Building the Future: How Women Professionals Can Make a Difference

By the Construction Industry Council and ConstructionSkills

Contents Foreword 01

Executive Summary

03

Introduction

04

The Future: Drivers of Success

04 05 06 06 07

Talent Collaboration Innovation Agility Stakeholder Awareness

08

Case studies

08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

PRP Mott Macdonald Boyes Rees Eversheds MITIE CSJ Planning Consultants Ltd Mace Group PricewaterhouseCoopers Olympic Delivery Authority KPMG

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Recommendations: Act Now for the Future

18 19 19 20 20

Create agile workplaces Create diverse teams and networks Develop emotional intelligence Create inclusive cultures Develop the talent pipeline

21

Conclusion References

03

Foreword This report highlights the issues facing businesses in competing effectively in an increasingly diverse employment marketplace. It includes guidance about creating a workplace culture that is fair for all and provides case studies that demonstrate it isn’t only big organisations that have taken successful action. The insights included here are equally appropriate to small and medium sized firms. The record of employing and retaining women in the construction industry is poor. Though 23% of the 270,000 people employed in the construction professional services sectors were female at last count, which is far better than the industry as a whole, it has improved at the miserly rate of just 1% in three years. Other high pressure professional sectors do much better in providing a more appropriate work/life balance and, of course, they compete for school leavers in the same pool as the construction professions. Attracting and retaining talent in the construction sector remains a strong priority. Looking beyond the current economic problems the professional sector will again (in the none-too-distant-future) struggle to recruit the people it needs. If the numbers required are to be met, then providing an inclusive work culture that facilitates the work/life balance that women need is important. Fewer women professionals means role models are even scarcer, which greatly diminishes our chances of attracting girls into the built environment professions.

Of course, it isn’t just about numbers. The traditional culture of many male dominated practices is one of long hours and family-unfriendly work environments that militate against the progression of women professionals in their careers. Maternity breaks and family commitments are a fact of life, but as research has shown few firms put enough effort into assisting women to sustain and build their careers over their potential working lives. Whereas firms such as those in the case studies show that flexible working not only helps retain valuable staff, but makes reacting to variable workloads easier. Women bring skills that are crucial to all collaborative projects and particularly those that have to increasingly focus outwards in their engagement with sustainable communities. We work in an increasingly multi-cultural environment with clients, stakeholders, and the users of our projects frequently demonstrate far better gender balance than the professional firms that deliver their built environment. For these, and the numerous other reasons included in this report, it makes sound business sense not only to employ women professionals, but to put in place working practices and fair policies in recruitment, career development and promotion that are inclusive for all staff.

Graham Watts, Chief Executive, Construction Industry Council, OBE

Executive Summary Building the Future: How Women Professionals Can Make a Difference explores the major issues for built environment firms if they wish to compete and prosper in the knowledge economy. It provides insights into why tapping into the talents of women is essential for success. Recommendations for creating workplaces that work for all are provided to guide actions. These actions are appropriate for small and medium sized firms as well as larger ones.

The Future: Drivers of Success Talent

Innovation

Attracting and retaining talent are key issues for built environment firms. Demographic changes across the developed world are leading to long-term labour shortages and these shortages are exacerbated by an acute shortage of skills in science, engineering and technology. Skills shortages have long been a major concern in the built environment sector and have become a focus for government, the Construction Industry Council and professional institutions.

Technological breakthroughs and fast paced innovation will be hallmarks of 21st century society. Built environment professionals will have to look for new solutions for workplaces, dwellings and infrastructures. Diverse teams are more likely to come up with original, outof-the-box concepts and solutions. Research shows that gender-balanced teams are more effective in releasing innovative potential.

Increasing the talent pool by attracting and retaining more women in the sector has become a priority. Fairness and flexibility in working patterns, providing the work-life balance that both men and women want, is particularly important in this.

Agility

Collaboration In a complex and interdependent world, collaboration is increasingly required to produce solutions that meet client expectations. The future workplace will be characterised by collaborative teams that work across disciplines, time zones, geographical and organisational boundaries. Leading and participating in collaborative teams requires transformational leadership and emotional intelligence as well as technical skills. Research shows that women’s and men’s leadership behaviours are different and that women demonstrate greater emotional intelligence.

Professional firms need agility to compete effectively and knowledge workers want flexibility across space and time. Strategically aligning IT, human resources planning and real estate is essential to achieving agility. This will affect built environment firms both as providers of professional services and as employers. Those built environment firms who adopt and understand new ways of working themselves will be better placed to understand the needs of potential clients and more likely to win business. Stakeholder awareness The 21st century is values driven with stakeholders wanting a better, fairer more sustainable world. Government policies place fairness and women’s ability to participate high on the agenda. Procurement of products and services from the private sector and voluntary bodies is seen as a way of driving the agenda forward and has implications for those tendering for business. Employers who do not understand the importance of diversity and a balanced and inclusive culture risk missing out on new business opportunities as well as litigation, damage to brand reputation and staff turnover.

01

Recommendations: Act Now and for The Future Develop the talent pipeline There are too few boys and even fewer girls studying for STEM (science, engineering, technology and maths) subjects and progressing to higher education to become qualified professionals. Role models in the industry need to actively partner with schools and higher education institutions to encourage more students to consider careers in the built environment and to provide positive work experience. There are many different partnership initiatives for firms to consider including the Coaching and Mentoring Schemes run by the Construction Industry Council. Develop emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence should be considered a core skill for leading collaborative teams and one that women demonstrate more frequently than men and in a different way. Coaching and mentoring are important as well as multi-source performance assessment (includes self assessment, assessment from peers, managers subordinates and other contacts and stakeholders) of employees in an environment of trust. Create diverse teams and networks Because innovation relies on diverse mindsets, professional firms need to increase the diversity of their project teams and networks. Gender balance should be considered when creating teams and recruiting staff. Staff should be encouraged to think about how they can make their own knowledge networks more diverse. Create agile workplaces Firms need to strategically align their premises, IT and staffing to create new ways of working. Adopting flexible working is key to greater company agility and critical for attracting and retaining women. There are many different types of flexible working appropriate for all size firms. Create inclusive cultures Women have long considered the cultures of built environment firms as being very masculine with long hours that are family unfriendly. Built environment firms need to analyse their cultures (diagnostic and audit tools are available to do this) and take steps to make them more inclusive. Ensuring fair policies in recruitment, promotion and pay are essential as are inclusive events, positive images of women in publicity materials and surveys that capture women’s views.

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Introduction Built environment professionals will play a major role in defining the 21st century society through a revolutionary creation of new workplaces, dwellings, retail spaces and infrastructure. They will provide the physical expression of the aspirations and values of a global society that has sustainability, well-being and participation at its heart. Their work will reflect the fact that our lives and ways of doing business are changing radically. Continual innovation will be the norm in a globally integrated world that is networked by unprecedented communications technology. Building the future is an exciting as well as daunting challenge. Built environment firms must attract and engage people against a backdrop of fundamental demographic change and fierce competition for talent. Meeting the demands of clients in a highly competitive global marketplace requires great agility, collaboration and innovation. Professional firms that appreciate diverse thinking and actively allow both men and women to fully contribute their talents are the ones that will be the most successful. The Construction Industry Council and professional institutions have recognised the importance of a wider talent pool and that more must be done to attract and retain women in the industry.

