Teach your team to outgrow you – you’ll thank yourself later

Karuna Mazzocchi, chief executive officer of the Queensland-based real estate brand Coronis, has been in the hot seat for just under 12 months, but she has already made some critical business moves.

In a recent episode of REB’s Secrets of the Top 100 Agents, Ms Mazzocchi unpacked the strategic thinking behind one of the most substantial changes she has introduced so far: supporting agents to start their own businesses.

It’s a decision that, on the surface, might appear counterproductive. Indeed, when Ms Mazzocchi first raised the idea of creating business ownership pathways for successful team members, some people were concerned that “if they train and coach people on that, they might leave them and go somewhere else rather than thinking that they can actually grow something within that business”.

In the CEO’s opinion, this misconception results from a shortfall of education within the real estate sector.

“People aren’t educated well enough in our industry to know what’s going to create them the best business,” Ms Mazzocchi explained.

“If our teams are happy, they’re engaged and they’re getting to where we want to be, we’ll grow.”

She understood that one of the key ways to retain committed team members for good is to give them a platform to grow a strong and prosperous future for themselves and their families.

“One of the things that is really important to us is that not only do they get into an agency, but they run a profitable agency that gives them enough passive income so they can work towards their own financial freedom and goals for their future,” she said.

“We’re coaching them how to lead people and how to grow a sustainable business over time that doesn’t put their families at risk.”

Teaching agents to transition from performance roles to business ownership takes work, but Ms Mazzocchi believes it is work well worth doing.

“I think great leaders actually create happiness and fulfilment by watching other people grow,” she said.

Now, Coronis has moved from being an entirely company-owned business to a three-pronged ownership model.

“We have corporately owned franchises now that we still own 100 per cent; we have our partnership franchises where we actually help people get into businesses at a low-risk option for them; […] and then we’ve also got business owners that feel very comfortable in their own skin, but they are 100 per cent owned as a franchise,” Ms Mazzocchi said.

It’s a strategy that has proved popular at Coronis, which has opened up 12 new agencies since Ms Mazzocchi took up the reins in March 2023.

Listen to the full conversation here.

This article was originally featured in HR Leader’s sister brand, Real Estate Business.

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