If you’re an owner, team leader, or manager, you have a perception of how loyal your agents are to you and your organization.

But according to research published by MetLife, your agents probably have a different perception.

Eighty-seven percent of employers say they have a strong sense of loyalty to their employees, and they believe their employees feel the same.

But only 55% of employees believe their employers have their best interests in mind.

When asked similar questions to validate the data:

Eighty-six percent of employers say their employees have a strong sense of loyalty to them.

But only 39% of employees would recommend their employer as a place to work.

This data was collected across various organizations who listed attraction and retention of talent as their top challenge.

While they were not exclusively real estate companies, they were focused on similar issues.

There are two things to take away from the research:

1.  Assume it’s bad. Since real estate agents are independent contractors (not employees), these gaps in perception are probably worse than what these metrics illustrate.

2. Assume it’s getting worse. These gaps in perception have been steadily widening over the past five years.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking (like 80+% of those surveyed) that your agents are loyal to you.

Every organization has retention vulnerabilities, and the first step to solving the problem is admitting it exists.