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Built environment professionals cover many different disciplines such as architecture, construction, engineering, surveying, town planning and facilities management. Within each of these are specialist activities. Building the Future: How Women Professionals Can Make a Difference does not focus on any one discipline but rather looks at the challenges they commonly face as knowledge industries. It also focuses on professional, technical and office workers rather than the manual trades. This report is a thought piece based on secondary research from industry, government, academia and the professional institutions in the UK and abroad and is divided into three parts: 1. The first part considers the big-picture issues that determine future competitiveness: talent, collaboration, innovation, agility and stakeholder expectations. 2. The second section contains best practice case studies from a range or organisations 3. The third section discusses what actions professional firms can take to transform their workplaces and be fit for the future with case studies to complement.

The Future: Drivers of Success Five key drivers will underpin the success of both large and small organisations in the future and should be reflected in the way that they develop their working environments. Talent is critical as people are the real value creators in the knowledge society of the 21st century and are key to competitive advantage. The fast paced, global environment in which businesses now operate means that collaboration, innovation and agility are of the greatest importance. This is coupled with changing stakeholder expectations as society becomes increasingly more values driven. This section of the report examines the five key issues in turn and brings together the latest thinking, statistics and trends.

Talent Built environment firms are competing for essential talent professionals, technicians and administrative workers with other public and private sector employers against very challenging demographic trends. Labour and skills shortages are a long-term problem… While the recent economic downturn may have eased the pressure, it has not changed the long-term forecasts. There are simply not enough knowledge workers in the built environment sector to meet demand and significant labour shortages are forecast over the next decades. Declining birth rates in developed countries have been too low to replace the post war baby boomers who are retiring in massive numbers. Added to labour shortages are skills shortages. The Leitch report in the UK estimates that by 2020, 40% of all jobs will need a graduate level qualification yet 70% of the 2020 workforce is already in work and is not qualified beyond Level 2 (5 GCSEs)1. Of great concern is the shortage of graduates with STEM skills (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Although 92% of firms want graduates with these skills, there has been a 15% fall in engineering and technology graduates over the past decade.2 Putting even greater pressure on built environment firms...

• ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for Construction, has warned of a “workforce time bomb.” ConstructionSkills estimates an annual requirement of over 10,000 professionals4, managers, technical and office based staff for the years between 20092013, even taking into account the current downturn. • Professions such as architecture, mechanical and civil engineering could lose 20% of their staff to retirement in the next ten years.5 A wider talent pool is needed… Those working in the built environment are predominantly and historically white men. The Government and professional institutes believe that a higher participation of women in built environment professions is critical to solving the sector’s skill shortages. • Women comprise 46% of the total workforce in the UK and 41% of all knowledge workers. • However, they are only 12% of the total construction industry workforce and women professionals are less than 5% of it.6 Alleviating long-term labour shortages depends on getting more girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Post 16 years of age, when these subjects cease to be compulsory, female levels of involvement are likely to begin to fall and continue to fall throughout the academic path and into the workforce. This is particularly true of engineering in which only 3% of all registered engineers are women.7 A recent report on diversity in the professions prepared for CIC by the University of the West of England highlights gender imbalance in academic studies as well as professional institution membership.8 HESA statistics of students enrolled in courses in 2006/2007 indicate huge disparities in the number of men and women enrolled in courses related to the built environment: • Women are less than 20% of students in a range of engineering disciplines, • But women comprise 42% of architecture students 45% of planning students and 50% of landscape students

Built environment firms have been grappling with shortages across a number of disciplines for some years and projected demographic changes and skills shortages make the picture even bleaker. The Institute for Civil Engineering estimates a current skills shortage of 30% in their sector alone.3

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Collaboration Figures for membership in the relevant professional institutes are a good indication of the disproportionate numbers of men and women in the professions. Excluding the Landscape Institute and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), all of the institutes have less than 20% female representation and the majority have less than 10%. But the professions need to retain the women they recruit… Widening the talent pool will not solve shortages if built environment employers don’t retain the women they recruit. In addition to the shortage of women pursuing professional qualifications, those who achieve them often change careers before or after taking up employment in the industry. The Institute of Civil Engineering reports that 70% of women with Science, Engineering, Technology and Construction qualifications are not in employment in these fields.9

“Our own experience suggests women are particularly strong at collaboration and partnership – essential skills in any project. A diverse workforce helps us bring different perspectives and a variety of approaches to the table, helping us to meet the challenges of the major design and development projects we’re working on around the world. It means we can deliver much more effective results.” Alun Griffiths, group HR Director, Atkins. Collaboration has always been important in designing and building major projects and will become even more so in the knowledge era. The innovation that comes from increasing and sharing knowledge is at the heart of wealth creation and competitiveness. The world has become much more complex and interdependent as professions deal with demographic shifts, climate change, sustainability, new work paradigms and innovations in materials and security.

According to recent RIBA and ARB statistics, women make up only 17% of the profession, substantially less than the rate at which they qualify. This compares poorly with law and medicine where women now make up almost 60% of students with half of those actively practicing in these fields.10

The explosion in communications technology facilitates collaboration across borders, time zones and industry sectors. However, the people leading and participating in the collaborative teams are the key to how well they will share knowledge, innovate and deliver customer solutions.

RIBA research exploring why women leave architecture identified the following as factors: • Low pay • Sidelining and poor promotion prospects • Long working hours • Macho culture • Lack of scope for flexible working

Collaborative leaders are able to gain value from difference and deliver results across boundaries between interdependent organisations. They learn to share control, and to trust a partner to deliver, even though the partner may operate very differently. Collaboration requires that people deliver goals through staff and resources outside their control.13 People who are successful in leading and managing collaboratively have a high degree of emotional intelligence and communications skills. They are seen as transformational leaders. Research into both transformational leadership and emotional intelligence has indicated that women tend to demonstrate the qualities associated with these, such as inspirational motivation, relationship awareness and self management.14 15 16

A number of participants voiced concern that these issues were also a disadvantage to men and would ultimately be detrimental to the profession as a whole.11 Similar research by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)12 found that the top two reasons why women left were inflexible hours and conditions combined with the need to look after children and the desire to spend more time with family. Interestingly, the women who had left the profession were much more interested in returning to it than the men, at 44% and 24% respectively, indicating that the work environment rather than the profession itself was the key determinant in their departure.

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Innovation Climate change, phenomenal technological developments and new ways in which people are living, working and connecting pose a huge agenda and creative challenge for built environment professionals. Diversity positively correlates with innovation as different minds bring different life experiences and perspectives. Such teams are much more likely “to think outside of the box.” For example, research conducted by London Business School across 100 teams from 21 companies revealed that equal proportions of men and women in teams positively influence the drivers for innovation. The study concluded that 50:50 gender diversity on teams is optimal for unlocking creative potential.17

Agility The world of work in the 21st century will be radically different than that of the previous industrial era and will affect what built environment professionals create as well as how their own firms operate. Facilitated by technology, knowledge work can take place almost anywhere, anytime and knowledge workers want the freedom to flex over time, space and organisational boundaries. This will require new corporate and residential architecture. Those built environment firms who adopt and understand new ways of working themselves will be better placed to understand the needs of potential clients and more likely to win business.

