Being an enthusiastic and an authentic ‘people person’ is fundamental for success in the property sector. Boundless energy, together with drive, a winning personality and a good business mind, are certainly winning attributes.

However, these qualities have changed over the past years due to advanced technology in all industries. The way agents are able to adapt to the latest technologies, such as digital communication and marketing, has certainly been a game changer.

How will the landscape change for recruitment in the industry in the coming years? To date, all agencies recruit anyone who they believe has the right attributes to make a winning sales agent. The draft legislation – the Real Estate Agents and Property Brokers Act – has highlighted the need for specialised training for agents. What is ambiguous is what and when training will need to be given. This makes a tremendous difference as it will influence the supply of people eligible to be engaged in the industry, which already is a major challenge for all players in the industry.

Are there any specific recruitment challenges that are unique to real estate? Yes, definitely. The whole industry business model is unique. We offer opportunities for people who want to be self-employed. So having strong entrepreneurial characteristics is a pre-requisite for the industry. Self-employment is, of course, not for everyone. Our aim is to make them feel that they can trust us and that we will support them, morally, emotionally and even financially, should the need arise.

How long do agents usually remain with the company? Our average length of service measures five years. This might sound low considering the company has been around for so long but really it’s due to the fact that we are growing fast and recruiting so many new agents.

Word of mouth is one of our best recruitment tools

Around 13 per cent of our negotiators have been with the company for over 10 years, and seven per cent have been with us for longer than 20. We are seeing our retention figures improve annually as a result of all the efforts we have put in to create a great place to work.

Dhalia is transforming itself to embrace the changing workplace culture. We have regular strategy meetings for management to identify areas for proactive change, to keep ahead of technological and human resources development, organisational culture and employee wellness.

Team-building events and social activities such as summer parties, as well as our Dhalia Cares initiatives, through which we reach out to others less fortunate, are high on our agenda. We have created a modern working culture based on professionalism, high-performance expectations, flexibility, trust and respect – one in which we want to have fun and where people feel valued.

How does one attract new talent? Word of mouth is one of our best recruitment tools. Our people are our brand ambassadors. We also revert to social media and print media and also recently organised a public talk through which we offered people who attended the opportunity to join Dhalia. Dhalia is an equal opportunity employer – we do not discriminate over nationality, race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or any other issue that might be interpreted as being discriminatory. The only challenge is that there is so much tacit knowledge about Maltese culture that foreigners cannot possess unless they have lived in Malta for a couple of years.

That said, we are very keen to employ people if we see they have a track record and good contacts in their respective countries. We have already recruited a number of Chinese and Russian people to work with us to create a strong alliance with their country nationals.

Our recent recruitment event was an excellent first event for our HR department. We launched new video clips which show the real lives of our agents integrating their personal and working lives. We had a very good response from the attendees and many enquiries to work with the company since the event.

We offer a business opportunity for people to be associated with one of the most established and respected players in the industry. We offer a pleasant working environment, an excellent induction and continuous development training. We offer anyone a future based on trust, integrity and respect – an environment in which one feels that they can contribute to the ideas and future of the company.

No one is a number.

David Dingli leads Dhalia’s human resources team.