How to Attract & Retain Top Talent Without Spending More $$$

With employee retention at the top of many multifamily employers’ minds right now — both on the supplier partner side and owner/operator side — we gathered together RPM Living’s Missy Riley, Senior Director of Recruiting, and Liz Frugé, Recruiting Manager, and Knock’s Director of Talent, Beth Marceau, to tackle this timely topic.

During our recent Knock Talk Live, they chatted about the most common hiring challenges they face as well as budget-friendly strategies for how to overcome them.

Watch the recording or read our recap below.

What challenges are you seeing in terms of hiring new talent?

In the wake of the Great Resignation, RPM Living has begun to see another trend, the Great Remorse. This entails people who left their original positions now struggling to find a good match.

For RPM, keeping culture top of mind throughout the hiring journey is crucial to addressing this shift. “No matter the climate, your culture is a deal breaker when trying to attract talent,” said Riley. That’s why RPM emphasizes their focus on work/life balance. “Our culture has changed over the last two years,” Fruge said. “We’ve become more flexible, and we work to make our associates feel valued and that this is somewhere they should be.”

What are some strategies to attract and retain new talent?

Riley and Fruge mentioned a number of tactics multifamily companies can use to find quality hires, including:

• Getting referrals from industry vendors is a great way to find new talent.
• Showcase company events and culture on social media, and really work to build your brand awareness there.
• Feature a sneak-peek video of what day-to-day work is like as a leasing agent in job postings.
• Make your job postings as interactive as possible in order to stand out. After a big overhaul of their descriptions two years ago, RPM Living moved from full job descriptions to short and sweet (“Think of it as a marketing tactic to keep them interested,” said Riley); improved verbiage at the beginning to make sure it’s catchy; and added testimonial videos of someone in that role saying how long they’ve been there and why they like RPM.

RPM Living also goes above and beyond with “You impressed me” cards that associates can hand out, explained Riley. “These help build a relationship even if people aren’t actively looking for a new position.”

In terms of retaining those new hires, take every opportunity to show team members that they’re valued. At RPM Living, that includes plenty of onsite appreciation events and team offsites to happy hours and activities like TopGolf. And to bring everything full circle, encourage team members to post photos of these activities on LinkedIn to attract future candidates.

Additionally, remind employees that this is a true career, said Riley. “Show that this is a place you can grow,” Fruge added. Along those lines, facilitate “open, quarterly conversations with leadership to talk through what your company can do better.”

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