At the forefront of this thinking is the Work Design Collaborative which brought together a group of corporate thought leaders and business consultants with academic backgrounds to understand how new technologies, a changing workforce and globalisation were affecting how and when people worked. Their findings, later published in Corporate Agility18, concluded that most businesses were unable or unwilling to adapt. James Ware and Charles Grantham, authors of Corporate Agility, have concluded that strategically aligning human resources, communications technology and corporate real estate is essential to future competitiveness in the knowledge economy. The Work Design Collaborative recently finished a green field development project in the United States to build and assess a prototype live/work residence. The project, based on 15 years of research into distributed working, will be a living laboratory for all disciplines interested in evaluating design options for their products and services.19 Families and women have a stake in learning from this experience. We already know that women need flexibility and that both men and women want a better work/life balance. Designing residences that provide home offices for distributed working may be a business opportunity for the built environment and also relevant to it as employers. There is an urgent need to adopt new perspectives for workplace design. Traditionally it has been location-centred and focused on single workplaces, but the development of information and communications technologies, the rapid growth of the ‘information society’, and the spread of globalization have transformed societies, economies, our ability to achieve sustainable development around the world, and the way we work. Workplace design thus should no longer be simply location-centred. Internet and mobile technologies make multiple work locations not only possible but often more congenial for a better work/life balance and business cost-effectiveness. (ARUP JOURNAL 2/2003,pp.55-58 “SANE: Designing tomorrow’s office,”) Tom Fernando20

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Stakeholder Awareness Companies have multiple stakeholders – employees, customers, government, partners, investors, and suppliers – who affect the operating environment and contribute to success. Satisfying these stakeholders can be critical to a company’s franchise to operate, win contracts, maintain brand reputation and avoid costly litigation. At present the built environment professions are heavily skewed towards, white western males but they are building for a highly diverse world. Women, as half the population, are substantial end users of the infrastructure, dwellings and commercial spaces they create. Research by Atkins reveals nine out of ten British adults think women should be involved in building our towns and cities. The research shows that people think buildings would be more user friendly, practical and better places to live and work if more women were involved in their design and construction.21 Client’s and their teams are diverse Because women play an increasingly important role in procurement decisions and in project management, built environment firms are likely to be tendering to and working with clients that have diverse teams. Projects often involve public consultation with end users who are diverse. Consequently, fielding a non-diverse team to gain business and deliver customer solutions is not optimal business practice. Client expectations have been a key driver for a range of professional firms to embrace greater diversity with many sharing anecdotes from earlier years when they tried to win business with an all white, male team and found the selection panels very different.22 The public duty to promote gender Public bodies are stakeholders, customers and partners of built environment firms. Fuelled by growing democracy around the world, diversity and inclusion has become a global public policy issue. There are longstanding and well-developed legislation and policies in mature markets such as Europe, and North America. The UK Government remains concerned that women are still under represented in senior management professions and in various sectors of the economy and that the pay gap between men and women has remained near 18% for a number of years. The latest approach of government to address inequality is through the procurement process.23 All public bodies now have general and specific duties to eliminate unlawful sex discrimination and sexual harassment; as well as to promote equality of opportunity between women and men. The duty applies to the functions it carries out as well as those carried out by contractors on its behalf.

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The Office for Government Contracts (OGC) guidance states that departments must pay due regard to eliminate discrimination in their procurement activities. Advice issued by the OGC for the implementation of the public duty by government department suggests working with suppliers to promote the importance of equality to their suppliers and supply chain. Any firm wishing to do work for the public sector will, therefore, need to pay attention to the diversity of their own workplace. The cost of not meeting stakeholder expectations Proactively embracing diversity and inclusion can positively enhance a firm’s reputation and build its brand with employees and customers. The reverse can happen if the company finds itself accused of failing to adhere to equality legislation. In 2007/2008, 26,907 sex discrimination cases were brought in employment tribunals and a record 62,706 claims were brought on equal pay, a sharp increase from 17,268 claims brought in 2005/2006.24 The cost of losing such claims can be far more expensive than the actual tribunal award, when legal costs and managerial time in dealing with the claims are considered. If the case becomes a high profile one in the media, the damage to reputation, regardless of the outcome can be considerable. However, employers need to remember that most employees who perceive they are being unfairly treated usually leave the firm rather than engage in litigation that can bring unwanted publicity or damage their prospects for future employment. A US based corporate leavers survey25 found that; • The annual cost of unfairness costs US employers $64 billion on an annual basis. • 64% of people who experienced unfairness were reticent to recommend their previous employer’s products or services to others. • 85% indicated it adversely affected their willingness to recommend their previous employer to others. Another cost of unfair treatment can be the negative impact on employee engagement that will adversely affect productivity and customer service. A study conducted by HR Solutions, using extensive data from its surveys, confirmed a positive and significant correlation between job satisfaction and the fair treatment of employees.26

Case Studies Organisation: PRP What

How

PRP is an award winning multi-disciplinary architectural practice providing architecture, urban design, landscape design, planning, interior design, environmental and project management.

Retention rates are similar for both and men. Flexible working is important for retaining men as well as women and is available to all staff at the discretion of line management. Individual and company needs are taken into consideration to determine what type of flexibility will work best either in terms of working hours, compressed weeks or flexi-time. The company has always offered flexibility and sees it as common sense to encourage staff to understand their own deadlines and regulate their time.

Established in 1963, PRP employs over 290 staff in seven offices across the world; London, Surrey, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, Abu Dhabi and Moscow. PRP is an award winning practice: • Sustainable In-house Design Team of the Year  Sustainable Housing Awards 2008 • Low Energy Building of the Year Sustainable Housing Awards 2008 • Highly Commended Sustainable Architect of the Year  Sustainability Awards 2008 • Architectural Practice of the Year Building Awards 2007 • Regeneration Consultant of the Year  Regeneration Awards 2007 PRP employs over 290 employees. Ten percent of the Board is female, as is 20% of the Group Directors and 26% of technical and professional staff. Frances Chaplin, who sits on the main Board, is responsible for the growth, strategic planning and management of the practice in the North West of the UK. This regional office, which concentrates on regeneration, housing and healthcare projects, is 45% female and two of its six senior managers are women. While the company recruits and promotes based purely on merit, gender diversity is seen as important to getting the best talent. Why

Impact Training and professional development is highly valued and lies at the heart of PRP’s commitment to its staff. Every office is represented on the Learning and Development Steering Group that is responsible for aligning the company’s professional and technical needs with individual career development. The practice has a Continuing Professional Development Programme that encompasses in-house seminars, workshops and mentoring. Employees are encouraged to go on courses and are supported with time-off and student bursaries for study and exams. This can be particularly helpful to women who may have entered with non-traditional degrees as it allows them to go back to a local college and add a technology degree. Although the pipeline limits the number of female technical and professional staff available, PRP believes more and more women are coming through it and this is reflected in the changing representation of women in its business. PRP seek to ensure that the culture of the practice is an inclusive one through staff activities that cater for a wide range of tastes.

A balanced approach in staffing provides the range of administrative, technical and professional skills required to meet the needs of both clients and end users. Because much of the practice’s work is in the public sector, a more balanced set of skills and talents helps it work through the various stages of a project, i.e. public consultations, client briefs, design and implementation. The softer skills that women often bring are important to effective consultation and client relations. Mixed teams are particularly valuable on residential housing projects as men and women have different priorities in the use of living space as well as public space. The balanced team is likely to be more innovative and able to communicate designs and concepts that result in a high quality outcome.

