Affordable accommodation provider The LOWE Group has become the latest firm to sign up to Property Week’s Inspiring Diversity in Property campaign, joining other signatories including Watts and Puma Property Finance.
Tim Lowe, managing director of The LOWE Group, said on signing the pledge: “I am pleased to sign Property Week’s equity, diversity and inclusion pledge. At The LOWE Group, we are passionate about fostering a more inclusive workplace; around 50% of colleagues are from a minority ethnic background.
“Diversity of our workforce means a diversity of ideas, approaches to problem solving and understanding our customers and stakeholders, and we are all the better for it. Our mission to operate as an inclusive company fosters innovation and aligns with our societal expectations, ultimately positioning the company for long-term success in a rapidly changing market.”
THE PLEDGE
Companies signing the pledge commit to establishing a continuous improvement plan with measurable objectives and clearly defined outcomes.
For some, this plan will involve only small changes; for others, improvement may be a long-term business transformation project. The panel below outlines the steps companies that sign the pledge agree to take.
1/ Attract, develop, and promote a more diverse workforce
Including promoting equality, making unconscious bias training mandatory for those involved in recruitment, making sure language in recruitment and job descriptions does not exclude anyone.
Devising and implementing development programmes for protected characteristics that support meaningful career progression.
2/ Take steps to close pay gaps
Including offering flexible and remote working as standard and considering job shares; using market salary and internal pay data rather than asking candidates what they currently earn; ensuring interviewers are diverse; publishing wage ranges; looking for discrepancies between pay rates, and ensuring high-achieving individuals are recognised equitably in succession planning.
3/ Champion and recognise the achievements of employees across all of the protected workplace characteristics
Including actively promotinge the success of workforce diversity; using diverse role models in marketing, advertising and PR campaigns; ensuring outreach programmes with schools and colleges target a more diverse population.
4/ Foster a culture of diversity and inclusiveness
Creating programmes and policies that promote equality; working towards more balanced representation at both management and board level; ensuring there are appropriate facilities; having a zero-tolerance approach to negative and demeaning behaviours, or to “banter” that undermines, belittles and excludes anyone; encouraging reporting processes.
5/ To set annual EDI objectives and transparently publish progress
Communicating EDI goals with employees and partners; gathering data to measure progress; sharing key metrics with employees and partners, highlighting both progress and setbacks; making diversity a core value.
Download the pledge here, then email the signed version to Stephanie.Denton@propertyweek.com to confirm your commitment and feature in our social media campaign, or take a personal pledge to make a change here.
Property Week’s inaugural Inspiring Women in Property Awards took place on 5 October at the Hilton London Metropole recognising of outstanding achievements by individuals, teams, and commendable corporate initiatives that have made remarkable contributions to improving gender imbalance in the UK property and real estate industry.
Learn more about the winners who took home the prizes and why.
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