Women can usher a new era for Indian realty

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” – Maya Angelou If I had to define women’s journey of rising above and battling for equality in all spheres, in a word, it would be courage. Be it her right to vote, to step out into the world without a male escort, to partake education and to join the workforce; each step is that of grit and courage. While ancient India respected women and treated them as equals in all facets of the socio-economic life; in the medieval era with the class-divisions and accumulation of private property, women’s status in the society was that of a second citizen; with curtailed freedom of expression, skewed property ownership rights and her role limited to household work. With gradual social awakening and reforms through the 18^th and 19^th centuries in India, the status of women began to change.With Indian Independence, due to the Constitution’s specific clauses aimed at guaranteeing equal status and opportunities to women, the status of women has changed drastically. This has enabled societal shifts, economic empowerment and progressive political discourse progressing towards empowerment aiding in inclusion of women in various sectors like education, IT, technology and even the army. Women in real estate, however, are very few.   Why is Real Estate not a business of choice for Women? Real Estate is a field still characterized by inequity at its highest levels and in the commercial arena. Considered an unorganized business in India which needs dealing with unsavoury elements of the society, the sector is known a “Man’s Profession”. Long work hours at construction sites, dealing with landowners, contractors, workers, urban local bodies etc.has contributed to this perception. Thereis an unconscious bias that women can’t deal with the challenges and the work culture of realty. This discourages women from stepping into the sector in a leadership role.Organizational Diversity is also a challenge since few women choose civil engineering or Construction Management as field of education. The core of any construction company is engineering and to be able to hire out of a talent pool that is diverse is the primary criteria. Reward cycle steps into the way of women wanting to make a mark in the sector. New projects or jobs are given to people with proven experience, and women having been away from the corporate world often have lesser experience than men do, the vicious cycle then continues. Therefore, there is an entry barrier right at the beginning that holds true for almost all sectors. Need of women in C-suites “Bring together what is good for business with what is good for the world.” – Indra Nooyi Positioning women in leadership more broadly allows companies to institute practices and policies that can enable women to perform a range of corporate leadership roles, particularly those that directly impact profit and loss, and help them gain experience and leadership skills such as negotiation, confidence, decision-making, and consensus-building. Women in leadership roles is not just relevant from a diversity perspective, it is also better for the economy as a whole. Lack of diversity burdens the working population with the growth and up gradation of the economy stressing these assets. Bringing women to the forefront and empowering them to participate equally could add $28 trillion in the global economy’s GDP growth by 2025, according to the World Economic Forum. The same report specifies that societies with greater gender equality grow faster and more equitably. In India, according to World Bank, the GDP would grow from 7.4% to over 9%, if women were equallya part of the economy. At the industry and company level, this translates into organisations with more women leaders making higher profits. In 2007, Catalyst, a non-profit organisation, concluded in their report, ’The Bottom Line’ that Fortune 500 companies with the highest representation of women board directors attained significantly higher financial performance, on average, than those with the lowest representation of women board directors. The report also points out notably higher performance at companies with three or more board directors. This is strong case for women in leadership in every sector to usher momentum of growth as return on equity, return on sales and return on invested capital were all found higher in diverse organisations. Coupled with the myriad strengths women bring to the corporate world, these findings further amplify the need for women in C-suites. Furthermore, women are more effective trainers and can engage people better. An organization with more women is hence, more likely to have a cohesive, attuned team. This leads to utilisation of each team member’s strengths and harnessing greater organisational strength. Diversity is beneficial to enhance creativity and innovation. The more perspectives, the more creative solutions, the better problem solving abilities; multiple perspectives aid an organisation in holistic growth. Women bring their strengths of higher emotional quotient, weighing more options and taking a broader perspective to the organisation. Women display higher integrity and honesty in leadership positions, according to a Zenger Folkman survey. It makes them more effective