The youth boards creating real estate’s defining moment

“There’s a proverb that says, ‘if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together,’” says Andrew Thompson, chair of Canary Wharf Group’s newly created junior board (pictured above). It’s a neat answer to the question of why the voices of the next generation of real estate professionals are beginning to be heard as never before. “With recent events around the world, there does seem to be a greater realisation from organisations that they are not going to get far without listening,” says Thompson, a health and safety adviser. “I think it’s even more important to be listening to the next generation who are upcoming, who are more exposed to different influences and spheres of life.” Recognising younger employees as a business resource to better understand consumers is nothing new, of course. Gucci’s turnaround in 2017 was famously credited in part to a shadow committee of millennials under 30. Now real estate appears to be having its own “Gucci moment”. “A junior board does seem to be the thing to have at the moment, whether you are a network or whether you are a relatively large business with lots of junior professionals,” says Isabelle Hease, chair of BPF Futures, the industry body’s professional network for those with less than 10 years’ experience in the sector. There is perhaps an element of box-ticking going on, says Hease, spurred on by the positive momentum behind efforts to increase diversity in the industry. That extends to bringing a greater diversity of input into projects – from different age profiles as well as different backgrounds. But Hease believes something else is at play too. She points to a “massive realisation” in recent years that “short-term sprints” in property don’t reflect reality. “There is an appreciation that we need to take much longer-term views and the people who are going to be able to deliver that are starting off in their careers,” says Hease. There is a clear sense of future-proofing here. “Any sort of policy, strategy or initiative that you put in place has to be sustainable in the long term and, as a result, you need to involve people who are going to be impacted by that in the long term for their input, their advice,” Hease explains. At British Land, Emma Cariaga, joint head of the Canada Water regeneration, sees the REIT’s NextGen Network as a “voice for change” within the organisation. Launched last September, it is the latest addition to a raft of employee-led networks which can make real board-level impact through presentations to the CSR committee. Each network has direct access to members of the executive committee and has an executive committee sponsor. “We recognise that diversity of thought is critical to driving innovation, understanding our customers and, ultimately, the success of our business,” says Cariaga. Supporting a network to represent the next generation of property professionals at BL simply “made sense”. At CWG, Jane Hollinshead, managing director of people, culture & customer experience and the driver behind its new junior board, feels the same. “In real estate we are not always first adopters in terms of change and new things. For me, there are so many things that having a junior board achieves, in terms of recognising all the shifts that are happening out on the market [with] data and tech and creating massive customer-centric businesses. Why would you not invest in the talent that has that insight around data and technology? “They are also the next generation of consumers. So, from a senior leadership perspective, if we want to think about what our tenant mix is like or what we want our placemaking strategy to be like, then to have a sounding board within your business that you can really test those ideas with makes perfect business sense.” Both propcos and the BPF have plans in place to continually replenish their next-gen boards to bring in fresh talent and as members grow through the professional ranks. They are in this for the long haul. British Land’s NextGen Network At the age of 23, Canada Water apprentice Gafar Fashola is making a difference at 166-year-old property giant British Land. Fashola is one of the catalysts behind BL’s NextGen Network, launched last September with a mission to represent and support the next generation of in-house talent. The genesis of the network owes much to a business case he put together as part of his own apprenticeship. Challenged to identify and come up with solutions to a business issue, he decided to focus on the gap he felt existed between entry-level staff and the wider business. “There was nothing in place that made people feel integrated within the business. Even people who had been there for two, three or four years were still feeling that isolation,” he says. He also identified a lack of clear career paths within the company beyond apprenticeship and graduate programmes. His line manager was hugely supportive and Fashola began working with colleagues Joseph Bass, who was a year ahead of him in the apprenticeship scheme, and Patricia Rus, an investment associate, to develop a pitch for the NextGen Network. “We pitched it to the entire staff, to the board and we got through. It was a wonderful experience,” he says. Fashola is now co-chair of the network with Bass and Rus, with the trio leading a committee of 10 to drive strategy and initiatives. The wider group has already attracted 84 members, including senior leaders such as executive committee member and joint head of Canada Water, Roger Madelin, and Ade Onagoruwa, head of employee relations and diversity, equality and inclusion. “It makes us feel supported and it makes [us feel] that the business is receptive to the work we deliver,” says Fashola. “It’s a symbiotic relationship. When we had a catch up with the CEO recently, it was all about ‘what further support do you need?’,” he says. Early wins have included encouraging the business to join the 10,000 Black Interns programme, which seeks to offer 2,000 internships each year across more than 20 business sectors for five years. Fashola himself came to BL not from university but via a residential estate agency and wants to see the sector encourage wider access and greater diversity. Increasing school visits by BL staff is currently being discussed. Within the business, a key focus for the network is on improving staff retention – linking back to that initial idea about better integrating new starters scattered across the business. For those joining BL, the network has set up a buddy programme linking