What a real estate candidate wants: How to attract and retain top talent
In today’s competitive job market, the fight for talent is fierce and many businesses in real estate are wondering how they are going to rise above the noise to attract and retain the best candidates. Recently there has been a dramatic shift in the mindset of employees who have rejigged their priorities when considering potential employers. Employers must identify the strengths and selling points of their real estate firms and make certain those benefits are clearly articulated to prospective candidates.
Looking beyond bonuses and their salary, today’s candidates think about everything from cultural fit and work-life balance to collaborative tools and flexible working before deciding on which real estate firm to call home. With a shallow talent pool, don’t be afraid to get creative in your efforts to be heard above the noise! What can you offer prospective candidates that other firms in the industry cannot?
5 top interview questions to attract high-calibre candidates
When running a real estate business, one of the biggest challenges is how to correctly identify the right people to hire. This is particularly important as employing the wrong individual(s) can increase turnover and talent acquisition costs, which can have a huge impact on your bottom line. Part of an effective recruitment strategy to counteract this is asking the right questions during the interview process. Once you have shortlisted your candidates, your questions should evaluate varying aspects from hard and soft skills, experience, and cultural fit to tech ability and their commitment to the industry.
Our top five questions to draw out these skills, experiences and qualities are:
1. Why do you want to work in the real estate industry?
2. Why do you want to work for this real estate business?
3. What skills and qualities will you bring to our team?
4. How do you organise your time and remain productive?
5. Where do you see yourself in five years?
Retaining talent: How to build a positive workplace culture
Once you have hired the perfect fit for your business, the last thing you’ll want to happen is for them to be unsatisfied and leave! Yet many businesses experience high staff turnover which can be costly. This is why it is important to have a strategy in place for retaining your existing talent and promoting loyalty and a thriving workplace. A positive work culture can hinge on the following variables in your business, though this is by no means an exhaustive list:
Training opportunities
Providing continued professional development is important for making your employees feel valued and empowered.
Nurture trust and valued relationships with your team
Getting to know your team individually and establishing a relationship of trust will help you to learn what drives them and what their long-term goals are so you can align your opportunities accordingly.
Offer ongoing employee benefits
To stand out in a saturated market, offer enticing employee benefits so that you don’t lose any employees to your competitors. Many real estate firms are adding to their offer packages to include components such as stock options and long-term incentive plans.
Provide rewards and incentives
Employees will usually remain loyal if they feel they are suitably rewarded for their hard work and performance. Consider using an employee engagement platform like Perkbox to create a strong reward and recognition culture through incentives such as gift cards for fashion, tech, entertainment, food and takeaways, shout-outs on company-wide feeds, and polls to generate friendly competition.
According to Perkbox:
- 66% of employees believe rewards increase loyalty
- 60% of best-in-class organisations stated that employee recognition is extremely valuable in driving individual performance
- 63% of employees who are recognised are very unlikely to look for a new job
Offer flexibility
Ensure you offer your staff flexibility and align your business with current and emerging trends in the industry and the workplace, such as hybrid working models. Encouraging a healthy work-life balance is important if you’re looking to retain your employees long-term, particularly when considering if they can manage outside commitments such as childcare, additional learning opportunities, and any other personal commitments.
Foundation Recruitment can help you attract and retain top real estate talent
At Foundation Recruitment, we are committed to delivering successful hiring outcomes and the highest quality of services in equal measures. Our approach is to simplify and improve your resourcing experience, whichever services offering may be appropriate for your hiring needs. If you’d like to discuss the current market or scaling your team, please get in touch with one of our expert consultants today – we’d love to hear from you.