RECRUITMENT
She warns that “a lot of agencies are
about bums on seats, whereas we would rather wait to find the right person”. As a very sociable firm with team commissions rather than individual bonuses, D&G might not suit some people – and chemistry is extremely important. But, she says, there is a lot of work involved in doing your own recruitment. “Out of 50 you might get 2 CVs that you think are good,” she explains. Candidates also have to be interviewed; D&G also carries out psychometric testing, which she’s found to be “hugely telling, reducing our risk in taking someone on.”
A SPECIALIST RECRUITMENT SECTOR The estate agency sector remains highly fragmented, and the same is true of recruitment for the sector. Andrew Deverell Smith says, “Recruitment for estate agency is something of a cottage industry – we are one of very few large firms.” Out of the larger general recruitment firms, such as Adecco and Select, only Reed appears to have made much headway in the sector. While some firms serve a wider area than just estate agency – DSR also recruits for property
It’s incredibly difficult to get the right people. The candidate controls the situation.” ANDREW DEVERELL SMITH DSR
One answer is to specialise. Andrew
Deverell Smith says his agency has decided to focus mainly on the London market. “The fees are higher,” he says, “the estate agencies make more money, the staff make more money.” So, of course, does the recruiter. Continuous research gives the agency an in-depth knowledge of the market and the competitive situation of each client in terms of their ability to recruit. On the other hand, firms such as
eRecruit rely on wide coverage instead. Using job boards such as Fish4jobs, Monster, Totaljobs, and niche sites, eRecruit aims to give job vacancies the widest exposure possible, while keeping clients’ costs low.
Using a recruiter can help fill the gap much more quickly. Recruitment agencies also screen
incoming applications, and most carry out preliminary interviewing, saving agents time and effort. Andrew Deverell Smith believes a lot of agents don’t have the skills to interview properly. “I’ve seen candidates go to an interview, get talked at, get hired and get fired three weeks later,” he says. The real payback from agencies, though,
is the business benefit of having the right people. It avoids the cost of hiring the wrong ones – poor performance, damaged reputation, and the impact on the existing team. “It’s a merry-go-round of inefficiency and in the end can cost them several times our fee,” he says – whereas his firm has a track record of finding people who can deliver “40, 50, even 100 per cent more than the incumbents.” When new clients balk at the costs,
Knowledge is king, especially when you are trying to fill a senior position.
management and commercial property posts, and Prima Ardelle serves financial services as well as the property sector. As Martin Wood points out, “Estate
agency is a very localised industry,” making it tricky to recruit for. Often, an independent firm is among the top five in a particular market even though nationally it is hardly known. Recruiters need to know each individual market, or they could actually be at a disadvantage compared to their clients.
RECRUITMENT COSTS ARE HIGH Given the relatively high costs of recruitment – even eRecruit charges £599 per role (though not per job, so recruiting three negotiators costs the same as recruiting one) – agencies need to be able to demonstrate their value. After all, a postcard in the estate agent’s window or a recruitment page on the website costs little – and still delivers quality candidates. Andrew Deverell Smith says that while
estate agents may be able to fill roles themselves, often they are not able to do so as quickly as they need, particularly when an experienced member of staff has to be replaced. “If somebody senior leaves, that’s costing the company £75,000 to £100,000 in turnover every month,” he explains.
Portia Oliver says that they often recommend they place an advert in the local paper, “Most of the time they are inundated with thousands of irrelevant CV’s and they then come back to us. We endeavour to meet every client at their offices to understand their business and the people they want. We also put each candidate through a vigorous screening process, including a face to face interview and full referencing. Our aim is to put only the most relevant candidates in front of our clients, saving them time, money and a lot of hassle. Only seven out of 10 people we see in a week go on to our books”.
THE RECRUITER’S TASK Anthony Hesse says “We have to kiss a lot of frogs to find our prince.” His conversion rate is one in three out of the candidates he sends for his clients to interview - “Most of our clients, if we send them more than three people for one position, they would start asking what’s going on.” But he warns that estate agents should
make sure that they only hire recruiters who are willing to do the spadework. “A lot of the smaller agencies don’t interview candidates,” he says. He also stresses that agencies provide a
PROPERTYdrum OCTOBER 2011 23
KEY ATTRACTION FACTORS WHEN RECRUITING STAFF
IN THE PROPERTY INDUSTRY July 2011
020 7291 0900
www.deverellsmith.com
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