new starters with existing employees – something which felt even more important because the pandemic prevented connections from being made. This was launched with an in-person event. “The traction was really high,” Fashola says. The network has a very full calendar of events lined up, including bi-monthly “teach-ins” where senior leaders discuss their career journey and how to acquire the skills needed to get there, and a next-gen week focusing on career development in September. The network hosted the latest Real Estate Balance speed mentoring event (pictured) and BPF Futures Policy Congress. It has a clear focus on those with five to seven years of experience in the sector, including older employees who have switched career paths. It’s the stage, says Fashola, “where you want extra assistance, where you want more attention on your career journey”. This month, the committee will present its early career strategy to the main board – its first big opportunity to influence how the business operates. Fashola hopes the network’s role will grow further. He has been involved in work on the diversity and inclusion strategy for the development department from a next-gen perspective. “There are a lot of things around the business which are starting to require the attention of next gen, not just in terms of career development and training, but actually how we do things,” he says. Canary Wharf Group’s junior board  “Thank you Canary Wharf for believing in us. We won’t disappoint.” This was the LinkedIn post from Andrew Thompson, health and safety adviser at CWG, when the company announced the launch of its junior board in March. Thompson, who graduated seven years ago, was among 13 staff chosen from 50 applicants based on their submissions for three things they would change about the estate if they were on the main board. Applicants had to have less than 10 years’ experience in the industry and be less than 10 years out of higher education. Following a poll of his fellow board members, Thompson is now its first chair. “When I saw the initiative come out, it got me thinking about the estate. Knowing that you can be part of something to help bring about change and to have influence really got me stirred. And, of course, being on the board is good preparation and inspiration for the future,” he says. The idea was masterminded by Jane Hollinshead, former head of real estate at Addleshaw Goddard, who joined CWG last July as managing director of people, culture & customer experience. Chief executive Shobi Khan is heavily involved, acting as sponsor. Having sifted through the proposals from all 50 applicants, the board has been given two big strategic projects plus a project badged as “Shobi’s big ask”. In addition, the group is working on a couple of “quick fixes”, such as taking part in the interview process for a new ‘early starters’ specialist, who will focus on recruitment and retention of junior employees.  “For this to have genuine impact, you have to give the junior board real projects,” says Hollinshead, who was also involved in setting up BPF Futures as a consultant to the BPF. “You also have to set [junior] boards up to succeed, so you have to provide investment and training.” The junior board will be asked to produce an annual report to be published on the company website. “I think keeping it really focused and having that two-way accountability between the junior board and the management board means it has anchors into the corporate governance structure of the company,” Hollinshead says. Training includes equipping the 13 with the skills needed to be a mentor because each junior board member has also been asked to reverse-mentor a member of the management board – including Khan. The blind matching process was based on individual objectives from the prospective mentees. “Some of the objectives were to do with understanding the next generation,” says Thompson. “There was also a whole range of objectives revolving around doing things better, quicker, more sustainably, more efficiently. As an emerging generation, we are very ‘techie’ and very innovative and we can share that knowledge with the older generation.” BPF Futures Since its launch in 2017, BPF Futures has grown to a membership of 1,300 junior professionals representing more than 300 companies. Its stated aim is to aid professional development and provide space to learn about and influence real estate policy. Isabelle Hease, chief executive of Visitor Insights, was appointed chair of BPF Futures in January, having been on the advisory board for four years. Sixty people applied for 10 places on the BPF Futures board, with selection criteria including geographic location and background as well as their professional CVs. Hease says a BPF Futures ambassador programme has now been set up to capitalise on the talents of the 50 who were unsuccessful, giving them opportunities to feed into events and other initiatives. There’s still a bit of a rhetoric of, ‘Oh, you’re the young person in the room’ and a sense of ‘these are the junior people and these are the serious and experienced people Hease is candid about the fact that simply by having a junior network, you risk allowing an “element of separation” from the rest of an organisation or business. “There’s still a bit of a rhetoric of, ‘Oh, you’re the young person in the room’ and a sense of ‘these are the junior people and these are the serious and experienced people’,” she says.  She’s seen BPF Futures groups discuss policy issues in the past but have no way of feeding back to the actual policy committee. “There’s no benefit to any of those members who have spent the time discussing policy and giving their thoughts if you don’t have a way of integrating that with the wider group,” she says. However, change is definitely under way. “There’s now the opportunity to have a junior representative in all of the BPF committees that represent different areas of real estate. The committees are significant – they’re made up of industry leaders – so it’s a great opportunity to have representation across all the different practice areas,” Hease says. It’s an important shift which means the chair of BPF Futures, who automatically gains a seat on the BPF board, is not its sole representative and the voices of junior professionals are heard more widely. For more on BPF Futures’ plans for the coming year, listen to the EG Bricks & Mortar podcast   To send feedback, e-mail julia.cahill@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGJuliaC or @EGPropertyNews Images © Canary Wharf Group/British Land