Reflections on Amanda Clack’s talk on the importance of diversity and inclusion

Posted on: 2019-06-21

UCEM welcomed Amanda Clack to its office in Reading to give a talk on the importance of diversity and inclusion last week. Staff from all across UCEM attended the presentation and here, our Information and Governance Manager, Lucy Roper, reflects on the key messages which came out of it…

On 13 June I was privileged enough to attend an Inspire session held at University College of Estate Management (UCEM) where I heard Amanda Clack speak.

At UCEM we are fortunate enough to have Amanda as one of our Board of Trustees. Amanda is Head of Strategic Advisory at CBRE and is Managing Director for Advisory across EMEA, supporting clients on their strategic real estate agenda. She is also the Immediate Past President for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) becoming the longest-serving in 123 years.

Amanda talked to us about the book she co-authored with Judith Gabler entitled Managing diversity and inclusion in the real estate sector. This book is the first to place Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) at the centre of successful real estate and construction organisations. It provides guidance to, and most importantly, actions for professionals in the sector who want to make D&I an inherent part of the culture of their organisation.

Research shows that high-performing organisations focus on diversity and inclusion in driving engagement, collaboration and fostering creativity. In any workplace, whilst it is important to both understand and recognise the benefits that having a D&I workforce provides, we now need to implement change and embed D&I in all that we do.

Managing diversity and inclusion in the real estate sector presents a practical and easy-to-read guide that can help organisations and their leaders engage with. Fundamentally though it is about people – people who have a job to do and who want to be the best at doing that job. Throughout the book there are fabulous illustrations by Farley Katz (of the New Yorker) and a dedicated chapter to ‘Perspectives’ where readers will gain from personal reflections on all aspects of diversity by a broad range of people working in the property industry including our very own Principal, Ashley Wheaton!

Thanks, Amanda, for inspiring me. Everyone has an important part to play in being more inclusive and gaining from a diverse range of viewpoints, creative and innovative ideas, and opinions that do matter. In encouraging greater involvement and collaboration will allow people to feel valued, part of a community and given a great reason to enjoy getting out of bed and going to work.

The truth is, an organisation will only reap the performance and competitive benefit of diversity and inclusion once the values are embedded into business systems and processes and woven throughout the organisation’s fabric.

Help us to help enable everyone to #BeTheChange.

A copy of this inspiring book is available in the UCEM Library in our Horizons office and is also available within the e-Library for all staff and students to benefit from.

Source: Clack A and Gabler J (2019). Managing diversity and inclusion in the real estate sector [e-book]. Oxon: Routledge.  e-ISBN-13: 9780429428975.