Hiring the Right People

Introduction

In a coworking space, hiring is not just about filling a front-desk shift. Every team member shapes the member experience, protects the building, and represents the culture of the space. A careless community host can lose member trust, mishandle a private-office issue, or leave a tour lead waiting. The Talent Funnel treats hiring like a marketing funnel: attract the right people, filter out poor fits, and prepare the people you hire to perform well. This saves the owner time and builds a team that can run the space with care.

Concept

The Talent Funnel has three main parts: Hiring, Training, and The Repellent Job Ad. Each part helps you attract, prepare, and retain people who fit the real demands of coworking work.

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Hiring

Hiring starts with defining what success looks like in the actual role. A community host may need to welcome guests, answer member questions, sell meeting-room bookings, manage access cards, handle deliveries, and stay calm when a member is upset. A facilities assistant may need to respond quickly to maintenance issues, coordinate vendors, and keep shared areas safe and presentable.

Write the job description around these realities instead of using vague phrases such as “people person” or “self-starter.” Explain the schedule, weekend expectations, sales responsibility, noise level, event duties, and need for careful follow-through. Candidates should understand that the role includes both hospitality and operations.

Real-World Example: A coworking operator needs a community host for a busy location. The job post explains that the host will greet visitors, complete daily opening checks, follow up with tour leads in the CRM, reset meeting rooms, and handle occasional complaints. It also states that the role includes two early mornings each week and one evening event shift. Applicants who dislike customer contact or changing priorities will often remove themselves before the interview.

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Training

Once you hire someone, training turns good intentions into reliable behavior. New staff should learn the member database, access-control system, phone and email standards, tour script, emergency procedures, cleaning and closing checklists, meeting-room rules, and escalation process.

Training should include practice, not just a handbook. Let the new host role-play a tour, respond to a billing question, report a broken door lock, and calm a member whose room booking was missed. Show them how to document issues so the next shift does not have to guess what happened.

Real-World Example: During onboarding, a new community associate shadows the location manager for two shifts. They then run a mock tour, enter a sample lead into the CRM, complete the opening checklist, and handle a simulated member complaint. The manager signs off only after the associate can complete each task without prompting.

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The Repellent Job Ad

The Repellent Job Ad is designed to discourage unsuitable applicants before they consume your time. It honestly describes the hard parts of the job and includes a small instruction that tests attention to detail.

For example, a job ad may ask applicants to begin their cover note with the name of their favorite work environment, explain how they would handle a noisy member dispute, and confirm that they can work the listed schedule. This is not a trick. It tests whether they read instructions, communicate clearly, and understand the customer-facing nature of the role.

The ad should also state what the job is not. A community host is not only an event planner, and a facilities role is not only light cleaning. Clear expectations reduce early exits and prevent the owner from hiring someone who expected a quiet desk job.

Conclusion

The Talent Funnel helps coworking operators build a dependable team. Use a specific job ad to attract people who accept the real work, use practical training to build confidence, and use clear standards to protect the member experience. Hiring carefully is cheaper than repairing poor service, lost tours, damaged trust, and constant staff turnover.