Last week, we discussed the coming trend in the employment market at large where the traditional “job with benefits” will become less available and employers will look to lower cost employment models to meet their needs.  The two most prominent models are (1) the independent contractor and (2) part-time employment with no benefits.  We then raised the question:  How do you position yourself to take advantage of this trend?

For a real estate company, this seems to be a tough question.  As I’ve spoken with real estate leaders over the last six months, I’ve learned that everyone wants to find ways to attract younger, more talented agents who are willing to dedicate those talents to the real estate industry.  But, there’s a disconnect.  These individuals are not choosing this option on their own, and they don’t seem overly interested in listening to the options a real estate company has to offer.

How can this be fixed?  The change in traditional employment will help, but that’s not enough.  Just because other options are not as appealing as they used to be does not necessarily mean that talented individuals will now choose to work with you.  Your option has to be superior (or at least equal) to the remaining options available.

This may sound like an oversimplified observation, but it is something that most real estate companies struggle to understand.  Part of the reason this blind spot exists is because real estate leaders do not have a perception of what employment options exist for young, talented individuals.  The belief is that competition for new hires primarily comes from other real estate firms.  This is not true.  The competition for new talent is between your firm and all the other non-real estate companies who can potentially hire people in your immediate geography.

Of course, this begs the question:  What employment options do talented individuals have within 20 miles of your real estate office(s)?  If you don’t know the answer to this question, you need to find out.  Once you find out, how does the employment opportunity you’re offering (becoming an agent) honestly stack-up against these other opportunities?  Be honest.  This is a more difficult question than it may seem.

There is a perception among real estate leaders that there are restrictions inherent to the real estate business model that make it difficult to compete with traditional companies.  While this is partially true, it is not a premise that the most successful leaders in the future will accept.  They know that if you ask people to make less-than-intelligent choices, they will only be able to attract B players. 

Next time, we’ll discuss what these options look like and how a real estate company can compete more successfully. 

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 or questions are welcome.  If you’re an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the “comments” link below.