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Last month, the Insider showed you the importance of using a workplace involvement program to engage employees in both their work and the association. However, regardless of the steps that you take to create a pleasant work environment and motivate your employees, eventually, you’ll have to deal with an employee who doesn’t perform well and must be let go.

Over the past few years, numerous associations have seen an increase in the number of members defaulting on their mortgages and not paying their association fees. As a result, some of these associations have had to cut back on services and amenities that attracted their members to a community lifestyle in the first place. That’s because if even a few members don’t pay their assessments on time an association can face serious financial problems.

Managing your community can be challenging even when things go smoothly and you have the help of competent staff members who are focused on doing their job responsibilities well. Failing to engage employees in activities outside of their day-to-day tasks may, at the very least, leave them unmotivated to do their best work and ambivalent about improving the community; at the worst, it can lead to resentfulness that they’re stuck in the same role without feeling like they’re part of the association.

When a member makes a modification either to the interior or exterior of his unit without notifying the board, it could harm your community. For example, low-quality or hasty and ill-advised construction can drive down property values, increase the premiums on your community's liability insurance, or even render important warranties void. And some types of work, such as a new roof deck, if not done right, can lead to injuries and increase your community's exposure to personal injury liability.

That's according to 74 percent of community association managers surveyed last month by the Insider, who believe community association financial conditions are finally improving. Respondents reported that the number of foreclosures, if not declining, have at least leveled off. As one respondent put it, “More good, dues-paying owners are coming in behind the bad owners who never should've been allowed to purchase during the ‘subprime’ heyday.”

You've probably been frustrated at some time with a lag in member participation in your community's voting process. For everything from board elections to special referendums, a community runs more smoothly when everyone feels involved and that their opinions are heard. Be aware that alienated members are the ones most likely to feel dissatisfied and resentful. That's why it's important to take advantage of the opportunity to implement an online voting process if it's legal to do so in your state.

If you're like most association managers, you've tried to make your community as “green” as possible by using environmentally friendly products, implementing a recycling program, or making your office “paperless.” These efforts probably weren't controversial or difficult to achieve. However, the growing movement toward another environmentally friendly tool—electric vehicles (EVs)—will have a greater impact on your community.

Every planned community has homeowners association rules, tailored specifically to the nature of the community, its members, and its board of directors. For example, an age-restricted community will have different rules than a condo building. It's important that, as the community manager, you strike a balance between making sure that the agreed-upon rules designed to keep the community operating successfully and its members happy are appropriately, but not overzealously, enforced.

Age-restricted communities provide a great alternative for elderly people who want to stay active and remain in their homes rather than move into to a nursing or assisted living facility. If you manage an age-restricted community, you'll face some special management concerns about the declining health of the community's members. As time goes on and residents get older, some may start to suffer from dementia or other mental problems that can lead to sometimes violent or otherwise dangerous behavior.

With the presidential and other elections approaching, members may want to show their support for a candidate by posting signs on their lawns and porches, or putting posters or decals in their windows. But you don't want to end up with front yard “sign farms” that look unsightly. You also don't want a sign war between neighbors who have opposing viewpoints on political issues and post certain signs just to irritate their neighbors. All of that diminishes property values and looks tacky.