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Organisation: Mott MacDonald What

Why

The Mott MacDonald Group is a management, engineering and development consultancy serving the public and private sectors worldwide. Wholly owned by its employees, the company can take a long-term view without having to react to short- term stock market fluctuations. Everything they earn is returned to employees and the ownership model is consistent across the globe. The company was named as International Consultant of the Year in 2009 by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering/New Civil Engineer magazine and it ranks fifth in the 2009 UK Sunday Times survey of the 20 Best Big Companies to Work For.

Employee surveys indicate a gender balance on responses measuring eleven factors of engagement. However, women are more positive than men on the work/life balance element – possibly because men want a more formal structure for flexible working and women are happy to informally organize it with their line managers. Flexibility is high on the Mott MacDonald agenda and encompasses more than working patterns. The company wants to be seen as an “employer for life” offering opportunities to develop and change careers. It allows staff to tailor holiday, pensions, health or childcare payments as well as working patterns to individual circumstances at different stages in their lives. Flexibility in working patterns encompass job sharing, home working and reduced hours.

Thirty percent of Mott MacDonald’s 5500 employees in the UK are female. The company has been successful in recruiting female employees at well above average levels for the industry. A third of its graduate engineers in the UK are women even though females represent only a quarter of UK engineering graduates. The firm believes that its long -term engagement with schools and colleges has improved the image of the industry while familiarizing students with their work, corporate name and values. Also important is the firm’s ability to pitch to graduates as not just an engineering consultancy – it is actively engaged in health and education as well. Women account for half of staff in these consultancy areas.

How Mott MacDonald has researched why women stay with the company and flexibility is only one aspect. Other key factors are being allowed to develop, being supported and feeling that gender isn’t a factor in career progression. There is also an underlying trust in leadership that encourages people to develop to their full potential. New graduates are assisted in obtaining professional qualifications. Development programmes initiated with Cranfield School of Management offer newly qualified professionals personal and career development and offer mid career managers courses in people management. Senior managers take advantage of the Ashridge Leadership Programme. In addition, hundreds of different courses are offered through an e-learning portal. Impact Corporate responsibility and ethical behaviour are key to the company’s values and an appreciation of diverse people and cultures are embedded in these. While Mott MacDonald recruits and promotes solely on merit, its embracement of diversity means that it is able to source talent from a larger pool. It sees business benefits in being able to field diverse teams that reflect society and allow for different perspectives in finding customer solutions. In 2007, a diversity development steering group was created to reinforce the Group’s equal opportunities procedures. Consultation takes place with employee groups to gauge the impact of working patterns and practices, to test strategies and obtain feedback on policies and initiatives. The company believes this helps guard against inadvertent discrimination.

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Organisation: Boyes Rees What Boyes Rees is one of the three largest architectural practices in Wales and has recently become one of the UK’s top 100 practices. The firm won Architect of the Year in the Welsh People in Property Awards in 2008 and 2009. It offers a total Design Service that encompasses Architecture, Master Planning, Urban Design, 3D Visualisation, Interior Architecture, BREEAM Assessors, Landscape Architecture and Expert Witness advice. The company is headed by Jane Boyes who acts as Chair and Managing Director.

The company highly values the professional business and development that results from networking and encourages its staff to be involved in a range of networks. The firm is a member of both the Forum for the Built Environment and the Concrete Society and Ms Boyes is the only woman to have been elected as Chairman of the South Wales branches of both of these organisations. Boyes Rees is also actively engaged with Constructing Excellence.

Since taking on the challenge of starting up a new architectural business fifteen years ago, Ms Boyes has seen it grow from a small business of 11 people with a turnover of £300,000 into a national player with a staff of 68 and a turnover of £4.5 million. Her cumulative achievements were recognised by the Western Mail’s Welsh Woman of the Year Award in the Construction and Built Environment in 2009. Starting a new business in an economic downturn in a male-dominated profession was a challenge but technical excellence combined with the softer skills of marketing and customer relations have underpinned a successful, growing business. Why The practice recruits and promotes on merit and welcomes the increasing number of talented women coming through the pipeline. Boyes Rees is currently two-thirds male and one-third female but fields mixed teams on all of its projects. It believes the best teams are diverse across more than one dimension. Gender is seen as important because men and women use buildings and public space in different ways. Many of its projects are publicsector funded and intended to meet the needs of both. The firm also values age diversity that allows younger professionals - often more attuned to high tech, virtual design and changes in lifestyle - to contribute to innovative, customer solutions. How Boyes Rees receives good feedback from clients on the diversity of the teams it assembles and usually finds itself tendering to diverse project/procurement teams as well. The company’s ability to field diverse teams and cover a broad range of design services has been enabled by a flexible, networked approach to integration, learning and knowledge sharing throughout the organisation. New offices have been designed to encourage open collaboration, communication and networking – all offices and meeting spaces are open plan or separated by clear glass partitions. 

Impact Female staff are encouraged and supported to be involved in the National Association of Women in Property. Jane Boyes, along with other female colleagues, set up its South Wales Branch, served as its Chairman in 2007/2008 and continued to be involved on the committee that organises events, mentoring female construction students and giving careers advice to school children. Office Manager Tina Wilson and Financial Controller Hannah Goodson respectively serve as the Chapter’s PR and Media Co-ordinator and Treasurer. The practice embraces flexible working and seeks solutions to working patterns that meet both its needs and those of individual staff members. Flexibility in working patterns and location is seen as important not only for men and women with children but also for those approaching retirement. Many would like to continue contributing their knowledge and expertise but work fewer days and Boyes Rees believes it is important to retain their talent.   

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Organisation: Eversheds What

How

This case study outlines Eversheds’ approach to flexible working which started back in 2001 when the organisation realised that a lack of flexibility in working patterns was a significant contributor to losing talented women before they reached partner level. It was the first law firm to introduce a comprehensive flexible working scheme which it badged ‘Lifestyle’. It included various options such as part time working, job sharing, annualised and monthly hours, self rostered team working, career breaks and sabbaticals. In 2007 the Lifestyle programme was further enhanced to include informal arrangements such as a temporary change to working hours or the option to work from home. The firm strongly believes that for flexible working to be a success it needs much more than just a great policy. It also requires a culture of trust between managers and employees and for performance to be judged on output, not on presenteeism. The Lifestyle scheme complements the firm’s values of teamwork and mutual respect and whole teams as well as individuals can take advantage of it. For example its whole billing team works flexibly so that it can provide a more effective and extended service, which works well within the structure of a global law firm.

The firm’s investment in technology has made flexible working a realistic option for a significant proportion of its people and has also proven to enhance its service to clients. Over 30% of its employees now have a laptop, most of those also have a 3G card which allows them to work online in any location. 46% of its people have a Blackberry and 25% of its people have the facility to access their office desktop from home. Flexible working is now integral to the firm’s culture, and as more men are taking advantage of it, Eversheds is finding that there is no longer a perception that it is only aimed at women. The firm has an ambition that 50% of its people will benefit from the informal aspects of its Lifestyle arrangements by 2011. Its board has led by example, with members regularly working from home one day a week.

Why Eversheds has seen its approach to flexible working bring significant benefits to the firm. It has found that talented people are more likely to stay if they are satisfied with their work-life balance. The ability to work flexibly has also been shown to have a positive impact on an individual’s performance by up to 30%. The cost of training a solicitor is over £100k – therefore if it can save just ten people from leaving the firm a year, it is saving more than £1 million. Its approach to flexible working has enabled it to more effectively react to peaks and troughs in workloads. It has also had a positive environmental impact by helping the firm to significantly lower its carbon footprint.

