As you may know, most of the ObamaCare mandates will “kick in” over the next two years. Of course, it is appropriate for real estate owners and managers to focus their attention on the impact this law has on their own businesses.
But
what about other industries? Until
recently, I had not put much thought into how businesses in other industry
sectors are wrestling with these impending changes. But these changes are weighing heavily on
business leaders in retail, restaurants, and service industries.
While I feel for those struggling with these new directives (one of my business partners owns a large retail establishment), some good news may emerge from these changes --especially if your focus is hiring “new to real estate” agents over the next few years. As the old saying goes, one man’s curse is another man’s blessing.
This angle on the healthcare issue was brought to my attention by John Sumser. John is editor-in-chief of the HRExaminer Online Magazine and writes about Human Resource issues and recruiting from a broad perspective. As he studied and wrote about the nature of the employment relationship, he discovered the following principle:
Workers who pay for their own benefits are significantly more mobile that those who don't.
This statement may seem self-evident after you read it, but it is surprisingly profound. As we’ve worked with hundreds of real estate hiring managers and thousands of real estate candidates over the last few years, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the number one reason that high quality people choose not to pursue real estate careers.
That may be changing.
Not because real estate will be in a position to suddenly offer medical benefits, but because the competition (other non-real estate companies) will soon stop offering benefits. Here is an excerpt from an article that John recently wrote on this topic:
“I had a chance to catch up with some friends who are at the bottom of the system. Both work in retail. Both are part-time students. Both work hard and creatively. Both are noticing weird behavior from their employers.
They work in different cities in different parts of retail.
Since the first of the year, managers have been rotating and schedules have been shifting. As the noise settles down, the managers are slotting 50-hour weeks while the rest of the store works 27 to 30 hours.
In both cases, this amounted to a 20% cut in pay and a potential loss of benefits. (Their benefits are still intact but won’t remain so when the next ‘look back’ happens.) Very little is explained.
From their [point of view], it looks like management is lurching.
Their companies are maneuvering through the challenge of figuring out who does and doesn’t get benefits. Since it’s over their pay grade, they only understand the bluntest impacts of the story.
Ultimately, they will end up paying for their own health insurance.
It’s not really a surprise. While it is a momentary inconvenience, what happens next is pretty obvious. While their employers have figured out how to dodge this bullet, they only get a temporary reprieve.
Workers who pay for their own benefits are significantly more mobile that those who don’t. Up until last year, a worker who got sick (or had a family member who got sick) was bound to the current employer for a very long time. Pre-existing conditions made a whole range of people uninsurable if they left the current boss.
Now, after the first initial pinch, these low level workers are freer than they’ve ever been...
The employers who recognize this short-term windfall will end up paying for their employees healthcare in the long haul. Workers who get saddled with new bills seem to always want raises.
The interesting question is whether the employers who dodge this first bullet really understand that they are creating an attrition problem that will be accompanied by wage increases.
It doesn’t look like it. They are predictably going for the short money.”
I think there are two take-aways for the real estate industry from John’s insight:
1. Learn how to talk about medical benefits. Ask open-ended questions about the candidate’s medical benefit situation during the interview—especially if the candidate is from one of the industries being impacted by the ObamaCare changes. In the past, this topic was often avoided because it opposed a short-term disadvantage of working as a real estate agent. Now the playing field is more level and a real estate career still offers significantly more income potential than traditional jobs.
2. Develop transition programs. Find ways to help people transition from the jobs where they recently lost their benefits to a real estate agent position. We hear frequently from our clients…”We only want to hire full-time agents.” That’s fine, but there is window opening in the employment world where a quick transition from part-time to full-time may look compelling to many talented individuals. Rigidly hanging onto the full-time only model may cause you to miss engaging many talented individuals who will be looking at the real estate industry for the first time.
Question: Have you recently interviewed someone who has brought up the issue of medical benefits? What did you learn from the interaction?
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.
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.
Comments