Panel recap | Employee experience in the new operating model

RedPeak and Monument show how specialization transforms teams—and retention

For years, burnout, high turnover, and a lack of clear career paths have dogged the multifamily industry. 

RedPeak and Monument Real Estate Services—are proving it doesn’t have to be this way.

Leaders from both organizations joined moderator Sarah Bozarth—current Funnel Product Marketing Manager, and former multifamily operator with more than a decade of experience—to discuss how they’re rethinking operations and employee experience by doing one simple thing: centralizing operations and specializing roles to letting people play to their strengths. 

The result? Higher retention, better performance, and teams that enjoy their work.

RedPeak: specialization starts with listening—and data

RedPeak is a full-service apartment owner, operator, developer, and acquirer with an exclusive focus on Denver and Colorado’s Front Range. RedPeak partnered with Funnel to enable their centralized leasing model and improve both team and renter experience, across their 3,000-unit portfolio. 

Creating clarity through centralized leasing

When Jayde Kelley, Director of Innovation at RedPeak, talks about change, she doesn’t start with technology—she starts with people. “We started with the why, and brought teams into conversations early,” she said. “We made tech adoption something they had a say in.”

“We started with the why, and brought teams into conversations early. We made tech adoption something they had a say in.” 

—Jayde Kelley, Director of Innovation, RedPeak

RedPeak kicked off its centralization journey by first listening. They took time to analyze common pain points across teams, hosting focus groups and conducting real-time observations of how leasing agents managed their days. “Everyone was doing everything, and it’s not always done well,” Kelley explained. From scheduling tours to answering phones, responding to emails, and supporting on-site walk-ins—leasing agents were overloaded, making it difficult to be strategic or consistent in how they engaged with prospects.

By creating a centralized leasing team, RedPeak not only took pressure off on-site teams—they redefined the role itself. Leasing became a focused function, with specialists trained and empowered to handle prospect engagement from first inquiry to signed lease. Onsite teams, in turn, could focus more fully on supporting current residents and maintaining community operations.

“So by taking our leasing agents out of the office and centralizing them, it gave them an opportunity to really focus on what we really wanted them to do. It was that sales process.”

“It gave them an opportunity to really focus on what we really wanted them to do. It was that sales process.”

—Jayde Kelley, Director of Innovation, RedPeak

The impact of this role clarity was immediate. Leasing agents were no longer pulled in multiple directions and could instead concentrate on the parts of the job where they added the most value. That shift created not just operational efficiency, but a renewed sense of purpose and motivation for both centralized and on-site staff.

It wasn’t just a matter of shifting responsibilities—it was a reset. 

• Centralized leasing roles at RedPeak are now purpose-built for selling.
• Onsite teams can stay focused on supporting current residents and property-level priorities. 

That clarity of purpose has transformed how both teams show up day-to-day.

After implementing centralized leasing, the company saw a 17% increase in leasing team sentiment and a 7% increase in onsite team sentiment. Those numbers matter—but the impact didn’t stop with the internal team.

Measuring the impact: team sentiment and resident experience centralization improved the resident experience too, with a 36% increase in Google review scores from 2023 to 2025.

Tech that supports humans, not replaces them

RedPeak’s technology strategy wasn’t just about plugging in new tools—it was about building a system that amplified the work of their people. By rolling out Funnel’s CRM, they ensured that automation handled what it does best: repeatable, high-volume tasks like lead capture, initial follow-ups, scheduling, and nurturing. This freed up their centralized leasing team to operate more like sales consultants than task jugglers.

“There were always frustrations. There were always hiccups,” Kelley said of their previous CRM. “They [the teams] were still feeling like they were doing everything all the time.”

That changed with the implementation of Funnel. RedPeak needed a tech stack that could match the specificity of their new structure—supporting division of labor while enabling seamless renter handoffs and personalized outreach.

The platform’s renter-centric guest card architecture gave the team a holistic view of each prospect’s journey. That visibility allowed them to personalize outreach at the right moments, rather than blast out templated messages or let leads fall through the cracks.

“The CRM helped us hone in and focus on the touch points throughout the sales experience where we felt it was most impactful,” Kelley said.

“The CRM helped us hone in and focus on the touch points throughout the sales experience where we felt it was most impactful.”

—Jayde Kelley, Director of Innovation, RedPeak

The result is a high-functioning, scalable leasing operation where people still do what people do best: build trust, read nuance, and close the deal.

That mindset helped RedPeak avoid the common pitfall of resistance to change. By positioning centralization as a way to elevate—not replace—onsite teams, they earned trust. 

