​With bonus season in real estate generally coming at the end of March, is your organisation ready for what happens next?

Our near quarter of a century as a specialist consultancy to the real estate sector has taught us that this is one of the busiest periods for employee resignations and moves in the space, with between 20-40% more jobs typically available in the sector during April and May. We've already seen a spike from firms that pay based on calendar year in the first couple of months of this year, and expect that to continue again during these next couple of months when the majority will receive their bonuses. 

According to data from LinkedIn, over 1 in 10 in the real estate and construction sectors changed jobs in the past year, and we expect this to be higher this coming year from the conversations we’ve had in Q1 with candidates who have sat tight in the trickier times of 2023 but are looking ahead for more in 2024 and beyond.

With this in mind, have you considered what your organisation and department will do if some of your key staff decide to leave? We look at how you can navigate the challenge below.

Effective planning for the inevitable

How critical are the Finance Managers, Asset Managers, Development Managers, Project Directors, and more to your operations? If they were to hand in their notice tomorrow, could you confidently say that you’d be able to get somebody else in of appropriate quality within their notice period and without a lag between one person leaving and the other joining? Would you look to fill their role in a like-for-like way, change the responsibilities of it, or look to hire someone more junior or senior into the space? Strong succession planning looks at the key roles across your organisation if you’re in HR/Talent Acquisition, and across your team if you’re a department lead, to understand what the future might look like in the roles if the current incumbent decides to leave.

We find the most proactive organisations that we have the closest relationships with are contacting us at the start of each year, quarter, or hiring cycle about their potential upcoming plans – even if they don’t have an actual vacancy to fill at that exact time. We’re then able to create a market map of available talent, inform them about the key skills that are required in similar roles in the sector, including what they might be missing out on in their current incumbent, and, crucially, the budget they should expect to set for the role(s) in development.

To retain or refrain?

By having a handle on the talent available in the market, what your competition is doing, and what the cost would be of employing someone in a role, you can make an informed decision about whether you want to make efforts to retain someone when their resignation hits your desk, or refrain in the knowledge that you can actually advance your team with a new recruit.

With budgets tight across the sector, we’ve seen the number of counter-offers at a higher salary diminish, with organisations now looking more in-depth at their benefits packages to attract and retain staff, as this piece specifically into real estate tech & IT roles demonstrates.

What you then need to weigh up is whether that individual is truly worth a counter-offer – breaking pay grades, standard benefit packages, and often complex structures, only to see the same thing to happen again during the year.

Helping you achieve your goals in 2024 and beyond

With the real estate and construction sectors leading the economic recovery in Q1, we’ve seen more confidence so far this year to move forward with strategic growth plans.

As mentioned, it’s been a busy Q1 so far, speaking with a range of excellent candidates interested in finding their next opportunity. So, whether you have an imminent vacancy arise, or want to understand more about the current market, candidates, and salaries typically on offer for roles that may need to be filled later in the year, please get in touch with your relevant director at Cobalt below to discuss your requirements.

Tom Enefer, Director, Real Estate and Capital Markets – tenefer@cobaltrecruitment.com / +44(0)20 7478 2512

Maria Sinclair, Director, Regional Real Estate – msinclair@cobaltrecruitment.com / +44(0)161 7111 507

Simon Jobson, Director, Accountancy & Finance – sjobson@cobaltrecruitment.com / +44(0)20 7478 2536

Daniel Scott, Associate Director, Construction & Real Estate Development – dscott@cobaltrecruitment.com / +44(0)20 7478 2524

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See our latest roles available across Real Estate and Construction here.