An outside-in approach to business

Speaking on a recent episode of The WIRE, Melina MacNellie-Verrall believes it’s “all good and well to have flexibility” — but if you don’t have a clear vision or provide clear expectations, it’s not necessarily going to hit the mark.  

The director and principal of RE/MAX Property Professionals, who set up her own agency during COVID-19 and has already recruited upwards of a dozen employees into the business, acknowledged that it has been easier to build flexible work practices into her agency from scratch rather than change up an already established office.

Even so, she noted that in 2022 — “if your property manager[s] and your team don’t have a laptop and a phone and the ability to work remotely, then something’s probably not right”.

Highlighting the importance of having a clear vision of what flexible work or policies around parenting and lifestyle should look like, and being a mother of young children herself, Ms MacNellie-Verrall acknowledged she has taken “a completely different approach” to building out her team — and it starts with several central core values.  

“It’s off the back of that strong core value within me to help others — especially other mums with young kids — how can you still have a career and make this work?” she started.

“I have — and I’ve always been able to. And it’s my goal to empower other women to know that they can as well.

But that approach is not just suited to women that fit that demographic, as Ms MacNellie-Verrall has espoused.  

Rather than a formal interview for recruitment, the principal prefers to take potential candidates for coffee: “One of the questions when I’m having a coffee with them, just to get to know them, [the] first thing I want to understand is their family and what else is most important to them.”

While she noted that not all of her staff have kids, “they’re all part of a family”.

“I want to understand that; And then I can understand from my perspective how I can best help make sure that they’re able to fulfil what’s most important to them outside of work as well,” she said.

According to the principal, “if you’re happy outside of work, you’re going to be happy inside work”.

“I know myself having worked in quite a stressful time at the bank through the royal commission and the extra pressure that it did put on the staff: getting home late, missing out on things for the kids, not being able to go to those sports days, the swimming carnivals,” she shared.

“I missed out on so much with my kids during that time that it taught me the importance of making sure that my team never miss those opportunities.”

The way she sees it, it’s those things “that will make you unhappy as a mum, as a father, sister, brother, whatever”.

A big piece for the principal is reassuring employees and would-be employees that family does come first, no matter what, sharing her perspective that “we will all be here as a team to back you and support you with what we can help you with while you go and manage that”.

Recounting that there have been little incidences along the way, she detailed that it’s no issue at all when an agent has had to leave the office for family reasons. Instead, it was a matter of just letting the principal know what the team could do to step in.

Similarly, “if we’ve got to go and do someone else’s appointment, the culture that I’ve built is [that] you go and do that appointment, but you don’t expect to then get that listing”.

“You’ve just gone and helped a colleague, and they would do the same [for] you in a heartbeat.

“Again, it’s about giving clear expectations of what you can expect when you come and work with us,” she reiterated.

“And in saying that, it’s a give and take. It’s not just take, you’ve actually got to give back as well. If you are looking for support from somebody, then you must be one of the ones to put your hand up and help when someone needs a hand as well.”

For anyone aligning that criteria, Ms MacNellie-Verrall said they “definitely fit” with the RE/MAX Property Professionals culture, which she confirmed to carry through to a supportive environment across both property management and sales divisions of the business.

Even so, family flexibility is not the only way the principal aims to ensure the happiness of her staff.

She revealed that another thing she has done for her team is give them a 12-month membership to a new local gym.

Confessing that she herself has been “waiting so long for this”, she explained that “that’s for them to invest some time back into them”.

“This industry has been a little bit crazy the last few years, and it can actually take over your life if you allow it to. You’ve got to make sure that you are looking after you first and foremost to be able to then deliver the best.

“In my eyes as a business owner, if I know my people are able to invest in themselves and take care of themselves and time out for them, they’re going to be better at home, they’re going to be happy. They’re going to be better at work, they’re going to be happy. And that’s part of what I do to help build that environment,” she expressed.

Listen to the full conversation with Ms MacNellie-Verrall here.