COMMENT Reviewing the most recent race survey from EG, it is clear that more needs to be done collectively to drive change in the industry for the better. While there has been a huge shift across the real estate sector in terms of recognising the need to greatly improve diversity, the disparity between the views of white and minority ethnic respondents illustrates the need for continued focus and emphasis.
I encourage every company in the real estate sector to embed D&I right at the heart of their strategy to ensure we all make it a priority, with allocated resources on an ongoing basis, not just when events in the wider world shine a spotlight on such issues. This will make sure that the change we need to happen takes place across the board at a pace where it really makes a difference to the individual. And that change happens at company, industry and societal levels, not in a piecemeal fashion where progress is erratic and deeper-held institutional issues are addressed at a much slower pace. This needs to be a strategic decision made by us all with a clear commitment to creating an inclusive environment.
We must make sure we have a culture which welcomes and attracts everyone, is truly representative of all sections of society and provides career opportunities that allow everyone to achieve their potential. To do this we must pay particular attention to marginalised and vulnerable groups whose voices can sometimes be the hardest to hear.
But this is not just about individual organisations looking out for their own employees, this is about creating a balanced community across our whole industry. It is about having open and honest conversations about what we need to do better and working together to achieve change.
Start at the top
Influencing change starts at management level. At Savills we all support the drive towards change but we recognise the need to undertake training in the form of reverse mentoring, which helps us better understand the lived experience of our Black and minority ethnic staff, unconscious bias recruitment training so we can eliminate unintentional discriminatory behaviours, and programmes of learning around diverse thinking. This has helped engage the most senior members of our organisation in understanding what it is that they can do to help improve our workplace for our employees. Appointing board sponsors for each of our D&I groups gives all those groups a voice at board level.
The effective use of internal D&I groups is crucial. The profile of our ethnicity group internally has been elevated over recent months, not least through the awareness that was raised by BLM. This group represents a diverse range of individuals who all have their own experiences within society and need to be supported by allies across the firm. This is not just about training but also sharing culture and traditions to ensure our workplaces are inclusive.
By embedding our D&I groups within our decision making we have successfully addressed key concerns. Most recently our ethnicity group worked closely with our learning and development team to implement and expand learning opportunities, including a leadership development programme to support the progression of our Black and minority ethnic employees.
Recruitment
Our approach to recruitment has seen tremendous progress in broadening the diversity of our graduate and apprenticeship entry schemes. We know that there is a lack of awareness from Black and minority ethnic groups of the opportunities within real estate, so we have been working with schools and universities to increase the profile of the industry and the opportunities that exist.
I am confident that we are seeing the positive results of these initiatives in our graduate intake for September. But recruitment is only the start and we will continue to emphasise the need for diverse thinking, learning opportunities and support structures to ensure our best employees are being retained and elevated.
We are passionate about building stronger organisations with much greater diversity both within Savills and across the entire real estate sector. We would be delighted to work with others in the industry to share ideas on how we can all work together to create a better built environment which addresses the needs of the whole of society.
James Sparrow is chief executive of Savills UK & EMEA
