Originally published on Inman.com – By Mary-Anne Gillespie
The people on your team will ultimately dictate how your business will thrive. It’s far too common for agent teams to hire the wrong people, keep the wrong people on board, and miss out on opportunities for growth and development.
If you want to see significant results from your team, especially in the climate that we are in today, here are some tips to consider:
1. Know your hiring budget
How much can you realistically spend on a new hire? As a rule of thumb, 12 percent of your gross revenue should be attributed to fixed costs such as salaries (however, you can incentivize your team further with bonuses). For example, give your administrative team members the target to increase retention by X percent with a bonus as a reward.
You do not have to exceed your budget to land great hires.
2. Find implementors
Most team leaders and CEOs are visionaries by nature. That means they come up with brilliant ideas to drive the business forward but may lack the execution skills to bring them to fruition. Implementors take the visionary’s ideas and make them a reality.
Cul-de-sac implementors are great at the one job they are given. If you tell them to draft a listing, they will knock that listing out of the park. They won’t, however, be able to execute a vision. You need empire-building implementors on your team who can take your grand idea and break it down into actionable chunks and then execute them well.
Very few agents are “implementers.” They have empire visions they want to build however they stall out on the implementation. You’ve heard the saying “Graveyards are where the best ideas are.” That’s because so many business owners have amazing vision and big ideas, but few have the ability to execute and implement them. So they hire task-oriented admins. These admins generally do the tasks at hand but not much beyond that.
If you look at the most successful teams in real estate you will see that their admins are almost always implementers who really understand the big-picture goals.
When teams stunt growth or are at a stand-still, it’s typically because no one is actually implementing the systems and models around the leader’s big vision.
3. Hire career people rather than job people
Some people simply want to do a job and make X amount of money every month. People who want careers have a passion for what they do and want to understand how they fit into your vision.
Take note of candidates who are asking questions about your plans for the team in five to 10 years versus the candidates who inquire into how many hours they need to work and the compensation that they are going to get.
People who care about your business’ future and share the same vision are usually the people who will commit to it.
4. Don’t hire people you can’t fire
Before you hire your niece to be the admin team lead, ask yourself if you can fire her. If she does not live up to the expectations of the role and holds the rest of your team back, can you let her go?
If the answer is no, then you should probably refrain from hiring her. Avoid favoritism toward those you have relationships with whether they be family or friends at all costs. It’s not smart business, and everyone on your team needs to earn their position and pull their weight for your team to be successful.
5. Embrace your team’s dysfunction
If you’ve read the book, 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, then you know how important it is to embrace the issues on your team. One of the most common dysfunctions for real estate teams is the fear of conflict.
When team members do not feel comfortable sharing their honest thoughts with leaders or leaders do not feel comfortable being honest with their team, it leads to dysfunction and ultimately resentment.
You don’t have to agree with each other, but you must share the goal of resolution.
Remember, if you run a marathon in four hours and your team runs marathons in five hours, and you all want to run together, it is you who will need to slow down. Find the four-hour runners, and get at it together!
Mary-Anne Gillespie is the CEO and owner of Red Apple Coaching and Consulting in Canada. Connect with her on Facebook or Instagram.
