EDITOR’S COMMENT Back at the start of January – can that really be less than three months ago? – we at EG said this was the year to prove the real estate industry’s superhero status. To prove that property companies weren’t the bad guys they are too often typecast as. To prove that they can do good, change lives – maybe even save them.
It’s now clear that there has never been a better, or more urgent, time for us all to step up to that challenge. The world around us has changed beyond recognition during the coronavirus pandemic. The ways we’re living and working, the day-to-day problems we’re learning to overcome as individuals and teams. In responding to new needs, there is a huge opportunity for business to do real good, to reveal the superhero cape tucked underneath the office attire.
Heroes step up
Many have already stepped up. Consider the actions of LaSalle Investment Management freeing up car-parking spaces for NHS workers. Or CBRE’s pro bono work for the NHS, seeking to find it unoccupied properties that could be used for vital services. It has been overwhelmed with offers. Or John Lewis Partnership’s £1m community support fund. Or the suggestion from Jonathan Downey, owner of the Street Feast street food markets, that the company’s Shoreditch market could become a food hub for local schools during the lockdown. Such initiatives, large and small, will change lives – in large and small but always valuable ways.
Don’t be seen as a villain
The alternative, to stick to the comic book metaphor, is to be seen as a villain. Look at the outcry as pub chain Wetherspoon’s told staff it would stop paying them from this Friday, with chairman Tim Martin’s suggestion that employees look for work in busy supermarkets now that pubs have been forced to shut. Or the social media furore over an estate agency said still to be demanding employees come to the office after the government-imposed lockdown, despite staff’s worries.
Decision-makers at those companies will surely argue that they are making informed choices that they see as the right move at a particular time. But the perception of those choices will be different.
Make no mistake, our decisions now, as leaders, businesses, employers, will be remembered, and should be made with the head and heart. People will remember what we prioritise, how quickly we act, how we communicate, who we help. And many, once these dark days have passed, will let those memories shape their own decisions. Decisions about which companies they want to work with, work for, buy from.
At this stage, who knows if we will return to business the way it was before this crisis? Business as usual may well be gone, replaced with a new normal shaped by the lessons we have learned over a rollercoaster of weeks.
That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as EG editor Samantha McClary wrote last week. We can come out the other side of this changed for the better, with new ways of working and a new focus on our priorities. And perhaps a few new skills in the video-conferencing department.
But now, at a time when the light at the end of the tunnel is distant, keep in mind how you want people to remember your behaviour during this time – as a hero or villain? The answer, I’d have thought, is obvious. Let’s make sure our actions align with our ambitions.
We’ll do our bit, continuing to share the inspirational and innovative stories from the industry, even if they can sometimes appear fewer and further between as bad news mounts.
Stay safe and well, and look after those around you.
Find advice and the latest analysis on EG’s coronavirus hub >>
To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette
