looked to me like the barbell effect. At one side
was a large population of baby boomers in real
estate, in the middle was a small segment of
Generation X, and the other end is the large talent pool of Generation Y waiting to come in.”
The industry can’t afford to let the younger
generation wait too long. According to a survey
conducted by human resources consultants
RHR International and cited in the Deloitte
report, half of respondents said they expect to
lose 50% of their senior management by 2010.
For 15% of respondents, the loss could be as
high as 75%.
Alpert says Generation X is not large enough
to fill the void of boomer retirees, but
Generation Y—workers now in their early to
mid 20s, also known as the Millennium
Generation or Millennials—could represent
the closing of the talent gap. “We focused on
this because the industry has to start addressing
this issue.”
Not only the sheer numbers of Millennials—
an estimated 46. 5 million Americans, considerably more than the Gen X population—set
them apart. “It does require a different managing style to recruit, retain and develop
Generation Y,” says Alpert. “The middle management of Generation X-ers overseeing this
group is different. And a company needs to recognize that and address it.”
Alpert continues, “Generation Y wants flexibility and control—not to work less, but maybe
to work even harder. They are a very motivated
group and those who preceded this group
aren’t accustomed to that.”
Strategies focusing on attracting and retaining Generation Y are different than the techniques that brought boomers to real estate companies. The Deloitte report recommends
appealing to Millennials’ core values, which
include long-term career development and
multiple experiences within a single organization, a sense of purpose and meaning in their
work, access to mentors and social networks
“that embrace open/honest communication.”
Some employers have already gotten with the
program, Alpert says. “Over the next couple of
years we’ll see an increasing number of companies effectively using these strategies.”
Bachrach explains because there was a lull
in the real estate market in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, the industry skipped over
Generation X and vice versa. “Now New York
is booming,” he says, adding that in order to
attract Generation Y, real estate companies are
restructuring titles. This appeals to the
Millennials, “because unlike the baby boomers,
they expect to start at the top and therein lies
the problem.”
Marcus Rayner, chairman of the program
committee at CoreNet Global’s New York
chapter, says industry associations can provide
support to real estate companies in developing
younger talent by exploring innovations, techniques, workshops, a communal meeting place
for the real estate community and special interest groups used in specific industry. “There’s no
barrier to entry for being a real estate broker, as
there is for becoming an architect or engineer,”
says Rayner, a principal with CresaPartners. “So
we provide a qualification in the industry to set
standards.”
He points out that employers are “all in the
war for talent, and are trying to get the best talent. The candidates themselves are looking for
a varied and interesting career. And every business needs real estate in one form or another, so
real estate is very diversified.”
The talent of this millennium cares about
sustainability and wants more technology and
more collaboration. “I don’t think real estate
companies are doing anything differently than
other businesses when dealing with these
younger generations,” Rayner says. “But the
workplace has to respond to the way people
react. The most prevalent issue today in recruiting corporate real estate executives is that they
must interact.”
To draw more of a talent pool from
Generation Y, commercial real estate needs to
expand its recruiting practices, says Gayle
Meredith, managing director at Grubb & Ellis.
“Now it seems to depend on personal networking,” she says. “We need to look beyond hiring
someone referred by a friend or colleague. The
commercial real estate industry needs to create
a buzz at the undergraduate level like the financial services industry and investment banking.”
Meredith says one thing the Grubb & Ellis
management team in the New York region is
doing is “looking outside of the industry group,
seeking those with entrepreneurial drive particularly for brokerage. Having business savvy is
not all about sales but also client services.” And
when recruiting these younger folks, “You have
to be more aggressive and thoughtful. It’s not
going to happen organically with them.”
Meredith says she doesn’t think Generations
X and Y consciously skipped over real estate.
The opportunities offered by financial services
employers aren’t so different, she says. “They
just did a better job in recruiting and proactively educating.”
One aspect that’s really changed is the level
of support that industry associations provide for
employers and would-employees, allowing
resume and job postings on the organizations’
websites. Meredith says junior employees at
Grubb & Ellis are mentored by the management
team and seniors.
Rick Fisher, partner at Eisner LLP, says
Generation Y is coming into the workforce after
having a lot handed to them by their boomer
parents. “The buzzword for the next generation
is entitlement,” he says. “The challenge is the
patience level—it’s nowhere near the level of
the baby boomer.”
“I think the younger generations are capable
of learning faster than the baby boomers,” he
says. “The capacity is greater, but when it
comes to working well with others and in
teams, there is more of a learning curve with
their people skills, because of spending so
much time on the computer.”
It is not unusual for this generation to have
more than three jobs in a five-year period. That
was unheard of among the baby boom generation, Fisher says.
There’s more of a turnover rate in
Generation Y and Millennials, Fisher says.
“They’re more goal oriented than concerned
about longevity with a firm,” he says. “The past
generations weren’t as quick to pick up and go.
From the recruiting side it’s different because
you don’t have the numbers coming out of the
colleges. So you have to be very competitive
with salaries and signing bonuses, and communicate the goals you’ll need to accomplish earlier in their career. The Millennium Generation
isn’t interested in 1,000 hours of overtime like
the previous generations were.”
Fisher adds that with “constant communication, the proverbial pat on the back and positive
reinforcement. I have faith this generation will
advance and do their jobs. I see them able to
produce, and as long as we adjust our
approach to them, they’ll be successful, maybe
even more so” than boomers.
Anthony J. LoPinto, founder of SelectLeaders
and CEO of Equinox Partners, says the expectations of each generation are influenced by the
cycles of real estate as they enter the job mar-
