Recommended Actions for Organizations

How can the real estate industry create workplaces where more talented women can advance?

Organizations succeed in advancing more women when they combine the individual approaches described in the WLI research to change how work is done each day and alter the supporting structure.

The following section describes recommendations that bring together different and complementary approaches to have a significant impact.

Accelerate learning through job assignments

Think and act with an eye toward diversity when making assignments to lead high-profile projects and fill open positions. Provide coaching to those who take on new roles to promote learning. Seek a diverse pool of talent to sponsor and mentor.

Create the culture

Develop a culture that places a high priority on internal and external networks, objective promotion, and fair hiring policies and practices—values that women rank as a high priority.

Adopt a talent mind-set

Regularly engage in a robust discussion to identify a diverse pool of high-potential employees and agree on strategies for mentoring and challenging them.

Offer workplace flexibility for men and women

Provide flexible hours and family leave for men and women and create a culture that allows both genders to be involved in their lives outside of work—approaches especially important for gen X and millennial employees.

Make mentoring and sponsorship of women a priority

Foster mentoring and sponsorship of women, but be aware that gender dynamics can be a barrier to one-on-one mentoring and executive sponsorship.

Invest in training to drive change

Support success on challenging work assignments by providing relevant training that includes men and women; leverage training and development activities to create a strong network of relationships within the organization that maintains the inclusive culture.