When you’re growing your business, one of the biggest challenges is finding the right people to bring on board. Many property managers are ready to take their company to the next level, but the daunting task of hiring and retaining quality employees prevents them from taking that next step.
We get it—you’re battling trends of high turnover, low unemployment, and fierce competition to recruit top talent. But if you’re prepared to make the right decisions while hiring, it’s simpler than you think to successfully grow your team.
Here are our 4 best hiring tips for property management companies looking to attract and retain the right people to grow your business.
Write a Stand-Out Job Description
Job descriptions are your company’s first introduction to potential candidates, and it’s important that your job postings are clear, concise, and accurately reflect the position you’re hiring for. An effective job description helps you to weed out unqualified candidates and attract top talent. Make sure your job descriptions check the following boxes:
- Descriptive and measurable. Your job description should clearly describe job responsibilities and duties, as well as measurable goals for what success will look like (i.e. respond to tenant requests within 24 hours).
- Straightforward requirements. If you’ve been taking a copy-and-paste approach to job descriptions, you’re likely not hiring efficiently. Each new job description should specify the skills and requirements you’re looking for—otherwise, you’ll be wading through piles of unqualified applicants with every new job you post.
- Sell your company. Your job description should answer this simple question for candidates: Why should I work here? Share what’s great about working for your company, such as your benefits, workplace culture, and achievements. It’s okay to brag a little and let candidates know why they should bring their talent to your business!
Post on the Top Job Boards
Not all job boards are created equal. There’s such a thing as over-posting your job openings, and it results in way too many applicants and not enough qualified candidates. Be strategic about where you post and stick to the most reputable job boards:
- Free job boards: To share your job postings for free, try sites like LinkedIn or Indeed, where you’ll reach thousands of candidates instantly. Check out local, online job boards like Nextdoor or community Facebook groups. If you live near a community college or university, there’s usually an online job board to share postings with students and faculty.
- Sponsored job boards: If you’re willing to pay a fee, you can sponsor your job postings on Indeed, Monster, and other major online job boards. Sponsoring your posts sends your job to the front of the line, getting it to more candidates faster. For a more comprehensive hiring tool, ZipRecruiter helps you to screen and rate candidates as they apply, as well as to coordinate communication with potential hires.
Ask the Right Interview Questions
You’ve written a great job description, you’ve posted it on the right boards, and now it’s time to interview your candidates. Easy, right? Actually, many managers and owners will tell you that it’s just as daunting (if not more so!) to be on the other side of the desk during interviews. If you prepare the right questions in advance, you’ll walk away with the information you need to make the right decision:
- Evaluate job skills. In order to learn more about the candidate’s job skills and experiences, consider asking the following questions:
- What has your greatest achievement been at work?
- What’s an obstacle that you’ve faced at work? How did you overcome it?
- How would your coworkers at your most recent job describe you? What about your manager?
- Evaluate job fit. Job fit assesses how a candidate’s skills, experience, and expectations align with the position you’re trying to fill. To figure out if it’s a good match, ask the following questions:
- Why did you leave your most recent job?
- Why do you want this job?
- What are your goals for the future?
- Evaluate culture fit. Finally, you’ll want to understand if the candidate fits in with your team and your vision for the company’s future. Whether your business has 3 employees or 30, you need someone who shares your values and your definition of what success looks like. Try asking:
- What are the 3 traits that you value most in a coworker? What about in a manager?
- What’s the biggest risk that you’ve ever taken, and why?
- When working in a team environment, which role are you most likely to take?
Combat High Turnover with Culture & Relationships
Once you’ve hired the right candidate, make sure that you have a strategy in place to retain top talent. There’s a lot of turnover in this industry, and the cost of losing an employee is high. Luckily, there are several steps you can take to create a thriving workplace with loyal employees:
- Provide training opportunities. When employees are offered training opportunities, they know that the company is invested in their growth. Send your employees to conferences, invest in building their skillsets, and create job-shadowing opportunities between employees.
- Offer competitive salaries and benefits. At the end of the day, your employees will only stick around if you’re paying them fairly and offering benefits that ensure their well-being. Remember, there’s a cost to losing someone—it takes time and money to recruit, hire, and train every new employee.
- Build strong personal relationships. One of the best ways to engage employees and build loyalty is to get to know them. Create an environment where you get plenty of face-time with each employee to learn more about their future goals and what’s important to them. When employees care about their work relationships and know that you’re invested in their growth, they’re more likely to come to you when there’s a problem instead of looking for a new job.
How do you hire and retain employees? Share your tips in the comments!
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