WorkPuzzle

Talent Pipelines: The Future of Experienced Agent Recruiting--Part 2

Last week, we started a discussion about the role of a talent pipeline for recruiting experienced agents.  I referenced Peter Weddle's recent article on this topic to illustrate how most hiring managers misuse talent pipelines.  By focusing on the wrong tactics, (hard-sell promotions and relentless invitations to join your "great organization") most talent pipelines produce poor results.

Weddle goes on to suggest that to make a talent pipeline effective, you must change the focus of the pipeline to so that it answers the question that most competitive experienced agents want to know:

"The best talent wants to know what it's like to work in your organization.  Before they will even consider a job, they need to have a sense of what their employment experience will be like.  To put it more bluntly, they must be assured that their personality and principles are aligned with the organization's culture and values so they will be comfortable in its work environment and able to continue their career success by performing at their peak.”

Let's assume that this is the new and improved goal of your talent pipeline.  Now here's an important question:

How do you make this a reality in your real estate office?

One answer to this question (and there may be many more) is social networking.  In fact, online social networking may be the highest and best use of the medium for the purpose of recruiting.

Think of it this way--if a competitive agent wants the information outlined above, how could they possibly gain this experience?  

One way would be to sneak up to the window of your office and watch you do your work during the day.  If candidates were able to see how you manage your office, observe how you interact with those you coach, and see how conflicts were resolved among those on your team, they might get a better idea if they would be a fit in your office.

Obviously, that is not going to happen literally.  But, what if it could "virtually" happen through the creation of an online social network?  I'm not talking about Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or any of the other public social networks, but instead a private social network that is a virtual representation of your physical office.

If you (the hiring manager of your office) were the online community manager of your virtual office and all your agents were the members of your social network, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to invite those in your extended network (including competitive agents) to also become members of your social network.

From this perspective, it wouldn't be hard for a competitive agent to get to know you, the support staff, and the agents who are in your office.  And from this safe location, they can start to evaluate if "their personality and principles are aligned with the organization's culture and values..."  

Next time, I'll finish us this discussion by outlining some of the important components of a private online social network.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Talent Pipelines: The Future of Experienced Agent Recruiting

If you’re a regular WorkPuzzle reader, you know that I occasionally share some insight from Peter Weddle.  Peter recently authored a book called WorkStrong: Your Personal Career Fitness System, and writes a blog (also called WorkStrong) to support his publishing effort.

While these are great resources, I still seem to gain the most insight from his “old-fashioned email newsletter” that he publishes twice a month.  While the delivery method of this publication may seem a little “old-school,” the ideas he presents are often way ahead of their time.

This is exactly the case for his most recent newsletter regarding the future of recruiting pipelines.  Here is some of what Peter had to say:

“What's the number one problem with today's talent pipelines?  Attrition.  According to research, the number of people bailing out of recruiter-built networks typically reaches forty percent or more each year.  Given the time and effort required to load a pipeline, that's a huge loss for any organization.

Unfortunately, for many organizations, a talent pipeline is simply a resume database redux.  Oh sure, today's pipelines are built on social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, but there's very little social activity actually going on.  In fact, if there's any communications at all with the people in the pipeline, it's either repurposed job postings or hard sell promotions designed to drive traffic to the organization's website.”

Peter goes on to ask an important question:  What is the ideal purpose of a talent pipeline?

If the goal is to just provide a passageway for candidates to move from a passive to an active candidate state, then the results will always be mediocre.  But, if the goal is to provide skilled agents from competitive companies a way of experiencing your organization, then your talent pipeline could become the best tool in your recruiting toolbox.

Peter explains why this small distinction makes such a significant difference:

“[Talented individuals] are almost always employed, so to recruit them, you must get them to do the one thing we humans most hate to do: change.  You have to get them to leave their current employer, turn down offers from other employers and accept a position you're trying to fill for your employer.

That outcome simply will not occur with repurposed job postings and hard sell promotions.  In fact, research indicates that the single best trigger for motivating change among passive, high caliber candidates isn't requirements and responsibilities, but reality - a reality they have the time to recognize and appreciate.

The best talent wants to know what it's like to work in your organization.  Before they will even consider a job, they need to have a sense of what their employment experience will be like.  To put it more bluntly, they must be assured that their personality and principles are aligned with the organization's culture and values so they will be comfortable in its work environment and, able to continue their career success by performing at their peak.”

