Bell Partners Reduces Turnover by 75% with Targeted Maintenance Tech Certification Program
Drive retention, promotion, and performance with a training program proven to reduce turnover, boost completion rates, and align teams company-wide.
Key Successes
Summary
Bell Partners launched the CBMT program to tackle high turnover and inconsistent skills across maintenance teams.
Interplay Learning delivers personalized paths based on skill gaps, streamlining onboarding and targeting training where it’s needed.
Teams advanced together by focusing on one topic at a time, creating shared language, consistency, and company-wide adoption.
Turnover dropped to 20% for participants. Tenure rose to 2.7 years. 93% of 2024 promotions went to CBMT grads. Course completion rose to 72%.
About Bell Partners
Founded in 1976, Bell Partners is a privately held real estate investment and property management firm focused on multifamily communities. With over 85,000 units under management, Bell is recognized for its commitment to creating communities that residents are proud to call home. The company’s values of care, service, integrity, and excellence guide its training and development initiatives for its 1,600+ associates nationwide.
Training
Goals
Build personalized development plans with skill assessments for 750+ team members.
Accelerate certification with digital content and hands-on validation.
Boost retention and drive internal promotions.
Unify training topics and terms across all locations.
Hire for attitude and upskill through targeted training.
Challenges
- Inconsistent skills inventory and onboarding process across properties.
- Limited tools to personalize training and monitor progress.
- High turnover among maintenance teams, particularly among new hires.
- Difficulty aligning training focus across departments and regions.
Driving Retention and Skill Development with a Data-Driven Certification Program
Bell Partners launched the Certified Maintenance Technician (CBMT) program, a structured certification path powered by Interplay Learning to address inconsistent skills and high turnover across its maintenance teams. The program combines upfront assessments, digital courses, and hands-on skills checks to create individualized development plans for each associate.
New maintenance hires complete an assessment covering core technical topics. Based on their results, they are assigned specific Interplay Learning courses to close skill gaps. After completing the online training, associates perform a real-world skills check with their manager before earning certification for that topic. Once all topics are completed, the associate earns full CBMT status.
This data-driven, blended learning approach has helped Bell Partners hire based on cultural fit and work ethic, rather than only prior experience, supporting a scalable, inclusive development model. The program enables targeted upskilling and accelerated onboarding for seasoned associates by focusing only on areas needing reinforcement.
To drive adoption and consistency, Bell Partners aligned the entire organization to focus on one topic at a time, creating shared language across departments and keeping the program top of mind. The CBMT program has become a foundational part of the company’s workforce strategy, dramatically improving retention, accelerating readiness, and fueling internal promotions.
Proven Results, Real Impact
Since implementation, turnover among Maintenance Associates participating in the program has dropped from 80% to just 20%. The company’s average associate tenure increased from 2.3 to 2.7 years, exceeding the industry benchmark of under two years. In 2024, 93% of promotions from Maintenance Technician to Maintenance Manager came from CBMT graduates.
With 72% of CBMT learners completing their coursework on time, well above the company average of 66%, and strong demand from associates to continue learning beyond certification, Bell Partners is now exploring ways to extend the program with continuing education credits (CECs) using Interplay Learning’s content.
“Since implementing the CBMT program powered by Interplay Learning, turnover for Maintenance Associates dropped to 20%, compared to 80% for those not in the program.”
– Joshua Long, Director of Learning & Development
Discover How Bell Partners Transformed Maintenance Training with Interplay Learning
