The Confident Entrepreneur With Jennifer Ann Johnson

Culture Over Credentials: How to Hire for Long-Term Success with Tanya Lechner

• Jennifer Ann Johnson • Season 3 • Episode 14

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Hiring the right people can make or break your business—but too often, entrepreneurs settle for availability over alignment. In this episode, Tanya Lechner, founder of Sunshine Real Estate Team, shares powerful insights on building a team that thrives. She opens up about past hiring hiccups, the importance of cultural fit, and why attitude should outweigh experience. From evolving candidate expectations to smart interview techniques, you’ll learn how to stop “hiring just to hire” and start building a team that fuels long-term success.

Visit us at jenniferannjohnson.com and learn how Jennifer can help you build the life you dream of with her online academy, blog, one-on-one coaching, and a variety of other resources!

Jennifer 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? 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. 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. 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. Today, we welcome into the studio Tanya Lechner. 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. With a dedication to unharnessing the full potential of real estate professionals, tanya has become a beacon of inspiration within the industry. Welcome.

Tanya Lechner:

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Jennifer. I'm so excited to be here.

Jennifer 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.

Tanya Lechner:

Yes, couldn't say it better myself, so it's up to you. Yes, couldn't say it better myself.

Jennifer Johnson:

We all struggle with finding the right people to build our teams. 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? What do you see is one big mistake, if you will, or big challenge that small business owners make when they hire?

Tanya 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. 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. 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. It's just happens to be the person who's in front of us right now, right.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right, it's a body and you're not hiring for the role.

Tanya Lechner:

Correct. 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. They're just hiring because they need a body. So that's a great way to put it.

Jennifer Johnson:

We've all been there because you know you need somebody on your team. Oh okay, that works without going any further.

Tanya Lechner:

Yep, exactly Go ahead. That actually it actually happened to me when I first started my career or my team. 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. There wasn't very much collaboration, she wasn't taking direction, and so luckily she ended up not being on the team very long. But it was just a really big learning experience for me personally in that case.

Jennifer Johnson:

And I think we underestimate too, when we hire someone, that doesn't work. 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.

Tanya Lechner:

Exactly yeah.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right Now. 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. What are your thoughts on that? What do you see as a cultural fit? What's your definition of that? Yeah, do you see as a cultural fit?

Tanya Lechner:

What's your definition of that? Yeah, so that's a great question. When it comes to the cultural fit, the immediate thing that comes to my mind is your vibe attracts your tribe. 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. 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.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right, I know a lot of times, like you know, you hire for the skill. Oh wow, they've been a realtor for, in your case, for 20 years, oh my gosh. But then we didn't hire for their attitude, we just hired for their experience.

Tanya Lechner:

Exactly. Yeah, that is so true. It does come down to that sometimes.

Jennifer 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.

Tanya Lechner:

Nope, I've tried. It doesn't work.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right, you can't change people. 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?

Tanya Lechner:

Yeah, I actually just recently hired an agent who is exactly what we needed for the team. 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. 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. 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.

Jennifer Johnson:

I want to touch on something you just said. You said core values and that that's like a word that I hear every everywhere. I mean it's a. It's something that I believe in firmly. I do a lot of everywhere. I mean it's something that I believe in firmly. I do a lot of courses for small business owners on core values. How did you come?

Tanya Lechner:

about finding your core values as a company. 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. 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. At the end of the day, and have you noticed that?

Jennifer Johnson:

I mean, I'm assuming do you have your core values posted for your employees? How do you share that with them?

Tanya Lechner:

Yes, so I do. I actually. 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. 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. I'm like does this align with you? And that's something that helps them actually grow as an agent as well.

Jennifer 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.

Tanya Lechner:

Exactly Certainly.

Jennifer Johnson:

What are some effective strategies when you're interviewing? Okay, so let's say you're interviewing, you're interviewing for an agent position. What are some strategies for effectively identifying what, before you even do that interview, what you truly need as a company? How does that process look from? Oh, I need to hire. Let me figure out what I need to hire for, what I'm looking for in a person, and then actually doing the interview. How does that lineage play out?

Tanya Lechner:

So it really depends on what I'm hiring for, right. So if it is somebody on the back end, then I'm going to be looking like a different type of person, right. 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. 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. That makes sense. Yeah, and I don't know if that answered the full question. I might've missed a piece of it, but Well, it does.

