COMMENT We live and work in dynamic times. As the UK real estate industry navigates technological advancements, sustainability demands, and evolving regulations, it is crucial for leaders to remember that their most valuable assets are not technology, buildings, or financial resources – rather these are platforms that enable our people to thrive, unlocking potential for their development and, ultimately, business success.
While the post-pandemic business environment brings complex challenges, it is essential to continue to acknowledge and prioritise our people as holding the pivotal lever in driving success.
Technology and processes help streamline operations, but it’s the individuals within the firm – from newly qualified surveyors to senior partners – who truly make a difference and deliver for our clients as trusted partners.
Unlocking potential
At Knight Frank, our commitment to investing in our people is more than just a talking point – it is a strategic priority. For us to truly thrive, recognising and unlocking potential across all our teams is key.
This means offering a range of professional development opportunities, from hands-on training to mentoring schemes, that cater to talent in every role and at every career stage. In doing so, we can create an environment that’s not only skilled and knowledgeable but also resilient and motivated – essential ingredients for boosting productivity, driving innovation, and enhancing profitability for the firm and our clients.
One popular method of investing in people is through personality and emotional intelligence testing. Often introduced during early career stages, these tools can help us understand how to best utilise our people in ways that suit them, be that through improving teamwork, enhancing communication, and developing future leaders.
However, the value of these tests can be underutilised. Once completed, they may be set aside, potentially missing opportunities to leverage valuable insights throughout an employee’s career.
Encouraging development
To maximise the benefits, businesses should integrate these insights into ongoing personal development strategies. Organisations must encourage their people to explore and develop across a range of competencies, creating teams that offer a diversity of skillsets and behaviours: particularly valuable in an industry where adaptability is key.
As the real estate market is constantly evolving, fostering well-rounded individuals who can navigate diverse client needs, project complexities, and market conditions is crucial. In practice, this holistic approach can be supported through career mapping, performance indicators, and regular self-assessments that empower individuals to take ownership of their professional growth.
By promoting continuous development, we can ensure that our people are not only effective in their current roles but also equipped to meet future challenges, whether that is managing large-scale commercial projects or guiding high-net-worth clients through complex residential deals.
Fostering inclusivity
We are starting to use more sophisticated data analytics at Knight Frank and are implementing platforms such as Workday to enhance our people experience. This allows us to plan tailored support plans for individuals based on their combined characteristics and identify, remove barriers to success and increase leadership awareness and advocacy to enable all so that they can feel included and thrive.
This adds real power to our firm’s seven employee resource groups (gender, LGBTQ+, race/faith, intergenerational, social mobility, ability/mental health and working families). As well as fostering belonging and catalysing cultural change and inclusivity, these groups create advocates throughout the business. They also act as a conduit for meaningful engagement with our leadership team to truly effect positive change.
Through ongoing professional development, strategic use of personality and emotional intelligence testing, we are aligning people with business strategies and enabling our colleagues, clients and communities to achieve their full potential. Now more than ever, investing in people isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a business imperative.
Championing personal and professional development is the cornerstone of success, especially in an industry as client-centric and relationship-driven as real estate.
Karen Bowes is chief people officer at Knight Frank
