Blog Archives - Page 33 of 54

Unlimited PTO: The Pros and Cons

Leave a Comment / Blog, Employers, Job Search

There are three paid time off options to offer your employees: traditional, flexible, and unlimited. While there are pros and cons to all three options, unlimited PTO is a swiftly growing trend for many of the most competitive companies. Here’s everything you need to know about this popular policy.

The Pros:

Easier for HR departments

It’s important to note that paid time off is not purely vacation. This can include bereavement, sick days, vacation time, parental and family leave, short or long-term disability, and holiday pay– and keeping track of each of these allotments can become a logistical nightmare for HR departments. With unlimited PTO, while there should still be a system in place for approving time taken off, HR departments will not be bogged down with tracking and reinforcing hours taken and hourly limits of each category.

It’s surprisingly cost-efficient

Assuming employees don’t abuse the policy (which hasn’t historically been an issue– check the “con” list below for more information on this), unlimited amounts of PTO can save your company money. When there exists a specific amount of time that can be taken off, many employers will have to pay out the vacation days that aren’t used by the end of the year (or the end of employment, in some cases). With unlimited PTO, you will not be expected to pay out your employees for any vacation days not taken.

It’s a recruitment tool

As aforementioned, many larger and competitive companies are offering this PTO policy as an attractive recruiting tool. Unlimited vacation sounds good to everyone– including top candidates. In fact, in a recent PTO survey, 51% of participants indicated they would take a job for 10% less pay (all else being equal) if unlimited PTO was available.

Learn More: https://www.zenefits.com/workest/unlimited-pto/

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The Importance of a Mentor

How To: Stand Out in an In-Person Interview

Leave a Comment / Blog, Interview Tips, Job Search, Set Yourself Up For Success

So you made it past the application, the phone interview…congratulations! Now you’re probably wondering how to stand out in an in-person interview? Coco Chanel says, “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” Sure, conventionality is safe and familiar, but is it memorable? Not always. But here’s a secret: they’re not mutually exclusive. You can be a traditionally professional candidate while still infusing extraordinary aspects to your interview. Be bold with your approach, and aim to not only be the most memorable candidate, but the best one too. Here are some ways to stand out in an in-person interview that the Building Careers RE team loves!

Nail The “Tell Me About Yourself” Question

This will be one of the first questions you receive, and it’s a stellar opportunity to set the bar really high. Many people struggle with this expansive question, but if you can craft a narrative that speaks to your strengths, experiences, and interest in the job, you will be five steps ahead of the competition.

Find a Common Interest

Connecting on something in common is a great way for your interviewer to remember who you are. If you find a shared interest in documentary films, or maybe a love for a preferred app, take the time to make this connection clear. Just be aware of when it’s time to move on.

Learn more ways to stand out in an interview here: https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/11-unusual-ways-to-stand-out-in-a-job-interview/

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The Cost of a Bad Hire and How to Get it Right

Leave a Comment / Blog, Employers, Set Yourself Up For Success

Every hiring manager knows there is a cost to making a bad hire. There are indirect and direct costs – both very real and tangible – associated with bringing someone on your team who just doesn’t fit. But few in the CRE industry have ever stopped to calculate just what those costs are or put the thought into getting it right the first time.

Do you know what you stand to lose by bringing the wrong CRE professional onto your team? Some estimates range as high as $840,000 per bad hire. Have you thought through what it takes to make the right hire and avoid those costs?

Let’s break it down piece by piece to help you avoid the cost of a bad hire and invest in only the right talent for your team.

The Direct Cost of a Bad Hire

The direct cost of making a bad hire is pretty easy to calculate. How much are you paying them in salary, incentives, and benefits? Multiply this by the amount of time they worked ineffectively and unprofitably for you.

Do they have a $100,000 annual package? Did they manage to burden your organization for two years before getting cut? Then you’re out $200,000 in compensation you could have invested elsewhere. That’s $200,000 you could have applied to profitable channels and personnel that instead you wasted on someone who wasn’t a team player or couldn’t cut the muster.

It stings, doesn’t it?

The Indirect Cost of a Bad Hire

The indirect costs are bit trickier to establish, yet they’re very real costs that hurt your business. And they usually are far more substantial than the direct compensation costs.

Time: You’ve spent time interviewing, hiring, and training. And it was all for nothing. That’s time you will never get back.
Productivity: This is different from business to business, but it usually looks like reduced time to market, missed deadlines, misdirected efforts, extra training time, etc.
Employee Engagement: Studies show that the cost of a bad hire includes decreased employee morale and engagement. While difficult to quantify, engagement is crucial to team success. And a bad apple can zap it right away.
Opportunity: Great CRE companies are built on extraordinary people – personalities who make the difference and create and leverage opportunities. A bad hire means so many missed opportunities for growth, better insights, new perspectives, relationship connections, and more.