Read the first sentence of that last paragraph again…"The best talent wants to know what it’s like to work in your organization.”

Providing this experience is the ideal purpose of a talent pipeline.

In our next discussion, we’ll learn how most companies make some common mistakes in trying to make this happen, and how you can avoid them as you start to use this important tool in your recruiting efforts.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Treat Candidates Right--Even Those You Turn Away

Your recruiting efforts may have a more significant impact than you think.  We can all agree that successfully managing a candidate pipeline will result in high-performers choosing to employ their talents in your organization; That's a win for your organization and an automatic loss for your competitors.  

But, what about those candidates who are not a good fit?  Treating them right takes more thoughtful effort and purposeful goodwill.  These interactions also have a significant impact on your company’s reputation.  More specifically, the way in which these candidates are treated on the phone or via responsive emails will eventually flow down to who they choose to do business with when buying, selling, or referring a company for their next real estate transaction. 

Below is an excerpt from an article written by Margaret Heffernan, entrepreneur and author.  She articulates well what we already know to be true...it is not just the hire, it is also the relationship that benefits the company.

“Seize the moment to build your firm's reputation.  Treat all job candidates well during and after the interview process.

Even with high unemployment, leading firms work hard to position themselves as the employer of choice for top candidates.  They spend a fortune doing so--through on-campus visits, conferences, sponsorships, advertising, and search firms.  What's so striking to me is that they waste all that money, but miss seizing the crucial moment:  the in-person candidate meeting.

It's almost schizophrenic, the passion with which top firms woo--and then lose interest in--new-hire candidates.  Once these individuals come in for an interview, the tables are turned, the selling process stops, and the employer metamorphoses into a very demanding customer and the previously-cherished candidate is suddenly treated like a petitioner.

For those who aren't selected, the process is invariably worse.  They have invested a great deal of time, energy, and attention in a job they didn't get.  And even then they may be left guessing for weeks since, these days, almost no one seems to send out rejection letters or explanations.  How can firms who treat people this way expect any outcome other than having now created a large number of people who cordially hate them?  All that initial salesmanship-and the only legacy is one of distrust and disgust.

It doesn't have to be this way.  Much of the feedback that's generated can, and should be shared.  I can hear human resource executives complaining that they don't have time, but here's the question:  After the fortune invested in recruitment, do you want to turn failed candidates into adversaries or evangelists?  It's a choice.  Treat candidates--successful and unsuccessful ones--well and they can become your sales force.  Assuming you've interviewed and tested strong, capable people, they are capable of building your reputation.  But only if you deserve it.”

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why Scripts Might Kill Your Recruiting -- Part 2

In my last blog, I shared with you why many of the tips being written regarding how to recruit Gen X's will (in my opinion) fail.  Many such tips focus on how Gen 'Xs are "so different than the rest of us."  In my opinion, this is very dangerous thinking.  To summarize, I said that if scripts are used to replace the fundamentals, like showing curiosity about a person's story, not only will they not work, but they will actually turn candidates off.

Whether you recruit or sell, the art of fully understanding a person's pain is ALWAYS the most important thing for you to master...and the quest for this information is never as simple as a script.  The following interaction is a great example of the power that can be gained, just by learning about your customer.  The strategy this salesperson uses can be applied, not only to sales, but also to recruiting, dating, marriage, raising children, and almost any credibility building activity.

Last Saturday I ventured into a golf store with the intention of buying golf shoes that I had seen on sale in the Seattle Times ad section, listed for $59.  I was in the store a total of 30 minutes, and left with $200 Ecco golf shoes, and I was happy about it.  How on earth did this happen?  

The sales guy never approached me with anything resembling a script.  He did not sell.  Instead, he allowed me, first, to try on the cheapy golf shoes I had seen in the ad, while he began to ask a series of very important questions in the most natural and unassuming way:

"How many years have you been playing?" (answer = since I was 10 years old)

"How old are you now?" (Answer = 52)

"How many pairs of shoes have you bought in those 42 Years" (answer = 4)

"Why are you buying now?" (answer = I am sore the next day when I walk a golf course with my existing twelve-year-old shoes).

