by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

It does no good to “focus on a small set of priorities” unless you take the next step and dedicate proactive effort towards these priorities.

Recruiting is frequently identified as a top priority, but somehow gets ignored in the day-to-day execution of tasks.

To solve this problem, most managers attempt to set aside a time-block to work on recruiting.

Good idea, but it may not be enough.

A time-block can easily be ignored unless it is supported by one or more trigger events.

Trigger events signal your brain that it’s time to work on proactive tasks.

For recruiting, here are some more trigger events you may want to consider:

Add a pre-appointment reminder to your time-block
Shut your office door/hang a do not disturb sign
Add a second reminder to your phone 5-minutes after your time-block asking, “Have you started yet?”
Silence your phone and put it your desk drawer

The goal is to trick your brain into starting something that is good for you and your life.

It’s one of the ways new habits are formed.

And unless recruiting becomes habitual, it will just remain a good intention.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

Dale Carnegie famously advised his readers to carry a genuine smile and use it often as a positive way of creating influence.

Ninety years after this was written, researchers have backed up Carnegie’s claims.

In a podcast from the archive, Dave Mashburn points out:

Scientists have discovered that smiling has a tremendous effect on our happiness, our health, and even our success. 

It’s obvious that if something makes us happy, we smile.

What’s surprising is that the opposite is true: If we smile, it actually makes us happy.

And it doesn’t just stop at happiness—smiling creates a host of benefits (lowers stress, increases engagement, increases lifespan, increases success, fewer setbacks, etc.).

And, the benefits not only help you, they help those around you too.

If you think about it, this is one of the simplest things you can do to increase your recruiting success.

Just train yourself to smile more often and you’ll have greater influence.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

In a previous podcast, Dave Mashburn noted that the most productive managers “do less and obsess.”

This insight was based on a landmark study of more than 5000 first-level managers in various industries.

When trying to apply this advice, realize that most managers struggle with the next step.

How do you determine which activities to obsess on?

Dave suggests placing priority on the activities that provide the highest value to your end customers and your organization.

Real estate customers find value in having their needs met.

Often this means connecting them with competent and responsive agents who will exceed their expectations.

Real estate organizations find value in growing the number of these competent agents available to their customers.

Often this means investing in recruiting activities and other activities that increase agent productivity.

As you try to determine the right activities to focus on, ask yourself two questions:

Does this activity directly contribute to recruiting and/or increasing per agent productivity?

What activities are distracting me from focusing on these two priorities?

If you don’t proactively choose what to focus on, you’ll be overcome by the urgent and less-important needs of those around you.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

The ThirdPool writing and editing staff will be taking a break from publishing Recruiting Insight as we enter the holiday season.

We’ll restart publishing on Monday, January 6th.

Thank you to all those who read, ask questions, and engage in the discussion. We learn much from this daily dialog, and we hope you do too.

Real estate recruiting is a difficult problem.

As we look forward to finding more solutions in 2020, I’d like to point you to a blog posted by Seth Godin:

Respect difficult problems

They’re difficult because they resist simple solutions. Glib answers and over-simplification have been tried before and failed.

People have tried all of the obvious solutions. They haven’t worked. That’s why we’ve resorted to calling them difficult problems.

Difficult problems require emotional labor, approaches that feel risky, and methods that might not work.

They reward patience, nuance and guts, and they will fight off brute force all day long.

Here’s to continuing the fight in 2020!

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

Earlier this week, I highlighted some of the benefits of adding texting to your recruiting process.

Some Insight readers sent back questions worth addressing.

Is it legal to cold text (without permission) recruiting prospects? This is a grey area. Most of the laws that restrict texting for business purposes are related to solicitation (selling something).

Recruiting columnist Tim Sackett wrote a good article on this topic if you want to learn more on the legalities of recruitment texting.

Is it a good idea to cold text recruiting prospects? It depends. At ThirdPool, we require all recruiting prospects to opt-in if they want to receive text messages and over 90% give us permission to text.

If recruiting prospects expect to hear from you and are interested in what you have to say, the texting conversation usually goes well. Our general rule is to get permission before texting.

Exceptions to this rule could be activities such as following-up on a referral, connecting with someone in your professional network, or reaching out to someone you recently met.

Is spam texting acceptable? Spam texting (sending a single text to a large number of recipients you don’t really know) is a bad idea. It’s disrespectful, doesn’t work, and will cause a bunch of people to hate you.

What’s the goal of a text conversation with a recruiting prospect? It’s best to keep text messages short, to the point, and focused on a simple call to action such as a follow-on phone conversation or an appointment.

Here’s a general rule of thumb: If your text makes a prospect feel like they’re being spammed, it’s not OK.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

Amy Cuddy’s research reveals that people want answers to two basic questions when they meet someone for the first time.

