Title agencies face unique challenges in developing a strong corporate culture. While title companies still rely heavily on their traditional need for institutional knowledge, they have also entered an era where many aspects of title work require the technical skills of a younger generation.
This dichotomy of skills over the past few decades has left title managers in two different cultural camps, struggling to properly staff employees with vastly different expectations and managing different aspects of the business. doing.
With trading levels at their lowest since 2010 and staffing levels depressed, it may not seem like the right time to think about company culture. However, as interest rates fall, the market will gradually return over the next year, and pent-up demand will likely see business owners take to the streets again in search of qualified candidates to fill open positions.
And let's identify the elephant in the room. Experienced title experts are hard to find. Moreover, the most knowledgeable among them are nearing retirement age.of American Land Title Association predicts that 20% of titled employees will retire within the next 10 years, potentially creating a systemic knowledge gap within the industry.
Recruiting, training and retaining a strong, cohesive staff will be critical for the next real estate surge. Now is the time to think about what kind of culture you want to establish to attract the talent you need to grow your agency again.
Culture as a unified truth
Building a culture that integrates the different approaches of multiple generations starts with strong communication between companies and departments.
Companies create their culture from their core values, vision, and mission. The best way to do that is to mine the wisdom and insight of everyone on your staff to get to the truth of why you're in business in the first place.
The first step to building a strong culture is creating buy-in. Buy-in only happens when employees are involved in the process. There's no point in communicating instructions about what a culture should be if employees aren't interested in how a particular culture helps realize the company's mission and vision.
Communication processes become even more important in companies that rely heavily on multiple generations to manage very distinctive parts of the process in establishing a particular culture.
At the end of the day, a company's culture should be a unifying truth that inspires employees of all ages and skill levels to come to work every day, do their best, and do their most creative work toward a common goal. It is.
How culture intersects with recruitment, retention, and management
Sometimes when we talk about company culture, managers roll their eyes and think or say, “Blah, blah, blah!” But educating managers about how company culture can enhance recruitment, retention, and management success may make them sit up and take notice.
Let's take a look at how integrating company culture into these three fundamental aspects of your business can help you sustain your business today and grow it for the future.
Recruiting: Telling a great story
All title agents are in the business of providing title, escrow, and closing services. If that's all you have to tell a potential hire, and even more so if you just stare them in the eye and show them a spreadsheet of how you want your company to grow, you'll quickly lose interest. There is a possibility that it will be stored away.
Having a strong, established culture in place gives you the opportunity to communicate to new hires all the underlying reasons for your existence and the core values that drive your success.
Additionally, as a title company owner or manager, having an established culture will help you evaluate candidates based on who best fits your culture.
For example, if you're a title agency that values innovation and the person you're interviewing keeps talking about how their previous agency did things like this, show them the door. It won't fit with your innovative culture.
On the other hand, if a candidate rises to the challenge and starts sharing innovations in areas that inspire them, or changes they made in previous jobs to improve processes, then that's the candidate you're looking for. There may be.
Sustain: Take a holistic approach
Losing employees is costly. Recruiting and onboarding new employees has direct costs, all of which fall on HR departments, IT departments, and managers who must spend time training their replacements.
There are indirect costs associated with lost productivity. Depending on the type of position you are trying to fill, it may take him two to four months to hire your replacement and get familiar with their duties.
When you connect a machine, you can expect it to perform as the manufacturer intended, but when you connect a human, you expect it to pump out a certain amount of work every day without providing a supportive and holistic environment. You can not. It drives the success of its employees.
A retention culture couldn't be more important, as an intentional culture seeks to address the employee experience in a variety of ways.
When developing a company culture, a strong retention program should be considered and the following points should be considered:
Compensation and benefits
Compensation is not only about what you offer to those who join your company, but also bonuses for exemplary service, adjustments to improve your skill level through continuing education, and, of course, the absolutely necessary annual salary increase with appropriate salary increases. What is important is what kind of opportunities are given to obtain the next evaluation. If your company has a culture that values the efforts of its employees, this is a critical turning point.
Benefits often provide an opportunity to address employees from a holistic perspective. Benefits like healthcare, mental health resources, paid time off, 401K programs, family leave, and disability benefits are key and send a message that you care about the health of your employees and their families.
From a welfare perspective, in the post-corona era, where and how people work has become an extremely important topic. This is where you, as a business owner, may face your biggest generational challenge. Older workers, accustomed to working 9-to-5 in offices, will be at odds with younger generations who insist they can work from home.
This is a reality that requires being realistic about the demands of the job itself, yet negotiating in a way that respects work-life balance and family obligations. Some jobs can be easily completed from home, while others can be managed with a hybrid workplace/office approach. And clearly, some operations require staff to be on site full-time. The purpose of addressing this aspect of company culture is to work with your staff to reach a consensus on the best approach for your company.
professional development
Additional benefits such as college loans, college scholarships, paid professional training, and continuing education allowances demonstrate the importance of education to the entire company and our commitment to investing in our future.
Flextime and work-from-home options also emphasize a commitment to work-life balance and the value and respect for employees as adults who need the autonomy to make decisions based on their family circumstances.
Training and ongoing reviews
Even the most talented employees can struggle in a new position. With a thorough training program and mentors, you can ensure a successful start-up for your new hires.
However, this is not a one-and-done effort.
Effective training and mentoring programs require ongoing commitment. This means it needs to be an ongoing effort throughout the employee's tenure. American Land Title Association best practices require annual training on certain aspects of the business, so combining required training with departmental and employee-specific specialized training can help ensure this important aspect of sustainment. It's an effective way to avoid being ignored.
management style
There is no more sensitive aspect of culture in business than management style. One manager's style may be perfectly compatible with the company's culture. That is, one manager may be a laissez-faire manager at a company that values creativity and innovation, while another manager may be autocratic, a style that tends to stifle creative ideas.
The old adage is that employees don't leave companies, they leave managers. in one gallup According to a poll, 50% of people interviewed said they quit their job at some point in their career to escape a bad manager.
When building a company's culture, it's important to think about management style, who you hire to manage your department, and what your department most needs to succeed.
For example, both democratic and participative leadership styles seek input from employees, but the former prefers to leave decision-making to employees, while the latter wants to make the final decision. Due to the rapid and complex nature of title agency work, both styles may be necessary depending on the nature of each department's work.
If you have a young staff member training in the title insurance business, you may prefer a coach leader who can mentor and inspire newcomers. Pacesetter managers may be best suited to organize their teams to get more work done during busy periods. For sales teams, a transactional leadership style can get the job done.
Empowerment is also important. Employees who feel trusted and given both the authority and tools necessary to solve problems are more likely to feel motivated and satisfied. Everyone needs to feel like they have a role to play. The best culture guarantees that.
In addition to management style, it is important for managers to invest in company culture and champion the principles of that culture among employees.
last note
Employees want to feel safe, respected and trusted in their work. Building and nurturing a company culture that lives up to these expectations will go a long way in recruiting and retaining great employees as you prepare your agency for the next surge in the real estate market.
Scott Kriss, Esq. Kriss Law/Atlantic Closing & Escrow President and CEO.