Here’s a comment I’ve heard real estate owners/executives say dozens of times: I want our managers to focus on the tasks and activities that produce the highest value for the organization. This seems kind of nebulous. What exactly does “highest value” mean? According to author Morton Hansen, it’s not nebulous at all—there’s an equation for it that can be used in almost any organization: The Value of a Person’s Work = (Benefits to Others) x (Quality) x (Efficiency) Let’s compare two activities to demonstrate how this can be applied. Task #1: Handling an administrative problem in your office. Solving this problem typically benefits one person (the person who had the problem). The quality of your solution would probably be good (you’re a smart person). The efficiency of the solution would be poor because the company is paying a lot of money to get a problem solved that could have been handled by a lower-paid employee. Overall, this activity has a low value. Task #2: Setting recruiting appointments with experienced agents who work for competitors. Getting appointments leads to hires. Hires benefit you (more income), your company (additional revenue), and the person being hired (higher production). If you’re good at getting appointments, the value of this activity can quickly multiply. The efficiency of this activity is remarkable when it converts to a hire. New hires not only add revenue, but also turn into annuities for your office and company for years to come. Recruiting and retention activities are the highest value activities a manager can be doing. The work value equation proves it.