Recruiting

Success isn’t just about transactions in our industry; it’s about fostering a positive and collaborative team culture that drives growth and prosperity. You can’t retain talent to grow your business without a healthy team culture, and this often-neglected subject plays a pivotal role in shaping high-performing teams. 

A positive team culture sets the tone for how your team interacts, communicates, and collaborates. A thriving culture breeds motivation and productivity, leading to better client experiences and increased revenue. Research shows that companies with strong cultures outperform their competitors, so putting effort into something that has such a tangible impact on the bottom line is a great use of your time.

Creating a healthy, positive team culture takes time and dedication, and for best results, you should build it into your everyday practice as a leader. Yep, “practice.” Good leadership isn’t an exact science, and none of us nail it every single day, myself included. But by building into practice efforts to consistently build and reinforce your team culture, you will see rewards for many years to come, regardless of what the market is doing.

Ways to Practice and Develop a Positive Team Culture

🎙️Clear Communication 
Open and transparent communication channels lay the foundation for trust and collaboration within your team. Encourage honest dialogue, active listening, and feedback loops to foster a culture of respect and understanding.

👓 Shared Vision and Values 
Align your team with a common purpose and core values. When everyone is working towards the same goals, it creates a sense of unity and collective accountability. Discuss core values often and celebrate those who embody them while addressing those who do not. Core values aren’t effective if they aren’t strictly adhered to by everyone on the team.

💪 Empowerment and Autonomy 
Empower your team members to take ownership of their work and make decisions autonomously. Providing autonomy fosters creativity, innovation, and a sense of ownership, driving individual and team success.

🏆 Recognition and Appreciation 
Celebrate achievements, big and small, and acknowledge the contributions of each team member. Recognizing and appreciating efforts boosts morale, strengthens team cohesion, and reinforces positive behaviors.

👩‍🏫 Provide Opportunities for Growth and Education
Invest in the growth and development of your team members through training, coaching, and mentorship programs and opportunities. A culture that prioritizes learning fosters personal and professional advancement, driving long-term success and by creating career advancement paths you will empower your team to reach their full potential and stay engaged in their roles.

🥰 Foster a Supportive Environment 
When team members feel valued, respected, and supported they will not only want to stay in your organization, but they will encourage others to join as well! Show empathy and compassion by understanding their individual needs, challenges, and aspirations. Demonstrate a willingness to listen and provide support so that you can foster trust.

👂Regularly Solicit Feedback
Ask regularly for suggestions to improve the team culture and working environment. Actively listen to their suggestions and concerns and take proactive steps to address any issues or areas for improvement.

👔 Encourage Work-Life Balance
Respect boundaries, encourage time off, and support flexible work arrangements when possible. A balanced lifestyle leads to happier team members who are better equipped to perform at their best.

😇 Practice What You Preach
Here are a few totally random, made-up examples to illustrate what happens if you do not practice what you preach:

• If one of your core values is honesty and your staff regularly catches you lying to them, it quickly erodes trust and confidence in both you personally and the business.
• If you promote work-life balance, texting your staff before or after hours or on weekends sets the stage for never being able to step away from work because it is constantly being brought to attention.
• If you are the reason why your party gets asked to leave a popular restaurant, people inside and outside your company will question your business practices and professionalism, and think that kind of behavior is acceptable to repeat on future occasions.

A fit person typically has a fit business, so recognizing that you set the tone for professionalism and what is appropriate for the team is crucial to building a strong company culture that will support your entire team for years to come. Without this last element of practicing what you preach, most of your other efforts will be wasted. 

It begins with us. Take a moment to do some real self-reflection and then get to work! You can do it!

It’s retention. How’s that for cutting right to the chase?

I’ve heard my entire real estate career that agents only stay at a brokerage for an average of three years. And while that is certainly true in some cases, I have had the pleasure to work closely with and see under the hood of brokerages all over the US and Canada and I’m here to tell you…it definitely doesn’t have to be that way.

