Latest / The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson / Culture Over Credentials: How to Hire for Long-Term Success with Tanya Lechner
Transcript
- 0:36Jennifer Johnson: As entrepreneurs, we often hear that our team is our most valuable asset, but how many of us truly understand the art and science of hiring the right people?
- 0:45Jennifer Johnson: In today's episode, we're tackling a challenge that can make or break your business Finding and hiring talent that not only fills a role but fits your unique needs as a company and your company culture.
- 0:59Jennifer Johnson: I've been on both sides of the hiring table, from building my own team at True Fashionistas to advising countless entrepreneurs on their hiring strategies.
- 1:08Jennifer Johnson: I've seen firsthand how the right hire can propel a business forward and how the wrong one can set you back months or even years.
- 1:16Jennifer Johnson: Today, we welcome into the studio Tanya Lechner.
- 1:20Jennifer Johnson: Tanya is a visionary founder behind Sunshine Real Estate Team in Texas, and she's passionate about empowering others in the realm of real estate.
- 1:30Jennifer Johnson: With a dedication to unharnessing the full potential of real estate professionals, tanya has become a beacon of inspiration within the industry.
- 1:40Jennifer Johnson: Welcome.
- 1:41Tanya Lechner: Thank you.
- 1:42Tanya Lechner: Thank you so much for having me, Jennifer.
- 1:44Tanya Lechner: I'm so excited to be here.
- 1:45Jennifer Johnson: I am excited to have you and I'm excited to tackle this subject, because I know that it is a pain point for a lot of business owners, especially now.
- 1:56Tanya Lechner: Yes, couldn't say it better myself, so it's up to you.
- 1:59Tanya Lechner: Yes, couldn't say it better myself.
- 2:09Jennifer Johnson: We all struggle with finding the right people to build our teams.
- 2:11Jennifer Johnson: And what do you see with all the entrepreneurs that you talk to, whether they're real estate agents or all many different walks of life in different businesses?
- 2:16Jennifer Johnson: What do you see is one big mistake, if you will, or big challenge that small business owners make when they hire?
- 2:27Tanya Lechner: So something that I've even struggled with myself, especially in the real estate industry, is hiring just to hire, because people are agents especially are just looking for a place to hang their license.
- 2:42Tanya Lechner: A lot of times and they will interview with a ton of brokers and then we feel like sure, we can hire on this person.
- 2:52Tanya Lechner: They seem like they might do some work or something like that, but we're not actually going into the deep strategies needed to hire the correct person.
- 3:01Tanya Lechner: It's just happens to be the person who's in front of us right now, right.
- 3:05Jennifer Johnson: Right, it's a body and you're not hiring for the role.
- 3:10Tanya Lechner: Correct.
- 3:10Tanya Lechner: That is definitely a big mistake that I've seen even other team leaders make, and every like people that aren't necessarily even in the industry.
- 3:19Tanya Lechner: They're just hiring because they need a body.
- 3:22Tanya Lechner: So that's a great way to put it.
- 3:25Jennifer Johnson: We've all been there because you know you need somebody on your team.
- 3:29Jennifer Johnson: Oh okay, that works without going any further.
- 3:34Tanya Lechner: Yep, exactly Go ahead.
- 3:39Tanya Lechner: That actually it actually happened to me when I first started my career or my team.
- 3:47Tanya Lechner: I had hired an agent who was not a good fit, you know, overall, and so she kind of brought the team down and it just wasn't really.
- 3:56Tanya Lechner: There wasn't very much collaboration, she wasn't taking direction, and so luckily she ended up not being on the team very long.
- 4:04Tanya Lechner: But it was just a really big learning experience for me personally in that case.
- 4:09Jennifer Johnson: And I think we underestimate too, when we hire someone, that doesn't work.
- 4:14Jennifer Johnson: That the law and we'll talk about this, I'm sure, but the longer we hang on to them, the longer they can affect the rest of the team.
- 4:24Tanya Lechner: Exactly yeah.
- 4:25Jennifer Johnson: Right Now.
- 4:27Jennifer Johnson: I know there's a lot of talk about cultural fit and making sure that we hire the right person who fits with our culture.
- 4:35Jennifer Johnson: What are your thoughts on that?
- 4:38Jennifer Johnson: What do you see as a cultural fit?
- 4:40Jennifer Johnson: What's your definition of that?
