REALTOR® Magazine Online: 4 Reasons You Need a Recruitment Plan

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Recruitment Planning

Assessing Personnel Needs

Advanced-Beyond Job Descriptions: Job Matching for Real Estate Sales

Recruitment Planning

Advanced: What Top Performers Want from You

Recruiting Salespeople

Advanced: Tips for Recruiting the Seasoned Professional

Recruiting Support Personnel

Advanced: The Family and Medical Leave Act

The Interviewing Process

Advanced: Behavioral Interviewing

Tips for Selecting a Psychological Test

Structuring Compensation

Advanced: Compensation Tips for Management Personnel

4 Reasons You Need a Recruitment Plan

Interviewing and hiring are not most people's idea of fun, but developing and implementing an ongoing recruiting plan will help you hire the top-quality personnel you need.

You'll meet more people. If you're constantly working on your recruiting plan, you'll increase your chances of meeting prospects you match your job needs.

You'll know the kind of people you are looking for. By analyzing your company's goals and using the job descriptions you have created, you will be able to pinpoint prospective associates that match your needs.

You'll cut down on your losers. If you have a list of prospects you've been cultivating, you'll be less likely to hire a weak candidate to fill a vacancy.

You'll have attrition. Turnover in real estate generally averages close to 33 percent a year for salespeople, and 20 percent for all REALTORS®, according to the 2001 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Member Profile, so you'll have to hire to replace associates you lose as well as to expand.

TIP: Develop a separate recruiting list in your contact management software. —"Managing for Peak Performance," Council of Real Estate Brokerage Managers, Chicago

TIP: Keep records of your recruiting efforts to help you determine your most effective sources for associates. —Real Estate Office Management.

10 Recruiting Expenses

Add these costs and divide by the number if new sales associates you hired last year; this will give you a true picture of your recruiting costs.

Recruiting ads
Recruiting brochure, including design, printing, and postage.
Career nights
Fees paid to a staff recruiter
Bonuses to salespeople who recruit new associates

TIP: Be careful in structuring financial incentives; giving the referring associate a percentage of the new recruit's earnings may be a disincentive for a new associate. —Joe Meyer Presentations, Lake Grove, N.Y.

Portion of your salary that pays for the time you spend recruiting and interviewing
Cost of testing
Administrative time to orient and set up accounting for a new salesperson
Any training costs you pay for new recruits
Start-up supplies such as signs and business cards

Adapted from "Do a Reality Check on Your Recruiting Costs," Laurie Moore-Moore, REALTOR® Magazine, September 1998

TIP: Set recruiting contact goals for yourself, just as you would when you prospect, and make recruit prospecting part of your regular work routine.

How Does Your Company Stack Up?

Be sure to clearly outline what your company offers prospective salespeople. They may been choosing you based on:

A good reputation
Competitive technology
Name recognition in the community
Sufficient clerical and support staff
Strong, knowledgeable managers
Compensation and benefits
Training programs

TIP: Be sure that you give recruits a clear idea of your company's identity and strategic goals. —Chris Heagerty, "Recruiting the Best," Texas REALTOR®, September/October 2000

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