Tag Archives: Difference

New Survey Reveals Equal Pay the Biggest Challenge Facing Women in Commercial Real Estate

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Despite Contributing More Than $935 Billion to the U.S. Economy in 2017, Commercial Real Estate Lags behind in Gender Equality According to New Survey from RETS Associates

Newport Beach, CA – June 27, 2018 (BUSINESS WIRE) RETS Associates, a leading commercial real estate (CRE) recruitment and staffing firm, today announced the findings from its 2018 Women in CRE Survey, which garnered results from women holding entry- to senior-level positions across the nation. Notably, 87.2 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree that the biggest challenge facing women in CRE today is equal pay, followed closely by a lack of promotion opportunities and feeling that female opinions aren’t as valued or respected as their male counterparts (79.2 and 79.1 percent respectively). According to the survey, gender pay and opportunity discrimination appears to be pervasive within this industry that accounted for 7.6 million American jobs and contributed $935.1 billion to U.S. GDP in 2017.1

RETS Associates Logo

“The days of commercial real estate being an ‘old boys club’ are over,” said Jana Turner, principal, RETS Associates and a former executive of a Fortune 500 global CRE company. “We had a great response to the survey with more than 615 participants. That’s significant. Women are more empowered than ever before to stand up to discrimination, but change must come from the top and currently there aren’t enough women in leadership positions. We’re working to change that.”

Gender Pay and Opportunity Discrimination

Sixty-five percent of respondents noted that they were made aware of being paid less than a male counterpart at some point in their career. Of those, seventy-five percent noted it happened at least two times.

Sixty-one percent of survey respondents noted that they felt they were bypassed for a job, assignment or listing at some point in their career based on gender. Of those, 82 percent reported that it happened more than once, and 54 percent noted it happened three or more times.

  • Almost two-thirds (63 percent) did not take action after being bypassed for a job, assignment or listing
  • Of those who did take action, 45 percent began looking for a new job, 28 percent discussed with HR or management and the issue was not resolved to their satisfaction, 17 percent resigned, 7 percent had the issue resolved to their satisfaction, and 3 percent took legal action
  • The top three reasons for not taking action were as follows:
  • 29 percent – Fear of losing future career opportunities
  • 27 percent – Fear of poor treatment from leadership
  • 25 percent – Fear of reputation damage

“The conversation around gender equity has gained significant traction as more individuals, business owners, executives, and policymakers are looking to solve issues surrounding gender bias – issues such as the ones identified in this study,” said Katica Roy, international speaker, gender economist, and CEO of Pipeline, an award-winning Denver-based technology company that increases financial performance of companies through closing the gender equity gap. “There is a solution to gender equity in the U.S. It starts with an understanding of where we are so that we can improve. Data is the key to that understanding and the solution to parity.”

“Many industries, including CRE, still operate with unconscious gender bias, which arises from cultural assumptions and organizational structures, practices, and patterns of interaction that inadvertently advantage men while putting women at a disadvantage,” said Dr. Bernice Ledbetter, Director of the Center for Women in Leadership at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. “If women in CRE hope to advance, these biases must be addressed head on.”

Sexual Harassment Continues

While sexual harassment wasn’t identified by respondents as one of the biggest challenges they face, more than half (52 percent) reported having been sexually harassed at some point in their career.

  • 84 percent noted it happened more than once
  • 41 percent reported that it happened five or more times
  • 33 percent noted that they were sexually harassed by five or more people throughout their career
  • 76 percent did not report the sexual harassment to HR or management
  • 10 percent of those that reported the harassment noted that the accused lost their job
  • 34 percent of respondents that reported the harassment noted that no action was taken against the accused

When Women Do Well, We All Do Well

“What leaders in commercial real estate and all industries need to understand is that gender equality means economic growth,” continued Turner. “The way in which we treat women in the workplace is a key component to boosting not only our own industry’s success, but our entire economy. When women do well, we all do well.”

“In fact, the business case for why women in leadership is good for business is well established. Companies with gender parity experience a 34 percent3 higher total return to shareholders than those that do not,” continued Dr. Ledbetter.