How to Make the Right Hire

So how do you get it right and avoid the cost of making a bad hire? What does it take to find that rockstar for your team who will be a net gain for your business for many years to come? Here are a few tips:

Hire for culture and attitude, not skills. Remember, skills can be taught. Find someone who has the right outlook and cultural fit for your organization.
Ask interview questions that actually work. Stay away from the cute questions that don’t really get to who this person is, how do they think, and are they in line with your values. What kind of animal they see themselves as is irrelevant.
Do your due diligence. Candidates always look best up front in the interview process. Call their references. Dig into their past achievements. Verify everything.
Don’t make snap decisions. Consider all the data. Don’t rush the process. If need be, partner with a qualified recruiter who specializes in your field. The savings you will incur making the right hire will more than offset their fee.

The cost of making a bad hire is crippling. Your business can’t afford a mistake this big. Invest in the future of your business with a foolproof hiring process.

Sources:

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6 Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success

Leave a Comment / Ask An Expert, Blog, Set Yourself Up For Success

In the Forbes blogs “The Top 6 Actions That Promote Career Success” by Kathy Caprino, she does a great job at highlighting just that. We loved the article so much, we wanted to share some of the points she made.

#1 You Need to Gain Clarity

Bar none, this is the most important action if you want to achieve anything significant in life. You must understand exactly what you want and what matters most to you – what you’ll give up everything for. It can’t be some vague, nebulous notion like “I want to do something meaningful” or “I want to make a difference.” That’s a great start, but you need to drill down deep and peel the layers to understand what “meaningful” signifies to you, personally and specifically.

The reason so many people fail today to create fulfilling and exciting careers is that they simply won’t do the inner and outer work to determine how best to “connect the dots” – to uncover their unique talents, skills, and passions, and find the right career fit that will draw on those talents and passions. They also won’t do the work to see how they are contributing to and co-creating their problems and challenges. As I learned in my marriage and family therapy training, “greater awareness equals greater choice.” Successful professionals commit to increasing their awareness of who they long to be in the world, how they want to be of service, uniquely, and what’s in the way. When you’re clear about that, and believe you’re worthy of your visions, doors will open and new opportunities for your growth will emerge.

Learn More: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2012/11/13/the-top-6-actions-that-promote-career-success/#286883bc1811

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6 Ways to Build a Resume That Stands Out

Leave a Comment / Blog, Interview Tips, Resume Ideas

Customize Your Resume For Your Industry

Whether you’re deciding to switch jobs for the third time, or applying for the first time, the job application process can be overwhelming. Especially when trying to create a resume that stands out. Hiring managers don’t have a ton of time to thoroughly look over each resume, which means you have to be considerate about what to include. From choosing the right font to deciding whether or not to include that internship, creating a resume in 2020 isn’t easy. So how do you make your resume stand out among hundreds of applicants? Consider these six tips from top HR executives Time Magazine interviewed.

People are often encouraged to include personality in their resume, but unless they are applying for a job in a creative industry, they may want to rethink that strategy. “A lot of pictures and fonts and colors and a whole lot of personality just doesn’t align with the jobs we have here,” says Schweikert, whose team recruits for positions in sales, product, and marketing. “If I was in an organization that, for example, was in web design, then I would want to see those design elements in a resume.”

Include Keywords From The Original Job Posting

One of the best ways to make your resume stand out is to use the job posting as a guide. Some companies conduct keyword searches when sorting through resumes. Schweikert adds, “which means those terms are even more important to include if you want to secure an interview. It may sound tedious, but taking the time to customize your resume for each job you apply to is a surefire tactic to stand out among the pack of applicants,” she says.

Learn More: https://time.com/5483970/how-to-write-a-resume-that-stands-out/

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10 Ways to Increase Employee Retention

Leave a Comment / Blog, Building Careers, Employers, Set Yourself Up For Success

If you’re one of the many businesses that sees high employee turnover as a problem, you’re probably wondering what you can do to retain your most valued personnel. In an increasingly competitive business world, top talent is in high demand. Here are ten tips that will help you increase employee retention.

Generate a Good Working Atmosphere

Finding employees who will feel a strong bond with your company starts with creating an environment that attracts those employees. Your company culture should match the type of employee you want to employ, whether you opt for a by-the-book, strict workplace or a more casual, laid-back atmosphere.

Flexibility is Key

Workers have expressed a preference for flexible working conditions. If you expect your best employee to answer his phone when a client calls at seven o’clock on a Friday night, you should also understand when that employee comes in late one morning or needs to take off early.

Learn More: https://www.inc.com/john-rampton/10-ways-to-improve-employee-retention.html

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What Commercial Real Estate Listings Platform is Best for You?

Leave a Comment / Blog, Industry Insights

With so many different Commercial Real Estate (CRE) listing platforms on the market, it’s difficult to decipher which are right for you. Everyone has different needs and we know that. That is why we are here to help!

We want to make sure to consider what works best for your specific needs. For example, accounting for the ease-of-use, cost, and data offered on each platform. To help aid in your search, a list has been compiled of the best, most-used commercial, residential, and land listings websites on the internet today! Check it out below.

