Development, communication key at brokerage
Accountability, professional development and communication are key principles at CB&A Realtors, a residential real estate brokerage that took the highest spot among midsize companies in the Houston Chronicle’s annual list of Top Workplaces.
“It really has a lot to do with the fact that we believe we communicate with our agents in a way where they know we’re there when they need us,” said owner Chance Brown, summing up why he believed his growing company has made Top Workplaces six years in a row.
Agents say they feel supported by and have ample opportunities to learn and grow professionally. They also value the company’s fun and friendly side.
The pandemic stymied many of CB&A Realtors’ regular events. But in a typical year, there are numerous happy hours, speakers, top producer luncheons and other events. Last year’s annual award show was at Saint Arnold Brewing
Co. downtown.
The company’s supportive culture applies to both employees and customers. Agents are offered regular training opportunities. The company’s marketing and technology platform allows its home buying and selling customers to schedule movers, connect utilities and do other tasks meant to make moving hassle-free.
With 270 employees and agents and $385 million in revenue, CB&A opened an office in Katy at the beginning of the year — its third. The company just signed a lease for office space near the West
Loop for its fourth location — the first inside Loop 610.
“When we expand, we try our best to do it based on agent demand,” Brown said. “We have a handful of highly productive agents in that marketplace already and we believe that because of some of the shakeups in other companies down there, there’s an opportunity for (agents) who would be interested in the model we provide.”
Working in real estate can offer flexible hours and worklife balance. The industry therefore is constantly attracting new agents, whether they are just finishing school or starting second careers.
New and experienced agents at CB&A value Brown’s accessibility.
“You can literally ask him anything and he has an answer
for you,” an employee commented in the Top Workplace survey, which was conducted by the Pennsylvania company Energage.
“He provides constant encouragement
and phenomenal tools, training and education,” another said.
Much of the CB&A office is back up and running. Brown is making sure agents have opportunities to communicate face to face should they desire.
The company reintroduced in-person training at the beginning of September though virtual options are still available. Agents and employees are asked to stay home if they are sick and are required to wear masks when interacting with the public. Masks are not required in the office.
“I will tell you the virtual happy hours were fun — we played games and things like that to keep people positive — but it doesn’t replace the real interaction,” he said. ‘ To get people in the office and for classes, it’s a difference maker in people’s mental well-being.”