Millennials Are Soon To Be Entering the Commercial Real Estate (CRE)  Workforce
Photo courtesy of ITU/Rowan Farrell

It’s certainly no secret that we live in a world of short attention spans with a need for immediate gratification. The Internet has changed things for good. This is true in our personal lives and it’s just as true every day in our professional ones. And when it comes to the Commercial Real Estate industry, it’s transforming the way buildings are managed. Gone are the days of being chained to a desk – mobile workforces are the new cubicles.

While many property owners and managers have already begun addressing the needs of Millennial tenants with enhanced communications and operational transparency, not as much attention has been focused on those choosing commercial real estate as a career choice. Consulting firm Deloitte estimates that more than 65 percent of senior leaders in the industry will retire by 2020. The young CRE professionals who will replace them are tech savvy and demand tools and systems to help them perform better. Are you prepared for this clear demographic shift coming to your workforce?

Here are five things you should be doing now:

1. Get Mobile. A full third of Millennials make work mobility a priority when considering a job, and that number is growing every day. Having a mobile property management platform is essential to attracting and keeping this well-educated and tech-savvy group. Millennials need to be able to do their job from anywhere at any time, so make sure your software provider can meet those needs.

2. Establish performance benchmarks. Millennials need to be able to measure their success. Setting up clear performance goals for employees will give them something to work towards.

3. Provide regular feedback. Quality feedback is crucial for Millennials, and annual or bi-annual reviews aren’t enough anymore. They want frequent and honest feedback that enables them to adjust their performance appropriately.

4. Challenge your employees. Millennials are creative and like to be stimulated. Challenge them to come up with a new process or new way to streamline a lengthy workflow. They will benefit from the sense of accomplishment and you will benefit from the increased efficiency.

5. Provide on-going training. Millennials often have uncompromising professional goals. They flourish when they feel like they are gaining a variety of experiences and engaging in development activities.

Research shows that companies make more money when employees are satisfied. So if you aren’t already making changes for the Millennial workforce, start now. You and your bottom line won’t regret it.