Executive Search for the Real Estate and Construction Industries

Hot Candidates

San Francisco - Project Executive - Fifteen years plus as senior project manager owner’s representative for multi-unit residential and mixed use commercial development. Candidate has built over 800 condominium and rental units in San Francisco. Major expertise and strengths are due-diligence including environmental issues, entitlements including community outreach and city planning negotiations, guidance of project design to meet needs of end users and developer budget, careful attention to construction cost, quality and final commissioning. Project pro-forma modeling on Excel.

San Francisco - Owners Representative - Senior-level manager with over 25 years experience developing, implementing and coordinating complex new building, renovation and real estate development projects. Licensed Architect with experience in business development, project management, and contract negotiation.

Boston - Senior Portfolio Manager - Oversees all aspects of leasing/marketing, operations and construction for a privately owned commercial portfolio communicating directly with ownership. The portfolio is comprised of over 100 leases of more than 1 million square feet of commercial Grade A office space.

New York - Senior VP of Development - 15+ years experience. Responsible for securing developmental approvals, negotiating municipal agreements and securing A/E/C contracts and permitting approvals.

New York - Senior Project Manager - 20 years experience. Coordinates, manages, and supervises the design and construction process from project conception through final construction punch list and project turnover. Hires and supervises architectural and engineering design consultants. Directs the design process through the schematic, design development, and construction document phases of pre-construction. Participates in scope review and subcontractor selections with the construction manager. Works with utility companies and city agencies as required. Acts as the Owner Representative during construction, handling project start-up, budgets, change orders, requisitions, retail tenants, construction challenges, and project close- out.

New York - Acquisitions Manager - Corporate Real Estate / Asset Management professional with over 26 years of experience representing the real estate requirements of Fortune 100 companies, major financial institutions and property owners. Background includes responsibility for a diversified portfolio of commercial office, retail, production and warehouse properties on a nationwide basis.

San Francisco - Construction Project Manager - Extensive experience with project management and estimating for commercial, retail, mixed-use and interiors projects. Candidate has a stable work history and willing to explore opportunities offering growth and advancement.

Boston - Property Manager - Manages of 1 million feet of downtown property. Responsibilities include negotiating leases, repair and maintenance budgets, and preparing annual operating budgets.

For more information about one of more of these candidates, contact John Kreiss at jkreiss@morgansullivan.com.

Closing the Sale with Prized Recruits
By John P. Kreiss, President, MorganSullivan

Everybody understands the value of finishing a sales presentation strongly. The final minutes, when you summarize why your firm is the best choice to take on the project at hand, are often the most important. In recruiting, the same principle applies. The last step, making the job offer and negotiating terms, is your closing.

It’s very unfortunate when a recruit, while mulling over an offer, gets turned off by a perceived slight. But it happens more often than you might think. Always keep in mind that changing jobs carries risk. Sometimes a recruit decides that while the new position is enticing, the risk that it might not turn out to be what’s promised, or that moving away from friends, family, and a familiar lifestyle, is too great. That’s why closing well is so important. Last-minute bad vibes can tip the balance too far to the risk side of the risk/benefit scale for the recruit.

There are some matters of etiquette during the latter stages of the recruiting/hiring process that can be deal breakers if ignored. Here’s how to ensure that you close strongly:

Extending the offer
I’ve seen instances where a firm emails its offer to a candidate without even a phone call. This is a very impersonal way to offer a position, and can dissuade candidates from accepting the offer. It also creates a practical problem. How does one negotiate salary, benefits, bonuses, and a starting date with an email message? Another problem is that spam filters may block your message or relegate it to the recruit’s junk folder.

The best scenario is to make the offer face-to-face, which gives the firm’s representative and the recruit the opportunity to interact and gauge body language and facial expressions. I recommend that a lunch meeting be scheduled where both parties feel comfortable speaking candidly. A neutral site away from the hiring manager’s office is the best setting because it creates a level playing field. If held in the employer’s office, the employer, at least symbolically, has the upper hand.

When an in-person meeting is not feasible because of scheduling conflicts or geographical constraints, phone the recruit. This permits the recruit to voice any concerns and negotiate terms. If the recruit accepts the offer verbally, it’s OK to email the formal offer document if the recruit says that’s OK. Keep in mind, however, that legally, employers have the right to read employees’ email. So, if the recruit has any concerns about this, send the formal offer to his/her home email address or send the document via snail mail to the recruit’s home.

The art of negotiating
Negotiating starting salary is important, though it isn’t necessarily the thing that recruits are most likely to want to negotiate. Most employers realize that “recruited candidates” often require a significant salary boost to justify leaving their current position for another opportunity. Sometimes salary is a greater stumbling block, however, when a recruit is considering a job in a different region.

An employer recruiting someone from a major metro area on the East or West Coasts to a mid-sized city in the Midwest, for example, may not be able to match the recruit’s present salary. If the recruit is inclined to make the move for other reasons, such as a change in lifestyle, then the employer may still have a chance at landing the recruit. The employer in this case can cite the lower cost of living—$70,000 in Indianapolis may go further than $110,000 in New York, for instance—due to lower housing costs.

Employers are understandably reluctant to bring in a newcomer at a higher pay rate than what long-time staffers at the same level earn. One way to overcome that issue is to offer the recruit a median salary, but sweeten the offer with a sign-on bonus.

Bonuses and perks
The most common issues that recruits want to negotiate are sign-on bonuses and vacation time. Recruits can make a good case for sign-on bonuses when they would have to leave their firm before the end of the year because they may have to give up a significant year-end profit-sharing bonus. Many recruits are also reluctant to give up vacation time they have accrued over many years with their present employer.

Employers who are flexible with compensation and benefits packages will be able to accommodate the needs of many recruits. Recruits occasionally make unreasonable demands, though. When that happens, it’s usually best to rescind your offer. Sometimes even a highly qualified, capable recruit just isn’t a good fit for your firm.

But when you do find the right candidate and are ready to make the offer, put yourself in the recruit’s position and think about how you would want to be treated. Don’t let a good catch get away because of poor closing practices.

What do you think? Let us know...

John P. Kreiss is President of MorganSullivan, an executive search firm serving the real estate and construction industries.