Can I trust you? | Can I respect you?

Cuddy refers to these dimensions as warmth and competence.

Both factors are important, but they must come in the right order to effectively establish a new relationship.

Warmth First, Competence Second

While competence is highly valued, it is evaluated only after trust is established.

And focusing too much on displaying your strength can backfire.

Without first establishing some trust, the second question can’t be appropriately addressed.

If someone you’re trying to influence doesn’t trust you, you’re not going to get very far; in fact, you might even elicit suspicion because you come across as manipulative.

A warm, trustworthy person who is also strong elicits admiration, but only after you’ve established trust does your strength become a gift rather than a threat.

Helping someone change careers and start a real estate business is a gift.

But, it can only be received if a candidate both trusts and respects you as a hiring manager.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

Over 50 years ago, Peter Drucker had an epiphany:

The primary job of the executive is to get the right things done.

While this concise statement still defines the essence of a high-performing manager, it’s become increasingly difficult to execute in today’s business environment.

The number of strategies, tactics, and choices have increased exponentially, and the inertia from distractions and “the urgent” seems to be higher than ever.

Is there a way to be an effective hiring manager or recruiting coordinator (both positions would meet Drucker’s definition of an executive) in today’s real estate industry?

Yes. The problem has not changed in the last 50 years and neither has the solution.

According to Drucker, effective executives are characterized by:

1. Knowing and controlling where their time goes.
2. Focusing on outward (measurable) contributions.
3. Building on their strengths and the strengths of others who are contributing.
4. Forcing themselves to set and stay focused on a small set of priorities.
5. Making the right decisions (right steps in the right sequence).

We’ll touch on each of these issues in future Insights, but until then do a quick inventory of your typical work week.

Do these characteristics define how you work?

If not, which characteristic should you start focusing on to make yourself more effective?

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

Last week, I touched on Morten Hansen’s “do less, then obsess” productivity advice.

Hansen describes how he discovered this principle:

In my study of 5,000 managers and employees, I found seven factors that explained a majority of performance differences.

[But], one in particular stood out, a principle I call “do less, then obsess.”

People who mastered this performed 25 percentage points better than those who didn’t—that’s the difference between great and just good.

The same principle should be considered when developing a recruiting plan.

I’ve heard many hiring managers strategize in this way:

If I load all the agents from my local MLS into my database and drip email them, I should be able to get a few to respond.

The results of these types of campaigns are always disappointing.

It’s more productive to identify a smaller group of prospects who fit the profile of the productive agents on your team and then pour extra effort into recruiting them.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

As a coach and mentor, you’re rooting for your agents to succeed.

But in spite of your best efforts to help them reach their goals, some of them get stuck.

In today’s flashback, Dave Mashburn reflects on the lessons learned from one of his consulting engagements.

I’ve noticed when agents get stuck, it often relates to one of two issues.

They’re distracted by too many options. Agents are inundated with so many ideas they often get overwhelmed and freeze. Or, they constantly switch strategies hoping something will work.

They forget that businesses exist to solve problems. Many agents are so focused on marketing and selling themselves, they rarely connect with clients below the surface level.

The solutions to these issues are related.

Encourage your agents to develop a singular focus on the most important thing in their businesses—discovering and solving the specific problems of their clients.

Follow Morten Hanson’s advice: Do less, then obsess.   

What does this have to do with recruiting?

Hiring managers who get stuck often suffer from these same two problems.

What’s good for your agents is also good for you.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

The Job Board Doctor, a consulting company specializing in online recruitment advertising, recently published its tenth annual Global Recruiting Site Trends Survey results.

This survey ranked the top 10 sources of recruiting prospects (factoring in both quality and quantity) from best to worst.

1. Job Alerts (vendors send emails/texts alerting prospect of open jobs)
2. Organic Search (ex. a basic Google search)
3. Job Aggregator Paid (ex. Indeed)
4. Paid Search (Pay Per Click)
5. Programmatic Ads
6. Google for Job Search Box
7. Paid Social Media
8. Job Aggregator Organic
9. Outbound Marketing (ex. Email blast to your database)
10. Organic Social Media

Here are some take-aways from these findings:

It pays to have a diverse strategy. If you’re only using one of these sources, you’re missing out on a large number of potential recruiting prospects.

You must engage Google. Half of the top 6 strategies involve Google. Since 70% of job searches start on Google, it’s important to be active in the Google ecosystem.

You get what you pay for. If it’s free (bottom three sources on the list), the quality and the quantity of your results will suffer. Even investing a little in paid recruitment marketing separates you from the bottom feeders.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

“I’m too busy.”  This is the most common complaint I hear from real estate managers who fail to spend proactive time on recruiting.

