The New Year represents a fresh start, and many times that fresh start involves a new career opportunity. According to TopResume®, January and February are ideal for job hunting since most companies update their budgets at the beginning of the fiscal year.
The title industry; however, is traditionally dictated by seasonality, and many title businesses reduce their headcounts at the beginning of each year due to lower staffing needs during the slow months. According to Matt Johnston, CEO of Jobtracks, a national recruiting agency for the title & escrow industry, this can be the perfect time for businesses that are focused on long-term hiring strategies to ramp up their recruiting efforts.
We recently connected with Johnston to discuss recruiting trends, new employee expectations, and predictions for the year ahead. Johnston offered his take on how title & escrow businesses can succeed with effective recruiting and hiring strategies in 2021.
Technology as a competitive advantage
This year, many title companies transitioned to remote work. As a result, technology solutions dramatically increased in importance among candidates. Johnston noted that candidates now frequently ask questions such as: what technology do you have that will allow me to do this job successfully, remotely? Does your software provide clearly defined tasks?
Providing the latest technology reassure candidates that they will have the tools to do their jobs well. It also signals to recruits that there is a long-term investment in growth and solutions that will minimize repetition or job duplication that may expose them to layoffs.
Go beyond compensation
With existing home sales on the rise and the refinance boom setting records, demand for qualified title professionals is high, and recruitment competition is fierce. So how does your company stand out beyond a competitive salary?
For example, does your health plan go above and beyond for individuals and dependents? What wellness programs do you offer? What is your company culture like? Are your employees remote or partially remote, and, if so, how do you ensure employee health safety? Do you offer unique bonus plans? Above-average 401K matching? Aggressive vacation accrual? Consider mapping out how you will differentiate your business to have an elevator pitch ready with your unique benefits.
Be open-minded and prepared for anything
Great hires may not always fit the specific job description exactly. Knowing which members of your existing team could fill the role you are looking to hire for can provide flexibility. Begin by evaluating your existing employees—recognize their strengths and areas for growth to determine if someone on your existing team may be the best fit for the role. Then, consider backfilling the replacement role with a new hire.
Diverting the focus from just one role into several possible positions creates a win-win. You provide a path of growth to your existing employees while opening up opportunities for new talent.
Discover & attract the ideal candidate
Finding the right hire might feel overwhelming, especially in today’s economic environment where candidates could be coming into the title & escrow space from other distressed industries post-pandemic. There is a renewed opportunity to discover fresh talent outside the industry who possess problem-solving skills and attention to detail—innate skills that are needed to succeed in the title & escrow work.
Depending on the scope of the role and what you’re looking for in a potential hire, there are many tools out there to help narrow your focus on candidates that will be the best match. For example, Johnston noted that many clients he works with are looking for candidates that are proficient in Qualia. Johnston’s team is able to filter candidates by this criteria to help the business refine their hiring strategy.
As we step into the New Year that looks a bit different from years past, it is important to remember these key factors to recruit and retain top talent and continue to grow your business.
To learn more about the workplace of the future, join us for our 2nd Annual Future of Real Estate Summit on Thursday, March 11, 2021.
