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Up Close: Interview with Tony LoPinto - GlobeSt.com
By John Salustri - GlobeSt.com
December 2, 2002
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The recent, major spate of industry layoffs seems to have subsided as we hunker down on the floor of this market trough. But the smart money won't stay idle for long. Those are the companies that will use 2003 to strategize their growth and hire for the upswing while there are still people with credentials perched on the sidelines. That's what Anthony LoPinto thinks, anyhow. LoPinto is CEO of Equinox Partners, the parent organization of on-line real estate recruiter SelectLeaders, which in turn populates GlobeSt.com's Employment Center pages. While the strategizing sounds like progressive thinking, there's still much that the industry has to learn about its recruitment techniques, as the recent survey crafted by SelectLeaders and co-sponsored by GlobeSt.com proved. (The other survey sponsors were: PREA, ULI, NAREIT, Grubb & Ellis; Institutional Real Estate Inc.; and Sarofim Realty Advisors.) Included in those lessons still to be learned are less reliance on the Good Old
Boys Network for new hires and the need to farm more recruits from the academic community. LoPinto explains.
GlobeSt.com: When we last talked there were some serious layoffs going on, which you indicated was - for smart managers at least - only half of an equation, the second part of which was strategic hires. There hasn't been a whole lot of the latter.
LoPinto: In retrospect, there was more significant cutting back than some had foreseen. But by now, most companies have stabilized their organizations. They've cut back, trimmed up and gotten lean in response to market conditions. Now there's a real forward-looking orientation, and 2003, in all likelihood, will be a year of strategic hiring. You're right; there hasn't been a whole lot of strategic hiring, which means that we enter 2003 with pent-up demand. There's a lot of talent in the market, and it's a good time to hire that talent. The C -suites will be smart about bringing in the talent that positions them well for the front end of the recovery.
GlobeSt.com: Which could all be knocked into a cocked hat if there's more downside ahead of us.
LoPinto: From conversations I've had, it's clear that substantial meetings are going on to plan for putting more effective audit boards in place. There is no upside to delay, and this will be the issue of the New Year. The emphasis will be on facilitating the independence of the board.
GlobeSt.com: That process must be so counter-cultural in such a traditionally maverick industry as real estate.
LoPinto: Right. The public side of our industry has transitioned better than the private side because of the pressures brought about by the institutional holdings and the need for transparency. How to better train, manage and retain the strongest management teams has been the issue of the day since REITs first traded on the stock exchange floor.
GlobeSt.com: There seems to be so much that the industry needs to learn - as was brought out by the Human Capital survey. The juiciest part for us was the reliance on the old boy network for hiring referrals. What was it for you?
LoPinto: It was the absence of professional development programs that are standard in other industries, such as structured career planning and training, formalized evaluation techniques and clear-cut recruitment strategies. Also, while there is a stated interest in minority recruitment, there is a lack of it in practice.
GlobeSt.com: So the issue is that real estate companies are not interested in increasing diversity?
LoPinto: No, the issue is that real estate management is focused on hands-on experience. The graduate student does not come to the door with on-the-job training. This was the least desirable of all the desirable traits for a new hire. I was on a panel at the ULI conference in Las Vegas - Careers in Real Estate. As I looked around the audience - which was made up mostly of students - I saw an incredible range of diversity. There isn't much stock put into hiring at the graduate level - which would increase the industry's diversity.
GlobeSt.com: One could argue that hands-on experience overshadows college experience in all industries.
LoPinto: But workplace diversity is an issue we have to address to serve our business better. Real estate serves minority markets across the nation, so we have to provide intern programs for minorities, and an outreach program. To do that, we have to reinforce the university programs. It's one thing to get people into the education system and another to feed them into real live jobs. Stan Ross at USC is working to develop better programs and better curricula to attract more minorities. Such programs must have more of an orientation toward what the industry wants; they must provide a better balance between academia and case studies. And we must draw the talent that emerges from those programs.
GlobeSt.com: The survey uncovered some areas of disappointment, such as the weak tie-in to academia, but it also showed areas of encouragement, as in the industry's embrace of technology for hiring. Is that right?
LoPinto: Right after the old boy network, use of the internet for hiring was the #2 method of recruiting.
GlobeSt.com: That's an odd juxtaposition.
LoPinto: No. It's a powerful statement of what's happening in the industry and how it is transitioning. I've been astounded at the activity of companies pursuing the medium. There isn't any substantial middle-market company we are aware of that is not using job postings on the internet medium at some level. We are really in a space that the industry needs.
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