PSOW’s Pamela Eyring Shares How to Build Professional Presence in CRE’s Next Generation
It’s graduation season, which means two million newly credentialed professionals are about to enter the workforce.
To put that in perspective, that’s a talent pool the size of the entire population of Houston, Texas, suddenly appearing on our payrolls, ready to take on their summer internships and entry-level analyst roles across the commercial real estate (CRE) and capital sectors. They have real technical competence. They are data fluent, AI-native, and digitally hyper-connected.
They are also struggling with a significant soft skills gap.
According to a recently published and much-discussed survey, 60 percent of employers say they’ve fired at least one of their new hires out of college, citing a lack of motivation, poor communication skills, and poor professional etiquette.
As PSOW’s Pamela Eyring shared with the readers of the prominent commercial real estate publication, The Mann Report, we can’t let this be the final verdict on Gen Z’s potential. We need what they bring. The analytical instincts, the comfort with new tools, the willingness to question old workflows.
That’s why it’s no longer enough to expect young professionals to know how to show up at work intuitively. Instead, CRE leaders must proactively build professional presence and communication training into their onboarding and development programs.
In the new article, Pamela shares strategies for today’s CRE leadership to bridge the professional gap.
Action Steps for CRE Leaders
As leaders prepare to welcome summer interns and new graduates, here is how Pamela advises to integrate these principles into your firm.
1. Establish and Teach a Standard
Define what professionalism looks like for your specific firm. Do not assume young hires know the unwritten rules. You must ensure there is a standard and then teach it directly.
2. Interpret Dress Codes in Context
Teach new hires how to read and apply workplace dress and grooming expectations across the different settings they will encounter, from the office to tenant meetings to broker lunches.
3. Focus on Authentic Relationship-Building
In CRE, the real deals often happen through networking. Provide explicit guidance on relationship-building and networking strategies that create lasting impressions in the real estate and capital sectors.
4. Create Space to Practice and Reinforce
Build safe environments for new hires to practice introductions and conversations. Follow up, and reinforce these skills with positive, specific feedback.
That work does not happen by accident. It happens when leaders decide to make it part of the job.
Closing the Gap Starts This Summer Summer interns and new hires are an opportunity to onboard the next generation of CRE professionals. They create a sustainable talent pipeline that builds institutional resilience and agility.
Read the full article in The Mann Report, June issue and below you can watch a timely discussion Pamela had on the topic with J. Darrin Gross, host of the Commercial Real Estate Pro Network.