Recruitment trends that will transform realty in 2018

Technology adoption: According to Sukhdeep Aurora, Chief People Officer, Anarock Property Consultants, adeptness in digital technology and upskilling to Digitech skills are prime watchwords for selecting the right candidates. To be sure, technology is the change driver around which more and more real estate recruitment decisions will be taken. He says, “Whether an industry likes it or not, technology will replace – and in fact is already replacing – at least 75% of the traditional methods of sourcing real estate opportunities at both the buyers’ and sellers’ end. In this highly opportunistic market, operational speed is of greater essence than ever before, and the use of technology to achieve this speed is indispensable.” 

Even developers have woken up to the fact that they cannot survive any longer without getting the ‘tech edge’ and prefer hiring young people who have these skills in their DNA, so to speak, rather than investing in upskilling their existing workforce. In many cases, they would have to change almost their entire staff – beginning with HR – to not only hire but also adequately utilize more tech-adept people.  

Sukhdeep remarks, “In response to the deep-rooted technology handicap that such developers face, the agiler real estate consultancies and brokerages leveraged real estate technology long before and are able to provide their clients with the benefits of this expertise. Being already tech-entrenched, they also know exactly which kind of talent to hire and provide constant upskilling to ensure that they stay ahead of the constant and lightning-fast tech learning curve.” 

RERA (non) compliance: The second real estate hiring trend of note in 2018 is dictated by the recent policy changes which have defined how real estate business is done in India. While it has not managed to make a 360-degree sweep of them as yet, RERA is in the process of eliminating non-registered property brokers from the field. Individual brokers working with a real estate consultancy are covered under the company’s RERA registration and do not need to register under RERA individually. Sukhdeep feels that this game-changing act has still had a distinct impact on the hiring activities of RERA-registered consultancies. Many smaller brokerages (and individual brokers) do not, for many reasons, see themselves as having much of a future in the post-RERA era. 

“The operatives which such agencies have had to let go, and individual brokers who have some degree of real estate experience but cannot hope to succeed on their own now, are currently scouting the job market for opportunities. The numbers here are considerable, and the result is that there is something of a glut of aspiring real estate agents applying with RERA-registered property consultancies.” 

However, because of the stringent rules that RERA requires property consultancies to comply with, less than 10% of this newly-available talent can be recruited by serious real estate firms. Brokers who made a living bending the rules or ignoring them altogether are often too set in their ways to learn to play by the book. This makes them very risky hiring propositions, no matter what they profess - the saying ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ comes easily to mind. 

RERA-registered property consultancies cannot afford to gamble on wild cards. The kind of talent they now look for is grass-roots honest and firmly believes in transparency, rather than just nodding vaguely in its direction.

The diversity imperative: The consultant believes that diversity is and will continue to be a very big factor directing the HR policies of real estate players who are in it for the long haul. This is not just about amplifying their appeal on the job and business market - it is about recognising that a workforce with a good balance of men and women simply does better business. Indian real estate has historically been a pretty male-oriented arena, but this is changing fast. 

He explains, “Not only does broadening the hiring decisions open at least 50% more qualified and appropriately tempered candidates; it also is the framework of a significantly more productive workforce. Also, women are excellent at not only property brokering and consulting but also as researchers, team players and team motivators. In 2018, we are already seeing a lot more women being hired by the larger and organised real estate developers, property consultancies and home finance firms.”