On today’s episode, I sit down with Matt Slepin, Managing Director and Co-head of Real Estate at ZRG Partners, a global talent advisory firm that is changing the way companies hire and manage talent. 

Matt founded Terra Search Partners in 2006 which became part of ZRG Partners in 2022 to help expand ZRG’s business in all aspects of the real estate sector. Since 2017, Matt has been the host of the podcast series, “Leading Voices in Real Estate,” where he has conversations with leaders in the real estate industry about their career journeys and the businesses that they run.  Leading Voices is one of my favorite podcasts and a must for anyone in commercial real estate. 

In today’s conversation, we discuss how Matt’s career in real estate eventually led him to recruiting, what trends Matt is seeing with respect to hiring given the current macro environment, and what the real estate industry is doing to build ​​a more diverse workforce.

Links:

ZRG Partners

Matt on LinkedIn

Leading Voices in Real Estate Podcast

Cedric Bobo on Leading Voices

The Tao of Rick Rubin: The Ezra Klein Show

Get in Touch with Juniper Square

Watch the Video version of this episode

Provide feedback for the podcast

Connect with Brandon Sedloff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/

Topics:

(01:25) - Matt’s background and career

(02:36) - What brought you into the human capital business and how has it evolved over the course of your career?

(06:12) - How do you think about coaching others who are making a pivot in their career?

(10:21) - How is the current economic environment impacting the human capital industry within Real Estate?

(14:24) - What are you hearing from leaders in regard to their people structure?

(16:19) - What role is the office playing in human capital conversations?

(20:58) - How do you think about developing leaders? 

(25:01) - What are you asking candidates to look for in a great company to find if there’s a pathway to leadership?

(27:18) - How do you vet companies you work with to determine if they provide career success for their people?

(31:39) - Have you seen a shift in the way your clients approach ESG and DEI?

(36:08) - How do you respond when leadership teams state the talent pool simply isn’t large enough 

(39:13) - How is technology transforming the RE industry?

(42:44) - Why did you get into Podcasting and how do you curate your content?

(48:21) - Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

(49:13) - What advice would you give to people who want to best position themselves in the eyes of their future employer?