RISMEDIA, January 26, 2009-By 2010 nearly 58% of the real estate workforce is retiring. What are you doing to fill this gap?
Recruiting Gen Y agents must be part of your strategy. Gen Y’s represent 47 million people who are tech-savvy and work/life balance focused. Do you know how to reach this generation? Have you adapted your traditional methods to sourcing and recruiting to reach this generation?
Over 75% of your buyers and sellers now use the Internet to start transactions-so you must ask yourself-are my recruiting strategies up to date? Are they working?
AlignMark, experts in recruitment and selection, have pulled together the following best practices and tips:
1. Harness the power of the Web. Associate with Gen Y’s by getting involved in free online job boards like LinkedIn and Facebook. Creating a profile page devoted to your business will help to build a network of new and experienced agents. And this network will be valuable to you when you are ready to interview and hire. Keep in touch with these contacts periodically to keep them interested with updates about your company.
2. Improve your network and embrace social networking. Blogs devoted to recruiting and selection, or creating a blog on your own website will entice Gen Y. Use this media to spread your company’s value proposition, and what you offer that others cannot. Social networking will open your eyes as you realize how others perceive recruiting and selection, and what your contribution should be.
3. Differentiate your brand, your brokerage. Do you have a career section on your website? Can people looking for career opportunities find you? The career section on your website should be optimized for those seeking career opportunities. Those interested in working for you want to know that your business is thriving and that you want to speak to them. Tweak buzz words on search engines so you can be found easily.
4. Hire the right person. Use referrals from your agents or clients-an excellent way of finding Gen Y recruits. Your contacts know of recent college graduates or those seeking a rewarding career. Include assessments prior to the interview so you realize their skills up front – skills not found on a resume. Closing skills, problem solving, social ability, and high degree of integrity are some of the skills you are looking for. And these skills might not be picked up during a traditional interview.
5. Train. Sales skills, prospecting, marketing, and building a pipeline – all of these topics and more – are vitally important so agents stay on the right track. A training session can be fun and informative with planning and an agenda. Mix it up every session. Focus on the future and rely on your experiences and those of your team. Involve your team by asking them to contribute to the agenda. Gen Y is an involved generation.
For more than 30 years AlignMark has been a leading provider of innovative Organizational Effectiveness products and services.
For more information about AccuRecruiter and Real Estate Simulator, call 800-682-4587, ext 3561 or visit www.alignmark.com.
