By Jo-Anne Oliveri, ireviloution intelligence, Brisbane, Australia

There are many reasons why we need to recruit. We live in a world where there are unlimited opportunities for advancement and success. So, it stands to reason that your team members come and go based on their own personal career aspirations and opportunities that present themselves.

It’s always wise to know individual team member’s personal goals. You should ask them what these are at the initial interview and then discuss it at monthly one-to-one meetings. By knowing what your team member’s long-term career aspirations are, you are then able to manage your team, business, and service by design.

In some instances you will be able to fulfill team members’ career aspirations by training and promoting them through your business. This must not be in a vain attempt to keep them working for your agency. It must be for the overall good of you and the team member, as well as your business and clients. Remember, the best business philosophy is always “Win/Win”. When someone has reached their peak it’s also usually the time they start to lose interest. The longer you try to hang onto them by giving them all sorts of incentives, the more pain you put yourself and your business through. Whilst the team member is still arriving at the office each morning and sitting at the desk, they may only be a chair-warmer as in their mind they have already “checked out”.

And that’s not a bad thing. It’s all about planning, understanding, and knowing when to recruit a new team member. If you diligently hold your monthly one-to-ones and ensure the meeting is purposeful, you have insight into team members’ long-term goals. And so, their resignation will not come as a shock and you will not have to put yourself through the stress of recruiting by default (I can just see all of you nodding your head remembering the chain of events this type of recruiting causes). Recruiting by default is a costly mistake financially, emotionally, and to your brand and reputation. Put yourself back in the power seat.

By understanding your team and their career aspirations, you grow and nurture loyal team members. Yes, they may come and go and, as I said, that’s not a bad thing. The wonderful thing is that they leave feeling loyal to your agency. They will be long-term advocates because they still love your brand and culture. And, because you have a business by design, you are assured continuity of service to your clients. Clients understand that team members come and go but because you have a business backed up by systems and processes, clients’ histories remain intact. So again no more stress for you, the team, or clients when a team member resigns.

The other bonus here is that because you know your team member’s long term career aspirations, you have a good idea of when they may start looking at other opportunities to fulfill their goals. That means you have the ability to promote from within your agency and the new recruit can be a trainee who started as an assistant or receptionist. The new recruit then has already had the opportunity to learn your business’ culture from the inside out and most likely has started forming relationships with your existing clients. That means when someone “new” is managing their property they already know their name and are familiar with their voice.

I urge you all to slow down. It is always best to recruit for attitude and train for skill. If someone has the right attitude they can learn the skill. By training for skill you are also training them to internalize your business’ culture and service standards so they become your brand, and love it.