Real Estate Forum - March 2008

industry average; now slightly below (-10%),” commented a real estate director with a retailer in the Southwest.

“Better than others on bonus, but lower than others on base,” stated an SVP with a financial firm in the Southeast.

But are those base salaries and bonuses equal for men and women

in comparable jobs throughout the industry? Although 70.3% said pay for men and women in the industry is equitable, the written comments from female executives tell a different tale. (It should be noted that 78.4% of those who took the survey were male.)

reveal that the challenge offered by the job is the most important factor in job satisfaction.

“Women Still Lag”

“Women still lag behind in both salary and opportunity for advancement,” said a female senior account manager at a commercial brokerage firm in the Southeast.

“In corporate performance and equity-based pay, women in commercial real estate face the same obstacles as they do in all areas of corporate America,” said a president of a brokerage outfit in the Northeast. “Women still are not compensated dollar-for-dollar at the same rate as men. On the brokerage side, hidden biases from the client base often compel women to bring a man onto their team so that the right suit appears at a client’s front door.”

Yet others do envision changes on the horizon. “Some inequities persist, but I’ve experienced an improving trend. Our daughters should enjoy equitable treatment,” predicted a vice president and senior CRE broker at a financial firm in the Southeast.

Saitta says that in his work experience, he has not seen unequal pay for men and women as an issue. However, he concedes, “Being an intelligent person who sees other statistics, I assume there is still a gap, but I don’t necessarily see it in my practice.”

Likewise, LoPinto says that in his personal experience, he does not see a material difference between the pay for top-ech-elon executives, male or female . However, he concedes, “that does not mean on a global basis, that women are perhaps compensated somewhat lower.” He further points out that with a respondent profile that is more than 70% male, it will “clearly bias the results.”

And just how important is salary in recruiting and retaining top-notch talent, male or female? The survey seems to suggest that while it is an important factor, other variables, such as opportunities for advancement and a good working environment, come into play as well.

Indeed, 64% of those polled said that salary was not the most important factor in their job satisfaction. When asked to rank it among other factors, pay received 19.4% of the vote, well behind the challenge offered by the job ( 32.4%), room for advancement ( 28.5%) and team environment ( 19.8%).

“I would accept perhaps 10% lower all-in compensation in exchange for a great team environment,” wrote a VP at a national investment bank. “If you like the people you work with, it feels a lot less like…work!”

(Don’t worry, all responses are anonymous, so your boss will never know you would accept a pay cut.)

“Coin is the shiny object that brings prospective team mem-

bers in the door, but to retain them, there has to be more than just dollars,” says the president of a Northeast brokerage firm.

“People working for the bottom line are rarely satisfied, so job challenge, support, team environment and unlimited potential all keep your best players in the game.”

Saitta maintains that the promise of increased compensation can be a powerful lure when a professional is looking to move from one job to another. “But once you are at a company, it becomes much more about the environment you are in and the possibility for promotion, which does bring along with it additional compensation. The ability to advance—there’s a lot of personal satisfaction in that.

Being challenged, being part of a winning team, if you will, is very important.”

Or as a managing director at a private equity firm in the Midwest said: “Salary is a one-year measure. Advancement is a concept that covers the long-term nature of a career.”

Long-term aspirations are admirable, but in today’s chal-lenge-laden environment, just making it through the quarter is a struggle. As one respondent said, “Long-term planning is good, but you have to survive now to get there.”

We’ll check in next year to see how you all have done. ◆

maintain that men and women are compensated equally for comparable job titles in commercial real estate.

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