Over at Grubb & Ellis, CEO Barry Barovick recently revealed that the firm's chief operating officer, Mark Costello, had left the firm and that Barovick would assume his duties for the time being. Speaking to GlobeSt.com in an exclusive interview for this week's UpClose, Barovick says, "I characterize it as a mutual agreement. It is better for Mark in light of the fact that I'm going to be much more hands on. For me to be effective this was the best way to handle that. But it was definitely a mutual agreement."

According to Anthony J. LoPinto, managing director and CEO of real estate industry-focused executive search firm Equinox Partners, much of the corporate jockeying can be put down to the fact that companies are hiring new talent to prepare for a new economy. "We're in the trough of a market," LoPinto tells GlobeSt.com. "Companies are looking to reposition themselves for what is going to be a recovering market. They're looking for bench strength, to add some power players."

As to why top producers are jumping to the competition, often abandoning career-long jobs, "It's not that the moves are being made [just] for money," LoPinto notes. "Some power players want to seize market share in what is again going to be a competitive market. They're going to make moves to be in what they believe is going to be the best platform to generate business."