Notorious R.O.B.

Starting a few years ago, I’ve been hearing a lot about how the Gen-Y or Millenials (people aged anywhere from 18 to 30 today) are going to change everything — but particularly in real estate.

A random sampling of opinions about how the Millenials will affect real estate, from a Google search I just ran, turned up these recent posts and articles:

MILLENNIALS – The New Face of Real Estate:

Text messaging, email, IPods, Facebook and being mobile as ever is a part of the new generation, the Millennial.  The Millennial are the young workers ranging in age between 21 to 29 years old.  They have the potential to create a lasting change in the real estate workplace because of the way they live, communicate and more importantly, the way they view their jobs.

80 Million Reasons to start changing your marketing….Millennials.

What do you think , will typical marketing work to attract someone that is buried in a laptop, ipod, FB, Twitter etc.. and values friendship more than work?

Hear Them Roar: Millennials make up almost a third of the U.S. population, and they will fundamentally change how you do business.

“Real estate agents may wonder why they should care about the Generation Y age group, ages 18 to 30,” Jessica Lautz, a senior research analyst at the National Association of Realtors, wrote on the organization’s website in 2008. “These unique home buyers are the youngest of the home buying segment and are the most likely to purchase a home in the next two years in comparison to any other age group.”

Sustainability, Urbanity, and You: How Millenials will Change the World (and Architecture)

Millennials grew up in suburbia; bland environments dependent on others for mobility. They are entering the adulthood seeking lifestyle: vitality, diversity, and community. But, Millennials are not the only ones who will be driving this sea change from suburban to high quality urban environments. Baby Boomers will soon be retiring by the boat load. Retirement communities in their current form resemble warehouses more than they do the most desirable of retirement “villages”—real communities where retirees can be independent and empowered, such as the Upper East Side and Key West.

And so on and so forth.  If you cared to, I’m sure you can find dozens, hundreds of other musings on the Millenials and how they force real estate professionals to be ever more online, ever more sensitive to these 80 million strong “Generation We” people who care more about walkability and lifestyle than large colonials on three acres, and so on.

The whole drive towards social media’s ascendancy in real estate was fueled in part by the insight — as is clear in the ActiveRain post above — that these Millenials are the FaceBook generation who are natives of the digital realm.

But a couple of recent articles make me wonder just how the Millenials will impact real estate; it may be rather different than what we imagine today.

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I love that Wendy Forsythe, VP of Broker Services for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, often blogs on Gen-X and Gen-Y issues in real estate. I suspect that Wendy and I are both Gen-Xers, and if you searched our past photographs, I’m sure there will be a few blackmail-worthy examples involving neon clothing, Z-Cavaricci’s, penny loafers, pastel blazers, Aqua-Net, and The Cure t-shirts.

Her latest post, however, makes us Gen-Xers out to be some sort of emotionally fragile prima donnas:

Professional sports teams have managers and coaches. The reason for this is because these are two different jobs. In most real estate offices, the leader has to wear many hats. If you want to attract and retain Gen X and Gen Y agents you have to wear your coaching hat, not your manager’s hat.

With all due respect to the redoubtable Ms. Forsythe, I’d like to extend the sports analogy a bit more and beat it until it completely collapses under its own weight.

Yes, professional sports teams have both managers and coaches.  If you’re going to wear the coaching hat, and do everything positive and shiny, then by golly, make sure someone is wearing the General Manager hat and being a total results-driven hardass.

The coach might be telling some young rookie, “Hey, kid, I believe in your abilities — just get out there, focus on the ball, and swing away.  The hits will come.”  The GM, however, is like, “Hey you — you hit .220 for the past twenty at-bats.  It’s time for you to get sent down to the minors.”

Wendy gives us this as an example of the difference between manager and coach:

• Manager’s message: “You’ll have to be patient, it takes time to get established in this business. It is not going to happen overnight.”
• Coach’s message: “You can do it. You are doing all the right things. Keep focused.”

Let me add the General Manager’s message:

• General Manager’s message: “Get your ass in gear and start producing, or I’m cutting you to make roster spots for someone who will.”

Look, Gen-Xers are in our 30′s.  We’re no business neophytes with stars in our eyes and dreams in our heads.  Most of us remain idealistic, perhaps, but I can say with reasonable confidence that the Gen-Xers who have moved on into the real world are hardnosed, experienced businesspeople who know how to get things done.  Ain’t no use in whining and crying.  When it’s game time, it’s game time.  We know that.  All the excuses in the world won’t turn that routine flyball into a base-clearing double.  We know that too.

I am now in the position of working with the so-called Millenials, who report to me.  You know what?  I’m finding that the good old fashioned motivation works just fine with this so-called “coddled generation” as well.  Sure, have all the freedom and initiative you want — but when it’s game time, it’s produce or else, kiddo.  If that don’t make you happy, well, it’s a big wide world; I’m sure there’s a job out there for ya.

Strangely, they all get it.  They all respond to such clear, unambiguous direction.  I don’t feel like I have to coddle them, or be their therapist.

If anything, I think every employee of whatever generation responds better to clear, unambiguous goals and expectations.  There really is not fudging around, “Hit this number to keep your job; hit that number to get promoted.”  Just like in sports — there’s no getting around that final score that determines who the winner is and who the loser is.  Gen-X’ers, Gen-Y’ers, Millenials, Boomers, Greatest Generation — we all understand it in the end.

The continual Oprahization of our society, including our workplace, is causing confusion amongst the employees.  And I write as an employee and as a manager both.  Trying so hard to “feel your concerns” and “understand your motivations” and such is actually counterproductive.  At the end of the day, business is simple: the money coming in has to be greater than the money going out.  This iron law of business has not changed since the day Thag traded his woolly mammoth tusk to Krang for the pretty cowrie shells, and it will not change until the end of time.

And you, as part of an organization, are either helping to have more money coming in or to have less money going out.  Simple, isn’t it?

So… yes, by all means, be nice to your people.  Be sweet and kind to your employees.  They’ll maybe be motivated better and respond.  But really, if you’re going to do the coaching thing, encouraging and motivating, then make sure they also see the General Manager thing, that expects, demands results.  Or else.

It’ll be good for both of you.

-rsh