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Over the last two years, women are restructuring the workforce and have been empowered to pursue better workplace dynamics. From diversity to flexibility to pay equality, women are demanding that companies meet their needs, or they are prepared to explore alternative opportunities. What’s more, companies that aren’t adapting and fostering supportive work environments are seeing women leave at record rates.

So says the new report from CREW Network, ,,Building the CRE Workforce of the Future, which explores emerging trends in work and how women are at the helm of restructuring the workforce. And one such trend stands out: 27% of CRE professionals have left the workplace in the last two years seeking better opportunities, better benefits, or a culture that better fits their values, priorities, and lifestyle.

“This aligns with the Great Aspiration trend, where workers are seeking ways to create a life that they want,” Wendy Mann, CEO of CREW Network, says. “That is really telling about what matters to people.”

What Women Want

Women want an equitable environment that reflects their needs. Pay equality is at the top of that list. In CREW’s 2022 survey, 34% of women chose pay transparency as the top priority in improving the workplace. Women believe companies should routinely monitor compensation to ensure equitable standards through raises and pay increases and bonuses. Flexible workplace polices were second on the list, with 27% saying this was their highest priority, following by workplace diversity (19%), professional support (11%) and health and wellbeing services (8%). This list of characteristics are also aligned with ,,the CREW Network CRE Pledge for Action, a commitment by CEOs to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Due to the tight job market and a spotlight on DEI, women are in a unique position to demand inclusive practices. “Women are no longer accepting that it is okay [to have an unsupportive workplace] and there is a lot of opportunity for women to make moves than there might have been,” says Mann. “It is an employee’s market, and if you want something different, you can find it.”

Creating the right environment begins with the company culture, according to Mann, who says that the office environment is driving choices that women are making in the workforce. “Employees need to feel like they can be their authentic selves at work,” she says.

Read More: https://www.globest.com/2022/11/22/women-hold-the-cards-in-reshaping-the-workforce/?kw=Women%20Hold%20the%20Cards%20in%20Reshaping%20the%20Workforce&utm_source=email&utm_medium=enl&utm_campaign=womenofinfluence&utm_content=20221205&utm_term=rem&slreturn=20221106085141

When hiring for most roles in commercial real estate, the primary considerations are of course previous experience and relevant skills. Many CRE professions require specialized knowledge and skills to succeed. However, you might be overlooking the most important hiring criteria: personality.

Making a bad hire can have a ripple effect through your whole organization, so it’s critical to hire for personality and train for skills. After all, you can teach skill. But character and attitude are forever.

Effective Interviewing

Hiring for personality is easier said than done. So, it’s important to start with an effective interviewing approach. Behavioral interviews are the best, because they reorient the focus on the personality and innate attitudes of the prospect rather than just data sets on a resume.

Setting aside the CV and stereotypical interview questions, you will be able to gauge the potential new hire’s character and ability to think on their feet. What sort of outlook do they have? Are they principled and honest? You can learn a lot from focusing less on the technical side of the interview and more on the way the interviewee responds to different scenarios.

This is important, because no employee is an island. Each interview should look at how this person will impact the team as a whole. Are they a bad apple? Or are they a good cultural fit? This matters far more than the number of years they have in a similar role.

Character Matters in Business

Often overlooked entirely or thrown out as a cliché, strong values and character in the workplace really are essential. CRE professionals who own up to their mistakes or provide transparency to the client or pull their share of the weight on a property are crucial. A highly experienced team member without integrity in the workplace will end up costing the company in the long run.

Working with professionals with a strong sense of ethics and character on the job are a pleasure to work with. They build team cohesion. Their attitude is contagious. And they create an environment of trust and growth that allow for greater achievements.

But character and integrity are a function of one’s personality, not training. You cannot teach this to a new hire, no matter how many seminars you send them to. A candidate may have the most experience and the longest list of applicable skills on their resume, but without the right personality, they will prove to be a bad hire and wind up costing you money.

Critical Personality Traits That Trump Skill

Still unsure if you should really hire for personality first and foremost? Consider the following personality traits and whether they’re more or less important than skills you can teach your new hire.

Positive: This means your new hire won’t complain and nag team members. Instead of dragging down office morale, they will boost others at crucial moments.

