The real estate mogul started building up her real estate empire, The Corcoran Group, at just 23 years old, with the goal of creating the largest brokerage in New York. And she says got there by rewarding her employees handsomely for their hard work along the way—even buying her top broker a Bentley.
“People are the most creative when they’re having fun, and we had more fun than anyone else,” Corcoran added. “I stopped advertising to hire because people were lining up to work at The Corcoran Group! Fun builds loyalty, and we had no turnover.”
Corcoran’s “crazy” benefits didn’t stop at luxury cars—she even brought massage spas and safari adventures to her employees during the workweek.
The former CEO would even take her staffers out on trips whenever she could afford it, including bussing her 600 agents to the country for mid-week picnics—and they were no laid-back affair with charcuterie boards and gingham blankets. Each had its own “crazy gimmick,” including 60-foot hot-air balloons, 5,000-pound elephant rides, and spitting camel safari fun. These events would feel extravagant to most penny-pinching bosses hoping to keep their employees happy with the occasional happy hour—but Corcoran believes her staffers should enjoy the spoils of their success.
“Why not?” she wrote, reminiscing on her fantastical picnics. “We worked hard, and we deserved to play hard too.”
There were also smaller things that Corcoran did to build morale; she regularly recalled throwing “the wildest parties in town,” and keeping a “good idea jar” in the office, where she’d reward each good idea with a dollar.
“Big, small, crazy, it didn’t matter,” Corcoran continued. “If you spoke up, you got a buck. It wasn’t about the money, it was about building a team where ideas flowed and efforts were rewarded over results.”
In the end, the money didn’t matter; it was all in the name of motivating her workers. Even when she gave out gold ribbons to staff who closed a million-dollar sale, instead of cold hard cash, everyone first laughed at the idea, she wrote—“Until the first ribbon was claimed, and jealousy kicked in fast! By the end of the month, desks were covered in gold ribbons.”
“Recognition motivates people more than money.”