- 4:42Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, do you see as a cultural fit?
- 4:43Tanya Lechner: What's your definition of that?
- 4:43Tanya Lechner: Yeah, so that's a great question.
- 4:45Tanya Lechner: When it comes to the cultural fit, the immediate thing that comes to my mind is your vibe attracts your tribe.
- 4:52Tanya Lechner: People are always saying that these days, and everybody loves to see authenticity, and so I feel like that needs to reflect in your business as well, and so I feel like that needs to reflect in your business as well, and so I'm looking for somebody that's culturally on our same vibe and the Sunshine Real Estate team.
- 5:12Tanya Lechner: We pride ourselves on being positive and fun, and so if we find somebody that has a negative attitude or something like that it just does, it's not a good fit culturally, which ultimately brings down the team, kind of like what you were saying earlier.
- 5:29Jennifer Johnson: Right, I know a lot of times, like you know, you hire for the skill.
- 5:35Jennifer Johnson: Oh wow, they've been a realtor for, in your case, for 20 years, oh my gosh.
- 5:40Jennifer Johnson: But then we didn't hire for their attitude, we just hired for their experience.
- 5:47Tanya Lechner: Exactly.
- 5:47Tanya Lechner: Yeah, that is so true.
- 5:49Tanya Lechner: It does come down to that sometimes.
- 5:52Jennifer Johnson: Right and you can't, in my opinion, you can't teach, you can't train attitude that has to be part of you and a lot of times you can't change that.
- 6:05Tanya Lechner: Nope, I've tried.
- 6:07Tanya Lechner: It doesn't work.
- 6:08Jennifer Johnson: Right, you can't change people.
- 6:09Jennifer Johnson: Now, on the flip side of hiring somebody who you can't change, have you had a time when you hired someone who was the exact right fit and if so, what did they do for your business?
- 6:25Tanya Lechner: Yeah, I actually just recently hired an agent who is exactly what we needed for the team.
- 6:32Tanya Lechner: I didn't realize it at the time, but since we hired her on just about a month ago, she has brought the whole atmosphere up.
- 6:40Tanya Lechner: When we get in with our team meetings, she's very positive and she is a newer agent, so she doesn't have a ton of transactions under her belt, but every time that she does she's super grateful.
- 6:53Tanya Lechner: She loves helping other people, which is one of our core values, and so having all of those things put together makes it just makes the whole team feel like that much better by having her on the team.
- 7:10Jennifer Johnson: I want to touch on something you just said.
- 7:11Jennifer Johnson: You said core values and that that's like a word that I hear every everywhere.
- 7:17Jennifer Johnson: I mean it's a.
- 7:17Jennifer Johnson: It's something that I believe in firmly.
- 7:20Jennifer Johnson: I do a lot of everywhere.
- 7:21Jennifer Johnson: I mean it's something that I believe in firmly.
- 7:23Jennifer Johnson: I do a lot of courses for small business owners on core values.
- 7:29Jennifer Johnson: How did you come?
- 7:30Tanya Lechner: about finding your core values as a company.
- 7:31Tanya Lechner: So it took me a lot of time and it was a little bit daunting too, because I'm just trying to figure out what aligns most with me and how I want to build the team.
- 7:42Tanya Lechner: But ultimately it just it came down to what's going to make my agents successful and what's going to help my team grow.
- 7:51Tanya Lechner: At the end of the day, and have you noticed that?
- 7:56Jennifer Johnson: I mean, I'm assuming do you have your core values posted for your employees?
- 8:01Jennifer Johnson: How do you share that with them?
- 8:03Tanya Lechner: Yes, so I do.
- 8:04Tanya Lechner: I actually.
- 8:05Tanya Lechner: It was probably, maybe even just like six months ago that I put together a list of my core values and they're posted, and if I could remember them I would.
- 8:14Tanya Lechner: I would I tell them to, but I have them listed and I do also go over them with my agents before I hire them on, and so I send them the page.
- 8:25Tanya Lechner: I'm like does this align with you?
- 8:27Tanya Lechner: And that's something that helps them actually grow as an agent as well.
- 8:34Jennifer Johnson: That's great because your employees know what you expect, because they know what your values are, and it just makes the entire process for everybody much better.
- 8:46Tanya Lechner: Exactly Certainly.