Open-Minded/Flexible: CRE is an ever changing and fast-paced industry. An employee who is flexible and open-minded will see the big picture and solve problems to get to the goal, taking risks when necessary.

Independent/Different: It might seem counterintuitive, but some candidates who seem different and an awkward cultural fit on the surface can actually be incredibly valuable employees. These independent types ask questions no one else is asking and strike out on their own when a fresh perspective is needed.

Collaborative: Teamwork is essential in any business. A candidate with an eagerness to collaborate with others and team up will prove invaluable.

It’s All About Perspective

Personality is important because of the following axioms:

1. 1. Skills can be trained.
   2. Experience can be gained.
   3. But DNA cannot be changed

When you have the right perspective and understand how personality builds a successful team, you will see the value of making a hire for personality and attitude.

Great hires have a coachable personality that allows them to learn fast and grow. Sir Richard Branson says most people can learn most everything about a job role in just three months anyway.

Great hires represent your company and demonstrate its corporate values and ethics. They are the face of your organization, so skill should be secondary to a winning personality and principled character.

Great hires inspire those around them to excel. Whereas a bad hire, no matter how qualified, can drag the team down, resulting in damaged corporate culture, wasted money, damaged reputation, etc.

It’s important to view the hiring process as an opportunity to add people to your team, not just skills to your team’s collective skillset. Of course, skills and experience are critical factors in a good hire. But great CRE companies are only as good as the people – and personalities – who make them up.

Every business has a culture—that’s right, even yours! But what makes the difference between a healthy company culture and a toxic one? Read on to find out.

First, let’s get clear about what company culture is. It can seem kind of hazy, but culture is just the collective attitudes and behaviors of your organization. Culture is how your company does things—and it’s not one-size-fits-all. Now that you know what it is, you may be asking: how do you build a great company culture? That’s a great question! And we have the answers (and some tips you can use to transform your business). Let’s get into it

The way your team experiences your business has a major impact on how effective they are in their roles. A miserable work experience (aka a hostile work environment) is bad for your business’s brand and growth potential, as well as team members’ productivity and mental health. And the opposite is true too—a healthy culture keeps your team happy and engaged in their roles and contributes to the growth of your business. According to a survey by Gallup, businesses with the highest employee engagement are 23% more profitable than those with the lowest employee engagement.

Toxic Company Culture Characteristics

So, what does a harmful company culture look like? It may be glaringly obvious in some areas, but other symptoms can be subtle. Here are a few signs you may have a bad company culture:

• • Team members don’t feel safe to communicate openly with leaders

• • Illegal, dishonest or unethical behaviors (especially by leadership)

• • High team member turnover rate

• • Pressure from leaders to constantly work long hours, not take vacation days, and neglect work-life balance

• • Team members constantly fear failure or being fired without warning

• • Gossip and work-related drama

• • Passive-aggressive communication

Examples Of Companies With Good Cultures

Every company, big or small, has a workplace culture. Here are some examples of healthy company cultures:

This online shoe giant consistently gets ranked as one of the best corporate cultures in America—and that doesn’t happen by accident. When describing their company culture, Zappos said, “We’ve learned that if you identify your company’s core values, hire by them, onboard team members by them, and truly live by them; then your business is on a long-term path to success, profit and growth.” From its hiring practices to customer service to the work environment, everything and everyone reinforce the company’s core values.

Named one of Inc. magazine’s Best Workplaces of 2020 and listed in FlexJobs’ Top 100 Companies to Watch for Remote Jobs in 2021, the virtual staffing firm has built a highly engaged team and award-winning culture—even while working 100% remote. BELAY attributes that to knowing how culture is really built: with values, not gimmicks. “[Our culture is] not Ping-Pong tables, fully stocked beer fridges, and nap pods,” said BELAY. “We instill our mission and values of gratitude, teamwork, vision, passion, fun and God into every one of our nearly 1,200 remote workforce team members.”

Read More: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/business/grow-remarkable-company-culture

Branding your business is common, but today, branding yourself personally is also very important. To build an effective personal brand entails building your own public image by harmonizing who you actually are and how others see you.

