Recruitment Process

Recruitment and progression of the people you hire is vitally important to the growth of your business. In this week’s Growth, Leadership and Management Tip I will outline systems you should follow and improvements you can make for cultivating exceptional team members for your agency.

It all begins with your application process. Your application form is not a formality. The first questions you ask will determine the quality of your new hires and set expectations for the performance you will require of them. Your application form should help you determine their rate of progress in previous positions, wage potential, performance consistency and overall value. In addition, follow up with their referees to validate the information they give you.

In the interview you need to discuss their career goals and aspirations, and be able to align their expectations with career streams you have in place for administration, sales, and property management. From the start, look at this new hire in terms of their potential to move upwards into roles in office management, sales partnership, property management, or even business director. Know what you can offer them as well as what they will bring to you.

There must be benchmarks for career progression based on skills they must acquire and transactions they must complete, as well as maximum wages they can earn before progressing to a higher position. You want to hire people who are motivated to progress in their career so your investment in helping them achieve those goals pays off for both of you.

In the Josh Phegan Company we help businesses set up five levels of career progression that we visualise as “bands.” These bands may start at a wage of around $40,000 a year at Level 5, and progress to $120,000 a year at Level 1. Realistically, you can’t have a long-term office assistant earning $100,000 a year, so that person needs to be able to assume higher roles within reasonable time frames in order to increase their pay.

This career stream and wage system implies that you are building a dynamic enough company to support requisite position and wage increases. The quality of your hires will determine the growth and success of your business. Make sure you understand your own business goals, and know the aptitude and attitude you need your people to provide in order to make that growth and success happen for you and for them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.