make the time to recognize the importance of recognizing each member’s distinct contributions. This is time consuming, yes, but consider the benefits of gratitude for your community as a whole, and for the leaders who practice it. (This is a task for the entire HOA Board!)
- Get creative! One of the easiest things to do is to bring a stack of thank you notes with addresses to your next meeting. Have everyone contribute to your existing list, then sign a card addressed to each person. (Hint: everyone who provides a name should be responsible for making sure the card gets to the recipient). Make it a competition! Consider a nice bottle of wine or a gift basket for the winner at your next meeting.
- Post your list on your website and promote it on social media. This is a great way to recognize assets in your community, plus if you tag a person or business, your gratitude gets wider visibility. Create a ripple effect!
- Consider creating a physical or online community appreciation Board. A physical landmark featuring a photo and note of appreciation once a week is a public way to make sure that all of the people who make your community a great place to live know they are appreciated.
We have 10 other great ideas for showing appreciation located here: 10 Ways To Thank a Volunteer, With Little (or No) Budget
What other ideas do you have? Please share in the comments!
