Realtors® name recruiting and retention as must-dos for 2015

What’s on your to-do list for 2015?

If you’re like 86 percent Realtors® and brokers surveyed recently, its recruiting agents.

And once you recruit those agents, it’s crucial to retain them on your team, according to 54 percent of responders. Relatedly, half of responders said their goal for the next 12 months is to attract younger team members.

Similarly, when asked what their firm’s single biggest challenge is today, as an open-ended question, nearly a quarter of responders said recruiting and retaining agents and management. Coming in second with 15 percent was growth, with profitably challenging 13 percent.

Seven percent cite an aging workforce and attracting younger agents as their biggest challenge.

And a recent article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette agreed that an aging workforce is a potential issue for all fields, not just real estate. “By 2029, one-fifth of the U.S. population will be 65 or older, and many of those 76 million or so post-war baby boomers — perhaps up to 50 million of them — will be exiting the workforce over the same period.”

With many retirements in the next 15 years, Realtors® are right to focus on attracting new agents in the next few years.

For 2015, it’s clear that Realtors® have recruiting and retention on the brain, and are striving to attract younger agents and keep them.

What’s on your to-do list for 2015?