Motivating Teams Beyond Commissions: 4 Strategies to Build Loyalty and Improve Performance

From the towers of Downtown to the townhouses of The Springs, Dubai’s real estate market is a stage for relentless ambition. Agency owners compete not only for clients, but for talent—smart, multilingual, resourceful agents who can navigate a diverse buyer landscape and thrive under pressure. But in today’s ever shifting market, offering the highest commission split might not be the trump card it once was.

Commissions still matter, of course. They always will. But relying solely on financial incentives can be increasingly short-sighted—especially in a city where the cost of living is rising, younger agents crave purpose over pay, and high-performing professionals are often courted by multiple firms at once. 

Money gets attention. Meaning gets loyalty.

This is where strong leadership and smart agency culture come in. A team that feels recognised, supported, and empowered will outperform one that’s only well-compensated. In the long run, the agencies that thrive won’t just be the ones with the biggest budgets—they’ll be the ones that understand how to motivate, grow, and retain people.

In this Property Finder article, we’ll explore practical, actionable ways to build lasting motivation in your team. You’ll learn why personal recognition, professional growth, and cultural empathy are increasingly important in retaining talent—and how agency owners across Dubai can create work environments that support high performance and long-term success.

The Challenges with “Commission Only” Recognition

While commission-based compensation has long been a cornerstone of the real estate industry, relying solely on financial incentives can present notable challenges:

Encouragement of Short-Term Thinking

Commission structures often prioritise immediate results, potentially leading agents to focus on quick wins rather than cultivating long-term client relationships or strategic planning. This emphasis on short-term gains risks hindering sustainable growth and client satisfaction.

Risk of Burnout and Internal Competition

High-pressure environments driven by commission targets can contribute to agent burnout. We all know that many sales employees experience burnout, characterised by emotional exhaustion and decreased performance. Moreover, focusing solely on commission-based incentives may foster unhealthy competition among team members, undermining collaboration and morale.

Retention Challenges Across Diverse Agent Profiles

While financial rewards are significant, they may not suffice to retain all agents – particularly younger professionals or those motivated by factors beyond monetary compensation. Job satisfaction and organisational culture play crucial roles in employee retention. Therefore, a singular focus on commissions may overlook the diverse motivations within a multicultural team.

In light of these considerations, it’s essential for agency owners to implement holistic motivational strategies that address both financial and non-financial factors, fostering a more engaged and committed workforce.

Strategy 1: Recognition That Resonates

In a business driven by results, it’s easy to assume that your agents’ performance should speak for itself. But in practice, silence is costly. Recognition—genuine, specific, and timely—remains one of the most undervalued tools in a real estate leader’s arsenal.

Across Dubai’s competitive property landscape, whether selling condos in luxury towers or rentals of affordable flats, agents are hustling harder than ever. They’re managing demanding clients, navigating legal updates, chasing leads across multiple time zones—and they’re doing it in a fast-paced, multicultural environment where everyone is trying to stand out. In this context, acknowledgement matters. Not just for top-line sales, but for the day-in, day-out actions that make an agency excellent. Think about the agent who stayed late to re-stage a villa in Damac Hills. Or the one who found a French-speaking broker to help close a deal in Jumeirah Golf Estates. What about the junior team member who stepped in for a sick colleague at the last minute and still secured a listing?

Publicly recognising these efforts does more than boost morale—it signals what your agency values. And when recognition is tied to purpose, not just numbers, it becomes your cultural compass.

Simple Ways to Recognise Without Spending More

• Weekly Wins: Start your Monday team meeting by spotlighting one unexpected contribution—not just the highest seller, but someone who went above and beyond for a client, team member, or community.
• Monthly “Agent Spotlight”: Feature one team member each month on your internal WhatsApp group, email newsletter, or even your Instagram Story. Celebrate achievements in creativity, resilience, or customer service—not just closed transactions.
• Small, Thoughtful Perks: Consider pairing recognition with low-cost, high-impact perks: a mentorship opportunity, a voucher for a team coffee, or early leave after a tough week. These gestures reinforce appreciation in tangible, memorable ways.
• Make It Visible: Whether it’s a Slack channel, a framed “Wall of Wins” in the office, or regular shout-outs on social media, visibility amplifies recognition. It also sets a standard—your team learns what good looks like.

In the long term, agents who feel seen are more likely to stay. They’re more invested, more collaborative, and more aligned with your agency’s goals. In an industry where talent moves fast, authentic recognition might be your most reliable retention tool.

Strategy 2: Career Growth and Professional Development

Real estate may be transactional by nature—but building a high-performing team is anything but. In today’s Dubai, where agents are surrounded by rapid development, evolving regulations, and cutting-edge PropTech, standing still is both unwise and unsustainable. Top-performing agents don’t just want to earn their next commission check. They want to grow.

Career progression and professional development are more than retention tools. When you invest in one of your agents, you’re signaling that you trust them. When an agency invests in an agent’s future, it communicates belief in their long-term value. That belief is powerful. It builds loyalty, reduces turnover, and positions your firm as a destination—not a stepping stone.

The options for skill-building are strong and growing. The Innovation Experts Real Estate Institute (IEREI) offers RERA-accredited certifications, including the Certified Training for Brokers and the more advanced Brokerage Manager Programme. These credentials elevate individual professionalism, and enhance your agency’s reputation in a competitive market. Encouraging participation in these programmes (and offering time or partial sponsorship to attend) sends a strong message about your agency’s commitment to excellence.

