WorkPuzzle

Helping People Transition from a Traditional Part-Time Job to a Full-Time Real Estate Agent—Part 2

I received some great feedback on the most recent WorkPuzzle discussion. It seems this topic has struck a cord with several of you.

First, I received confirmation the “defacto brand” of real estate being a destination for people who want to work part-time is far from dead.  In fact, in many markets across the country, this branding is alive, well, and being promoted.

As the real estate industry has started recovering, there are some companies are who are eager to get back to business as usual.  They feel comfortable and excited about the prospects of inviting any and all individuals (part-time, full-time, qualified, unqualified etc.) into their offices.  It’s back to the "in one side, and out the other” conveyor belt of agent hiring.

This reality is unfortunate for those companies who are trying to build high-quality teams.  It’s hard enough to overcome the history of the real estate industry without having to continually compete with those promoting the lowest common denominator in terms of talent, commitment, and focus.  Unfortunately, candidates will continue to be confused and high-performing hiring managers will have to work harder to get their message to the right people.

Secondly, I received some feedback that some of you may not be convinced the part-time / underemployment nature of corporate America is as dismal as I’ve described it. In turn, they don’t seem to have the confidence to sell a real estate career as a compelling full-time alternative to the languishing that underemployment produces in the traditional job market. 

I think some of the data I cited in previous discussions would support this assertion, but perhaps a real-life example would help convince the remaining skeptics.

I was discussing this issue with one of our company’s partners who also owns a large retail establishment in the Seattle area.  As an owner in that business, he makes frequent deposits to the local branch office of a large, publically traded bank. 

This activity has allowed him to strike up several conversations with the tellers and other employees in the bank.  Recently, he made a deposit a couple hours later than his normal time and noticed the bank was nearly empty of employees.  He asked the teller,

“Where is everyone?  It doesn’t seem you have many tellers working today.” 

She replied. 

“They’re off work right now, but they’ll be back right before lunch to start the next portion of their shifts.” 

More discussion ensued, and it became evident the bank had learned to track the frequency and time of day of transactions to the point where they could predict the workload of each teller at any point in the day.

Naturally, it only made sense to have their part-time employees work during times when those transactions were taking place.  A common employee schedule was working an hour, taking two hours off, working two more hours, taking two hours off, and then working two hours to finish up the day.  By the end of the week, each employee has worked 25 hours.  They are comfortably in the range where the employer can avoid paying benefits.

This may seem brilliant from the employer’s perspective, but it is abusive from the employee’s perspective. What kind of employees would accept this kind of work schedule?  It is only those who do not see themselves as having other employment options. There must be a lot of those individuals available because they have no problem keeping positions filled.

As a real estate hiring manager, you have a compelling alternative for some of these individuals.   We all know that becoming a real estate agent is not for everyone, but for some people it could be a wonderful escape from employment situations where they are languishing.

To connect with these individuals, sell the agent employment opportunity as the full-time alternative to what they have been experiencing or will be experiencing in the corporate job world.  

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Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

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Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Helping People Transition from a Traditional Part-Time Job to a Full-Time Real Estate Agent

In years past, the real estate industry developed a reputation of accommodating those individuals who wanted to work part-time.  By contrast, it was common for traditional businesses to require employees to make a full-time commitment to the company.

The real estate industry also attracted many part-time agents because some individuals wanted/needed to keep their “day jobs” that provided medical benefits while working part-time as real estate agents on nights and weekends. 

Enough real estate companies allowed this behavior that the perception stuck and a defacto brand was established from the candidate perspective: The real estate industry is a viable place to work part-time.

This part-time/ full-time dynamic has long been a source of frustration for many high-performing real estate companies, because part-time agents are rarely successful.  While the part-time status is now discouraged (and sometimes even forbidden) by many real estate hiring managers, the candidates often don’t know this until they get to the interview. Their perception is based on the defacto brand.

Wouldn’t it be great if the real estate industry employment brand could be changed so that serious, professional, and full-time candidates were the norm and those wanting part-time work focused on other industries?

That’s exactly what may start happening in the next few years.

How?  This radical change in perception is being driven by some very powerful organic forces in the job market at-large, and real estate companies will have the opportunity to benefit from these changes.  

The powerful change I’m referring to is the propensity that traditional companies have towards cutting employee hours and benefits to avoid upcoming healthcare reform requirements.  A recent article in the Washington Times highlights the impact of these changes:

“Since January 2009 the country has added a net total of 270,000 full-time jobs, but it has added 1.9 million part-time jobs, according to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The numbers come as…businesses [are trying] to save money and push workers into shorter schedules to avoid the penalties that come from hiring more full-time workers, who under the law will be required to be covered with health care insurance.”

