Trends 2023: How to grow your business by hiring the best 

Editor's note: Since 2006, the Swanepoel Trends Report has provided in-depth research and analysis to help leaders understand the forces shaping residential real estate. This exclusive series of excerpts highlights each trend featured in the 2023 report.

The Real Estate Brokerage Talent Playbook: Finding the right people isn't easy, which makes it more important than ever for leaders to retain the best people by creating a positive culture and effective systems. This excerpt examines some of the ways brokerage leaders seeking top talent can find advantages in any market.

Develop Short- and Long-Term Organizational Plans

Short- and long-term planning is one of the most powerful, dollar-productive practices that brokerages can use to increase the profitability of their businesses regardless of market conditions. Additionally, it provides a competitive advantage as many other companies struggle with this.

Short- and long-term organizational plans are critical tools for a variety of business activities, including hiring. A regular practice of assessing the organization ensures maintaining consistent awareness of what impacts the organization. Human capital is the largest investment brokerages make in their business and they should analyze it as they would any other asset.

As part of developing long-term organizational plans, apply the following hiring-specific actions:

• Assess roles, responsibilities, compensation and benefits.

• Evaluate staffing and employment levels on a weekly, monthly and annual basis.

• Continually monitor growth projections and determine how to maximize opportunities.

• Spend time thinking about leadership and staffing to support the future of the company.

• Use goals and plans to design the leadership team in advance of needing to hire its roles.

• Think of hiring as an investment, not an expense. In general, new hires should produce four times their annual salary in revenue or expense reduction.

• Identify a career path for manager and director roles. This helps attract better talent as talented professionals want a career path.

• Develop a succession plan.

Develop Company Brand and Culture

A brokerage's brand and culture deeply impacts the hiring process. In some cases, a strong company culture or brand can become the winning chip in a competitive hiring situation, as candidates may view culture as a significant value to their experience of working for a company. Competitive markets can bring out the best in hiring practices, which impacts the organization at all levels, regardless of market conditions.

Think Retention

Retaining talented employees is just as important as having a smart hiring process and system. Keeping talented employees after investing time, energy and resources in them is a critical business need.

Additionally, remain mindful that top talent receives regular recruiting calls or messages on LinkedIn and other platforms from recruiters. Create a plan to show them that they are valued. Money is not everything. Kindness, concern, real care, and a vibrant company culture often supersede a better monetary offer.

When employees do not feel authentic human concern, other offers will tempt them. Ideally, care and concern for the workforce is part of a brokerage's culture and not just a tactic to hedge bets against inflation and market conditions.

Consider also how to handle the discrepancy in compensation for existing employees compared to those hired at the height of the market at the peak compensation rate. Consider rewarding consistent performers with a pay increase to match the market.

Digital and printed copies of the 2023 Swanepoel Trends Report are available for purchase at t3trends.com.