The Most Valuable Asset: Expanding the CRE Talent Pool
To address its ongoing talent shortage, the commercial real estate industry must look outside of traditional recruiting avenues and consider people with nontraditional career paths.
Ten years ago, great employees seemed much easier to find – an organization might find three excellent candidates for any one open position. Today, it can feel like there are no great candidates available.
“I know we’re all dealing with labor shortages,” said Celeste Tanner, chief development officer at Confluent Development, during CRE.Converge 2021 in Miami Beach, Florida. Given how busy most of the industry is, she added, it is tempting to look for talent through what she called “the path of least resistance” – often a local university’s real estate program. While university programs remain an important source of commercial real estate talent, companies need to develop many other pipelines.
Seek Talent in Other Fields
“Some of our best development, property management and capital markets people did not come out of a real estate program or a real estate background,” said Molly Carson, LEED AP, senior vice president of real estate development, market leader, at Ryan Companies US, Inc.
People from other industries bring new perspectives to the table – which is critical in real estate. “Real estate is for everyone, so you need [perspectives from] every different type of occupier,” Tanner said.
Kate Bryden, LEED® AP BD+C, senior vice president development, MRP Industrial, agreed. “That’s development in a nutshell,” she said. “It’s making sure everyone in the room has not only a seat at the table, but a voice in the room.”
Don’t Ignore Internal Talent
That’s not to say there isn’t a well of underutilized talent already within the industry. Stephanie Rodriguez, regional senior vice president – Florida for Duke Realty, said Duke has had success giving employees opportunities in new disciplines. She urged companies not to ignore talent already in the organization who may be in a completely different role. One way to uncover talent is through internal mentorship programs that allow employees to learn about different jobs from the people currently doing them. Posting and communicating about openings within the company is also critical. “Capitalize on the assets you already have,” Rodriguez said.