6 Most Important Metrics and Data That Real Estate Recruiters Should Track
Being a real estate recruiter means always being on top of multiple tasks. From capturing leads to reaching new markets, from finding top talents to retaining tenured agents, the life of an on-task recruiter can be quite a busy one indeed. If you find yourself needing a bit of help in managing your tasks, this website is a great source of tips and tools.
That said, another important part of being a real estate recruiter would be data. More specifically, there are crucial metrics that can help guide you in terms of refining your strategies and ultimately improve your results.
Here are a few of the key metrics and data that you need to pay attention to as a real estate recruiter:
The Status of the Labor Market
The real estate labor market is always changing because the demand is also changing. One year, there could be eager sellers but no buyers; the next, there could be the opposite. There may also be times that the demand for real estate remains unmoving. All of these can affect your brokerage’s own need for real estate agents, as well as the number of real estate agents looking for jobs or career shifts.
Simply put, you need to be aware of what’s happening to the real estate industry and the economy in general. This can help you devise programs that are responsive both to the workforce requirements of your brokerage and the needs of job applicants.
Time to Hire
You can determine your time to hire simply by counting the days from when a candidate submits an application until the time you hire them. The goal is to keep this as short as possible; if it’s taking a long time to hire someone for a job, you may need to make some adjustments to your strategies.
Do note, however, that the time to hire can be different for different recruitment platforms. Some may produce faster results, while some may be a little slower. This can be affected by factors such as supply and demand, as well as the effectiveness of your recruiters in identifying the best person for the job. Evaluate accordingly and make the necessary changes to improve your numbers.
Time to Fill
Some recruiters think of time to hire and time to fill as the same metric, but they’re actually separate. While time to hire only takes into account the actual recruitment process, time to fill counts the number of days it takes for a candidate to accept a job offer since the open position was advertised. This means that time to fill is more indicative of the quality and speed of the whole recruitment strategy, instead of just a certain phase of it.
Remember that some jobs may take longer to fill (e.g., more senior or executive positions) than others. Take this detail into account to manage expectations and plan for possible adjustment periods while the position is still empty.
Application Rate Per Opening
The application rate per opening can help you identify which kinds of jobs are more sought-after per platform. For example, you may notice that you receive more applications for executive jobs on LinkedIn and more interest in entry-level positions on Facebook. With such data available, you can then adjust your advertising spending and make the most of your budget. This metric can also help you optimize your postings so you can receive the best applicants for the job.
However, the number of applicants will vary from time to time. This is dependent upon many factors, including the aforementioned status of the labor market.
Offer Acceptance Rate
The offer acceptance rate or OAR is simply the percentage of candidates who have accepted offers from your brokerage. A high figure means that your recruitment strategies are effective, especially when it comes to making offers that meet or exceed candidate needs and expectations. A high acceptance rate can also mean that your brokerage’s company culture is an appealing one.
Meanwhile, a low acceptance rate means that you may need to take action in terms of communication, processes, and candidate experience.
Turnover Rate
A good recruiter knows that retention is a part of the recruitment process. As such, you need to pay attention to the turnover rate. If agents are leaving after only a short period after hiring, then there might be something wrong. Consider factors such as the work environment, job satisfaction, and integration, among others. You should also evaluate your existing retention efforts.
Once you identify the issue/s, make the necessary changes to address them. Then, keep on tracking the turnover rate. There should be some improvement after a couple of cycles; if not, conduct another evaluation and fine-tune your processes and programs again.
On the other hand, a low turnover rate means your retention programs are working for the most part. Still, this doesn’t mean you should get complacent. Always review your policies and take note of the things that employees like so that you can keep on improving and building on them.
There are other metrics that you should track as a real estate recruiter, such as the source of hire and quality of hire. They aren’t less important per se, but those mentioned on this list are quite significant when it comes to the success of your strategies.