What makes a good concierge?
It is easy to underestimate the importance of having a fantastic front-of-house. At Jackson Sims, we find this a really interesting area to hire for, requiring experienced recruiters, with a good nose for the right people. The skill sets essential to being a competent concierge are often hard to learn. They are more commonly inherent behaviours or personality traits. But what are those essential traits which are hard to find and make the ideal candidates so valuable?
Attention to Detail
Being able to take notice of fine details is vital, in a variety of contexts. Being observant and picking up on small abnormalities or issues is important, not only allowing the staff member to improve their work but also ensuring that they can properly help and attend to the needs of others. On the whole, people who are organised and have an ordered mind are best at paying attention to detail. Organised staff who are on top of their work and feel confident and prepared are more likely to have the mental capacity and headspace to pay attention to detail. Whilst there are ways to work on improving observation skills, they are closely linked with certain personality types, for whom this will come more naturally.
Personable
It’s hard to pick out the most important trait from this list, but being personable certainly features highly. The definition of personable is ‘having a pleasant appearance and manner’ but ultimately, there is more to it. Being open-minded and non-judgemental is a vital part of making residents feel not only welcome but also safe. Similarly, a concierge being able to remain calm and collected in any situation and capable of quick and efficient problem-solving is key to engendering a feeling of safety for residents. Maintaining a sense of control whilst still being kind and trustworthy is also part of being personable - ensuring you can be trusted in any situation. It is also important for a concierge not to be overly opinionated. Of course, having opinions and feelings is inevitable and human, but they must be contained to avoid tension or difficult relationships with service users.
General knowledge
This is the odd one out for this list, as it’s not a personality trait, so much as an interest or passion. The good news is, this one can be taught! There are two ways in which general knowledge can be useful. Firstly, it is important to be up to date, to be the hub of knowledge for residents. Knowing as much as possible about the local area - the best places to eat, where to get the bus, where to buy an umbrella - can help a concierge make a building feel like home, especially for new residents. Secondly, having a more general idea of what is happening in the world and current affairs means that a concierge can have interesting conversations with people as well as understand what concerns or issues they may have. For example, being able to direct someone to the nearest train station is extremely useful, but this is far less valuable if the rail service is on strike and the trains are not running!
Passion and Commitment
Of course, being passionate about your work is not a benefit unique to concierge roles. No matter what job you perform, having passion and dedication will be a bonus. However, much like any kind of service role, a lack of passion is far more noticeable in this role. When ‘service user facing’ staff are uninspired by their job, the energetic impact can be significant and can affect how personable they are and how helpful they are inspired to be. The role of the concierge can throw people into interesting situations, managing curious issues and meeting fascinating people. Therefore, if a concierge attacks the role with an open mind and a desire to continue learning and developing, the job will give back tenfold. Of course, commitment is important in any job role, with concierge being no different. Lack of commitment to the role can result in a building feeling uncared for. Fundamentally, all of the aforementioned traits rely on the concierge being committed, not only to their role but also to what they represent and to the people who they support.
Flexibility
The nature of a concierge’s job can be varied and unpredictable. This is certainly not a good role for someone who wants order and similarity in their job day to day. Whilst, as with any role, there is 'business as usual' administration and tasks required, the nature of working with people is ever-changing. A level of problem-solving is required, ensuring that the property management company can feel confident their concierge can respond quickly to issues. A creative approach is always beneficial, helping them to think outside of the box to overcome any obstacle.
When you are looking for your perfect concierge, it is not always easy to deduce whether they possess these qualities by looking at the CV alone. It is important to interview and try to ask interesting questions, not just reading off a typical interview script, to allow the candidate to demonstrate their abilities. We have several recruiters in our team who are especially experienced in concierge recruitment, so get in touch today if you need a hand.
Jackson Sims Recruitment is a property recruitment company operating in the UK and APAC region. Should you be a candidate or client working in property management we have a multitude of recruitment services that can be tailored to you. Please visit www.JacksonSimsRecruitment.com for more information.