All that remained to do was help me connect the painfully obvious logic that my cheapskate mind was avoiding:

"So let's see...If you are not going to buy another pair for ten years, and you play 15-20 rounds of golf per year, and prefer to walk, then even if you get the Ecco golf shoes (the easiest on the feet) - You'll only be paying an additional $1 per round of golf for enormous comfort, for the next ten years."  

Hmmm...  He practiced what most salesmen forget -- understanding the pain and the resistance before offering a solution.  He would NEVER have been able to sell me those shoes without asking me that list of questions.

I'm not saying that scripts don't have their place.  Of course they do.  But, I am witnessing a trend where they appear to be replacing the fundamentals.

So what questions do you ask?  Why are you asking them?  Everyone has varying needs, pain, and resistance...and you don't know this information, until you begin asking.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why using Scripts might kill your recruiting

I realize that using scripts for both selling and recruiting in the real estate industry has been one of the most sacredly protected principles over the last century.  I recently read a fairly long list of scripts used for both selling and recruiting, and found myself bristling at the thought of having someone use them on me.  I'm not sure that they would work.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that they would turn me off.

Now, maybe I'm more hypersensitive than most to being treated like a "target" rather than a person...but I don't think so.  I know that what I am about to say, I have said before, but I will say it again:  People want and need to be understood in every human interaction. 

In the May 21^st and May 28^th editions, I shared a fairly in-depth backdrop to the topic of how to build attunement in order to build attachment.  But, contrary to what I was saying...if, on the other hand, a manager focuses on scripts without a deep understanding of how Attunement and Attachment fit into recruiting and retention, then their "pitch" will never be accepted by the smartest people. 

Much of what is being written about tips on how to recruit Generation X's will (in my opinion) take many managers off into the weeds when trying to recruit.  Many of these tips focus on how Gen X's are "so different than the rest of us."  In my opinion, this is very dangerous thinking.  If we try to get "tricky" with trying to pitch to Gen X candidates in the "right way," we miss the point.  And the point is:  Human nature NEVER changes!!  

There are far more similarities than differences between every generation, and most psychological research would confirm this.  The common denominator that we all need to know is that people want to be attached to leaders who are genuinely curious about who they are, and what they want.  They want leaders who are willing to teach them what they know, and who will mentor and speak into their lives, and/or introduce them to existing successful peers who can do this.  One of our clients, when interviewing a new agent candidate, routinely calls an existing (successful) agent that is within that person's age group and gender, to be at the office at the time of the interview.  Simple, but smart! 

In the next edition, I'll share with you another theory I have about the difficulty with hiring Generation X candidates, and tell you an interesting story about a golf store salesman who practices much of what I've shared above. 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Books That Will Bring Out Your Inner Entrepreneur

A couple of weeks ago, I challenged you to start evaluating your candidates from an entrepreneurial perspective.  If you missed this discussion, here are a couple of links (1,2) that will get you up to speed.

The line of reasoning in these previous discussions was…if a person approaches becoming a real estate agent from a traditional job perspective, they will not be well-equipped to make the sacrifices and overcome the obstacles to be successful under the current marketing conditions.  The solution?  Find and/or inspire candidates to think like entrepreneurs. 

As I continued to noodle on this topic, it occurred to me that many hiring managers in the real estate industry may be a little rusty on this topic.  While many managers went through a start-up phase when they first became agents, for most that was many years ago.  And while most managers are successful day-to-day business operators, a large majority are running mature offices that are beyond the start-up phase.

So, could you use a little brush-up on what goes through an entrepreneur’s mind?  If so, I would suggest taking a look at the list of books below.  This list was put together by Aimee Groth and Kim Bhasin—both staff writers for BusinessInsider.   

They qualify their selections by saying, “ …we go through dozens of books each year here at Business Insider's War Room.  Many aren't worth a second glance, but there are some every business owner should read.  So, we've put together a list of the best books for entrepreneurs — either from our own recommendations or touted by big-time VCs, CEOs and startup founders.”

