Senior industry experts join Emma Burnaby-Atkins at SEO London’s Real Estate Academy panel event

Diversity at senior level is crucial for the future of real estate investment and should be a driving force across all recruitment activity. Beyond the obvious moral imperative, and the fact it encourages a stronger talent pipeline, there are clear commercial reasons to focus on diversity at the top.

BCG found that companies with above-average managerial-level diversity reported innovation revenue that was 19% higher than those with below-average diversity in leadership.¹ McKinsey’s pack-leading research is filled with positive outcomes for those with diverse senior teams:

The best performing companies for ethnic and racial managerial diversity financially outperformed their industry mean by 35%.²
Companies most focused on gender and ethnic diversity in executive teams are 9% more likely to outperform peers.³
At board level, companies in the top quartile for board-gender diversity are 27% more likely to outperform the bottom quartile. In relation to ethnic diversity, this sits is 13%.⁴

Although at Madison Lincoln our focus is senior level executive search, we recognise the need to encourage a diverse junior workforce, as a percentage of these juniors ultimately become leaders. 

To successfully achieve diversity at senior level, the pipeline needs to be diverse at entry level. 31.6% of commercial real estate firms said their most impactful DEI policy was scholarships/internships to increase diversity.⁵ New entrants then need to be supported and nurtured to stay in real estate and aspire to leadership. They also need to be exposed to diverse leadership role models in order to envisage themselves in a similarly senior role. Unfortunately, research suggests this support is currently lacking, evidenced by significant diverse-employee leakage from real estate:

Women in UK real estate drop from accounting for 71% of entry-level roles to 42% at board level. Deloitte put female senior leadership in real estate at just 26.2% in 2022, dropping to approx. 14.5% at C-suite.⁶
22% of all employees are from lower socio-economic backgrounds – at senior level this drops to 14%. Among those in senior roles: 51% are white males from highersocio-economic backgrounds; only 14% are from lowersocio-economic backgrounds.⁷

Diversity is at the core of our business at Madison Lincoln – both within our client work and searches, and our own firm. 100% of the shortlists we’ve shared with clients have been diverse and 30% of hires have been female since we were founded. As a predominantly female company ourselves, we understand the value in supporting diversity. This is a key message we focus on sharing through our own channels and press features.

As part of our mission to encourage diversity in real estate, Madison Lincoln is privileged to support SEO London’s Real Estate Programme. SEO London is a training and education charity with 25 years’ experience connecting talented students from undeserved and underrepresented backgrounds with opportunities in competitive industries. In 2021, they launched their Real Estate Programme, to help create a pipeline of new diverse talent in an industry that is traditionally seen as hard to reach. 

Their award-winning8 Real Estate Academy forms part of this programme. This training initiative equips 2nd and 3rd year students from diverse backgrounds with the tools they need to break into the industry. The course covers technical and employability training, provides a recognised certification, and leverages relationships with partner firms. They are supported by founding partners and sponsors - Eastdil Secured, Goldman Sachs, Tristan Capital, Blackstone, Westbrook Partners, Cerberus Capital Management, OMERS, QuadReal Property Group and Starwood Capital Group.

Following on from our sister company - Madison Berkeley’s – workshop for their students earlier this year, last Thursday our Senior Director Emma Burnaby-Atkins lent her support. Emma joined an impressive panel of senior industry experts as moderator at SEO London’s flagship Real Estate Academy event in Bloomsbury. A brilliant line up awaited the students. The panel comprised Manraj Padda - Vice President, Westbrook Partners, Shervin Ghassemi - Executive Director, IB Goldman Sachs,Alexis Muller - Associate Director Investments, Oxford Properties Group and Vanisha Thakrar - Director Real Estate Investments and Strategic Portfolio Management – L&G. 

With the aim of de-mystifying the industry and inspiring the students to pursue a career in real estate, a fascinating panel discussion ensued - followed by a lively Q&A. Panellists shared their industry knowledge and experiences, bringing fresh insights on the real estate market and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we hope it helps bring a wealth of new diverse talent into our industry. 

Whilst recent research might paint a somewhat bleak picture of the real estate industry’s diversity position, we’re focusing our sights upwards and we encourage you to join us. Where our industry is lagging in progress and lacking in socio-economic diversity – notably at senior level – there is all the more opportunity for improvement. Let’s support initiatives like SEO London and ensure we’re looking to create a more accessible industry for diverse talent, encourage aspiration and confidence, and nurture this talent right through to the top.

If you’re interested in working with SEO London, by volunteering your expertise, or by partnering as a sponsor firm – please visit their website https://www.seo-london.org/‍  ‍