- 8:51Jennifer Johnson: What are some effective strategies when you're interviewing?
- 8:57Jennifer Johnson: Okay, so let's say you're interviewing, you're interviewing for an agent position.
- 9:02Jennifer Johnson: What are some strategies for effectively identifying what, before you even do that interview, what you truly need as a company?
- 9:13Jennifer Johnson: How does that process look from?
- 9:14Jennifer Johnson: Oh, I need to hire.
- 9:16Jennifer Johnson: Let me figure out what I need to hire for, what I'm looking for in a person, and then actually doing the interview.
- 9:22Jennifer Johnson: How does that lineage play out?
- 9:27Tanya Lechner: So it really depends on what I'm hiring for, right.
- 9:33Tanya Lechner: So if it is somebody on the back end, then I'm going to be looking like a different type of person, right.
- 9:43Tanya Lechner: And then if it's somebody that's in front of people, then they need to have a different kind of personality, and so it starts there.
- 9:51Tanya Lechner: And then, once I determine what kind of person I need to hire, I'll align those type of questions with that part of the process.
- 10:01Tanya Lechner: That makes sense.
- 10:03Tanya Lechner: Yeah, and I don't know if that answered the full question.
- 10:07Tanya Lechner: I might've missed a piece of it, but Well, it does.
- 10:10Jennifer Johnson: But then you're in front of them and you're interviewing.
- 10:14Jennifer Johnson: Do you have a set of questions that you ask everybody, or is it you know?
- 10:18Jennifer Johnson: You just kind of go off the resume, it does vary.
- 10:23Tanya Lechner: So you know, in real estate it's an interesting industry where people don't necessarily have to come up with a resume, they just you know they're going to any broker because any broker will take them essentially.
- 13:02Tanya Lechner: And so I go, based off of kind of like this, with how the conversation is going and what I'm feeling, as far as, okay, this person might be a good fit, like I can move on with the questions.
- 13:17Tanya Lechner: Otherwise I can kind of feel like you know body language, if they're just not going to work out.
- 13:21Tanya Lechner: And one thing, like one question that I do ask that always gives me a really good idea, is like what is their motivation?
- 13:31Tanya Lechner: Because that helps me realize, like, are they really all in?
- 13:37Tanya Lechner: or are they just kind of half in?
- 13:40Jennifer Johnson: Right.
- 13:40Jennifer Johnson: It's hard to be one foot in and one foot out and be excited about a candidate when that's the case Exactly Now.
- 13:57Jennifer Johnson: I know on the news we keep hearing about how the landscape of hiring has changed and the workforce has changed, and I believe right now we have six different age groups in the workforce.
- 14:05Jennifer Johnson: Right now that's the most I feel like there's ever been.
- 14:08Jennifer Johnson: I don't know what the stats are on it or not, but how have you, in the time that you have had your business, how have you seen the employment landscape change?
- 14:21Tanya Lechner: I've actually noticed quite a big increase in expectations, and so people are wanting like the stars and the moon whenever they're getting a job.
- 14:36Tanya Lechner: And I mean, I just know from my personal experience.
- 14:38Tanya Lechner: When I was looking for a job back in 2009 after the 2008 crash, it was totally different.
- 14:46Tanya Lechner: We were just grateful to be working somewhere.
- 14:49Tanya Lechner: And now I feel like people are like I need to get paid this much, you know with inflation.
- 14:53Tanya Lechner: Of course, I can understand that, but they're also saying like I need to be able to work from home and things like that.
- 15:00Tanya Lechner: So I always find it super important to set expectations up front and tell them this is not an easy job.
- 15:08Tanya Lechner: You're going to be working nights and weekends, and if that's not going to work for you, then it's probably better that you've looked somewhere else.
- 15:20Jennifer Johnson: Right, exactly, we've seen the landscape change ourselves, and it's a lot of what you're saying.
- 15:26Jennifer Johnson: You get out of college and you're not going to get the stars and the moons.
- 15:30Jennifer Johnson: You have to earn those as well, right.
- 15:34Jennifer Johnson: And that's part of humanization.
- 15:37Tanya Lechner: It is, and I think it does have a lot to do with the generation.
- 15:41Tanya Lechner: I hate saying that, but I do feel like that is something that comes along with it.
