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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®








 Hiring Personnel
Recruiting Support Personnel


The quality of your company's support staff will have a big impact on your ability to recruit sales associates




  


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 		  Tips for Recruiting Assistants

John Skenderian, a broker with Prudential Maui, REALTORS®, in Maui, Hawaii, talks about recruiting assistants and support personnel. His team consists of licensed and unlicensed assistants.

Q: How do you go about recruiting staffers?

Skenderian: Building my team has not been a fast process. I found them through developing relationships in the industry and the community, word-of-mouth, and referrals. It's all been very relationship-based.

Q: What sort of characteristics do you look for?

Skenderian: I look first at the work ethic. Next, I consider how they'll fit in—their spirit and personality—with the rest of the team and whether they have the ability to adapt to a totally service-oriented industry. They need an ability to listen to what people are trying to accomplish and then facilitate it. It's not about us; it's about our clients. That's the focus we take, the mission statement of our company.

I also try to go one-on-one and get to know them and what they want to accomplish. Then see how I can help? What do they need to make it work better? One person needs a computer, another person needs a better car. I try to see what our company can do to make those things happen.

Q: What are some hiring red flags for you?

Skenderian: Someone who has jumped around from job-to-job—a history of short-term jobs—is something I look out for. And if they want to stick to strict hours and lack flexibility, that can be a problem. If you have the largest transaction in the company's history and it's coming in 15 minutes after closing time, you don't want a person who wants to go at 5 p.m.

Q: What do you do to position yourself as a desirable employer?

Skenderian: I try to stay open and look at things from the support staff's point of view. Also, I don't consider myself the boss; all associates and support staff have to contribute to getting this job done together.

In terms of salary and perks, I investigate what's available in the marketplace and offer salaries that are equal to or greater than what's available. One employee had always wanted to go to Walt Disney World, so I sent her and her kids. I try to look for something that's thoughtful, nice, and helps a person want to get more done. Everyone has been with me for at least three years.

Contracting With Outside Staff

Unless you have a very large company, you probably don't have enough work to keep highly specialized personnel busy full time. Instead, consider hiring these people on a retainer or contract basis.

5 Professionals Every Real Estate Office Needs
(just not all the time)
  • An attorney: A retainer, entitling you to a set number of hours of advice a month, is probably the best way to ensure that you have someone familiar with your ongoing business concerns. If you're not sure how many hours you'll need, set a minimum for the first six months, then renegotiate.

TIP: One lawyer can't be expert at everything. If you encounter a specialized problem—such as an environmental suit—ask your regular lawyer to recommend a specialist.
  • An accountant: You may or may not have someone managing day-to-day billings and payroll in house, but you need a higher level professional to review your books and make quarterly tax filings.
  • An advertising designer and copywriter: Initially, you'll need these professionals to develop a logo to visually represent your company and a marketing slogan to reinforce your company's identity.

Next, they can create signage, stationery, and marketing materials that use these elements consistently to build your market image. It's also a good idea to have these pros create a basic design for your newspaper ads and property sell sheets that can then be changed for each new listing.

TIP: Consider negotiating a package rate with advertising and Web designers you hire to do work for your sales associates at a discounted rate.
  • Web designers and developers: Like your marketing materials, the initial design of your company's Web site should be designed by pros. Be sure that designers use industry-standard software, such as Dreamweaver or GoLive, so that other designers can work on the design.

TIP: Be sure that your Web designers incorporates templates that permit non-tech users to update frequently changing elements such as listings and community calendars.

16 Hiring Questions to Ask Outside Staff >