As the retirement wave continues among Baby Boomers, the commercial real estate sector is grappling with its graying workforce. Baby Boomers are retiring at the rate of 8,000 to 10,000 a day. The result is a dwindling, aging crop of management professionals.
While the average age of an American worker today in any industry is 43 years old, the average age of a property manager is 50and the average age of a CPM is 52 years old, according to the Institute of Real Estate Management. Keeping that in mind, those responsible for attracting and retaining workers in commercial real estate realize that they’ve got to entice Millennials in order to keep their businesses running. After all, Millennials now make up the largest generational share of the American workforce.
This brings up two serious concerns about what the multi-family and commercial management industries will look like in the next three to 10 years. The first is that the industry might increasingly be servicing a clientele that is younger than is is. The second is that, to respond to this ever-younger clientele and self-sustain the industry, the management profession needs a strong source of young professionals to continually add to its population.
On the first issue of an ever-younger clientele, there is an implied but growing disconnect. Apartment renters are more than ever made up of multigenerational families and working Millennials, who are not yet ready to buy their first home (or who simply prefer the renter’s lifestyle), in addition to Boomers who have had enough of homeownership and its responsibilities.
On the corporate side, young professionals are bringing down the average worker age, although this certainly varies by industry and sector. On both sides—multi-family and commercial—as the age trends downward, it’s essential for managers who interact with them to understand how they think, what they want and need and, probably most importantly, how strong a bond they have with their property manager.
The second issue, attracting new young talent, speaks to relevance and branding. Young professionals around the country get into the business because they were referred by someone, so it is very much a chance process.
But as a profession, property management cannot leave its future to chance. We Property management needs to be placed at the forefront of rewarding career options and dispel the preconceived notion that it is somehow a less-than-sexy arm of the real estate industry. It needs to compete against the allure of brokerage, for instance, which comes with images of headline-commanding deals with giant paydays.
Few realize that the first two or three years of a broker’s life are fallow as they strive to create a book of business, and it can take six months to more than a year before even a smaller deal is nailed down. The very name “property manager” belies the fact that they work hand-in-hand with major private and institutional industry strategists to create a plan that yields major financial success on an ongoing basis. It belies the fact that they get to solve a problem and move on to the next, in a fast-paced and intensive career choice.
Yet recruiting Millennials to work in the commercial real estate sector goes well beyond serving free lunch, providing unlimited vacation or lavishing other cool perks on them.
Fortune magazine recently released its ranking of the 100 best workplaces for Millennials, and several employers in the commercial real estate sphere appear on the list. Here we look at three of the winning companies—Concord Hospitality Enterprises, Transwestern and Walker & Dunlop—to find out why their workplaces are millennial magnets and what lessons you can learn from them.
Transwestern
Fortune ranking: 38
Larry Heard, CEO of Houston-based commercial real estate services company Transwestern, believes that shining a light on Transwestern’s mission is critical to recruiting and retaining Millennials.
“We go to great lengths to make sure that any new employee has a very clear understanding of our mission and our vision as a firm, so they can personally buy into that,” he says. “That’s an important aspect of the decision-making tree that the Millennials go through when they’re discerning the best company to work for.”
Once they’re working for Transwestern, Millennials are encouraged to get involved in young professionals groups at the company’s major offices. That and other efforts are designed to cultivate personal empowerment, innovation and teamwork.
In trying to entice Millennial workers, Transwestern also hosts holiday parties, year-round social events, wellness activities, one-on-one mentoring and training and skill development courses.
Concord Hospitality Enterprises
Fortune ranking: 81
Millennials want to stick around at Concord, a Raleigh, NC-based, hotel developer, owner and operator because they’re energized by the company’s purpose-driven nature, says Debra Punke, senior vice president of human capital. These workers are drawn to employers that have crafted a well-articulated mission that resonates inside and outside the workplace, according to Punke.
“Millennials want to be affiliated with an employer who cares about giving back to the communities where they live and work,” she says. “They want to be part of a company who has a greater purpose and impact.”
Punke says Concord fosters a work environment that appeals to Millennials in four key areas:
Charity—Concord enables employees to engage in fundraisers, volunteer projects and other charitable endeavors
Fun—Concord employees recognize and support each other in a variety of ways, according to Punke. She says Concord wants its workers to have fun “in all that they do.”
Sustainability—Among other things, Concord builds green hotels, repurposes soap and shampoo into bars of soap for vulnerable kids around the world and diverts tons of waste from landfills.
Wellness—On-site fitness centers and virtual competitions are among the tools that Concord uses to promote mental, physical and emotional wellness in the workforce.
Walker & Dunlop
Fortune ranking: 83
Millennials who join Walker & Dunlop, a Bethesda, MD-based provider of commercial real estate financing, find a number of opportunities to flourish professionally. For instance, Walker & Dunlop sponsors a “high potential” program for employees who have been with the company for a few years and have established a track record of success.
In that program, a manager identifies someone who has the potential to rise through the ranks over the next five years and nominates that person to participate. Every year, executives pick 10 “high potential” employees for the program. Over the course of a year, each participant learns how to polish presentation, leadership and teambuilding skills; shadows a member of the management team and collaborates on a corporate initiative.
Additionally, Pryor says, the company strives to help Millennials carve out a career path, which includes consideration for in-house promotions.
Via: National Real Estate Investor
Michael Lanning & John Egan
Institute of Real Estate Management
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