In today’s flashback, Dave Mashburn reminds us that struggling with business is not something new.

It turns out that even 2,000 years ago people were prone to being “too busy” for their own good.

According to the Roman philosopher Seneca, ancient Romans suffered from the same problem.

In his writings, Seneca berated his readers for failing to see time as a valuable commodity.

He knew that no meaningful activity could be successfully pursued by an individual who is preoccupied or frequently distracted.

Everyone who hustles his life along is troubled by a longing for the future and weariness of the present.

The solution that Seneca provided his readers still works today:

The man who organizes every day as though it were his last, neither longs for nor fears the next day.

Busyness is an addiction that prevents us from focusing on what really matters.  Don’t let it steal away your success.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

It’s common for an organization or a team to have some members who lack motivation towards agreed upon goals.

It seems some people are always dragging their feet, complaining, and pushing back when they’re asked to complete tasks contributing to the end goal.

In today’s flashback, Dave Mashburn reminds us:

To solve this problem, it’s important to clearly define and frequently remind those on the team of the “why” behind the end goals being promoted.

Stressing the “what” and the “how” will always lead to an empty or shallow obedience.

Buy-in to your organization’s goals and desired results cause motivation to sprout, grow, and flourish.

And buy-in is created by openly discussing, agreeing upon, and frequently repeating the “why” behind those goals and desired results.

This principle also relates to hiring.

Recruiting prospects are attracted to leaders and teams who are driven by a sense of purpose.

Don’t be shy about explaining your “why” to those who you’re trying to recruit.

If your message is already resonating with a prospect during the recruiting phase, there’s a good chance they’ll buy-in to your goals once they’re hired.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

According to RIS Media, an increasing number of real estate companies are using assessments in the hiring process.

In an industry where the entry-level barrier is relatively low… brokers are looking for ways to separate the possible rainmakers from the low-producing crowd.

If you’re adding an assessment to your hiring process, here are some things to consider.

Design. Researchers usually create an assessment to solve a unique problem. Complications arise when users attempt to apply the assessment to a new problem.

Before using an assessment for recruiting, find an answer to this question: Why was this assessment created?

Effective. If a police officer uses a radar gun to issue speeding tickets, it is important the instrument measures speed reliably. In the assessment world, this measurement is called test-retest reliability.

For hiring, it’s important to use an assessment with a high test-retest reliability coefficient. Ask assessment vendors for this data so you can equitably compare one vendor to another.

Lawful. Using assessments in the hiring process carries some legal risk because they can inadvertently discriminate in inappropriate ways.

The EEOC has produced a summary of their employment test and selection procedures that is worth reading before adding an assessment to your recruiting process.

Every successful recruiter relies on a set of tools to get the job done. If assessments are part of your toolkit, make sure to use them wisely.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

Earlier this month, we celebrated our one-year anniversary of publishing daily under the Recruiting Insights brand.

Over the last year, our subscription base has grown significantly, and we have many new faces who have joined the discussion.

Thanks for all the positive feedback many of you have provided on our new format.

Previous to Recruiting Insights, we published under the WorkPuzzle brand for several years.

During those years, Dr. Dave Mashburn and I wrote more than 700 articles on recruiting, coaching, and individual performance. Some of these articles were recorded as short podcasts, as well.

Over the next few months, we’re going to revisit some of Dr. Dave’s best articles and podcasts on Friday of each week.

There’s a lot of great content our new readers have not heard, and our seasoned readers may have forgotten by now.

To get the Dr. Dave’s Flashback Friday party started, here is a link to a short podcast that I’ve shared with my kids several times over the last year when they were facing difficult circumstances.

It’s a lesson on fear and anxiety that we all need to remember.

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by Ben Hess, Managing Director, ThirdPool Recruiting

Outside of the real estate industry, recruiting pipeline automation is quickly becoming a must-have tool for effective talent acquisition.

Why? Because machines do some tasks quicker, better, and timelier than humans.

Human resources researchers have started documenting the tangible benefits recruitment automation offers.

Boosting recruiter productivity. By introducing pipeline automation technology, companies often experience an increase in their recruitment team’s productivity of 50% or more.The biggest gains come from companies who have labor-intensive or manual recruitment processes or systems.

Decreasing time to hire. It takes, on average, 42 days to fill a position (for a real estate agent, it’s about 120 days). Companies who use pipeline automation software are reducing time-to-hire by at least 25%.

Hiring better quality. Automation helps high-performing organizations identify and engage the best-fit candidates quickly and reliably. This is especially true for high-volume hiring applications.

If you delegate your repetitive and mundane tasks to software, you’ll have more time and energy to focus on the tasks only a human can do effectively.

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