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REALTOR® Emeritus | Retaining Top Personnel ORIENTATION | | |||
|  The Cost of Turnover Orientation Motivation Coaching and Mentoring Training Goal Setting Performance Assessment Resignation and Termination More Resources: Retaining Top Personnel Code of Ethics: Retaining Top Personnel | 25 Things Every Policy Manual Needs Your brokerage office’s policy manual provides a road map for new workers during orientation and helps them understand your company, its goals, and what is expected of them to succeed. It should contain: 1. A mission statement and business philosophy. 2. Company history, including major milestones, accomplishments, and any background on mergers and acquisitions. 3. The company’s target markets, demographics, property types, list of services, and marketing plan. 4. National, state, and local codes of ethics, which formally explain how salespeople must adhere to regulations. 5. Fair housing regulations , sexual harassment policies. 6. Independent-contractor agreement . 7. Expense management—who bears responsibility for board dues, MLS fees, continuing education costs. 8. Fee and commission structure—splits, co-operative policies, bonus plans. 9. Advertising strategy—philosophy, costs to the salesperson, signage, and process for submitting ads. 10. Internet and e-mail policies —use of logos, photos, company name; who is responsible for designing and maintaining the site; spamming and opt-in marketing; copyright issues; legal and illegal contests. 11. Procedures —office hours, dress policy, personal safety. 12. Keys—locations and how they’re managed. 13. An equal employment opportunity statement, stating that applicants are considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. 14. Sales meetings—suggested attendance. 15. Overhead costs— responsibility for local and long-distance calls, postage, photocopying, advertising. 16. Procedures —floor time, presenting offers, presenting agency and other disclosure statements, delivering paperwork, open house, forms of agency. 17. MLS—responsibility for entering listings into the system, how long listings can remain on the site after sale. 18. Job descriptions. 19. Policies for hiring and supervising personal assistants. 20. Substance abuse and, if applicable, smoking policy. 21. Equal opportunity in hiring statement. 22. Errors and omissions and liability insurance—provided and suggested. 23. Handling disputes—between associates and between associates and clients. 24. Confidentiality of company and client information. 25. Acknowledgement form that they have received and understood company policies. Portions adapted from “Deal with Office Policy Decisions Manually,” Bob Hoffman, Real Estate Today, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, April 1993 TIP: If you’d like more help creating your policy manual, you can purchase the Company Policy and Procedures Manual, by Marcie Roggow, from the Council of Residential Brokerage Managers. This disk-based manual give a starting point to customize a manual to your company’s needs. Keep It Legal Because most sales associates work as independent contractors, be sure to use wording that suggests, rather than demands in your manual—“might find it useful to” rather than “must.” The exceptions to this rule are brokerage policies on compensation splits and other real estate transaction issues as well as those mandated by law, such as fair housing and sexual harassment. —Real Estate Brokerage, 4th edition, Bruce Lindeman, Prentice Hall, 1998 TIP: If you have support staff who work as employees, you should supplement your manual with policies on overtime, pay periods, attendance, paid holidays, vacation, sick time, personal leaves, and fringe benefits. —William Maloney Jr., Riverside Realty Group, Jacksonville, Fla. TIP: Some courts have held that statements in policy manuals on termination procedures can constitute a legally enforceable contract with your salaried employees. Have an attorney review your policy manual and add a disclaimer of any contractual commitments in the manual. —Workplace Law and Office Policies, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, 2001 6 Tips for Writing an Office Manual > | Keep It Ethical Train managers not to discriminate in hiring based on race, color, religion, national origin sex, handicap, or familial status. (Article 10) |