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The firm recently commissioned a new head office building in London. This building was conceived to enable a flexible approach to work. The building is completely open plan – a first for a major law firm in London. Caroline Wilson, the firm’s Head of Diversity believes that the design of the building has had an instrumental effect in creating more collaborative and agile teams. She says, “Our new environment has helped flexible working to become a reality. The open plan design and collaborative areas, coupled with impressive wireless facilities mean that both clients and colleagues can work effectively from anywhere in the building. In fact the technology enables us to redirect our phones to anywhere in the world, meaning that we can offer a seamless service to clients, whether we are sat at our desk or not. We really do have the ability to work anyplace, anywhere, anytime and that is a win/win for both our colleagues and clients”. Impact • In its latest employee satisfaction survey, 74% of respondents agreed with the statement that ‘the firm is supportive of my needs to balance work and home life’. • A good work-life balance reduces stress and therefore related healthcare costs. • It now has the highest number of female partners of any of the top ten UK law firms, at 23%.

Organisation: MITIE What MITIE, the strategic outsourcing and asset management company, delivers a range of integrated services to support the buildings and infrastructure of its UK clients. Its turnover has almost doubled from 800 million to 1.5 billion since 2005. The company employs over 50,000 people and has three key divisions: facilities, property and asset management. Half of its executive directors are female. MITIE recently came second in a Co-operative Asset Management study on gender balance and equal opportunities in the Boardroom. Women comprise 13% of its salaried staff. MITIE values a diverse workforce for business as well as ethical reasons. Recruiting, retaining and engaging talent is a business imperative if the company is to achieve its growth targets. MITIE recognises that current and future employees not only want fairness and respect in the workplace but the flexibility that allows them career opportunities and work-life balance. Clients, many of whom are in the public sector, expect suppliers to reflect the larger population in their staffing and to create workplaces that allow both men and women to progress their careers and be fairly rewarded for their efforts. Mainstreaming equality and diversity throughout its divisions is a priority for MITIE. Its strategy for doing this encompasses the following: Why MITIE operates a “champions” approach to demonstrate senior leadership commitment. Joanne Bacon, Group HR Director, acts as the company’s champion for equality and diversity. In addition, diversity forms part of the corporate responsibility forum remit: a networking opportunity for representatives from each division to discuss various topics. Corporate responsibility is integral to MITIE’s brand values and progress on diversity is communicated in their Corporate Responsibility report. Senior leaders also support diversity initiatives externally. The company is actively involved in Business in the Community’s campaigns to promote gender and race equality in the workplace. Ruby McGregor-Smith, Chief Executive, chairs Race for Opportunity and Suzanne Baxter, Group Finance Director, serves on the Opportunity Now Advisory Board. A diversity manager has been appointed to support the divisions in implementing an agreed strategic plan with objectives, timetables and designated responsibilities.

How In conjunction with external consultants, MITIE has developed a suite of bespoke training courses that are offered at multiple locations. In addition to general courses on managing and valuing diversity, it conducts specific diversity training for the tender process as well as recruitment and selection of staff. An e-learning package is available via the intranet. It covers the benefits of diversity to organisations and individuals, key legislation, acceptable and unacceptable behaviours, and answers to common queries and misunderstandings. Impact MITIE participated in Opportunity Now’s benchmarking survey in 2007 and used the exercise to develop a strategy and identify priorities for action. The benchmarking survey focused on three key areas: motivating the organisation, taking action, and measuring impact. In 2009, MITIE benchmarked again, achieved Silver Status and was designated the most improved ‘benchmarker’ for that year. The company also takes part in Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility Index which includes questions on diversity within the workplace section. MITIE collects a range of internal data on a trend basis to monitor its progress on diversity. This includes employee data by gender that captures salary, seniority, length of service, retention and occupation. Equal pay audits are conducted and salary bands by gender are reported publicly.

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Organisation: CSJ Planning Consultants Ltd What CSJ Planning Consultants Ltd is a leading planning and development consultancy which is comprised of CSJ Brooke Smith with offices in Birmingham and CSJ Planning with offices in Bristol. The company guides a wide variety of UK clients through the complexities of the planning system from pre-application to post-determination success and through appeals and judicial reviews. Clients come from a wide range of organisations in the public, private, academic and voluntary sector. It entered the top ten list of planning consultants in 2005. Why

The company embraces flexible working for all staff in its company handbook and the degree and type of flexibility is agreed with a line manager. Flexibility is balanced with the need to create strong, spirited, collaborative teams. A range of options – flexitime, compressed hours, parttime and remote working- is available to all staff. Opting for a flexible pattern is not a barrier to career progress. The company has recently promoted one of its staff members to associate director as she left on maternity leave and she will return to work part-time. CSJ would support men taking paternity leave in principle although current government policy would make this a financial burden for small firms.

The company is unusual among built environment companies in terms of the number of women it recruits and retains. Two of its five directors and 50% of its professional and technical staff are female. Louise Brooke-Smith, Director, believes this gender balance reflects the increasing number of women who are opting for planning careers combined with CSJ’s reputation for quality and brand values. The company takes a commercial view of the planning process and has a problem-solving, values -based approach to ensure a good outcome for the client and the public.

How

Ms Brooke-Smith points out that women add value in solving complex problems through their different perspectives and multi-tasking approach. Having diverse teams is seen as important to reflecting the population at large as well the ethos of the company’s client base. The social conscience embedded in the planning sector makes it easier for women to contribute their talents without discrimination.

Impact

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Training and development is taken very seriously and the company sponsors staff in continuing education and in obtaining professional qualifications awarded by RICS and RTPI. Learning gained through conferences and seminars is cascaded through in-house seminars. With a staff of 25 people, shared learning is seen as a key component in creating high performing teams that can deliver on a series of complex projects across the UK.

Although there is a high proportion of women in the planning sector, CSJ is keen to work with schools and the career service to attract more. Improving career advice is seen as critical as many career advisers have little experience of the sector and do not see it as a career option for young women. Consequently they are not encouraged to take academic subjects, work placements or modern apprenticeships that provide pathways into the profession. The company works with Women in Property as well as RICS to provide positive role models and advice in career evenings at schools in Birmingham and Bristol. Ms Brooke-Smith is an elected member of the RICS International Governing Council and a past chairwoman of Women in Property.

Organisation: Mace Group What Mace Group is a global consultancy and construction company with eleven operating businesses across thirty-six countries. Since 2001, turnover has increased from £90 to £500 million and staff numbers have grown from 800 to more than 2,800 people. It has featured in the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For list for the past three years and was named one of the top firms in Building magazine’s Good Employer Guide in 2007 and 2008. Mace prides itself on creating an inclusive environment rich in diversity where individuals’ achievements are acknowledged. Considered vital to changing the image of the industry and integral to the Mace Group brand, diversity and inclusion are also viewed components of employee engagement that result in better customer service and deliver other business benefits. Mace also believes that diversity is important to clients, many of which are public bodies, and to the people who ultimately benefit from the group’s projects. As part of its commitment to building a diverse workforce, Mace is actively involved with the United Kingdom Council for Access and Equality (UKCAE). Its HR director sits on the UKCAE board and the company has committed to participate in the pathway process. Pathway is a new auditable quality mark that can be accredited by UKAS. The process provides awareness, understanding, knowledge and the necessary skills to enable organisations to meet the requirements of all equality legislation. It will assist them in adopting procedures and implementing systems that will promote diversity and inclusion and achieve real change in the workplace. Why Mace values the different leadership styles that a diverse workforce brings, for example the softer skills that the industry increasingly recognises as important. 27% of the workforce is female with 60% of those in support roles and 40% in technical roles. The percentage of women in technical and professional roles (17%) exceeds the industry average for contractors (10%) and engineers (14%). Although women occupy just4% of senior management roles at Mace, group HR director, Kath Knight, was appointed to the board in 2001.

