- Upper management does not understand the onsite experience and cannot offer useful guidance or set realistic expectations. We were expected to request reviews and to get positive NPS results, but most residents would not recommend a community where grounds are not being kept up and the rent increases significantly every year even if their service requests are done in 3 hours.
- There is often a breakdown of communication between parties (management, associates, office, maintenance, residents, vendors, etc.) which makes the job harder than it needs to be.
- AvalonBay is publicly traded and has a responsibility to its shareholders, but has lost sight of the human side of this people-centered business. Upper management is more concerned with profits than its own people. The worst part was getting to know a family after leasing them an apartment for 12 months and then increasing their rent 25% if they wished to renew.
- General lack of loyalty and minimal career advancement opportunities. It was more common for an associate to leave AVB for another property management company and then be rehired in a higher position with a raise than for someone to actually be promoted from within. They typically hired supervisors from outside of the company and often ended up hiring incompetent or unprofessional associates.
