Are You Making These Mistakes When Recruiting?

If you have a real estate team or brokerage, you know that recruiting great talent is your key to success. I say it all the time: “You must create leverage to grow beyond yourself.”  Bringing on talented, passionate people will allow you to grow and thrive as a business.

For some, though, your recruiting efforts could actually be hurting your business.  Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see so often when coaching.

1 – Hiring someone because they are like you. The dreaded ‘Mini Me.’ 

There’s little better feeling than sitting across from someone whom you’ve just met but feel like you have known for years. The conversation flows easily, and the chemistry works. Too often I see leaders bring on someone quite similar to them. Larger brokerages can survive these hires, however with teams, this can be a recipe for disaster.

As a former high-level hockey coach, I always looked for those with the skills that my team needed. Identify what your team needs. Likely two of you are one too many.

 2 – Bringing on new real estate associates without a carefully designed training program.

These agents are excited, eager and optimistic. Does it get any better? Now for reality…Without a step-by-step training program in place that preferably is not delivered by you personally (except for guest appearances), your life can turn into one big “Gotta minute?”

If you are no longer in production, this can work beautifully. If you are selling, it can be challenging for new agents to get the help they need and for you to find the time to provide this help.

3 – Believing there’s no one good enough for your team.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard this complaint. You won’t always find the perfect person who is perfect at everything. Character is important though and sometimes you just know there’s no fit.

What I found helps is to clarify and clearly articulate your culture. Define it, write it down, live it and allow it to come from your team as opposed to top down. Find those that fit that culture. If the culture is a fit, then a solid producer can easily excel and a moderate producer can improve. I believe the right environment can shape and develop good people.

4 – Poor or inadequate onboarding.

An onboarding plan needs to consist of more than “Here’s our Policy & Procedure Manual. Come back when you’ve read it.” There are many touchpoints in an effective onboarding plan that help your new hire feel welcomed and informed. If the onboarding is weak and not comprehensive, the feelings of unrest can easily set in.

* If you are interested in hearing more about our onboarding plan, let me know and I can write about this soon. 

5 – No recognition metrics or plans for recognition. 

Most brokerages and brands have strong recognition programs that agents love when they are doing well and may disparage when business isn’t great. It’s the teams that seem to forget the recognition. With many teams, all transactions are eventually recorded under the team lead for award purposes. I want all team members to have some recognition for their contribution to the team. Everyone plays a part in success and if they don’t, you know what to do.

BONUS: The Interview 

Too often the interviewer conducts a less-than-stellar interview. The conversation revolves around how GREAT your company is. The interview should revolve around the candidate. What is it they are looking for, what are they unhappy with at their current brokerage? It should have lots of open-ended questions and built-in closes.

Lead the conversation, ask great questions and look for agreement where it exists. Show them based on their answers what you provide and stop spewing up every detail you think they should know.

We have a couple of incredible recruiting coaches that are truly first-class. Why not reach out and improve your recruiting game this year?