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It’s no surprise that brokerages find recruitment challenging.
¼ of Australian SMEs find recruitment to be their biggest challenge. (And we’d hedge a bet that the other 75% still consider it a challenge, maybe just not their biggest).
As a specialist recruitment agency for the mortgage broking industry, we’re here to tell you that great talent isn’t hard to find – but attracting and retaining that talent can be a challenge.
We’ve developed a secret formula that helps our clients snap up the best brokers on the market, and keep them long-term.
So without further ado, let’s dive into it.
Step 1 – Work out what you need
This is about recruiting for the right kind of role. It will depend on what skills gaps you need filled, and what you can afford.
It can be difficult to take the leap and invest in recruitment, particularly when it’s your first hire. We help our clients ensure they’re ready to recruit by crunching the numbers and working out what type of role will add the most value to the business.
First, list down your upfront and ongoing costs of hiring someone, to work out what you can afford and what your ongoing expenses will be to have an employee.
Next, work out what will be most profitable for you – for example, you might hire a loan processor who frees up 15 hours of your week. What other revenue generating activities can you be doing in that time to cover the costs of hiring them?
Step 2 – Be clear on your value proposition
This is a competitive environment. Every employer in the mortgage broking space is vying for the best talent on the market – and it’s not just brokerages but banks, lenders, fintechs and more!
So why would someone choose to work for you?
Have you ever stopped to consider that?
Ask yourself these questions:
- What do you have to offer?
- Why is your business special?
- Why is this vacancy special?
- How are you going to stand out and get noticed?
Nutting out your unique value proposition as an employer will help you articulate to candidates why they should work with you over someone else.
Step 3 – Build a talent pool
Let’s be clear – finding great talent is not hard.
Allocating time to put together and execute on a talent strategy is hard. (That’s why so many brokerages outsource this to a recruitment agency!)
If you’re doing this yourself, you’ll firstly need to develop a strategy, then allocate time to execute on it. List out your resources such as:
- Personal networks
- Professional networks
- Local community
- Broker industry.
Really flesh this list out, as this is what you’ll use to make connections and build your talent pool.
Now, start planting seeds. For example, you might set yourself a goal to catch up with one potential broker every month. This will help you build a talent pool of good brokers for down the road when you're ready to hire.
Step 4 – Attract the right candidates
So you’ve got a good talent pool now. Well done. Next, you need to attract the right candidates to fill the role you’re recruiting for.
This comes down to knowing what’s important to your candidates.
LinkedIn research reveals that 45% of people change jobs in order to attain higher remuneration. However, many candidates are also looking to gain a better skills and interest fit (37%), as well as more growth opportunities (37%) from a new role.
It’s not always just about more money, so it’s essential to go into discussions with candidates knowing what’s important to them.
56% of people report staying put in their job because they have opportunities to be challenged or improve their skills. Try to understand not only what will initially attract good talent, but what’s important to them long-term, and build this into your retention strategy.
Attracting the right people also comes down to our second point around being clear on your value proposition. If you know what makes the role and your business stand out, you can communicate this to the right people.
Step 5 – Establish great processes
So many brokerages struggle with having a good recruitment and retention strategy (so if that’s you, you’re definitely not alone!).
The Three P’s Framework can help you develop and manage your processes.
Your Pipeline
Your People
Your Performance Management
Even as a business dedicated to quality recruitment, Platinum People Group has experienced hiring someone and having it not work out. It’s embarrassing to admit, however we admit this to highlight that even with the best processes in place, recruitment doesn’t always go perfectly. People can change their minds and there’s always risk involved in hiring.
Despite this, as business owners it’s our role to ensure we do everything within our control to reduce the risk and improve the likelihood of a successful outcome. By following the above formula you’ll be in an excellent position to hire your BEST mortgage broker yet.
If you’d like a free business consultation to advise you on your recruitment strategy and approach, please give us a call on 03 9913 9642 or email
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