For example, Nordic countries – which consistently rank as some of the happiest in the world – have grown considerably richer due to decades of policies designed to improve gender equality, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The region has added nearly 20 percent to economic growth per capita over the last 50 years. Additionally, it’s reported that women-friendly work policies could add up to 30 percent to economic growth rates by 2040.2

“No one wants to work somewhere where they are undervalued or treated unfairly, and the RETS Associates survey shines a light on the fact that the CRE industry still has significant work to do in the area of gender equality,” said Andra Ghent, associate professor of real estate & urban land economics and academic director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at Wisconsin School of Business. “What CRE companies need to do is have performance-based metrics justifying the differences in compensation between employees of similar rank, and understand that when women are treated well, businesses will be rewarded with a motivated workforce, lower turnover rates and ultimately an improved bottom line.”

About the Survey

The 2018 Women in CRE Survey, based on responses from 618 women in commercial real estate across the continental U.S., Hawaii and Canada, was conducted online in English and these are some of its findings.

About RETS Associates

Founded in 2002, RETS Associates is a premier executive search firm specializing in the recruitment, staffing and placement of interim, permanent and executive positions in the commercial and residential real estate industries, as well as land development and home building. RETS Associates’ clients include REITs, developers, investors, pension fund advisors, operating companies and real estate services firms doing business in property management, development, construction, investments and financial analysis. For more information on RETS Associates, please visit www.retsusa.com.

1. “The Economic Impacts of Commercial Real Estate,” NAIOP, 2017.
2. “The key to getting much richer is all about how you treat women,” Bloomberg, May 15, 2018. https:www.bloomberg.com
3. “The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity,” sponsored by BMO Financial Group, working with Catalyst; http://www.catalyst.org/media/catalyst-study-reveals-financial-performance-higher-companies-more-women-top

Contacts

Media Contact:
IDEA HALL
Angel Granillo
(714) 263-8743
angel@ideahall.com

Women Work More Than Men

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Source: Statista

Traditionally in most cultures, it is the man which would spend the most hours each day at work and, as analysis from MenCare’s ‘State of the World’s Fathers’ report shows, this is still generally the case in most parts of the world. There can though, be a difference between being ‘at work’ and ‘working’. For many people, ‘working’ doesn’t entail going to the office or the factory, but staying at home or in the local community as a caregiver. This kind of work doesn’t usually come with a financial benefit, of course, and according to the UN this unpaid care can include “meal preparation, cleaning, washing clothes, water and fuel collection and direct care of persons (including children, older persons, persons with disabilities, as well as able-bodied adults)”.

As this infographic shows, it is the world’s women that are putting in the largest amount of these unpaid hours and in every region, the total amount of time spent working, paid or unpaid, is higher for women than it is for men. With the exception of East Asia & the Pacific, where it is an almost 50:50 split, the majority of women’s time spent working is unpaid.

Gender Wage Infographic

Redfin Releases New Data Showing No Major Gaps in Pay Between Women and Men

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New gender pay report published in conjunction with Equal Pay Day

Seattle, WA – April 10, 2018 (PRNewswire) (NASDAQ: RDFN) — Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage, today released new data on employee pay by gender. Gaps in salary between men and women employed at Redfin are mostly small, in large part because the company tries to be rigorous about paying employees based on objective guidelines.

Redfin Logo

Redfin calculated a weighted average to determine pay equity across ten job categories where there are at least two men and two women in that category. Redfin does not currently have enough data across a number of departments to make the same comparisons based on race, ethnicity and non-binary gender.

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Although pay gaps between women and men were limited and in some cases favored women, Redfin examined the underlying reasons for a few outlier categories: agents, managers of agent teams and recruiters. Redfin found that gaps between male and female agents and agent managers are the result of men having higher tenure, as agents earn modest increases to their base salaries over time. For recruiters, Redfin found that the gap is in part due to the fact that some employees with the same title are more senior and closer to a promotion.

“We’re glad to see that many groups at Redfin have no major gap in average pay between men and women. But that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be gaps in pay between individuals. We constantly ask ourselves how we can pay people fairly, but still reward top performers. It’s easy to do one or the other. It’s hard to do both,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman.

Redfin increasingly relies on market data to determine when to implement pay increases for individuals as well as for all employees across a job category. Redfin has also taken steps to address the impact of pay history and competing job offers, which can impact gender pay parity. Last year, Redfin discontinued the practice of asking candidates about pay history, which can perpetuate biases in pay.

To read the full report, with additional data on how Redfin pays women and men and how these figures were calculated, visit: www.redfin.com.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is the next-generation real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer’s favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country’s #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry’s lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 80 major metro areas across the U.S. The company has closed more than $60 billion in home sales.