Here's the list:

1. "Predictably Irrational," by Dan Ariely
2. "The Four Steps To The Epiphany," by Steve Blank
3. "How to Change the World," by David Bornstein
4. "From Resource Allocation To Strategy," by Joseph Bower
5. "Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, And Made A Fortune Doing Business My Way," by Richard Branson
6. "How To Win Friends And Influence People," by Dale Carnegie
7. "The Zigzag Principle," by Rich Christiansen
8. "The Innovator's Dilemma," by Clayton Christensen
9. "Good to Great," by Jim Collins
10. "The Startup Game," by William H. Draper
11. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship," by Peter Drucker
12. "The Ascent Of Money: A Financial History Of The World," by Niall Ferguson
13. "Never Eat Alone," by Keith Ferrazzi
14. "The World Is Flat," by Thomas Friedman
15. "The E-Myth Revisited," by Michael E. Gerber
16. "Outliers," by Malcolm Gladwell
17. "All Marketers Are Liars," by Seth Godin
18. "The 48 Laws of Power," by Robert Greene
19. "Delivering Happiness," by Tony Hsieh
20. "Steal Like an Artist," by Austin Kleon
21. "Founders at Work," by Jessica Livingston
22. "How Successful People Think," by John Maxwell
23. "The Smartest Guys In The Room: The Amazing Rise And Scandalous Fall Of Enron," by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
24. "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," by Robert Pirsig
25. "The Lean Startup," by Eric Ries
26. "Start With Why," by Simon Sinek

No doubt you’ve probably read some of these books already, but I would guess that there are at least a few that are new to you.  As a summer reading project, I suggest selecting at least five books from the list that you’ve not read yet, and try to get through them by Labor Day. 

Doing so will help you increase your own entrepreneurial skills, and will enable you to better connect with candidates who would make good entrepreneurs in your office.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Building Trust: Nine Rules

I recently came across a newsletter written by Geoffrey James, a sales expert and author, listing nine ways to build customer trust.  As I read through this, I couldn’t help but apply these rules to recruiting.  Geoffrey states, “No one is going to buy from a person they don't trust.  Here's how to build better client relationships.”  Let me translate…no one is going to work for someone they don’t trust.  Here’s how to build better relationships in your recruiting efforts.

In this newsletter, Geoffrey summarizes a conversation he had with Jerry Acuff, author of The Relationship Edge: The Key to Strategic Influence and Selling Success.  These rules are intended to be shared as part of a sales process (and could be shared with your existing agents), but I think you will see a parallel in the recruiting process as well.

"1. Be yourself.

Everybody on the planet has had unpleasant experiences with salespeople, and many have walked away from a sales situation feeling manipulated.  So, rather than acting or sounding like a salesperson, simply act the way you would when meeting with a colleague.

2. Value the relationship. 

If you want people around you to value having a relationship with you, you must truly believe that relationship building is important.  You must also believe that you honestly have something of value to offer to the relationship.

3. Be curious about people. 

People are drawn to those who show true interest in them.  Curiosity about people is thus a crucial element of relationship building.  Having an abiding fascination in others gives you the opportunity to learn new things and make new connections.

4. Be consistent. 

A customer's ability to trust you is dependent upon showing the customer that your behavior is consistent and persistent over time.  When a customer can predict your behavior, that customer is more likely to trust you.

5. Seek the truth. 

Trust emerges when you approach selling as a way of helping the customer–so make it your quest to discover the real areas where the you can work together.  Never be afraid to point out that your product or company may not be the right fit.

6. Keep an open mind. 

If you're absolutely convinced the customer needs your product, the customer will sense you're close-minded and become close-minded in return.  Instead, be open to the idea that the customer might be better served elsewhere.  In turn, customers will sense that you've got their best interests at heart.

7. Have a real dialog. 

Every meeting should be a conversation, not a sales pitch.  Spend at least half of every customer meeting listening.  And make certain the conversation is substantive and about real business issues, not just office patter or sports chit-chat.

8. Be a professional. 

Customers tend to trust individuals who are serious about what they do, and willing to take the time to achieve a deep understanding of their craft.  Take the time every day to learn more about your customers, their industry and their challenges.

9. Show real integrity. 

Be willing to take a stand, even when it's unpopular with your customer or your company.  You don't need to be adversarial, but have the ability to make decisions based upon what you know is right.  And on a related note:  Never promise what you can't deliver.

Needless to say, gaining trust is only part of the equation. You must also have a product that customers want and need, and the ability to show how you're adding value, solving problems, and so forth.