Think about what’s happening.   Our economy now has millions of people who are working part-time with no medical or other traditional employee benefits.  Most of these people would rather be working full-time, but their employers don’t offer this option.

To become more gainfully employed, some people are choosing to work two or more part-time jobs. While this may work for some individuals, it’s often difficult to coordinate work schedules and make this option a viable long-term solution.  So, many individuals hang-on to the best part-time job they can find, lower their personal expenses, and wish they had a full-time job. 

As we discussed a few weeks ago, many of these workers are languishing and would be open considering options outside the traditional job market.   To a person in this situation, a real estate agent position may look surprisingly attractive—it’s full-time and has an opportunity for growth that corporate America cannot match.

As you shape your employment brand in the future, I recommend the following:

1. Don’t hire part-time agents.  Offering full-time work is now your competitive advantage.

2. Learn to compete against those offering part-time jobs.  Craft your recruiting messaging and your interview tactics around the concept that your main competitors are non-real estate companies offering part-time jobs.  Find out these competitors’ weaknesses and exploit them during the recruiting process.

There are lots of talented people in the workforce who are not fully utilizing their talents.  For the first time ever, the real estate industry may be in the best position engage these talents and put them to work in full-time positions.

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Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Use It or Lose It: Important Research for Older Agents to Consider

We all witnessed, helplessly, as my father-in-law rapidly declined in his cognitive abilities over the last eight years of his life.  Coincidentally, this process seemed to start just a few years after he had decided to retire.

His decision to retire was partly based on his desirable financial situation. After many years in law enforcement, his pension benefits allowed him to bring home almost as much income as he would have if he had continued working.  So, he decided to retire.

Many of us would probably have made the same decision.  However, recent brain research suggests there is much more than finances to consider when making decisions about retirement. 

By far, the largest study (nearly a half-million people) to look at the relationship between the timing of retirement and likelihood of dementia  was recently conducted by the French government. The results are surprising, and it should cause all of us to reevaluate what we’ve been taught about retirement.   Here is summary of the findings:

"People who delay retirement have less risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia, and researchers say the conclusion makes sense. Working tends to keep people physically active, socially connected and mentally challenged – all things known to help prevent mental decline.

‘For each additional year of work, the risk of getting dementia is reduced by 3.2 percent,’ said Carole Dufouil, a scientist at INSERM, the French government’s health research agency.

About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer’s is the most common type. In the U.S., about 5 million have Alzheimer’s – 1 in 9 people aged 65 and over. What causes the mind-robbing disease isn’t known and there is no cure or any treatments that slow its progression.

France has had some of the best Alzheimer’s research in the world, partly because its former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, made it a priority. The country also has detailed health records on self-employed people who pay into a Medicare-like health system.

Researchers used these records on more than 429,000 workers, most of whom were shopkeepers or craftsmen such as bakers and woodworkers. They were 74 on average and had been retired for an average of 12 years.

Nearly 3 percent had developed dementia but the risk of this was lower for each year of age at retirement. Someone who retired at 65 had about a 15 percent lower risk of developing dementia compared to someone retiring at 60, after other factors that affect those odds were taken into account.

To rule out the possibility that mental decline may have led people to retire earlier, researchers did analyses that eliminated people who developed dementia within 5 years of retirement, and within 10 years of it.

The trend is exactly the same, suggesting that work was having an effect on cognition, not the other way around. France mandates retirement in various jobs – civil servants must retire by 65, The new study suggests people should work as long as they want because it may have health benefits.

June Springer, who just turned 90, thinks it does. She was hired as a full-time receptionist at Caffi Plumbing & Heating in Alexandria, Va., eight years ago.

‘I’d like to give credit to the company for hiring me at that age,’ she said. ‘It’s a joy to work, being with people and keeping up with current events. I love doing what I do. As long as God grants me the brain to use I’ll take it every day.’

Heather Snyder, director of medical and scientific operations for the Alzheimer’s Association, said the study results don’t mean everyone needs to delay retirement.

‘It’s more staying cognitively active, staying socially active, continue to be engaged in whatever it is that’s enjoyable to you’ that’s important, she said.

‘My parents are retired but they’re busier than ever. They’re taking classes at their local university, they’re continuing to attend lectures and they’re continuing to stay cognitively engaged and socially engaged in their lives.’"

In our society, we are taught that giving up work and retiring is the pathway to the “good years.” I even know some people who are counting down the days until they retire!

Are they in essence counting down the days until they begin their decline? Is retirement even natural for our minds and bodies? Retirement typically means focusing on one’s own personal happiness and pleasure. Perhaps we weren't meant to make a full time job of doing that. 

In any case, it reminds us that your senior agents need to think twice about getting out of the business. 

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Join the WorkPuzzle Discussion at the Tidemark Online Community (TMOC)

Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.