Estate Agent Burn Out - one way to avoid it

Telephone and chat support service Moneypenny has outlined a strategy to help agents avoid burn out.

The service argues that working throughout most of the pandemic, and at times with extremely high trading volumes thanks to the stamp duty holiday, has taken its toll on agents. 

It also says recent research by industry charity Agents Together and separate work done by the Health and Safety Executive suggest pressure on many agents is greater than in the past.

Joanne Tattum, Head of the Estate Agents Sector at Moneypenny, says: “Businesses need to actively help their agents ringfence time for the quiet head down working that is so important to productivity as well as employees’ feeling of accomplishment and control.”

Her company offers these tips: 

- Formalise meeting etiquette: With the rise of video calls, it can be tempting to just book them in without the level of scheduling that would have gone into a physical meeting – particularly when travel is not required. Video meetings afford flexibility but try to avoid unplanned meetings, or those that don’t stick to time and leave ample time between each one for a mental break. When meetings do occur, always use an agenda to stay on topic and issue companywide ‘meeting etiquette’ to help engender positive change and an empowered approach to time management.

- Outsource communications: Moneypenny claims: “If staff know there’s the right infrastructure in place to support them, it can reduce worry.”

- Choose technology that aligns: Streamline the number of video and project management platforms in use across the company so that employees come to ‘know them’ and don’t lose time loading different systems or finding multiple log-ins in-between meetings and tasks. There’s real value in keeping it simple and choosing technology that has wider value. 

- Diary management: Diaries aren’t just for meetings. Encourage employees to use their diaries to block manage their time, include tasks and add detail about whether they’re available or need quiet time.