Article: Real estate sector is becoming more organised, creating a need for specialised talent: Mrinaal Mittal, Black Teak

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Real estate sector is becoming more organised, creating a need for specialised talent: Mrinaal Mittal, Black Teak

"Revenue generators are always sought after in any industry and we are no different. There is no undermining of the support functions but the backbone of this industry is the sales force," said Mrinaal Mittal - Director, Black Teak.
Real estate sector is becoming more organised, creating a need for specialised talent: Mrinaal Mittal, Black Teak

Real estate sector in India is predicted to reach US$ 1 trillion in market size by 2030, according to IBEF. Does that mean that the real estate sector also has enormous employment growth potential.

Mrinaal Mittal - Director, Black Teak discusses the trends shaping the landscape of the real estate sector and its impact on talent market. He also talks about the transformation the entire industry is going through and the nonconventional talent practices that companies in real estate are exploring. 

How has the landscape of real estate sector in India transformed in the last couple of years?

Real estate as a sector is becoming more and more organised. This means more specialised talent is needed for every aspect of the business.

Earlier a salesperson, for example, could be selling a residential or commercial unit but now their skills are getting specialised. Even for different price points like different skill training for luxury vs. affordable etc. Need for an experienced employee is very important. Also, the industry is very small when it comes to real estate financing or the leasing side. So there are smaller networks where everyone knows each other hence it becomes very important to be a known face in your circle if you want to progress.

What is the talent outlook in the real estate sector? What are some hot jobs or skills in demand?

Sadly for a long time the real estate sector has been a very low entry barrier industry, anyone and everyone could become a part of it. But now things have changes and the market has become more competitive.

We at Blackteak are very stringent about the people we hire for we engage in long-term associations and always look at the big picture.

The talent that most credible players of real estate look for is a flair for sales and people engagement.

Revenue generators are always sought after in any industry and we are no different. There is no undermining of the support functions but the backbone of this industry is the sales force. With the Luxury residential sales skyrocketing of late, the resources with skillsets matching those are being hired the most.  Basically, it is someone with finesse, great communication, and people skills adept at the art of subtle sales.

How are you building a strong pipeline of talent to make the most of the emerging opportunities in the industry?

One of Blackteak’s underlying principles is that people make the foundation of this organisation, hence it is imperative to invest in people. While we have senior resources from this industry that have built a reputation for themselves and are veterans of their own specialisations, we are actively hiring young blood with fresh perspective.

We are open to hiring people straight out of college too as long as they have a passion for this industry and a dream to grow.We believe that when you love what you do, drive and ambition become a byproduct.

Needless to say, the real estate industry is one of the well-paying industries so in that aspect we stand second to none.

What are some big changes you have made in the way you attract and manage talent?

Happy places attract happy people and happy people are the best performers and that is our mantra to success.

We believe in personalised interactions with people we intend to hire but we also rely on behavior-determining psychometric evaluations. This combination of instinct and science has always worked for us.

Once we hire people we are very keen on upgrading and honing their skills as per their roles and KRAs. We dedicate time and resources to their training needs at the beginning of the year and ensure they undertake the same. We believe in growing with our people and hence investing in their professional upgradation is in our interest too. 

How are you leveraging technology to engage talent? What's working for you?

We are using AI liberally to hire talent in terms of being present at the platforms where qualified candidates are present, getting access to untapped talent pools, easy access to employee referrals etc. This essentially ensures that our hiring time and effort are nearly halved.

However, once the candidates are a part of our Blackteak Family then we like to go the old school way, be it more human interaction during an induction or breaking ice over working lunches or an informal office get-together after working hours.

Keeping it simple works for us, for we value people and like to build bonds that last long. We all work towards a unified goal as a team and sometimes as one family.

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Topics: Talent Acquisition, #SMEcorner, #Leaders Talk

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