Commercial real estate is one of the most competitive fields for professionals to enter. The Real Estate Associate Program (REAP) states that they aim to bring diversity and inclusion to the commercial real estate market through education and mentorship. With so many companies needing agents to deal with their real estate holdings, the need for professionals is growing daily. REAP partnered with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to offer its first 100% virtual training program for real estate professionals to respond to this need.
Diversity and Inclusion as a Competitive Advantage
Having a diverse workforce brings with it insights and perspectives that some businesses tend to lack. The diversity problem that commercial real estate has isn't new. It's been documented by reports and research over the last decade. Several reasons are suggested for this lack of diversity, but a lot of them center on preconceptions of leaders and businesses within the field.
The unfortunate consequence of a lack of diversity is that businesses in the field end up losing out on the insight from these diverse perspectives. Companies that are ethnically and gender-diverse tend to be more successful because of the composition of their workforce. It's confusing why, in such a talent-hungry field, there is still trouble to find diverse talent. This comes back to encouragement to enter the commercial real estate industry.
More Than Filling a Quota
The problem that most detractors to inclusion and diversity have is that it tends to boil down to meeting a certain requirement of workers. In a field like CRE, this approach is likely to end up with a much less effective workforce, despite being inclusive. Diversity goes beyond just meeting numbers to show off the progressiveness of the company. It requires taking new hires of all different backgrounds and offering them the chance to prove themselves as individuals and professionals within the field.
The only way a business can hope to leverage diversity and inclusion to help itself is by ensuring that they have the right training for the individuals intending to work with them. This requires them to offer them the same competitive advantage that other individuals working at the same firm have. Recruiters need to work with the intention of hiring people on their merit, but still taking into account their fit into a diverse workforce.
Diversity doesn't work without inclusion. Most CRE jobs granted to males come from personal references, while females tend to get jobs through qualifications and experience. This by itself shows that there's something inherently broken in how CRE firms go about their hiring process. Despite this drawback, both male and female hires in the real estate industry got their second job through sustained networking within the field. This demonstrates that there's no difference between a male and female in the field, since they can both progress through networking. Why, then is there a special dispensation for men being hired through personal contacts? Systems need to change and this starts with the right kind of education.
An Attempt to Balance the Scales
Finding courses that cater to individuals who make up a diverse and inclusive workforce in the commercial real estate industry is also difficult. However, this is slowly changing as businesses start seeing the need for a more diverse workforce. Instead of focusing on personal connections, interviewers are looking at the qualifications of people who walk in the door. They're hiring on skill, talent and experience, and not on who the applicant knows. This sets the stage for a much more progressive field that benefits from members covering all walks of life.
More Education Online
With the global pandemic still ranging across the United States, many training academies have shifted their training to an online-based system. Harvard noted in April of this year that they would be delivering classes online. They aren't the only ones, as universities and other professional training courses have created online classrooms to deliver course lectures while keeping staff and students safe. The ULI's decision to offer a complete virtual training package online is in keeping with professional training organizations worldwide.
A Standard Learning Package
The program is based on that which REAP has been delivering consistently since 1998. It touches on various topics ranging from finance and investment, land acquisition and valuation, and real estate investment. This program aims to provide an in-depth introduction to terms used in CRE as well as concepts and processes. The training modules are designed to be picked up by individuals who want to enter CRE or are interested in transitioning into a career in CRE. The course schedule sees students devoting between four to six hours a week to online course content, including written modules, videos, downloadable resources, and webinars.
Changing the Diversity of the Industry
As it stands, the commercial real estate profession has less than 1% of individuals who belong to minorities. REAP's push to get more education to those that want to enter the profession is noteworthy. REAP intends to see the cohort grow from less than 1000 individuals to make up as much as ten percent of qualified CRE professionals. The hope is that with REAP and ULI providing the course information to minorities, they will unlock latent talent hidden within these communities and encourage them to join and diversify the industry as a whole.
How To Get Included
REAP has already determined the criteria for being selected to undertake this virtual course. Candidates will have to go through a rigorous and detailed interview and selection process. Applicants interested in the field must already possess or be graduating from a four-year college degree from an accredited institution. While candidates are expected to demonstrate their interest in the commercial real estate market, no prior knowledge of commercial real estate is necessary to qualify. REAP seeks professionals from several different areas, even unrelated ones, to join and bolster the ranks of minorities within the industry. Professional institutions are advised to encourage minority employees to sign up for the program if they fit the entry requirements.