However, if you don't earn the customer's trust, they'll probably buy from someone else whom they do trust–even if the offering isn't as good."

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

2 Keys to Recruiting and Retention

In two previous blog editions (1, 2), I pointed out several reasons why it's more important to listen than to speak during the interview process.  I promised to provide the keys as to why listening is so important on a psychological level. 

There are two interrelated concepts that are key components that you need to understand in order to recruit and retain better:  Attunement and Attachment.  More specifically, Attunement leads to Attachment.

Let's first look at attunement.  Attunement is a term that psychiatrist, Daniel Stern, discovered and researched at length in the relationship between mothers and their babies.  It turns out that mothers who mother well, somehow intuitively understand that "tuning in" to their baby's emotional state is a very active process.  Mothers who understand this spend a great deal of "face time" trying to "read" and "match" their child's emotional state.  We've all done this.  When a child smiles, we smile.  When they are sad and frown, we frown.  We do this, subconsciously, to build very deep and enduring attachment. 

Stern discovered that the mothers who didn't practice this attunement, didn't build strong or lasting attachments with their children.  As the children matured, they felt less and less grief when their mother wasn't around if their mother hadn't provided this type of attunement.  

From Stern's work, researchers have found several common applications among adults.  Specifically, they found that adults need attunement as well.  Adults too, need to be understood, empathized with, and generally given fairly frequent feedback about how they are doing and check-ins with how they are feeling, in order to build these attachments. 

Some of you do this naturally with your candidates and agents, and now understand why you build such lasting attachments with your team.  Others need to work hard at getting away from unhealthy self-aggrandizement and begin understanding others better.

Here is a quick definition of attunement or empathy:  where the observed experiences of others come to affect our own thoughts and feelings.  If what we say and what we offer is disconnected from what our candidate is feeling and thinking, we will miss our chance at building that important, but elusive, attachment. 

What value does attunement have? 

1. It enables you to step outside your world and yourself and into their world. 
2. It enables you to tailor your behavior to the expectations of others. 
3. It creates smoother, more varied social interactions.
4. It reduces social disruptions
5. It helps you anticipate conflict
6. It enables you to better acknowledge the needs of others

All the above then leads to an increased sense of attachment.  And I can guarantee you this: we can't build attachment by listening to ourselves talk about us... 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why Spend So Much Time Listening During an Interview?

I hope you’ve been enjoying the series that Dave Mashburn has been contributing over the last week.  I know he promised us all a “Part 3” to the discussion he started, but he just shared some bad news with me.  He had to take his computer in for repair over the weekend.  So, he asked me to jump in, mid-stream, and add to the topic.   

Maybe this was providential.  I ran across an article last week that seems to support the basis for this topic.  The article was written by Jason Lauritsen in a online publication called Recruiting Trends.   

In the article, Lauritsen makes the point that everyone is looking for “the top talent” to fill their most critical positions.  For a real estate company, the agent is the one who ultimately generates revenue for the company.  Finding individuals who have the potential to become high-producing agents in a hiring manager’s organization is the goal.   

But, Lauritsen asks an important question:  “Is there such a thing as top talent?” 

Here are his thoughts on this topic:  

“It has become commonplace to talk of 'talent' as if it is absolute.  We strategize about recruiting 'top talent' as if it is a group of people that is easily defined and targeted.  But talent isn’t that simple.  And, it’s definitely not absolute. 

When we step away from conceptual or academic discussions of talent, we need a more practical and realistic framework for understanding talent in business.  When you break down the way we actually practice talent, we realize that talent is relative and contextual.” 

Think about this last statement—“…talent is relative and contextual.”  Do you believe this is true? 

I would argue that unless you spend most of your interview time listening, you believe (maybe subconsciously) this to be a false statement.   

This false belief often results in the hiring manager trying to “sell” the candidate on the benefits of the organization.  By making the assumption the person is talented (ie. someone you’d want to join your organization), it is nearly impossible to avoid going into the sales mode and talking too much during the interview. 

Lauritsen gives us some insight on how to avoid this: 

“Talent is contextual.  Talent in one environment may not constitute talent in another.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because someone showed great ability in one situation, they will be as able in every situation.  