Change management and the power of buy-in

RedPeak’s success didn’t come from process improvements alone—it came from proactive change management that deeply involved the people most affected by the change. From the beginning, the RedPeak team focused on transparency and inclusion, ensuring that both executive stakeholders and frontline team members understood the purpose and goals of centralization.

Kelley emphasized the importance of ensuring that the same people making the decisions also understood the operational day-to-day and had credibility with their peers.

“Buy-in matters,” Kelley emphasized. “You need your decision-makers and your influencers both aligned to make it stick.”

This focus on collaborative implementation reduced resistance and sped up adoption. Rather than struggling to convince teams to adopt new workflows. 

Monument: Career paths that fit the person, not the ladder

Monument Real Estate Services (MRES) is a Miami-based asset and property management company with experience in a range of multifamily markets nationwide. MRES  rolled the Funnel CRM and AI out across their 6,000 unit portfolio in 2024. 

Rethinking advancement: from promotion to specialization

For Ginny Decker, SVP of Operations the mission was clear: break out of the rigid roles that define traditional multifamily careers.

“You’re a leasing person and then you get promoted to an assistant manager, and maybe you’re good at one or both, but it’s pretty rare that you’re good at both,” Decker said. “So trying to be a little bit more creative and getting away from the typical career path was really important.”

“You’re a leasing person and then you get promoted to an assistant manager, and maybe you’re good at one or both, but it’s pretty rare that you’re good at both. So trying to be a little bit more creative and getting away from the typical career path was really important.”

— Ginny Decker, SVP of Operations, Monument Real Estate Services

Decker credits some of that perspective to Monument’s leadership team, which includes former banking executives who brought a broader view of how career paths can flex to match individual strengths.

“Whether it’s more analytical, relational, operational… that mindset has been valuable as we looked at what we want our role specialization to look like.”

The results speak for themselves: In the first 10 months after implementing role specialization and centralization, Monument saw a 12.8% reduction in turnover and a 3-point lift in employee sentiment.

“Folks really appreciate the fact that we’re trying to put them into roles that are a better fit for them,” Decker said. “Versus, you know, the typical in-industry path.”

“We’re trying to put people in roles where they shine, not where they feel forced.”
— Ginny Decker, Monument

How Monument used consulting to build their blueprint

Before Monument launched centralization, they started with something simple—but powerful: a Centralization as a Service (CaaS) engagement with Funnel. After working with many of the centralization GOATs and trailblazers Funnels is adept at helping guide organizations through re-thinking their operating model, and building a model that adds flexibility, and achieves the goals of their unique portfolio and needs. 

“I actually had employees apply to participate in the consulting,” said Decker. “We wanted to identify who those early adopters would be so we could get their buy-in.”

That early engagement paid off: 

• Monument’s on-site team brought ground-level insights. 
• Funnel’s consulting team pressure-tested assumptions. 
• Leadership had space to think beyond the status quo.

“It gave us an opportunity to talk through those kinks ahead of time,” Decker said. “It helped to give us some structure and momentum on where we did want to start first.”

“A lot of times team members hear the word ‘centralization’ and it’s got a very negative connotation. We wanted folks to understand that we are trying to give them more opportunity for advancement down the road.”

Remote isn’t for everyone: Relearning team fit

Another insight Monument didn’t expect: some team members struggled with working from home.

“When you’ve been an on-site employee and you’ve moved to our role specialization team… everybody’s like, ‘Ooh, I get to work from home. This is a great thing,’” Decker said. “But what we found is that the environment does not work well for everyone.”

Monument learned to screen for that fit more carefully and have honest conversations upfront.

“We’ve had to really say, ‘You’re a people person. Do you realize that you’ll be sitting by yourself?’” Decker shared. “And we’ve had some that just said, ‘You know, this really isn’t the right fit for me.’” This goes to show that creating specialized roles, and having open discussions about what’s needed to be successful in those roles gives team members areas to shine in. 

“Central roles are appealing… but they’re just not the right fit for everyone.”
— Ginny Decker, Monument

Final advice from the frontlines

For leaders just beginning the centralization journey, both panelists emphasized one consistent theme: involve your people.

“If you have those key players that are making decisions, are those the ones that are influencing your on-site teams also? Buy-in really matters,” said Kelley.

Decker agreed.

“Start talking about centralization now, even if it’s just at a very high level. So that it’s not a dirty word that folks are afraid of.”

And above all, keep the feedback loop open.

“We were very upfront in the beginning,” Decker said. “We’re gonna make mistakes. But you need to tell us when we are, so that we can make changes.”

Curious how to start your own centralization journey? Dig deeper into centralization, role specialization, and employee experience.