COMMENT “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink,” is the memorable opening line of Dodie Smith’s 1949 novel I Capture the Castle. Fortunately, I’m not quite in my kitchen sink, but I think the idea will not be entirely unfamiliar to those of us who are having to adjust to the “new normal” of working from home – perhaps with children, partners, housemates or parents all jostling for available space where they can think, work and get a decent internet signal.
In the space of just a few weeks we have all had to make serious adjustments to how we do business. For me personally, the changes are a necessary part of the other more positive challenges I took on when I joined Real Estate Balance at the start of the month. I started as managing director on the same day that Liz Peace became our new chair, although as a founder member her involvement with the organisation dates back to the beginning. Together we share a vision for a property sector where diversity and inclusion are recognised as business-critical. In that respect nothing has changed. Our agenda remains the same and the issues that we campaign for are perhaps now more important than ever.
The coronavirus outbreak has forced many businesses to adopt crisis mode, making drastic decisions about redeployment of people, furloughing staff and even making people redundant. Many have also had to invest heavily in technology to help people work from home – investment that was not necessarily foreseen or budgeted for.
This short-term damage limitation has obviously been necessary, but it is important not to let it undermine progress already made on diversity and inclusion, or to overlook these issues in crisis planning. We recently hosted a webinar on these questions with PwC and on the call it was observed that the businesses that are already heavily invested in D&I have been able to respond more quickly and are consequently doing better than some others.
Flexible working
One of the possible reasons for this is the early adoption of flexible working, something for which Real Estate Balance has been campaigning from the start. The business case for flexible working has been proven over and again. Allowing your people to adopt agile working patterns that recognise their other priorities encourages commitment and increases productivity. Those firms that were ahead of the game with this have been able to switch to remote working for everyone much more smoothly.
The businesses handling the crisis well are possibly also benefitting from a diverse workforce that encompasses a wider range of life experiences and skills. The property sector, perhaps more than most, has been guilty of hiring from a narrow pool of talent for too long, sustaining its traditional image particularly at c-suite level. The companies that have addressed D&I in their leadership are more likely to have people with the communication skills and empathy that are necessary to manage their teams through this crisis. These used to be called “soft skills” but they are coming into their own now and shrewd companies will be measuring and testing outputs throughout the lockdown to see which of their individuals and teams are coping best.
Lessons we can all learn
There are lessons we can all learn from these new working patterns. Technology is giving us a little window into everyone’s private world. Stripped of the anonymity of the office, we are seeing people’s studies, sitting rooms, bedrooms, perhaps even their kitchen sinks. This presents a rare opportunity for us to become more compassionate and understanding of our employees and the private challenges they face. It is also giving them the chance to test new working patterns and, when the crisis is over, they may want to hang on to many of these.
For Real Estate Balance, the aim is to see women representing half of the senior positions in the property sector. We still have some way to go, but perhaps some of the lessons learned from this crisis will demonstrate that a commitment to gender diversity and D&I more generally brings business enhancing benefits that simply cannot be ignored.
Sue Brown is managing director of Real Estate Balance