Learn More: https://www.reonomy.com/blog/post/guide-to-the-best-commercial-real-estate-listings-platforms

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Diversity vs. Inclusion: There’s a Difference!

Leave a Comment / Ask An Expert, Blog, Employers, Industry Insights

CRE Insight Journal does a great job explaining the difference between diversity and inclusion. They invite Patti Digh, founder of the School of Inclusion + Activism, to talk about this topic and she wants to make one thing clear: diversity and inclusion are not the same things. While the two concepts work hand-in-hand and should both be pursued, there is a clear distinction between the two. In order for companies to both diversify their staff and create a culture of inclusion, they must know what they are trying to achieve. Digh helps explain the differences and gives reasons why both concepts should be on a leader’s radar.

Learn More: http://leader.creinsightjournal.com/the-difference-between-diversity-and-inclusion-patti-digh/

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2020 CRE Outlook and What It Means for Hiring

Leave a Comment / Ask An Expert, Blog, Industry Insights, Job Search

With a new decade upon us, many are concerned about the 2020 CRE outlook and how the new year will play out for hiring. Certainly, numerous factors will influence the commercial real estate market this year – from new local regulations to global trade wars to the national economic cycle. But will things be drastically worse, much better, or more of the same?

The research and reports division of CBRE – a prominent commercial real estate investment and data firm – recently released their outlook for 2020. Overall, the outlook appears positive. But there are a few bumps along the road as well as subtle winds and turns to prepare for. Let’s break down the primary sectors and determine what the 2020 CRE outlook is for the various market sectors and hiring.

The Economy

The US is currently enjoying the longest economic boom in recent memory, but it’s certain not to last forever. However, 2020 will likely not see an outright recession. Though growth will likely slow to near 2%, facing a trade war with China and waning fiscal stimulus, the slowdown will be barely noticeable. The commercial property markets should prove resilient, thanks in part to preventive interest rate cuts and other stimulating policy moves. Property market fundamentals should remain strong.

Capital Markets

The CBRE report predicts commercial real estate investment volume will remain high – on par with that of 2019. The cost of capital will remain low. This, combined with increased foreign investment, domestic investment into CRE, and lower interest rates, will mean most capital markets remain strong.

However, some sectors like multifamily may see some cooling off. And investment overall is expected to decrease at least 5%. This late in the economic cycle, it is understandable to see decreased risk tolerance in investors. Yet the search for yield combined with the significantly low cost of capital will likely bolster investment in some asset types such as alternative use real estate.

Office Space

While office-related hiring growth will slow down, the US is still likely to experience about .3% growth. This means office property completions will slow down, and downtown vacancies will increase. The primary demand for office space should continue to come from the technology sector – especially in markets such as Austin and San Francisco. Flexible office space inventory should grow by about 13% in 2020.

Industrial & Logistics

The 2020 CRE outlook includes a downturn in demand for industrial space. It is possible that supply will outpace demand by approximately 30 billion square feet. Outsourcing and industrial shifts are reducing demand for industrial real estate, yet vacancies should remain very low. Third-party logistics providers will likely fill this vacuum to some extent in the coming decade but not soon enough to impact 2020. Rent growth should remain around 5%

Retail

Consumer spending will remain strong slowing slightly to around 2%. Spending at this level will continue to support job growth and modest investment gains. However, with uncertainty in the world economy – especially in regards to the trade war with China – consumers may be more cautious, and retail demand will probably slow in many areas.

However, this year marks the beginning of a new trend for retail. Generation Z is increasingly turning to shopping malls and retail outlets in search of experience-based consumption. According to a recent study, over 80% of Gen Z prefer in-store shopping, which should drive traffic back to retail centers and malls.

Multifamily

2020 is expected to hold a slight downturn for multifamily properties. Vacancy levels should rise to about 4.5%, and demand should drop about 20%. Developers will still remain active, but the focus is on shifting to the suburbs. Rent regulations are also impacting some areas like California, New York, and elsewhere. San Francisco and Los Angeles both experienced slowing in multifamily after California enacted rent controls in 2018, and this year may see a further slowing for the same reason.

The 2020 CRE Outlook for Hiring

In light of these developments and trends, the 2020 CRE outlook for hiring is shaping up to be much like 2019. Hiring overall will remain high, but the field will require more talented and experienced professionals. As the economy begins to slow down, more unqualified applicants will cloud the talent pool. Now more than ever, an effective and strategic hiring process is vital in the CRE field.

On the job applicant side, prospective employees can expect a more stringent review process. Employers will likely be more selective as they brace for the coming slowdown. They will place more emphasis on cultural fit and experience.

The 2020 CRE outlook involves some minor shifts, but overall, it should be a great year. Smart companies and professionals who are paying attention will spot some new opportunities and continue to leverage old ones. Rate of growth will slow, but it will still be a growth year overall.

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