The percentage of women employed by Mace is steadily increasing and has grown from 20% in 2004 to 27% in 2009. Mace actively communicates that it welcomes applications from women – its marketing channels, including the company’s website, prominently feature images of women as well as videos where they discuss their work. The website profiles a female civil engineer who is a project manager on a £4 billion project in Dubai only a year after completing her management training with Mace. How One of the key factors in the increased representation of women in technical and professional roles has been a change in the company’s recruitment strategy. Mace revised its policy on only accepting graduates with construction-related degrees and has cast the net more widely to accept those with humanities degrees that are linked to sectors such as health, where the company provides construction and consultancy services. These graduates are given three years of technical training one day per month while they are working on a variety of projects. Impact The company is trying to address work-life balance issues of both its male and female employees as 52% of employees surveyed felt that they spent too much time at work. However, 75% say that their health is not suffering as a result and that stress isn’t a big problem. As a result of staff feedback, Mace has introduced two extra days leave a year to be taken apart from holidays for personal events, e.g. to attend a school sports day or wait in for a household appointment. Offices close at 4:30pm on Fridays and flexible working, including home working, can be arranged at the discretion of line managers. Enhanced maternity and paternity benefits are also offered.

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Organisation: PricewaterhouseCoopers What

How

Global consultancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, has an engineering and construction practice with a network of more than 2000 professionals in 50 countries. Its UK construction and house building practice has over 300 practitioners and specialist teams work in such areas as public/private partnerships, sustainability services, environmental taxation, construction dispute resolution and environmental services. UK Partner Amanda Clack is on the management Board of RICS.

Two women’s networks, PwC Women and the Female Partner and Director Network, foster professional and personal development and offer a feedback loop to the organization on the experiences of women working at PwC. Events run by PwC Women are open to all men and women in the firm and feature topics and speakers on subjects, such as the workplace of the future, that are of interest to both. The Female Partner and Director Network raises awareness of gender issues among PwC partners and business teams. Members of the network also act as role models and mentors.

Recruiting, retaining and advancing women are key priorities for the company. In the UK, the firm has better retention rates for women than men but is concerned that women are still under represented at partner level. They are 49% of PwC’s workforce but make up only 13% of its partners. The Women’s Leadership Programme, winner of a 2009 Opportunity Now Award, was developed to redress the imbalance. Results have been very positive - in 2008 20% of new partners in the business unit that piloted the programme were women. In 2006 and 2007, no women had been admitted to partnership in this business unit. The Women’s Leadership Programme was rolled out across the whole business beginning in July 2009. Each participant is assigned a senior male sponsor who coaches, challenges and supports her career development. In turn, the sponsor is able to see the organization through a woman’s eyes and this has encouraged senior men to dismantle aspects of corporate culture that negatively impact the advancement of women to senior ranks. Why Mentoring and networking have long been at the heart of PwC’s commitment to build a more diverse workforce. In 2006, it created Coaching Squared, an innovative co-coaching initiative that involves clients in both the public and private sector as partners. Female managers from different organizations are paired up and meet regularly for nine months to offer each other confidential coaching support and encouragement. They share experiences about work, career and home pressures and offer each other new and different perspectives and challenges. In the process, they create useful business contacts and networks. Tina Hallett, the Partner responsible for initiating the programme, sees it as an important self-development experience that empowers women to do their own coaching without a mentor or professional coach.

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Impact PwC also focuses on the support that working parents need. The career impact of being a parent was frequently raised in their quarterly leave survey. Through a variety of measures the firm has increased the number of women returning from maternity leave from 40% to 92% over a ten year period. A focus on flexibility in each of the firm’s businesses has been paramount to achieving this. Flexible working options are available to men as well as women as are a number of measures to support parents in the workplace. These include a parents’ network and parenting seminars, an emergency childcare programme and a work-life balance toolkit.

Organisation: Olympic Delivery Authority What

How

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is the public body responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the games and their use after 2012. Currently women make up 49% of its directly employed workforce and hold 30% of senior management posts. Diversity was central to the successful bid for London to host the Games and has been a key consideration in the design of the venues. The ODA is committed to creating a built environment which is a model for inclusivity and accessibility whilst also creating a step change in equality practice within the construction sector. Through its procurement and use of contractors it has been able to influence wider employment practice. It has developed a scorecard for evaluating potential contractors and equality and diversity forms a key part of this evaluation. This means that all potential and actual bidders for ODA contracts are encouraged to address equality in their own employment practices.

This commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion is translated into a workplace culture which embraces both difference and a flexible approach to work. Its commitment to flexible working is seen as gender neutral and part of how it motivates staff and increases productivity in such a high pressure environment. Informal and formal flexible working arrangements ensure that colleagues feel in control of their own work environment and therefore deliver better results.

Why The ODA is also actively working to ensure that traditionally underrepresented groups in construction, such as women are employed. It believes that championing diversity is key to addressing current skills shortages as well as a way of recruiting the highest possible calibre of talent. Employing diverse talent is vital in helping it deliver against such challenging and time-bound deadlines and in creating a truly inclusive and accessible build environment. As a public body it also has a statutory duty to find appropriate ways of promoting gender equality as part of its central job.

Impact The organisation has implemented several specific interventions which have helped to position equality, diversity and inclusion as part of its culture. Members of the ODA’s Executive Management Board have specific accountability for championing equality and inclusion activity within the organisation including promoting inclusive work cultures which means that those at the very top of the organisation encourage others to consider it a business priority. It has instigated a comprehensive training programme which looks at the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion issues. It has also developed an innovative mentor/ mentee programme which trains men and women at all levels to act as mentors for women working on the Olympic Park.

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Organisation: KPMG What This case study examines KPMG’s innovative Flexible Futures programme which was introduced early in 2009 in order to provide the business with maximum flexibility around resourcing during challenging economic times. The initiative encouraged staff to sign up to voluntary new terms and conditions until the end of December 2009 in the first instance. The new agreements with staff included two options; firstly colleagues could agree to have their working week shortened by one day a week and/or secondly; staff could agree to take between 4 – 12 weeks leave at 30% pay in 2009 and again in 2010. 85% of its people volunteered to sign up to Flexible Futures – 98% of partners and 84% of employees. This initiative clearly brought together the firm’s commitment to diversity and flexible working and addressed a very real business need.

Part of the new terms and conditions stipulate that employees will be given one week’s notice if they are needed to go down to a four day week and they will be given four week’s notice if the firm needs them to take the part paid sabbatical.

Why

Impact

The current economic situation is both unpredictable and unprecedented. KPMG devised the Flexible Futures programme as a way of minimising the risk of largescale redundancies and ensuring that it retains valuable talent and skills through this recession. The programme provides a way of reducing costs, whilst still ensuring the firm is focused on excellent client delivery.

