Smile you've on candid camera: apartment employees have a lot to learn from mystery shops caught on video--once they get used to seeing themselves on the screen.

The leasing agents at Pinnacle Management weren't exactly thrilled when the Seattle-based company decided to add video mystery shopping to its employee evaluation process last fall. Paper shops were one thing, but seeing yourself on camera was another.

Carey Bradburn, a former Investment Manager for Pinnacle, says the onsite employees were intimidated by a visual review but the company wanted to take advantage of the technology and do something less subjective than a traditional paper shop. "When you only have a written report to go by, you have to trust the mystery shopper's evaluation without seeing it for yourself," says Brad-burn, who is now a Vice President of Operations for Concord Management. "Plus, there's no more arguing from the leasing team with a video because it is what it is."

Bradburn says his leasing agents were unable to spot the mystery shopper, who had a tiny camera and microphone inserted in a button on her shirt. The 20-to 30-minute videos were then transferred onto a DVD and accompanied by a written evaluation.

The DVDs were first reviewed by Bradburn, who then gave each employee a week to watch their performance before the two sat down together for a third and final viewing. The leasing agents were assured the video would be used solely as a training tool and not something to "hold over their heads," and were even permitted to keep the DVD once the evaluation process was complete.

"The first time the leasing agents saw their video, they were worried about looking fat or not liking their hair--all the things this process is not about," Bradburn says. "But then they were able to start focusing on the mistakes that were readily apparent. I usually had about 25 comments per video but you don't want the process to seem negative, so the key is to break your constructive criticism into bite-sized pieces."

Judging the Intangibles

In addition to evaluating sales and customer skills, Riverstone Residential, a Dallas-based apartment management company, has found the technology helpful in gauging an employee's friendliness, enthusiasm and overall body language--all of which cannot be judged on paper. "An associate could have a perfect technical score on a paper shop, but the intangibles are often more important," says Maitri Johnson, Executive Vice President of Property Services for Riverstone.

"A leasing agent's personality is also in the eye of the beholder," she says. "If a shopper doesn't like an associate off the bat, that's going to affect their score, and when it's on paper, we have no way of knowing. A video is objective and undiluted, and it removes the 'he said, she said' scenario that can occur with paper shops."

The video shops also give supervisors the opportunity to see whether or not their employees are following the company dress code. "Mystery shoppers usually don't know whether your company follows a formal career apparel program or a more casual dress code, so the only thing they can really comment on objectively is if the leasing agent is wearing their name badge," says Johnson.

When questions of appearance do arise, Johnson refers to the Associate Handbook and handles all image-related conversations with an increased level of sensitivity. "More commonly, though, the associate will critique their appearance before we even say anything," Johnson says. "I think it's human nature when you see yourself on camera."

The top performers in Riverstone's video shop scoring system have the opportunity to be inducted into the company's "Hall of Fame." For those who do not meet the minimum score and need extra coaching, Riverstone's education team provides national support through one-on-one mentoring, a customized coaching and development plan and additional training opportunities.

The video shops have been invaluable evaluation tools for both Riverstone and Pinnacle, but Bradburn believes any more than one per leasing consultant per year is overkill--not to mention expensive. A typical video shop is $200 to $250, compared to the $75 to $80 the company spends on a paper shop. To offset the cost, Bradburn suggests complimenting annual video shops with more frequent paper and Internet shops.

Lauren Boston is NAA 's Staff Writer. She can be reached at lauren@naahq.org.