State of the Industry Report 2007-2008

Chapter Ten key take-aways on how Cre talent Issues are geographIC and Cultural: Geography plays a role here and can be a challenge. Asia is in the worst state for trying to find people of experience and knowledge in the industry. Then, once found, retention is an enormous issue. People in Asia will work for the competition and then switch from end user to service provider (or vice versa) for just a few more pennies on the dollar. In general, service providers are willing to pay more for talent than end users. This talent pool problem in Asia is due largely to the lack of education and to the reality of the supply and demand curve there. funCtIonalIty also plays a role. Dominant talent pool concerns will differ based on the functionality you seek and in what geography you are seeking it. Getting consistent talent across key functions like strategy, transactions, project management and FM is rare. Explore both functional differences and levels of expertise. Culture also plays a bIg role In fIndIng the rIght talent. Cultural differences are vast. One suggestion is to have CoreNet Global design and teach a course, or series of content to help educate CRE professionals in the cultural differences of U.S., Asia, Middle East, Europe, and South America on how business is done in these cultures. Explore best in class practices and existing relationships. Service providers say it’s difficult to find good project managers on mainland Europe, where the function is perceived as ‘low level’ and ‘needs to be rebranded.’ It’s also hard finding them in New York, where it’s getting ‘very costly’ and there’s a ‘low supply curve.’ Yet in Moscow, ‘we’re very satisfied and they’re very motivated.’ Industry eXeCutIVes on the ground In asIa share VIews on Challenges of fIndIng Cre talent In IndIa ‘There’s a talent gap in India, where, most graduates who have related training or education to the property industry (such as mechanical or electrical engineering degrees), will still end up working in an IT or BPO-related industry because such industries can afford to pay much better.’ ‘Besides, India has always been perceived as the second Silicone Valley so working in an IT firm carries some level of pride or ego. These trends, along with the fact there are no formal real estate university courses in India, make the supply of qualified property professionals nearly impossible. Thus, those who didn’t make it to college ended up in the real estate industry starting from a low entry level job. Some companies even have the receptionist or secretary to handle lease negotiations.’ ‘Another factor is that the portfolio size in Asia is relatively smaller compared to other regions. There is not enough critical mass to have professionals available for individual functions like project management and FM. Thus, a single person often ends up having responsibility for multiple functions. This makes recruitment even more difficult, because it implies having a candidate with multiple sets of trainings and experiences.’ ‘The bottom line in India is that CRE still being perceived as a low level job. There needs to be some ‘branding’ around the CRE function and career track. Having business people on the team would help.’ other key summary poInts: • There are more people with 10+ years of experience asking for more money but there are fewer five-year types available at lower salaries. ‘They come to work, then look for higher-paying jobs and leave,’ is what one service provider related. • People are generally not willing to relocate (especially in the U.S.) for a lateral move. - In CRE, the compensation is driving relocation decisions and needs to be considerably better for talent to move. • This is even more prevalent in the more expensive markets, especially with higher end talent. • The challenge is not finding the subject matter expert, but finding the senior management experience. • The need is to mobilize a facilities management team, getting global leaders, finding people that are portable and finding consistency in quality and skills. • Salaries are so high, that they are marginalizing the cost/benefit of maintaining in-house CRE staff. We stopped listing salary ranges in our HR job postings (to avoid internal conflict with existing employees). Why not downsize and send out most of the work? • There’s a premium being paid on the corporate end user side – higher than the service provider side as reflected by market comparables. • Still, the service provider business has a worklife balance issue. That’s because many serve the corporate client by day and work to manage the internal service provider business by night. chapter ten State of the Industry 2007-2008 47 http://www2.corenetglobal.org/home/index.vsp

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of State of the Industry Report 2007-2008

State of the Industry Report 2007-2008 Contents Chapter 1: Introduction : CoRE 2010 Framework and Report Structure Chapter 2: The Changing Business Environment Chapter 3: Executive Summary of Key Findings and Conclusions Chapter 4: CoRE 2010 Adoption Rate Chapter 5: Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility Chapter 6: Global Sustainability Survey and Roundtable Findings Chapter 7: Workplace Practices/Work Environments Chapter 8: Workplace Related Issue: The War for Talent Chapter 9: Asset Management/Portfolio Optimization Chapter 10: Solutions Delivery Chapter 11: Location Strategies/The Strategic Role of Place Chapter 12: Location Related Issue: Site Selection Morphs to Portfolio Alignment Chapter 13: Strategic Competencies/Enterprise Leadership Skills Chapter 14: Competencies Related Issue: The War for Talent in Corporate Real Estate (CRE) Chapter 15: Integrated Resources Infrastructure Solutions – IRIS Chapter 16: Technology and the Web Chapter 17: Technology Related Issue: Removing the Obstacles to Industry Data Standards Acknowledgements and Sources

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