Shane Guillot Career Background
What is your biggest career achievement?
- To date, my biggest career achievement has been the development of Cardinal Group's centralized operating model. In December 2022, I embarked on a mission to improve the experiences of Cardinal's customers, team members, and clients through the introduction of cost-effective, centralized, remote operations. Having operated onsite for over 6 years, I've seen first-hand the opportunities for innovation and have challenged myself to meet the needs of the evolving consumer market to establish a better operating model for Cardinal Group.
After 12 months, countless hours, and a little sanity, I have developed a platform servicing over 45 communities with no signs of slowing. This offering has generated $508,328 in annual payroll savings for Cardinal Group and its clients while producing over $2.2 million in additional annual revenue. The introduction of this revenue has singlehandedly provided sustainability for the remainder of Cardinal's centralization efforts. The work I've done in the past 12 months has laid the foundation for the future of centralization within our company.
I've created 14 new sustainable jobs, with more to come, and have retained eight team members from community dispositions.
This is by far my greatest achievement because of its impact and evolving potential.
Given your past experiences, what event/ project or moment would you revisit and how would you go about it differently based on your current frame of mind?
- Recalling my time in service, there was one instance that I often replay as a failure to capitalize on an opportunity that proved detrimental to my team. During a Mountain Warfare training exercise in preparation for deployment, I quit. After spending weeks at 8,000+ feet altitude, over 400 miles of hiking, and thousands of feet climbing, with limited sleep, my body was at its limit. I had tripped during one of our final movements, couldn't regain my stance, and could only focus on the inevitable failure. Miles away from the closest evacuation area, I was faced with two options: hand my gear to my team, who had been through the same circumstances, or dig a little deeper and find strength to carry on. Both were difficult realities but burdening my team was out of the question. After a moment, I mustered the strength to stand and hike another 26 miles to our destination, carrying my full load of 185 pounds. I would change this instance because, while my job was still complete, it was the last time I failed to lead by example.
From your perspective, what is the industry lacking to support the modern renter and how do you plan to help supply that need?
- While I have always looked to provide the best experiences for our renters, my view of "How" has shifted drastically over the past 12 months. With my recent experiences, my eyes have been opened to the evolving needs of our customers. There is a growing need for positive interactions with dedicated staff, more readily available information, and self-service opportunities. I am supplying these needs through centralization in my current role at Cardinal Group.
1) With my model, we are staffing specialized, dedicated, remote teams to increase resident satisfaction at our serviced sites. We can hire above-average, career-oriented team members with higher, above-average compensation through our leaner operating model.
2) Through the introduction of co-developed AI and automation tools, we provide immediate responses to our renters, with consistent, operations-approved answers.
3) Further development of our AI services has kick-started resident self-service opportunities. Residents can now inquire, challenge, and pay their outstanding charges at a 97% automation rate and no contact from our team. I am also working to implement self-service opportunities for residents and their facilities, allowing residents to solve basic maintenance requests on their own.