For example, an individual who has years of successful experience marketing within an established firm with a strong brand may not have any success marketing a startup firm.  The context and situation have huge implications on what constitutes talent.” 

There is only one way to get this information from a candidate—you have to listen and understand their story.   

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that someone is “talented” during the interview (even if they are one of your competitor’s top agents).  Instead, approach the conversation from the perspective of thoughtfully trying to understand the context of the individual’s experience, skills, and character.  And, attempt to make a legitimate connection between what you learn and what a person truly needs to be successful in your organization. 

By doing this, you’ll force yourself to ask meaningful questions and listen.   

Dave will be back next week, with the conclusion to his series.  If you’ve never read/heard much about attunement and attachment theory, you’re in for a treat.  It’s fascinating stuff…

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

The Do's and Don'ts of Interviewing and Hiring

I mentioned in the last edition that I would elaborate on why "being understood" is vital to recruiting and retention, and provide a way of thinking about it that will hopefully change your goal of the interview.  But, before I lay out the key ingredients to hiring and retention, I want all of us to agree on what doesn't work.

Recruiting the best new agents requires a thorough understanding of how the best recruits think and reach decisions.  It also requires an understanding of the natural conflict that occurs inside the minds of people further down the ladder of the recruiting pipeline...the people who are just beginning to ponder the possibility of becoming an agent.

Many managers have told me, point blank, that they have no time to waste on someone who has trouble deciding if real estate is right for them.  One manager said, "If I have to interview a person for more than 20 minutes, then the candidate isn't right for real estate."  Here's another one I hear a lot:  "If they don't have a license, then I'm not interested."

The managers who say this are immensely confident in their views.  For the first few years that I partnered with companies in this industry, I naturally had to respect their views because I hadn't seen enough to gauge the accuracy, or fallacy, of what they were so convinced of.

But now I've gathered ample evidence to suggest that the above philosophy of interviewing new agent candidates rarely uncovers the best candidates.  In many cases, this approach attracts the most desperate and insecure candidates, who fake cooperation and decisiveness just to get the approval of the impatient and narcissistic manager.  Much like dating, ineffectual people are attracted to abusive partners. 

Here's three statements that I believe have proven true:

1. “You cannot fully predict who will be successful.” 
2. “The smartest candidates must be treated with the upmost success from the first encounter.”
3. “The worst candidates are the most desperate, and are less likely to react aversely to rude and devaluing behavior by the manager.”

To continue the dating analogy... When you want to choose your (best) life partner, you assume that he/she will be understandably cautious and most likely not tolerate any sense of narcissism, correct? 

Fortunately, most managers I've met genuinely want to know how to interview well.  They are hungry to understand what's going on inside the minds of high-caliber people, but many have not discovered the secret sauce to attraction, and retention. 

When it comes to interviewing the best candidates, you have to change your entire mindset.  Interviewing well is counterintuitive to much of what many have been taught, such as selling features, selling the company, or selling yourself as a manager.  As I mentioned in the last article, the most talented candidates want to be understood before hearing any of this.  They don't want to listen to you drone on and on about yourself or your company. 

In addition, the best fruit will probably not be low hanging.  Any one of your competitors can find those folks--they're easy to find, but there is a finite number of them.  We have droves of apple orchards in Washington State.  If all the workers competed for the apples that had already dropped to the ground or that hung on the lowest branches, it might be easier work, but is it better?  The answer is no.  The best harvesters are those on ladders, working to get to the hardest to reach apples...the best apples. 

The better companies will be willing to spend time and energy to attract the candidates who are already good at what they do, but happen to work in different industries.  They will have the patience to court these people over several months of indecisiveness, licensing school, and occasional second thoughts?  To repeat -- The brightest and most motivated people will not say yes right away.  

Who, among you, is willing to turn over enough rocks and do the necessary work to dislodge those hard to find diamonds?  Doing this takes patience, consistent engagement, and finesse.

The finesse part is knowing how to talk to people who you suspect will become very good agents, but who might not be able to pull the trigger as fast as you'd like.  This is often the hard part.  How do you get them to arrive at "yes" without sounding like an impatient salesman?  The brightest candidates will resist that pressure.

In part three of this discussion I promise to detail the "secret sauce" to interviewing, hiring and retention...It's called "Attachment through Attunement."  

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.