Jennifer Johnson:

But then you're in front of them and you're interviewing. Do you have a set of questions that you ask everybody, or is it you know? You just kind of go off the resume, it does vary.

Tanya 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. 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. Otherwise I can kind of feel like you know body language, if they're just not going to work out. And one thing, like one question that I do ask that always gives me a really good idea, is like what is their motivation? Because that helps me realize, like, are they really all in?

Tanya Lechner:

or are they just kind of half in?

Jennifer Johnson:

Right. 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. 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. Right now that's the most I feel like there's ever been. 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?

Tanya 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. And I mean, I just know from my personal experience. When I was looking for a job back in 2009 after the 2008 crash, it was totally different. We were just grateful to be working somewhere. And now I feel like people are like I need to get paid this much, you know with inflation. 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. So I always find it super important to set expectations up front and tell them this is not an easy job. 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.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right, exactly, we've seen the landscape change ourselves, and it's a lot of what you're saying. You get out of college and you're not going to get the stars and the moons. You have to earn those as well, right. And that's part of humanization.

Tanya Lechner:

It is, and I think it does have a lot to do with the generation. I hate saying that, but I do feel like that is something that comes along with it.

Jennifer 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? Not the right fit?

Tanya Lechner:

It's probably. I mean it also comes back to expectations. 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? 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.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right, exactly. 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.

Tanya 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.

Jennifer Johnson:

Right right Now. 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?

Tanya 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. 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. And then, once I had the assistant, I was able to focus more on future goals and look for another team member on the. 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.

Jennifer Johnson:

Yeah, and it's always a fine line. You're juggling Right Trying to figure out do I grow this fast? Can I hire somebody and actually give them what they need to keep them on board? Or are they going to be bored because I can't keep them busy? There's a lot to look at bored or are they going to be bored because I?

Tanya Lechner:

can't keep the busy. You know there's there's a lot to look at. Yeah, a hundred percent You're. You're so right, especially even when it comes to hiring agents. Because when I first started my team, I did the same thing. 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. I should have started with one and then really honed in on the backend operations so that we can continue to grow.

Jennifer 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.

Tanya Lechner:

Yep, you got that right. I've definitely learned from a lot of hiccups along the way, I like that word.

Jennifer Johnson:

I think I mean, that's how we learn right. It's not what we learn in a textbook per se, or maybe learn from someone else. 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. 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. We're going to keep getting the same result over and over again and wonder why am I not growing? Why is this going where I want it to go Right?

Tanya Lechner:

Absolutely yeah. If you're not learning from your mistakes, then you're probably not growing, and there's a reason for that.

Jennifer Johnson:

Exactly, exactly so. 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?

Tanya Lechner:

Yeah. So it comes down to the questions, I guess. 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? Like, what's their ultimate goal a year from now, maybe five years from now? Like, how much money do they want to make? And do they have a specific idea of how they're going to make that much money?

Tanya 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. And then I also like to focus on, you know, outside of your career, like what is their life look like at home? Like, do they, what do they like to do for fun? 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?

Jennifer Johnson:

Exactly, it's what makes you tick. It's what makes you want to get up in the morning.

Tanya Lechner:

Exactly, and so that those two things help me determine it a lot on the personal side.

Jennifer 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? 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?

Tanya 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. 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. 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. So now I'm doing things like this with you and other. This is my third podcast and, yeah, and I love doing it. I mean it. 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. There's so many different aspects that I've grown so much just this year alone.

Jennifer Johnson:

Growth comes out of being uncomfortable right.

Tanya Lechner:

Yes, yeah, and it's hard. I mean, if it was easy, everybody would do it.

Jennifer Johnson:

You're right, Absolutely Well. Thank you so much for your time with us today, Tanya.

Tanya Lechner:

Thank you, Jennifer. I had such a great time and I hope that we were able to provide some other entrepreneurs good value.

Jennifer Johnson:

Absolutely. If our listeners would like to get in touch with you, how can they do so?

Tanya Lechner:

You can find me on Instagram at Tanya sells sunshine, and all the other social media platforms too.

Jennifer Johnson:

I love it. Tanya sells sunshine. That's great I love it.

Tanya Lechner:

Well, it was such a pleasure. I really enjoyed our time together.

Jennifer Johnson:

I did as well. Thank you so much.

Tanya Lechner:

Thank you.

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