Executive Search for the Real Estate and Construction Industries

Hot Candidates

San Jose Area - Construction Project Manager - Six years total experience managing commercial building construction jobs. Salary is $70K.

Providence - Development Manager - Candidate has more than 20 years of experience with urban housing development projects. Background includes managing the the quarterly portfolio review process for approximately 70-90 real estate development projects (representing more than 4,600 units and almost $500M in development costs at any one time).

Boston - Development Manager - Projects include:
$8.5M Mid-Rise Development, Quincy, Ma. Negotiated the P&S, worked with engineers, architects, lenders, and lawyers, met with city officials, attended hearings at city hall, compiled proforma financial analyses. Renegotiated key elements of the P&S to allow adequate time for the approval process. Granted a Special Permit to construct a new 36,000 sq foot; 4 Story; steel frame; 20 unit building with elevator.
$3.3M 10 Unit Re-Development, Marlborough, Ma. Determined the highest and best use was to demolish an existing 9 unit mixed-use property to make way for (8) 1,250 square foot, 2 bath, two bedroom units and (2) 1,450 square foot, 2 bath, two bedroom units. I oversaw all key elements of the development cycle including: worked with engineers, architects, lenders, and lawyers, met with city officials, local neighborhood associations, attended/presented at hearings at city hall, and managed builder for the duration of investment.
$1.2M Auto Dealership, West Roxbury, Ma. Hired by West Roxbury Motors to manage the development of their new facility and oversee the permitting, design, and construction.

San Diego - Vice President of Sales and Property Management - Extensive commercial brokerage and property management experience.

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

Failure to communicate causes multiple headaches
By John Rainone, Project Operations Manager, MorganSullivan

Companies that succeed over many decades do a lot of things well. One of the most overlooked traits shared by firms that consistently excel is above- average internal and external communication. Good communication between management and employees, and between all firm employees and clients, is critical to business success. Typically, though, many firms give little notice to establishing good communication practices. That's a mistake. Poor communication can cause negative repercussions throughout the business, including in areas such as employee retention, customer service, staff morale, and succession planning.

Morale and retention

The most common reason employees change jobs is related to their relationship with their boss. In interviews with two million employees at 700 companies, The Gallup Organization found that employee tenure and productivity are directly related to the relationship between employees and their immediate supervisor.

Often, job dissatisfaction boils down to poor manager/employee communication. One Gallup researcher, Tom Rath, co-author of the management book How Full is Your Bucket?, says that excessive negativity in many companies is a major contributor to poor company performance and permeates far too many manager/employee relationships. Rath contends that the many brief, everyday interactions between boss and employee are as important as the more formal ones such as performance reviews. He says that our relationships are formed by small moments of interaction-positive interactions fill one's "bucket," negative interactions empty it.

One of the common gripes of employees, according to Rath, is a lack of recognition for good work-missed opportunities to "fill buckets." Employees who say they do receive periodic recognition for good work are more productive, provide better customer service, and have better on-the-job safety records, Rath says. A cynic might view Rath's ideas as naïve, but they actually seem realistic when he gets specific.

For instance, he emphasizes that although many managers should be more generous with praise towards employees, they should also be more willing to provide negative feedback. Ignoring areas that need improvement is destructive, he says, and worsens manager/employee relations in the long run. The key is to balance criticism with praise. Ideally, he says, the ratio of good to negative feedback ought to be about 3:1. Of course, praise has to be genuine, and negative feedback should be framed as an opportunity for improvement, not an exercise in ego bashing.

The vision thing
Another important area of internal communication concerns how company leaders convey their vision and strategic plan to the staff. A company in which all employees know what elements are critical to success is better able to stay focused on what really counts.
A frequent employee complaint is being kept in the dark about what the future holds for the firm, and what their role is in realizing that future. Communication regarding the strategic plan and the progress the firm makes towards it should be frequent and routine. This will also have an impact on succession planning, as budding executives need to absorb the firm's philosophy in order to successfully take over the reins when their time comes.

In addition to formal venues of communication, such as internal newsletters and staff meetings, managers should also impart the firm's vision and employees' roles in achieving it in their day-to-day staff interactions. Let employees know how valuable their work is towards the firm's vision. Framing employee feedback according to the firm's strategic plan strengthens supervisor/employee relations and reinforces the firm's goals.

Client service
Every time someone from your firm interacts with a client or prospect, your firm's reputation is on the line. Every phone call, email, and personal meeting is an opportunity to make a good or bad impression. It's vital to make sure that all employees communicate clearly, courteously, and promptly to clients.

Here are a few rules to live by:

• If you have a receptionist that answers incoming calls, make sure that person has a pleasant, courteous phone manner.
    
• When a customer or prospect calls, make sure that someone on your staff calls them back within a day.
    
• If a client calls and wants you to bid on a project, send them a "thank you" note even if the project is too small for you to bid on.

These simple courtesies are just common sense, but it's easy to forget how important they are in the frenzy of day-to-day business activity.

Good communication is contagious. If you are able to instill good communications practices throughout the firm, you are likely to reap widespread benefits.

What do you think? Let us know...

John Rainone is Project Operations Manager for MorganSullivan, an executive search firm serving the real estate and construction industries.