Flexible Futures was driven from the top and had impressive senior level backing from the start. The firm’s most senior partner launched the scheme initially to other partners. 50% of these signed up to the scheme before it was even launched.

How Employees sign up to the new voluntary terms, and then the firm can invoke them as and when needed. They are a measure which allows KPMG to make speedy changes to resourcing patterns according to immediate business needs.

Prior to launching this initiative, KPMG ensured that it was robust and well planned. For example the firm investigated and thought through the possible impact on other aspects of employment such as pensions, performance related pay, working visas, bonuses, tax and maternity rights.

A detailed and comprehensive briefing and up-skilling strategy was in place prior to launch to ensure that all stakeholders were engaged and that messages were both accurate and consistent. In preparation for launching the initiative the firm prepared a suite of documents and guidance which provided a one-stop shop for any possible queries relating to the scheme. A detailed pack and training was prepared for the firm’s HR people. A senior project manager in each function was also identified and fully briefed to ensure that the roll out was successful. Communication of the scheme was comprehensive and multi-faceted, it included a video, a web portal with an online calculator, an internal newsroom, as well as drop in clinics for employees. A partner within the firm commented, “I’m proud that KPMG is addressing the looming down turn in such an innovative and positive way.”

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Recommendations: Act Now for the Future

It offers flexi-time and the ability to work from home to all staff, considers itself anti-long hours, and provides enhanced maternity and paternity benefits.

There are key actions that professional firms can take to meet future challenges and prosper in the decades to come. The following recommendations highlight actions that professional firms can take to attract and retain the talents of both men as well as women; create more agile, innovative and collaborative workplaces, and meet the expectations of their stakeholders.

Professional firms can try a combination of the policies and approaches below to embed flexible working in their organisations:

1) Create agile workplaces Creating workplace agility will not only allow professional firms to better compete in a global marketplace that operates all hours but will also make them an employer of choice for knowledge workers. Workplace flexibility helps to meet the growing expectations of 21st century employees and is particularly important to recruiting and retaining women who form a majority of knowledge workers. It is also attractive in a four-generation workforce evolving from current demographic changes and is seen as a strategy to engage younger workers under thirty as well as encourage older employees to work longer or retire gradually. Fairness and flexibility has proved to be an important way of retaining and engaging staff in other sectors. With five years of data on flexible workers (mobile worker and home workers and their managers) from a number of companies across Europe, Johnson Controls concluded that “Flexible workers tend to be more emotionally engaged, more satisfied with their work, more likely to speak positively about their organisation and less likely to quit than those who are not.” 27 According to an independent survey of HR Directors and managers commissioned by Atkins in 2008, 55% of built environment sector respondents say flexible working is an important benefit in order to attract and retain staff and a further 28% agreed that it was an increasingly important benefit in this respect.28 However, only 6% are looking to do more even though flexible working is still a benefit at the line manager’s discretion and not available to all staff. UK employer John Rowan and Partners, with 66 employees, is the top ranked firm for smarter working in the Building Good Employer Guide 2008.29 Not only has it been in the Building Good Employers Guide in 2007 and 2008, it was the QS employer of the year in 2007 and has been listed in the Sunday Times Top100 best small company lists for two consecutive years. Twenty-eight percent of its total employees are women as are 11% of its technical and professional staff.

There are many ways of creating flexible work environments. It is best planned in conjunction with IT and premises strategy as both of these are enablers.

• Make flexible working a policy available in some dimension to all staff and not solely at the discretion of a single line manager. Offer flexible working based on what meets the needs of the firm and the individual. • Make it gender neutral – it’s not just for caring responsibilities but to enable people to enjoy work life balance whether it’s with family, travelling, study, etc. Making it available only to women is unfair to men but also stigmatises the women. • Plan flexible working options where possible in teams and in the context of the outputs they need to achieve. Defining outputs rather than inputs are critical to effectively managing flexible working. Agreement on what is to be achieved and how it will be measured must be clear and be integrated into performance objectives and appraisals. The support required to meet the objectives is also part of the process - i.e. access to training, management time and IT. • Consider a wide range of flexible options as some types of flexibility are more appropriate than others depending on the employee’s role: Job sharing, part-time work, remote or home working, flexitime, compressed working weeks, term time working and annualised hours. The project work of professions firms make them particularly suitable for annualised hours. • Plan and equip office space so that it has sufficient space for people working flexibly to meet and brainstorm either in person or virtually. • Invest in the right IT equipment that enables staff to work on PCs from home and connect to the office server or join virtual conferences. IT equipment has a short depreciation period so; it is possible to build new, more mobile equipment into the strategy quite quickly. • Celebrate flexible working and work life balance and communicate it as part of your employer brand. Best employer guides illustrate how “work-life balance” and a “fun place to work” are important to motivating people and retaining their loyalty. • Senior people need to communicate their support for work life balance in what they do not just what they say. If they plan flexibility into their own working lives and let people know they are doing it, it gives assurance to others that it will not damage their careers.

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2) Create diverse teams and networks

3) Develop emotional intelligence

Innovation relies on diverse mindsets and research shows that gender balanced teams are more innovative. Recruiting and retaining women professionals will help to create more innovative project teams but firms can look at a variety of approaches to improve gender diversity until their staff number shift. Project teams including virtual ones can tap into diversity through women who work for suppliers or are freelancing as portfolio workers. These virtual networks leverage and build on the explosion of social enterprise networking and allow people to flex over time, space and organisational boundaries.

The built environment professions have witnessed a shift towards training managers for the softer skills in order to improve customer service as well as engage staff. Women often demonstrate these skills in their leadership behaviours but they are competencies, which can be developed in both men and women. In this 21st century knowledge society which is driven by values and value creation through collaboration, emotional intelligence can be considered a core competency.

Actions to develop more diverse teams include: • Consider gender balance in terms of putting together teams. If you don’t have enough females on staff, think about how you can source talent from women who are freelance workers or secondees. • Set up a virtual network that includes your suppliers, key customers and academic contacts to discuss projects or industry issues. Specifically select the people you are inviting to join the network based on diversity as well as technical considerations. However, decide when it’s appropriate to share proprietary information and when it’s not.

Emotional intelligence is critical to understanding how to motivate people, make them feel significant and gain co-operation across highly diverse teams. It encompasses self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill. It underpins effective leadership in flatter non-hierarchical and collaborative structures that characterise 21st century organisations. Psychologist Daniel Goleman, who introduced emotional intelligence as a concept relevant to business, work found direct ties between emotional intelligence and measurable business success. In the UK, a study of 100 managers who attended Henley Management College indicated that emotional intelligence accounted for half the variation in individual success while IQ accounted for only about a quarter.

• Encourage staff to identify and to think about their own knowledge networks – professional, personal and operational - and how they can build diverse perspectives in them. Business social networking is experiencing rapid growth and allows networking across time, industry and geographical boundaries. Because of the number of people participating, it is easier to create a range of diverse contacts.

There are a number of options to develop emotional intelligence in staff:

• Hold brainstorming sessions with clients, suppliers and academics to discuss industry and technical problems. Choose the guest list to reflect gender balance as well as technical expertise.

• Seek assistance of external training providers. Goleman’s work has spawned an industry of emotional intelligence training and self help tools.

• Include attributes of emotional intelligence in person specifications when recruiting staff. This could lead to recruiting more women who have these skills and give a message to others in the firm that they are important.

