Senior Women in Real Estate
We routinely work with organisations looking to enhance representation and promote diversity in their leadership teams. And as a predominantly female company, we have developed a strong rapport with the female talent our clients want to attract. Through numerous in-depth discussions with those candidates over the past few years, we have gained unique insights into the challenges they face.
It is imperative for companies to develop and integrate practices and processes necessary for creating inclusive leadership teams. Over the next few months, we will take an in-depth look at some of these topics, including:
- Pay inequality and promotion bias
- Work-life balance
- Networking opportunities and challenging social dynamics
- The culture of the real estate industry
- Confidence and imposter syndrome
- Female-specific health and wellbeing issues, with pregnancy, baby loss, IVF, and menopause
- Scrutiny and lack of mentors and advocates.
Not at the Expense of Men
In rightfully addressing some of the challenges female leaders face, the industry must be mindful not to marginalise men or create an environment of reverse discrimination. Most real estate leaders, regardless of gender, want opportunities to be based on merit rather than quotas and will share many of the concerns listed above. Some men may struggle with operating in a shifting workplace culture, which companies can address.
Working Together
We work with many real estate organisations to promote gender equality, particularly at a senior level. Our series in the coming months will cover:
- Equity policies in the workplace
- Training on unconscious bias and diversity, equity, and inclusion
- Clearly communicating the why and how of gender diversity initiatives and encouraging open dialogue
- Workplace mentoring
- Flexible working and work life balance
- Setting goals and metrics, measuring outcomes and reporting on progress, and noting personal experiences.
- Industry-wise initiatives forums, groups and associations
The goal is to ensure our industry encourages diverse and inclusive workplaces, with strong and representative leadership, that benefit everyone.