At WPD, we don’t just talk about being a family; we live it every day. Lots of companies make this claim, but what does it look like in practice? For us, it means demonstrating the genuine value we place on our employees, providing mentorship to ensure their success, and prioritizing promotions from within. By presenting opportunities for our team to ascend through the ranks, WPD creates a tight-knit workspace that fosters both trust and continuous growth.
One way we ensure such opportunities for our employees is by supporting our Assistant Property Managers, guiding them on a career path that will ultimately position them as independent property managers. Marcel Hoover stands as an exemplary testament to the success of this process.
Marcel came to us as an Assistant Property Manager who’d spent the earlier part of his career working in real estate as a loan officer. As we do with all our new employees, we wanted to ensure that he was set up for success by creating a clear path to promotion. Marcel was paired with one of our seasoned property managers, Robby Jones, who served as both a mentor and resource, equipping him with the necessary tools to independently handle his responsibilities. When Marcel was first hired, one of Robby’s former mentees had just been promoted, giving Marcel the confidence that he too could eventually make his way to higher positions.
“I saw the trajectory in my next steps and what I had to do and some of the learning curves that he had,” Marcel says. “It was perfect timing in that sense — I was still learning from Robby and seeing that I wasn’t too far behind the next person.”
After working with Robby and having him as a consistent resource, Marcel was set up to be an effective property manager who goes above and beyond for the residents of the buildings he oversees. He says the key to doing his job is being a chameleon, as he meets residents from different walks of life with all different backgrounds and personalities. Marcel now manages some of WPD’s largest buildings, which presents him with new responsibilities — but because of the mentorship he’s received, he’s able to handle those issues easily.
This mentorship has allowed Marcel to surpass any expectations. He’s doing more than collecting rent and supporting maintenance work — he’s implementing new systems to make resident relations more streamlined and productive, and is even affecting them on a personal level. He says the little wins matter when it comes to the residents.
“I like to lead by example. So even with the residents, they like to put rugs in the doors so they don’t have to use keys — that’s unsafe for anyone,” Marcel explains. “One time I was picking up the rug, and someone was like, ‘Why do that? They’re gonna put it right back.’ And I said, ‘I’m doing it because I’m treating how you guys live like how I live at my house.’ Ever since then, I’ve seen that same person straightening out the rugs.”
Now that Marcel is becoming more independent as a property manager, he’s thinking about being able to mentor an incoming Assistant Property Manager in the future. He believes that this mentorship will not only benefit the person he guides, but also contribute to his own professional growth and skillset.
“The more people I help, the sharper my tools become,” Marcel says. “So anyone else that gets hired, I want to help them — that’s why I reach out to the new person. It helps me, it helps them, and it helps the company.”
Stories like Marcel’s remind us why it’s so important to invest in our existing employees and support their professional development and growth. We prioritize team loyalty and always strive to assist the exceptional people we have on our team. This commitment not only fosters a positive work environment, but also extends to our residents, who are able to have property managers who go the extra mile to create the best possible housing environment