• Build the “softer skills”, i.e. customer service, communications, motivating others, into your training programmes. Don’t just provide technical skills training. • Coach team leaders and project managers using qualified coaches who specialise in developing emotional intelligence. • Encourage staff to have mentors but select mentors who demonstrate emotional intelligence skills. • Encourage continual feedback within teams, from suppliers and customers in an atmosphere of trust. • Use multi-source performance assessment and feedback as a learning tool.

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4) Create an inclusive culture

5) Develop the talent pipeline

Various surveys have identified women’s negative view or experience of the cultures of built environment firms. While some have complained of overt sex discrimination, the problem often arises from the day-to-day practices and unwritten rules that put them at a disadvantage and reduces their ability to fully contribute their talents. People in the majority often don’t see the problems as they are totally comfortable in the organisation’s culture and have helped to create it. However, unless cultures are made more inclusive, professional firms will find it difficult to attract the talent they need for the future.

Addressing long-term skill shortages start with education and changing the low proportion of men and particularly women who study STEM subjects and who then choose to go into vocational or higher education to gain qualifications. Direct contact with the built environment is needed to reverse the negative image of the construction industry, give young people role models; an understanding of what built environment professionals do, and an appreciation of the range of careers within the sector and the valuable social outcomes of their work.

Actions to create more inclusive workforces include: Using the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET’s Cultural Analysis Tool. The tool assesses both the tangible and intangible factors that contribute to the underlying workplace cultures, through three anonymous questionnaires, one for management, one for employees and a third short questionnaire for HR staff. The responses are analysed at the UKRC and a confidential report is then issued. A comprehensive action plan for culture change that is tailored to the organisation’s needs is developed with the company. • Ensure your range of communications materials for internal and external use have positive image of women. Web-sites and corporate brochures are a good place to start. • Ensure your recruitment, promotion and pay policies are transparent and fair. Audit the outcomes of these policies and look for disparities on a gender basis. • If you are a senior manager, walk the talk and make sure that you can speak confidently about why greater diversity is good for your business. People particularly watch you for what is appropriate in terms of behaviours.

Initiatives that help build the pipeline include:   • Offer work experience placements and internships. Indicate that you are particularly keen to have girls placed as schools careers advisers as liaison officers often don’t encourage young women to attend placements in the built environment field.   • Liaise with local schools and universities and offer speakers at courses or special assemblies. Don’t just talk about technical things but the value of your work to society as young women are more interested in social purpose than how things work.   • Work with industry partners to offer events that allow young girls to learn more about your profession. If you have local authorities among your clients, this could have the added value of building client relationships.   • Design practical exercises or field visits, linked to the national curriculum key stages, for local schools.   • Participate in awards schemes to publicise your diversity work and build a positive image and brand to attract new recruits. • Encourage staff to take part in Ambassador /Mentoring Scheme.

• Survey employees, suppliers and clients for feedback and analyse the results on the basis of gender to understand perspectives and address issues. Share the results with staff and involve them in a discussion of the results.

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Conclusion The future offers built environment firms exciting opportunities but they will need the best talent and transformed workplaces to seize them fully. In the highly competitive market for talent, the industry can no longer afford to miss out on the contributions that women can make. If they do, collaboration will suffer, innovation will lag behind and customer expectations will be much harder to fulfil. Embracing agility will align professional firms with new workplace paradigms , the knowledge workers’ desire for work-life balance and the flexibility that both men and women want.   Transforming organisations is about actions not just words. The most enlightened firms will act now to create workplaces that have inclusive cultures and diverse teams and networks. They will increase their emotional intelligence capacity and improve collaboration by attracting more women and providing training in softer rather than just technical skills.   The best of the built environment firms will recognise that stakeholders value fairness and the ability of everyone to contribute their talents in the 21st century. They will work with government as partners and clients, others in the industry and the professional institutions to ensure that both men and women create the physical environment that enriches our lives. Many organisations in different sectors have completed CAT surveys.

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References [1] Leitch Review of Skills: Prosperity for All in the Global Economy, HMSO, 2006 [2] Taking Stock: CBI Education and Skills Survey 2008, www.cbi.org.uk [3] Guidance Note: Gender Equality, Institute for Civil Engineering, www.ice.org.uk accessed August 2009 [4] Blueprint for UK Construction 2009 - 2013, ConstructionSkills, 2009 [5] Construction Industry Warnings on Workforce Time Bomb, ConstructionSkills, press release, 26 June 2008

[17] Innovative Potential: Men and Women in Teams, Lehman Centre for Women in Business, London Business School, 2007 [18] Corporate Agility, James Ware and Charles Grantham, AMACON, 2007 [19] Live/work Project, Future of Work, www.the futureofwork.net, accessed August 2009 [20] SANE: Designing Tomorrow’s Office, Tom Fernando, The Arup Journal, February 2003 [21] Public Calls for More Women to Build Our Cities, Press Release, Atkins, 2007

[6] National Labour Survey Data, Summer 2007 – Spring 2008 as analysed by Research Team at ConstructionSkills

[22] Diversity Dimensions: Integration into Organisational Cultures, Opportunity Now, 2003

[7] Women Set Briefing paper, Engineering and technology Board, June 2009

[23] Procurement and Equality, Office of Government Commerce, www.ogc.gov.uk

[8] Gathering and Reviewing Data on Diversity within the Construction Profession, Ann de Graft-Johnson, Rachel Sara, Fiona Gleed, and Nada Brkljac, Construction Industry Council. 2009

[24] Employment Tribunal and Eat Statistics (GB) 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008.

[9] Guidance Note: Gender Equality, Institute of Civil Engineers, www.ice.org.uk, accessed August 2009 [10] Gathering and Reviewing data on Diversity within the Construction Professions, Ann de Graft–Johnson, Rachel Sara, Fiona Gleed, Nada Brkljac, Construction Industry Council, 2009

[25] The Cost of Employee Turnover Due Solely to Unfairness in the Workplace, The level Playing Field Institute, Corporate Leavers Survey, 2007, [26] Employee Engagement and Diversity Satisfaction Linkage identified, February 2006, www.HR.com [27] Flexible Working Survey 2007: Five Years of Learning, Dr Marie Puyaraud, Johnson Controls, 2007

[11] Women in Architecture: Five Years On, Sandra Manley, and Ann de Graft-Johnson, University of the West of England, 2007

[28] Flexible Working Helps to Plug Drain in Built Environment Sector Skills press release, Atkins, 25 June 2008

[12] A Study of RICS Qualified Surveyors Currently Holding No Practicing Status, Louise Ellison, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2006

[29] The Building Good Employer Guide 2008, Building, October 2008.

[13] Collaborative leadership: How to Succeed in an Interconnected World, David Archer and Alex Cameron, Elsevier Ltd, 2009 [14] “Shatter the Glass Ceiling: Women May Make Better Managers”, Bernard M Bass and Bruce J Avolio, Human Resources Management, Vol. 33, No. 4, 1994 [15] Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Behaviour in Construction Executives, Collen J Butler and Paul S Chinowsky, Journal of Management in Engineering, July 2006 [16] EQ and Gender: Women Feel Smarter, Lac D. Su and Travis Bradberry, TalentSmart, 2004

This document has been written by Opportunity Now on behalf of The Construction Industry Council. Opportunity Now is a membership organisation for employers who are committed to creating inclusive workplaces for women. Opportunity Now is part of Business in the Community, a registered charity. www.opportunitynow.org.uk September 2009

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