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Your personal brand should communicate your unique attributes, highlight your strengths, build trust and establish a reputation in your current or desired industry. Personal branding is one’s story. That story helps you achieve a competitive advantage, whether in your professional or personal endeavors. Building a personal brand doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process that demands much effort and a good plan. Here are six steps to build a successful personal brand:

Pick A Niche

The first step to building a successful personal brand is choosing a niche, or target market. You’ve probably heard the saying, “If you try to appeal everyone, you’ll end up appealing no one.” That’s why you must first focus on a specific niche to build a successful personal brand. Here are four questions to ask in order to choose your niche:

• • To which customers will your product or services most appeal? From a personal branding standpoint, a strong brand cannot appeal to every single customer. Identify the customers who will make the core of your business. After identifying these customers, customize your brand for maximum appeal.

• • Which traits make your business unique? In order to effectively position yourself within a marketplace, you need to determine what attributes separate you from everyone else. What does your business offer that no one else in the market can? By answering this question, you’ll be able to highlight your unique value propositions and build your personal brand.

• • What problems or needs does your business address? Knowing the frustrations or needs your business addresses is a vital part of your personal brand. Ask your target customers what they appreciate most about your business. Use their answers to improve your messaging.

• • How much competition will you be facing? Before settling on a niche and building a brand to reach that market, determine how much competition you’ll be facing. If a less competitive niche is not available, focus on differentiating yourself from the competition.

If you answer these four questions, you’ll be able to choose the right niche. Some might struggle to choose a specific niche out of fear of limiting themselves. However, it’s best to invest your time and energy into an audience that is more likely to give you the desired outcome.

Find The Biggest Influencers

It’s difficult for new brands to get attention on the internet. This is because nearly all businesses are online, which creates a lot of noise. This is why some brands choose to use influencers. Influencers are people who have earned respect and recognition in their chosen niche and usually have a large audience and recognized authority among their followers.

Read More: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2020/03/11/how-to-build-a-successful-personal-brand-in-six-simple-steps/?sh=5f0bec1942c4

Each year, one in five adults in the U.S. will experience mental illness. Yet only one in three who need help will get it. As a result, many people will either miss work or will get less done on the job. The latter is known as presenteeism, when people go to work while struggling with physical or mental health issues. This is why focusing on employee mental health is so important for your bottom line.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity. But WHO also found that for every $1 spent on treating common mental health concerns, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity.

According to the Society for Human Resources Management, many employers are enhancing emotional and mental health benefits. Types of support can range from managing stress, to treating invisible disabilities such as anxiety and depression.

The potential benefits of supporting employee mental health include:

• • Increased productivity: Research shows that nearly 86 percent of employees treated for depression report improved work performance. And in some studies, treatment of depression has been shown to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism by 40 to 60 percent.

• • Increased retention: In a 2019 survey of more than 1,500 employees nationwide, more than a third of the respondents said they had left a job due at least in part to mental health. Of these, 59 percent said mental health was the primary reason.

• • Decreased health care and disability costs: According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, rates of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are twice as high in adults with serious mental illness.

The connection between physical health and mental health prompted the American Heart Association’s CEO Roundtable to release a report called “Mental Health: A Workforce Crisis.” It urges employers to provide comprehensive programs for the prevention and treatment of mental illness. “The cost of doing nothing is higher than investing in evidence-based prevention and treatment,” the report found.

How Your Company Can Support Employee Mental Health

A nationwide employee survey found that what people want the most in the workplace are trainings and more easily accessible information about where to go or who to ask for mental health support. A more open culture about mental health at work is also important to employees, according to the survey.

With those findings in mind, here are five ways your company can support employee mental health:

1. Understand How Mental Health Impacts Your Employees

“It’s important for managers to be trained to recognize the signs of emotional distress so they can react in a supportive rather than a punitive way,” says Jerome Schultz, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. “Some employees need people around them to say, ‘Hey, I see you might be feeling stressed. Maybe now is a good time to try some breathing exercises or go take a walk.’”

Here are some proactive steps you can take to understand and assess your employees’ mental health:

• • Make mental health training mandatory for your company’s leaders to help them be more aware of and invested in this aspect of their employees’ well-being.

• • Train managers on what to do if they see signs of emotional distress or substance abuse.

Read More: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/workplace-mental-health-5-ways-to-support-employee-wellness