COMMENT Diversity and inclusion is incredibly important to us at Oxford and we take our leadership role on this agenda across the real estate industry extremely seriously. I think that most, if not all of us in the sector recognise that we have been slower than we should have been in giving D&I due focus. Now more than ever, having had cause to self-reflect on our personal and professional lives over the last 12 months, we need to effect real change in the mix of people we have contributing to the built environment and taking key decisions. This is fundamental because this is the only way that the industry will be able to operate most effectively and reach its potential.
Credit must be given to the team at EG for their efforts in calling out our deficiencies on D&I, but more importantly in building a programme that is working towards providing a solution. The Future Leaders programme has, in a short space of time, had great success and earned plaudits from all those who have been involved, which is why we are excited to be working with EG on the latest iteration. I’m pleased to say that one of my outstanding colleagues, Antara Sundararajan, is taking part this year, with several others participating in podcasts over the next few weeks.
Top down change
It may feel like a phrase that’s wheeled out all too often but change really does come from the top, and I can say that from my own experience. Leadership looks different to all of us. It’s a complex thing that is shaped by a multitude of factors such as background, education, race, gender, personality traits, nationalities… the list goes on. By encouraging diversity of leadership at Oxford, we enable our organisation to avoid stale group thinking and it makes us so much better as a team because we all have something different to contribute. It’s important that those of us in senior positions are doing everything we can to help others maximise their potential; to help them find their own authentic style; to be thoughtful in recognising the diversity within their teams; and to show them how to leverage it to achieve positive outcomes. I would only ever work for a business that is open-minded, that actively take steps to remove unconscious bias and will allow – and even celebrate – different opinions to be heard or different styles to be accepted.
Much more work is needed, of course, and we will need to be persistent – change doesn’t happen overnight. But it is great that we are now, finally, talking about this at the top levels of most companies. Ultimately, we need to get to a point where diversity levels in business mean these conversations are no longer necessary. More leaders need to take stock and fully reflect on the deeper layers of diversity and inclusion and its real benefits, so that it isn’t simply a tick box exercise but a meaningful way to attract amazing talent; to drive better decision making; build resilience; and inspire innovation. My view is that until the top echelons of every company truly understand the issues and commit to fundamental and sustainable change, progress will not happen at meaningful pace.
Quick wins
There are a number of things that management teams in our industry can do fairly easily and which can move the needle relatively quickly, such as signing up to the Real Estate Balance CEO Commitments for Diversity and supporting initiatives such as Pathways to Property run by Reading Real Estate Foundation. But this journey doesn’t stop at simply hiring a diverse workforce; culture is critically important in demonstrating conscious inclusion and incorporating diversity of thought in our conversations and actions throughout the course of our day-to-day business.
We hope that by being an active participant in this programme, Oxford will help push the D&I agenda forward; working together with others to change the face of real estate and ensure that the next generation of leaders in our industry is more representative of the people who actually engage with the built environment on a daily basis.
Joanne McNamara is executive vice president, Europe and Asia-Pacific, at Oxford Properties
