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Erica Lockwood, executive partner and managing director of DEI with Joseph Chris Partners, joins the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast to share the importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) when hiring in the real estate industry. Lockwood joins host Carol Morgan on the All About Real Estate segment.
An executive recruiter, Lockwood has a 21-year history with Joseph Chris Partners and lives in Houston, Texas. In her role, Lockwood helps companies and people across the country see possibilities during recruitment and company expansions.
Based in the Houston market, Joseph Chris Partners is an executive search firm primarily focused on hiring for residential construction and real estate developers, with a large portion of day-to-day roles primarily targeted toward homebuilding. The company also works extensively in the commercial sphere with retail, office and industrial work, as well as mixed-use focuses.
The company works across the United States, as well as internationally.
“We’ve been in business since 1977 and real estate has been our focus the entire time,” Lockwood said. “We are very blessed to be experiencing a crazy market like everybody else.”
Many services offered by Joseph Chris Partners assist start-up companies or those experiencing expansions with market, land, accounting, finance, sales, construction, purchasing and estimating expertise.
To assist clients seeking to fill open positions, Joseph Chris Partners calls passive individuals, or those not actively seeking employment, on their clients’ behalf to share information about company culture and job opportunities. This is essential to acquire the necessary talent to move the company forward in a market saturated with open positions.
“That’s the difference that we apply every day is just reaching out proactively versus…the post and hope,” Lockwood said.
Lockwood’s role at Joseph Chris Partners evolved with assisting builders in strategy and initiatives to incorporate DEI into their companies corporate-wide. The next step for Lockwood was to fully understand everything about DEI — why it’s necessary and the daily value it brings to both companies and individuals.
Lockwood and Joseph Chris Partners talk with company leaders to learn what they are doing and where they are to then offer recommendations for advancement. Lockwood shared the residential and commercial construction industry has thousands of job openings but not enough people to move into those roles.
Traditionally, hiring managers look for individuals with industry experience and because of this trend, the hiring process can become redundant and leave positions open for extended periods of time.
“Hiring managers [must] be open to looking at people who are outside of the industry that can bring attitude [and] aptitude,” Lockwood said. Most importantly [there has to be] a really solidly structured training program in place to make that transition successful.”
Tune in to the full interview above to learn more about Joseph Chris Partners or visit www.JosephChris.com
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Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee, License #22564. NMLS ID #6606. Subject to borrower and property qualifications. Not all applicants will qualify. Joseph Chris Partners and New American Funding are not associated. Click here to view the terms and conditions of products mentioned during the show. Corporate office 14511 Myford Rd., Suite 100, Tustin, CA 92780. Phone: (800) 450-2010. (February/2022)
New American Funding is a family-owned mortgage lender with a servicing portfolio of over 216,000+ loans for $56.8 billion, 171 branches and about 4,500+ employees. The company offers several niche loan products and has made Inc. 5000’s list of Fastest-Growing Companies in America seven times. For more information, call 678-898-3540 or visit https://branch.newamericanfunding.com/Atlanta.
The Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio “All About Real Estate” segment, presented by Denim Marketing, highlights the movers and shakers in the Atlanta real estate industry – the home builders, developers, Realtors and suppliers working to provide the American dream for Atlantans. For more information on how you can be featured as a guest, contact Denim Marketing at 770-383-3360 or fill out the Atlanta Real Estate Forum contact form. Subscribe to the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast on iTunes, and if you like this week’s show, be sure to rate it.