5 Real Estate Recruitment Best Practices to Attract Top Agents

There’s no escaping the fact that real estate agents are the key contributors to the growth of any real estate brokerage. This is why you need to ramp up your recruitment efforts if you want to hire the best of the best. If you don’t, you’ll definitely miss out on plenty of opportunities to work with top-performing people who can help push your company towards success.

The most important thing to remember is that recruitment is a constantly changing process. Depending on the economy and current technology, the best practices of today may not be the same tomorrow. Nevertheless, keeping an eye on trends and being adaptable can help ensure that your recruitment process will always be able to meet or exceed current demands.

That said, here are some things to keep in mind when developing or revising your procedures for recruitment:

Try Offering Alternative Revenue Streams

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your brokerage’s own recruitment efforts, there’s probably nothing better than Keller Williams Realty. It was one of America’s Top 10 Workplaces according to the inaugural National Top Workplaces list compiled by Workplace Dynamics in 2012; it continues to be a great place to work according to its employees. One of the biggest reasons Keller Williams recruiting is so successful is that it offers alternative revenue streams for their agents.

In particular, agents earn whenever they’re able to recruit a new agent through profit sharing. This means that even if the agents aren’t able to close a deal, they’re guaranteed income stability. Keller Williams also put heavy emphasis on training and support so that their team remains competitive and can push their own income thresholds higher.

Focus on Relationship Building

The time for reactive recruitment is over. If you really want to find the best of the best, you need to reach out to passive candidates. This way, you’ll be able to establish rapport even before the recruitment process even begins. When these potential candidates finally decide it’s time for a change, you’ll be among the first brokerages in their mind.

What’s even better about active recruitment is that you’re able to get a pulse on what agents truly want. Maybe they’re looking for a new role or a workplace that allows them to do their jobs remotely. Whatever it is, you can find out about them much easier if you maintain great relationships with passive candidates and build a network with real estate professionals.

Think About Your Interview Questions

One of the best ways to figure out if an applicant is a great fit with your brokerage is through the interview. As such, you need to ask the right questions to assess their personality, working capabilities, and other important traits.

However, sometimes you might be focusing too much on which questions to ask that you forget about things that you should not ask. There aren’t any illegal questions, per se, but there are some that you might not realize are leading you to inadvertently discriminate. To avoid any awkward, inappropriate questions, make sure to conduct regular reviews of the interview process. You should also cascade the information to all those involved in the hiring process and any third-party interviewers.

Make Assessments Beyond the Resume

While a person’s resume can tell you about their educational background and competencies, it can’t tell you everything you need to know. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic may have pushed people to learn new skills in order to adopt. They may have taken online courses to earn certifications or further develop their existing skill set.

Therefore, you need a way to assess these qualities. Conducting job skills tests is one method. You may also want to optimize the job descriptions on your job ads. This way, those who may not fulfill the requirements 100% but still have suitable skills will still be encouraged to apply.

Get Used to Data-Driven Recruiting

Finally, there’s no escaping the fact that Big Data is driving the world right now and the recruitment industry is no exception. This is a good thing. By leveraging correct and accurate data, you can gather valuable insights that you can use to improve your processes and make the most of your hiring budget. Some of the most important metrics to keep an eye on are the following:

• Time to hire
• Time to fill
• Cost per hire
• Sources of hire
• Offer acceptance rate
• Applicants per job posting
• Quality of hire
• Retention rate

Another important thing to remember about recruitment is that there’s no one size fits all solution. Some strategies may work for your brokerage and others may not. The key is to stay abreast of the latest developments so that you can make the necessary changes when you need them. These best practices can also help you create a more adaptable system that is responsive to both the needs of your recruitment team and the candidates.