- 15:46Jennifer Johnson: Right Now when you're interviewing aside from somebody saying I can't work nights or weekends, which you would immediately be like not a great fit but what are other red flags that you've seen come up in interviews with potential employees that made you go?
- 16:03Jennifer Johnson: Not the right fit?
- 16:08Tanya Lechner: It's probably.
- 16:09Tanya Lechner: I mean it also comes back to expectations.
- 16:11Tanya Lechner: So if they feel like they're going to be getting a bunch of leads or something along those lines and I mean you kind of mentioned it like you know, wanting to not work that hard, or on nights and weekends, like it comes also back to the motivation, right, and so how, how motivated are they?
- 16:34Tanya Lechner: And then I also want to know how determined are they to make a certain amount of money, because at the end of the day, people will work 24 hours a day to reach those goals if they're a good candidate.
- 16:49Jennifer Johnson: Right, exactly.
- 16:50Jennifer Johnson: And again, I'd love to tell them the expectations, or make sure that they understand the expectations up front, so that there is they know maybe the job isn't right for them.
- 17:04Tanya Lechner: Exactly, and you'll you know, you'll avoid having to fire quick like just by not hiring that person in the first place.
- 17:11Jennifer Johnson: Right right Now.
- 17:13Jennifer Johnson: How do you and this is a very because I face this in the in the retail industry and you're in real estate how do you find that fine balance between hiring for your current need and hiring for future growth, without overstepping either one or undercutting?
- 17:35Tanya Lechner: Yeah, that's a tough one because sometimes it's hard to prioritize, but that's kind of what you have to do is prioritize what is the most important at this point in time.
- 17:48Tanya Lechner: Like, for example, I needed an assistant and so that kind of put my future goals on the back burner so I could focus on finding that assistant, just so that I could breathe on the back burner, so I could focus on finding that assistant, just so that I could breathe.
- 18:04Tanya Lechner: And then, once I had the assistant, I was able to focus more on future goals and look for another team member on the.
- 18:11Tanya Lechner: I was actually looking for, like a video editor, and so that gave me a lot more room in order to look for something like that to help me grow the business further.
- 18:23Jennifer Johnson: Yeah, and it's always a fine line.
- 18:25Jennifer Johnson: You're juggling Right Trying to figure out do I grow this fast?
- 18:31Jennifer Johnson: Can I hire somebody and actually give them what they need to keep them on board?
- 18:37Jennifer Johnson: Or are they going to be bored because I can't keep them busy?
- 18:41Jennifer Johnson: There's a lot to look at bored or are they going to be bored because I?
- 18:45Tanya Lechner: can't keep the busy.
- 18:45Tanya Lechner: You know there's there's a lot to look at.
- 18:49Tanya Lechner: Yeah, a hundred percent You're.
- 18:50Tanya Lechner: You're so right, especially even when it comes to hiring agents.
- 18:51Tanya Lechner: Because when I first started my team, I did the same thing.
- 18:54Tanya Lechner: I hired three agents right away and I was like, wow, I have a big team of agents and it was too many at the beginning.
- 19:01Tanya Lechner: I should have started with one and then really honed in on the backend operations so that we can continue to grow.
- 19:08Jennifer Johnson: But instead I just hired more and we were like running around like chickens with their head cut off until I had, like a backend Right, but then you know you've learned from it, and operations, but then you know you've learned from it and and there's no, no, and I don't call them failures, I call them hiccups that go on, I don't know, unused, I'm not sure that that's the right word, but but it's an opportunity for you to be able to learn from it and make something better, make your process better.
- 19:39Tanya Lechner: Yep, you got that right.
- 19:41Tanya Lechner: I've definitely learned from a lot of hiccups along the way, I like that word.
- 19:47Jennifer Johnson: I think I mean, that's how we learn right.
- 19:50Jennifer Johnson: It's not what we learn in a textbook per se, or maybe learn from someone else.
- 19:55Jennifer Johnson: It's making those hiccups and that's where we see the room for improvement and we can go from there and make those changes.
- 20:03Jennifer Johnson: The problem comes in is when we don't listen and we don't pay attention to those hiccups and we continue doing the same thing over and over again.
- 20:12Jennifer Johnson: We're going to keep getting the same result over and over again and wonder why am I not growing?
- 20:17Jennifer Johnson: Why is this going where I want it to go Right?
- 20:21Tanya Lechner: Absolutely yeah.
