Page 28
— Office Properties Quarterly — June 2016
L
et’s face it, commercial bro-
kerages are aging. With the
median age of commercial
real estate professionals
approaching 60 years old,
it’s no secret that brokerages must
restock their talent pools with
younger employees. This is especial-
ly urgent because so few new bro-
kers entered the profession during
the most recent recession – resulting
in a glaring absence of young bro-
kers at many firms.
To ensure their viability and future
success, brokerages must aggres-
sively deploy policies and practices
to not just attract the next genera-
tion of brokers, but also to cultivate
and retain them.
Last year, Pew Research revealed
that millennials now comprise the
largest share of the U.S. workforce.
These workers – roughly aged 18 to
35 – eventually will make up a great-
er and greater proportion of your
brokerage as baby boomers retire.
But to keep the most talented mem-
bers of this generation, brokerages
must adapt.
One challenge lies in the fact that
millennials’ habits and values are
different from those of older workers
– and on the surface, many of these
preferences also seem incompatible
with the prototypical commercial
real estate brokerage.
Generally speaking, millennials
are tech-savvy, risk-averse, col-
laborative, skeptical of authority
and hierarchies, and more casual
in their demeanor and appearance.
They also are burdened by record-
breaking piles of student debt and
increasingly are
cynical about the
American Dream
that invigorated the
career ambitions of
their forebearers.
However, there
are certain aspects
of commercial real
estate that make
it an attractive
option for millen-
nials. Two defining
characteristics of
working as a broker are flexibility
and autonomy – qualities with great
appeal to millennials. The younger
generation also is civically and polit-
ically engaged, and they place a high
value on work that they consider
meaningful. A career in commercial
real estate, helping small-business
owners find spaces and being a part
of the wider community of planning,
development and sustainability, can
provide the kind of purpose and
meaning that millennials desire in
their work.
Not only is this generation of
young workers different from its
predecessors, but also the nature
of the labor market has changed in
ways that make it more difficult for
brokerages to attract talent. In years
past, there was less competition for
the most entrepreneurial and ambi-
tious young workers. Commercial
real estate was an appealing and
lucrative industry, with rewards and
attributes that helped it compete
favorably against banks, consulting
firms, ad agencies and insurance
companies for top talent.
However, the recent college gradu-
ates who may have entered com-
mercial real estate a generation ago
increasingly are attracted to soft-
ware, biotech or whatever startup
lets them chase after an IPO windfall
in the comfort of jeans and a t-shirt.
To vie for the very best millen-
nial talent – not only against other
industries, but also against other
commercial brokerages – you must
be willing to take steps to shift your
culture, processes and workplace
expectations. If you haven’t already,
take some time to contemplate and
evaluate your brokerage on these
key dimensions.
Culture.
Millennials distrust rigid
hierarchies and rules. If you want
young brokers to work at your firm,
eliminate bureaucracy, show respect
to even the least-experienced
employees, and build a culture
where diverse opinions are not just
tolerated but celebrated. You also
must create a culture that embraces
technology and seeks new ways
to use it to improve efficiency and
results. Technology has been incor-
porated into every aspect of millen-
nials’ lives since they were small
children, and they will not thrive in
an environment that relies on obso-
lete tools and manual processes.
Communication.
Transparency
and honesty from their leaders are
crucial. Millennials desire a level
of visibility into decision-making
and strategy that may exceed what
you’re used to or comfortable with.
They also want their voices to be
heard. In exchange, though, they will
inject much-needed vitality, creativ-
ity and passion into your brokerage.
They value feedback, but they’re
not looking for constant praise or
validation, contrary to common
belief. They grew up using modes
of technology that provide instant
gratification, and they expect con-
tinuous feedback, both positive and
negative, at work. Relying too heavily
on formal review processes will frus-
trate and alienate them.
Collaboration.
Creating a truly col-
laborative working environment is
key. Meetings should be for interac-
tive problem solving and decision-
making, not for issuing directives
or paying lip service to consensus
building. Consider redesigning your
office space to support team-based
work and spontaneous interactions.
Make sure you also deploy technol-
ogy – like Slack and Google Apps
– that facilitates the kind of coopera-
tion and camaraderie that millen-
nials need in their workplace to be
both productive and content.
Compensation.
While millennials
actually are less concerned with
how much money they make than
you might think (relative to other
factors, anyway), they do gener-
ally prefer a steady paycheck to a
commission-only job. One reason
for this is burdensome student debt
obligations. So you should consider
offering loans or draws to mitigate
this. They do appreciate the control
and potential that comes with a
commission-based career, so it may
just take a bit of a safety net to help
them overcome the perceived risk
and, instead, focus on the possibili-
ties.
s
Tanner McGraw
CEO, Apto, Denver
Management
Ron Kuehl 970-342-6749
970-593-9900 Office •
350 E. 7th Street, Suite 2, Loveland, CO 80537
1880 Fall River Dr
Loveland, CO 80538
AVAILABLE:
56,000 SF
LEASE RATE:
$18.50 NNN
1996 Rocky Mountain Ave
Loveland, CO 80538
AVAILABLE:
15,000 SF
LEASE RATE:
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