leaders as integrity is valued by every team, it builds faith in the leader and the direction the organisation is headed. Organisations that ignore these colossal advantages will lag behind in the ever evolving, innovative, creatively charged, workplace of the future. While, organisations that embrace a diverse workforce are at the forefront of the tide of innovation and creativity, leading to greater growth and opportunities. Steps to encourage women in Indian realty “We cannot change what we’re not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.” – Sheryl Sandberg With the fast changing pace of realty and the regulation laws, the perception of a patriarchal Industry is certainly on its way towards becoming a myth. Awareness is the key to encouraging women in the real estate sector. Instead of enumerating the characteristics of the sector that women find challenging, it is important to educate them about the myriad traits discussed earlier that they possess, and which add value to the organisation. The process of eliminating entry barriers and enhancing work culture have already begun. Workplace culture, everyday words and actions, can either break the stereotypes or reinforce them. Instead of labelling women and their work, a feedback mechanism to empower them is essential. Policies conducive to women’s participation in the workforce go a long way in empowering women. The need to give up one’s career due to childbirth is eliminated due to a mature maternity leave policy, higher number of women is on boards of listed companies due to the compulsion in The Companies Act, 2013; such policies forego entry barriers. However, to truly become gender equal, a maternity leave is not adequate, paternity leave policies need to be strong too. The policies work most effectively in a society that has acknowledged and wants to thrive with diversity. Therefore, paramount and perhaps a panacea for encouraging women in the workspace is a paradigm shift towards women in the workforce in the society. Men and women both need to shift the dial from being dubious about women’s abilities to work neck andneck in every sector. The least one can do and the most effective is an ecosystem to nurture, mentor and coach women via networking groups. Mentoring enables women to see their careers more objectively and brace themselves for the journey to the C-suite. While, mentoring other women also enhances leadership abilities of the existing women leaders. Networking groups fulfil this important function of coaching and mentoring, whilst being a support system for women in their career journeys. It is an important forum to discuss challenges and brainstorm solutions. Case study: CREDAI Women’s Wing CREDAI made a bold move in announcing its Women’s Wing in 2017 with the long term aim of making the Indian real estate sector gender neutral. The first step that the leadership of CREDAI took was to invite a Woman Developer to be a part of the CREDAI National Executive Council for the first time in the history of CREDAI. CREDAI Women’s Wing has scaled to 25 cities in the short span of one year. With over 200 members, it has proven to be a strong networking forum and an incubation program to encourage active participation of women in realty. In addition, it has given voice to important issues that impact all women stakeholders in the industry such as skilling for women, gender budgeting, more women property owners, good governance etc. The Women’s Wing aims to re-align the industry perception ever strongly and empower women leadership. CREDAI Women’s Wing is also working to engage the student organizations and technical professional organizations to work bottom up to encourage more women into this profession. Along with this a skilling initiative has been undertaken to ensure more women labours in construction get skilled so their income levels can rise and they are not left to do menial jobs on sites.   Way forward for women in real estate Indian Real Estate contributes to 7% of our GDP. The sector supports ancillary businesses and allied industry. Engineering, architecture, research, product development, design, financial analysis, insurance, marketing & sales, market research, quality control, customer relationship, legal compliance etc, the possibilities in Real Estate are endless. For the unequivocal growth of the economy, it is important to eliminate the gender gap in Indian realty and make the sector gender neutral. It will shift the current business models for the better, as well as add value to the bottom-line. Perseverance and hard work have the will to overcome any challenge. Women with their ability to network and collaborate, are empathetic leaders who can tread into Indian realty and make a mark. While, the effort for changing perspectives and creating a conducive ecosystem continues, it is imperative that women challenge these barriers – mental and physical everyday. Women should take the narrative in their hands and change the tide for the better. It is my ardent belief that the World Economic Forum’s estimate of about 70 years for South Asia to become gender equal can be reduced by a mile and more by Indian women. At the end of the day, my ardent wish is for women to live by Sheryl Sandberg’s mantra – “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”