Colliers has launched its fourth REAL for Women programme which invests in the cohorts’ ‘personal and professional development as well as building the firm’s talent pool of female leadership from within’.
The annual REAL for Women programme sees participants undertake eight days of training between March and November around leading in an uncertain world, client strategy, emotional intelligence and personal leadership and brand.
The programme was developed to include female participants from fee and non-fee earning teams, as well as colleagues from across the EMEA region and forms part of Colliers’ growth business plan.
Of the 46 participants who have completed the programme to date, more than 40% have been promoted or nominated for promotion within 24 months of completing the course.
Tony Horrell, CEO of Colliers UK and Ireland, said: “REAL for Women has become a staple in our learning and development programme and shows our commitment to investing in our female colleagues – we know that equality doesn’t come without equity first. This programme provides dedicated investment and time for the women in our business to develop their own personal skills as well as leadership style. And we’ve seen that the programme is a success already with more than 40% of previous participants having been promoted shortly after completing the course.”
Michelle Mason, chief people officer EMEA at Colliers, who has sponsored the European delegates for the REAL programme for a second year, has also launched a female mentoring pilot programme which matches up-and-coming female talent from across the region with women directors in order to share and learn from each other’s experiences in business and commercial real estate.
To coincide with International Women’s Day, Colliers held an internal panel discussion today at the firm’s UK and EMEA headquarters in London, to discuss the challenges faced by women in the workplace.
Lydia Ings, UK HR director at Colliers, said: “Our REAL for Women programme is part of our overall People Strategy which strengthens our leadership pipeline from within, and compliments our Balance in Business workstream which strives to improve not only diversity within our business, but also educate our colleagues around the various challenges faced by minority groups in the workplace.
“In recent years we’ve made a number of changes to our internal policies such as enhancing parental leave as well as introducing conscious inclusion training across the business. While we’re making strides, we are aware that there’s always more that needs to be done to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to have a seat at the table.”
