Working hard to hire talented agents while watching others walk out the back door will suck the motivation out of anyone who plays the recruiting game.
In the long run, recruiting and retention cannot be separated–every successful hiring manager is also good at retaining the agents they want on their team.
If you’re struggling with retention, here are two relational principles researchers have discovered that will help you diagnose the underlying causes for the departures:
1. The goal is to have happy and engaged agents. Researchers have demonstrated that happy and engaged workers are more profitable, more creative, and enjoy what they do. And they tend to stay in the place where they’re experiencing these things.
2. Meaning, purpose, and relationships create engagement. Researchers have discovered that workers who have a meaningful vision of the future, a sense of purpose (why their work is contributing to the vision), and great relationships are the happiest and most engaged.
You can convert these concepts into a simple checklist to use during business planning or coaching sessions with the agents on your team.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate an agent in these four categories?
- Engaged: Does this agent seem engaged and happy in the work they’re doing?
- Meaning: Does this agent possess a meaningful vision of the future for themselves and the team?
- Purpose: Does this agent see how their work contributes to the meaningful vision they’ve identified?
- Relationships: Does this agent have great relationships with others on the team?
When an agent defects to a competitor, they won’t tell you this is why they’re leaving.
But it will be affecting their decision more than they realize.
