Broll manages portfolios in excess of R38 billion and offers services in property; utilities and shopping centre management; retail, commercial and industrial leasing and investment sales; corporate real estate and valuations.

OUTLINE
The Broll Property Group has more than 32 years of experience in providing property services to owners of institutional, listed, listed property fund and parastatal properties.  The company's key objective is maximizing clients' property potential, and it manages 11 300 tenants (67% are commercial and industrial, and 33% are retail tenants) and 1054 buildings and sites across South Africa.

BIGGEST PLUS
Broll is an energetic people's organization, employing people with a 'can-do' attitude.  The company values individuals, as the business is reliant on its people to maintain the various portfolios.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE
Staff retention is a challenge because of growth in the property industry, loss of skills to the Middle East and the securitization and listing of property funds on JSE Limited.

THE PEOPLE
Jonathan Broll and Alan Wallace founded the company in 1974, although it has experienced many changes since then.  Starting as a residential rent collection agency with a fairly conservative management team, Broll has grown significantly and now offers a wide spectrum of property services.  Today, its management team is a far cry from old style company leadership and it consists of people who are mostly under the age of 40.  Broll has a flat management structure- Jonathan Broll is executive chairman of the group and Alan Wallace is director, together with Royden du Plooy, Maurice Mololo, Jackie Mphafudi and Mark Wilcox. 

(At the time of going to press, Mvelaphanda Holdings was exiting as empowerment partner in favour of a broad-based women's empowerment group;) Headed by chief executive officer; Arnold Meyer, and a team of 20 people, including Leonard Michau, chief operating officer; Malcolm Horne; Donovan Agar; Izak Kriel; Richard O' Sullivan; Dave Alcock; Karen Henning; Tilly Gasela; and Maurice Mdlolo, who drive the business units and support staff. 
Broll's staff are energetic, adapt easily to challenges and like to be associated with success.  Staff needs to be professional and possess integrity, as they manage large portfolios on behalf of clients.  The company is strict on issues of corporate ethics and follows the guidelines of King II in corporate governance.

All internal transformation is regarded as meaningful.  Since 2002, transformation has taken place from the bottom up; The Broll Property Academy, run in conjunction with the University of Pretoria has had more than 60% of the company's staff through its rooms.  All staff are provided with the opportunities to utilize mentorship and career guidance facilities. Each office in each province has a CSI committee where branch staff initiate fundraising activities to support their chosen projects.

THE BUSINESS
Broll's head office is in Johannesburg, with a further nine regional offices and three African offices based in Nigeria, Ghana and Namibia.  Mvelaphanda Holdings Group owns 40% of the Broll Property Group, the remaining 60% being held by Catalyst Holdings (Pty) Ltd.

Broll has a number of executives including the Property and Facilities management executive and the Broll Property Group board, CBRE (CB Richard Ellis valuations) and Broking are also divisions of the group.
Monthly, more than R260 million is charged in income, and two million accounts processed.  Retail services are provided to 112 major shopping centres, representing 2,1 million square metres of space.

Meyer is not afraid of trying new ventures and insists that change is a daily occurrence
Broll is regarded as an innovator and leader in the marketplace, where it has nine large company competitors and about two hundred smaller competitors.  It presently has property worth more than R24 billion under management; its closest competitors manage only half this amount.

COMPANY CULTURE AND STYLE
Meyer compares Broll to an 'oil tanker with speedboats darting around it' - a solid core business moving ahead on a stable basis, surrounded by teams of people investigating, analyzing and assessing new opportunities on an ongoing basis.

Each office has its own subculture, where fun, respect for each other, and a work hard, play hard principle are evident.  People take their jobs seriously and their culture of winning, which is embedded in Broll, fuels the energy of its staff to approach every tender-proposal with a 'win' attitude.  Respect and high moral standards are expected.  A new dynamic breed of employee has entered the market with the growth of the industry.  Whereas rent collection and maintenance management was previously regarded as 'uncool', a plethora of new opportunities have opened up, which are attracting chartered accountants and other people with tertiary qualifications, who are bringing a new dynamism, energy and broadening of opinion to the culture of Broll.

Meyer is not afraid of trying new ventures and insists that change is a daily occurrence.  However, he acknowledges, 'Property has not traditionally been a fast-moving industry; it is conservative and (text missing) insists that change is a daily occurrence.  However, he acknowledges, 'Property has not traditionally been a fast-moving industry; it is conservative and the principles of administration have not changed.'  Constant communication between staff combined with Meyer's open-door policy, ensures that 'hot news' is conveyed throughout the organization.  Everyone at Broll is regarded as a leader, taking ownership of his or her particular area.  Broll considers what its employees want and tries to implement this wherever possible.

HUMAN RESOURCES PRIORITIES
'Career development is taken seriously at Broll, says group executive: human resource and legal, Karen Henning.  In 2005, more than R1,2 million was invested in employee training through the Broll Training Academy.  Established in 2002, the Academy was the first South African institution dedicated to property and facilities management studies. 

Staff retention is a key issue for Broll and part of company's retention strategy is to train, encourage, inspire, continually stimulate and educate staff, in addition to financial rewards, Broll prefers to focus on practical skills training and internal development courses through the Academy.  External studies are not actively promoted, and should an employee wish to enrol for a higher education programme such as MBA.