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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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.
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