- 20:22Tanya Lechner: If you're not learning from your mistakes, then you're probably not growing, and there's a reason for that.
- 20:29Jennifer Johnson: Exactly, exactly so.
- 20:31Jennifer Johnson: Do you have any, and could you share any innovative interviewing techniques or something that you do a little bit differently in the hiring process with your employees?
- 20:47Tanya Lechner: Yeah.
- 20:47Tanya Lechner: So it comes down to the questions, I guess.
- 20:52Tanya Lechner: And so one of the I think I might've mentioned this before, but one of the questions that I throw in there is what do they want to make later?
- 21:04Tanya Lechner: Like, what's their ultimate goal a year from now, maybe five years from now?
- 21:09Tanya Lechner: Like, how much money do they want to make?
- 21:11Tanya Lechner: And do they have a specific idea of how they're going to make that much money?
- 21:16Tanya Lechner: Because, you know, real estate is a little bit different, like there's not a ceiling, and so people can potentially make a lot of money, and so just that question right off the bat helps me understand how serious they are.
- 21:33Tanya Lechner: And then I also like to focus on, you know, outside of your career, like what is their life look like at home?
- 21:42Tanya Lechner: Like, do they, what do they like to do for fun?
- 21:46Tanya Lechner: Right, I like to get to know them on a personal level, because I feel like that not only makes me have a better idea if they're a good like cultural fit, but just if they're like what their why is right, cause that's what everybody wants to know, like what's your why?
- 22:02Jennifer Johnson: Exactly, it's what makes you tick.
- 22:04Jennifer Johnson: It's what makes you want to get up in the morning.
- 22:08Tanya Lechner: Exactly, and so that those two things help me determine it a lot on the personal side.
- 22:18Jennifer Johnson: Is there anything else you would love to share with another entrepreneur to say you know what this really helped me move my business, and not necessarily just about hiring?
- 22:28Jennifer Johnson: Is there something that you've done or something that you've realized that really opened up those doors for you and made you the light bulb go off and it really changed you as a person or you for your business?
- 22:44Tanya Lechner: yeah, I'm glad you said actually, something that I've been focusing on this year alone is doing things that make me uncomfortable, like that.
- 22:55Tanya Lechner: I'm not like doesn't keep me in my comfort zone, because I've noticed that it's just really helped me grow, not just as a entrepreneur but as a person in general, Like I've.
- 23:10Tanya Lechner: I've went from, you know, being afraid to talk in in front of people to doing things like this, and you know I would have no idea, yeah, and that was just, you know, six months ago.
- 23:25Tanya Lechner: So now I'm doing things like this with you and other.
- 23:29Tanya Lechner: This is my third podcast and, yeah, and I love doing it.
- 23:34Tanya Lechner: I mean it.
- 23:34Tanya Lechner: It definitely makes me uncomfortable, but it helps me grow as a person and I would recommend to anybody just step out and do it, and also in social media.
- 23:46Tanya Lechner: There's so many different aspects that I've grown so much just this year alone.
- 23:52Jennifer Johnson: Growth comes out of being uncomfortable right.
- 23:57Tanya Lechner: Yes, yeah, and it's hard.
- 23:59Tanya Lechner: I mean, if it was easy, everybody would do it.
- 24:02Jennifer Johnson: You're right, Absolutely Well.
- 24:04Jennifer Johnson: Thank you so much for your time with us today, Tanya.
- 24:07Tanya Lechner: Thank you, Jennifer.
- 24:08Tanya Lechner: I had such a great time and I hope that we were able to provide some other entrepreneurs good value.
- 24:13Jennifer Johnson: Absolutely.
- 24:14Jennifer Johnson: If our listeners would like to get in touch with you, how can they do so?
- 24:17Tanya Lechner: You can find me on Instagram at Tanya sells sunshine, and all the other social media platforms too.
- 24:24Jennifer Johnson: I love it.
- 24:24Jennifer Johnson: Tanya sells sunshine.
- 24:26Jennifer Johnson: That's great I love it.
- 24:28Tanya Lechner: Well, it was such a pleasure.
- 24:30Tanya Lechner: I really enjoyed our time together.
- 24:33Jennifer Johnson: I did as well.
- 24:33Jennifer Johnson: Thank you so much.
- 24:34Tanya Lechner: Thank you.