But development doesn’t always mean expensive courses. It can also be peer coaching between seasoned agents and new joiners. It could be lunch-and-learns on market data tools, lead scoring, or negotiation tactics. It might even be covering admission to events like the Cityscape Global or the International Property Show conference, where agents can gain insights into investment trends, regulation changes, and the technologies shaping the future of real estate.

The key is not to impose a one-size-fits-all ladder. Some agents are eager to become team leads. Others thrive as client specialists. Some want to expand into off-plan projects; others are interested in luxury sales or investment consulting. A strong leader supports those ambitions, however diverse they may be.

Practical Tips to Build Growth Into Your Culture:

• Encourage Certification: Sponsor (or co-sponsor) agents pursuing RERA certifications and highlight their achievements internally.
• Create a Mentorship Loop: Pair experienced agents with newcomers for 60-day mentoring cycles. Celebrate shared milestones.
• Host Internal Workshops: Offer monthly skill sessions led by team members or invited industry experts—topics might include CRM best practices, how to best leverage PF Expert, client retention strategies, or even video content creation for listings.
• Document Growth Goals: During quarterly reviews, ask each agent: “Where do you want to grow?” Revisit those answers and help connect them to real opportunities.
• Recognise Learning Publicly: Don’t just celebrate closings—celebrate growth. Give shout-outs when agents complete training, speak at events, or master a new tool.

Your agency’s most powerful investment might not be in leads or listings. Your best investment might just be in the people who sell those listings. By cultivating a culture of continuous learning, you’re boosting team performance. You’re also building a reputation for excellence that echoes far beyond your office walls.

Strategy 3: Cultural Empathy & Inclusive Motivation

Dubai’s real estate sector is one of the most international in the world. In any given agency, your team might include agents from the Philippines, India, Russia, Egypt, Pakistan, South Africa—and beyond. With such diversity comes immense strength, but also a responsibility: to lead with cultural awareness and empathy.

A one-size-fits-all approach to motivation won’t work in this environment. What energises one agent might alienate another. Public praise may empower some but feel awkward to others. Team-building events scheduled during religious holidays or personal milestones can inadvertently lead to exclusion. The goal isn’t to overcorrect—it’s to listen, learn, and lead inclusively.

Agency owners don’t need to become cultural experts, but they should cultivate curiosity and respect. For example, offering floating holidays or the option to take time off for religious or cultural celebrations can help accommodate employees who observe those occasions, fostering a more inclusive workplace. So does being mindful of language barriers, communication styles, and the different ways people express ambition or stress.

At the heart of inclusive motivation is empathy. When agents feel seen as whole people—not just performers—they’re more loyal, more communicative, and more engaged.

Simple, Inclusive Practices That Build Trust:

• Flex Where You Can: Offer flexible hours or lighter schedules during religious or cultural observances, when feasible.
• Celebrate Across Cultures: Keep a visible calendar of major holidays from your team’s backgrounds—recognise them publicly or with small gestures.
• Invite Input: When planning team events or incentives, ask for input. It signals that every voice matters.
• Respect Communication Styles: Be aware that not all cultures value direct confrontation or self-promotion. Create safe spaces for feedback and growth.

Great leadership in a multicultural market like Dubai means more than managing deals—it means managing relationships with care. A team that feels respected at a cultural level is a team that stays.

Strategy 4: Purpose-Driven Work and Agency Vision

Commissions may drive transactions—but purpose fuels performance.

More and more agents, especially Millennials and Gen Z professionals, are motivated by meaning. They want to know their efforts serve more than just numbers on a board. For agency owners, this presents an opportunity: connecting daily work to a larger mission builds loyalty, pride, and long-term buy-in.

Dubai’s broader vision—the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan and UAE Vision 2031—offers a powerful backdrop. These national strategies prioritise sustainability, innovation, and community wellbeing. By aligning your agency’s story with those values, you can inspire agents to see themselves as contributors to something bigger: not just selling properties, but shaping the future of the city.

Here are four practical ways to turn purpose into action

1. Make the Vision Visible: Don’t let your agency’s mission live only on the website. Discuss it in team huddles, highlight it during onboarding, and share updates when you hit key milestones—whether that’s expanding into a new neighbourhood or launching a green-home campaign in line with Dubai’s sustainability goals.
2. Tie Deals to Impact: Celebrate wins that go beyond commissions. Did someone help a first-time buyer from abroad settle in Dubai Hills? Close on an energy-efficient home in The Sustainable City? Use those stories to reinforce how your team’s work contributes to client wellbeing and national priorities.
3. Encourage Community Involvement: ​Organizing initiatives such as preparing and donating iftar meals during Ramadan or participating in environmental projects like mangrove tree planting. These activities build camaraderie while engaging employees in meaningful community activities.
4. Recognise Purpose-Driven Wins: Introduce a monthly “Mission Aligned” shout-out—recognising agents who demonstrate service, sustainability, or community-mindedness in their work.

If you’d like to explore how to build a clear, compelling agency vision from the ground up, read our article: “Building Your Legacy: Visionary Leadership for Real Estate Agency Owners.”

Key Takeaways

Motivating a real estate team in Dubai’s dynamic market requires more than attractive commission structures. While financial rewards remain important, long-term loyalty and performance are built on something deeper—recognition, growth, cultural empathy, and shared purpose. These elements don’t replace commissions—they elevate them.

As a leader, your role isn’t just to close deals. It’s to create a culture where agents feel seen, supported, and driven to grow—not only for themselves, but for the agency they’re proud to represent. When motivation is personalised, inclusive, and mission-driven, your agency doesn’t just retain talent—it becomes a magnet for it.

We invite you to answer this question. What’s one non-financial way you’ll motivate your team this month? That small, intentional action could be the start of a culture that powers your agency’s next chapter of success.