Retaining your existing agents is not only a heck of a lot easier than recruiting, it saves you money and time as well. And aren’t they really one in the same? According to the website edume.com (I don’t know, it looked legit…) the average cost per hire is around $4,000 between the actual cost, HR time, and training efforts. That’s also not including the cost of your recruiting efforts per hire. A lack of effort on your part to retain, nurture, and grow this investment would be just poor business sense.

Your success as a team hinges on your ability to acquire top talent but also to retain it. A stable, committed team will boost productivity across the entire organization while also enhancing the reputation and profitability of the entire team and brokerage. Retaining experienced agents ensures that your client relationships have continuity, as clients often seek the guidance of familiar faces when it comes to large transactions like buying or selling a home. Longer-term relationships build trust, which also generates repeat business and referrals.

When agents work together for an extended period of time, they develop a deep understanding of each other’s strengths to work as a team and create a synergy that significantly impacts your overall team performance. They’ll know that Mike may not be the best at social media, but he’s going to win at the listing table every. single. time. and he’s willing to coach you up before your appointment. And they will know to go to Amber because she’s the social media guru and loves to give you tips on how to grow your audience.

Now, retention isn’t easy. It takes a lot of effort to maintain a long-term relationship and you can’t be everything to everyone. Yes, despite your best efforts, life will take some agents elsewhere or out of the industry completely. But by giving taking care of your people a good honest try, you will be well on your way to developing a team that wants to stick around and grow together.
 

Here are some suggestions to consider as you work to improve your agent retention efforts:

👩‍🏫 Invest in Professional Development

Provide ongoing training and development opportunities to keep your team engaged and motivated. Encourage them to grow and expand their skill set, stay updated on industry trends, and pursue certifications that can help them grow their book of business.

😊 Establish a Positive Work Environment

Foster a positive and inclusive workplace culture where agents feel valued and supported. Establish regular team-building activities, open communication channels, and recognition of achievements and things done right to contribute to a sense of belonging.

🏃‍♂️ Competitive Compensation and Incentives

Your compensation structure should be competitive within the industry and consider implementing performance-based incentives to reward your top performers as well. If you create an environment where it’s easy to sell a lot of houses but your agents HAVE to sell a lot of houses in order to make a decent living, retention will remain a challenge for your organization. Recognizing and appreciating your team’s hard work help them to feel acknowledged and motivated to continue delivering exceptional results for both the team and your clients. Take care to show them this appreciation year-round, not just at the end-of-year awards ceremony!

🏡 Flexible Work Arrangements

Life-work balance isn’t a myth and by leading with flexibility to allow agents to perform their duties well at work and at home will make it easier for people to stay and not have to leave for family reasons. Offering flexible work arrangements and staying in tune to the needs of your team will demonstrate that you understand and respect their individual circumstances and responsibilities outside of real estate.

👔 Help Your Team Identify Career Pathways

Assist your agents in creating a business plan for this year and a five year plan so that they have a clear understanding of their advancement opportunities both within the team and as a real estate professional. This gives your team a sense of direction and purpose which motivates them to stay committed to their roles. Taking the time to know and understand the motivation and goals of your agents will help you support them in reaching those goals. Not everyone wants to create their own team or brokerage, for some making a great living and having more time with their family is the driver.

📚 Provide Training and Support Systems

None of this works if the internal systems of your business are not strong and in place. Strong onboarding, training systems, support during transactions, mentorship opportunities, SOPs for how to work leads, hold open houses and all other real estate activities are all things that you should have in place and easily accessible to your agents. Reviewing these resources regularly at your team meetings and pouring into your folks to teach them everything you can will also result in higher retention rates.

Other companies are recruiting your people as you read this, making a concerted effort to retain or re-recruit your own agents will create an environment and culture so strong and nurturing that they won’t even entertain the conversation. You can do it, just get started and chip away at the things you need to do and the systems you need to create. Keep going, continuity is the secret to success!