MEC Diversity Report

Paul Godfrey comments on the essential issues that prompted the Diversity Report and what the industry can be doing next

The Diversity Report speaks to HKA

Chris Bernard is Partner, Global People Recruitment & Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, HKA - the leading global consultancy in risk mitigation and dispute resolution, providing expert claims and advisory services on a comprehensive, international platform.

The Diversity Report: a note on methodology

How the Diversity Report was put together and the principles underlying the questions we asked

The Diversity Report speaks to AESG

Katerina Uherova Hasbani is Partner and Global Director of Strategy and Advisory, AESG, an award winning, specialist Consultancy, Engineering and Advisory firm with offices in Dubai, London, Singapore and Riyadh.

“Fair and equal reparation for labor...”

The Diversity Report speaks to Compass Project Consulting

Powered by Dar Al Arkan, Compass is a multi-disciplinary consultancy working across Development Management, Programme Management and Project Management. Significantly, the company’s core vision is that “we have nurtured a corporate culture built on a shared vision, aligned to our shared values, driving our processes and empowering our people”.

16The Diversity Report speaks to JLL

Kabira Bhatporia is Head of Human Resources, MEA & Turkey, AnneLyse Raoul is Head of Head of DEI - EMEA and Elaine O’Connor is Head of Fit Out MEA. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $19.4 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 102,000.

“Fair and equal reparation for labor regardless of provenance or history”

Where does the above quote come from? Does it perhaps come from a European Union statute? Or is it an assertion by the ILO? No - in fact, it comes from the US Constitution, and was written in 1787 by Thomas Jefferson. Yet the very issues that it sought to tackle - equal pay for equal work, regardless of where you’re fromare still far from settled in many regions of the world. Sadly, the GCC is one of those regions: it’s where, all too often, we’ll still find pay scales weighted by gender or ethnicity, and where some of the worst culprits in doing this are big businesses that ought to know better.

This begs the question of what SHOULD be going on, and where a high water-mark is being set, what does it actually entail? This is why we’ve put together the Diversity Report. We asked four Grade A international businesses (one of them is a Fortune 500 company), who each have a major presence here in the region, what they are doing about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I). The companies we asked are -

HKA

JLL

AESG

Compass Project Consulting

They were each asked the same set of questions, and while their answers vary greatly, they each provide templates that other businesses can follow and which they can use to start implementing their own ED&I programmes.

Of course, there are no shortage of international benchmarks on ED&I either, and among the most important are the United Nations Sustainable Development goals: UNSDG 5 on Gender Equality and UNSDG10 on Reducing Inequalities. The reality is that these should both be front and centre for every business when it looks to recruit, set pay scales, frame payrolls, and charge clients for work undertaken. Yet many organisations still won’t be aware of these ordinances, let alone follow them on a day-to-day basis.

As for the companies featured here, their approaches varied between ‘external referencing’ with the international benchmarks; regularly surveys of staff, asking what they wanted and whether they felt they were getting it; and bringing in courses and programmes to heighten awareness of the ED&I agenda and leveraging empowerment. All good and all apparently reaping results.

But exactly how good? We’ll leave that for you to decide…

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The Diversity Report: a note on methodology

A review of the principles and procedures that were used to drive answers about ED&I from four Grade A businesses

other regions - and is this true across your own divisions?

• What are the key things that a business needs to action in developing an effective Diversity programme - and how has your organisation been a Champion of these?

eople care about the things they have to count. That’s precisely why any number of internationally-accepted standards for ED&I express their requirements in terms of numbers. The question is, how do companies translate these requirements into actionable standards on the shop floor or the construction site? How do they transition from the understanding of what’s ‘out there’ (and we would, after all, expect A-list companies to know what is ‘out there’) into a working culture experienced by every member of staff and impacting their aspirations and feelings of acceptance and support?

To find out, we asked every company the same set of 10 questions. These were intended to reveal the company’s own

opinion of how good its ED&I initiatives are, and whether they are grounded in realistic, actual numbers - or just rhetoric and wishful thinking? Each company had five working days to give their answers; these could be supported by one or two Teams calls, if desired. The companies could reference either their global heads of Human Resources, or a regional representative - indeed, one of the questions would investigate how specialised the role was that was being asked to champion ED&I. The 10 questions were as follows -

• What initiatives have you put in place that enabled the Diversity agenda to develop more traction in the sector?

• Have you created Diversity initiatives that are truly market-leaders, above and beyond those we see in other businesses?

• Do you feel that there’s a difference in approaches to Diversity between the GCC and

• Does a Diversity initiative actually deliver commercial benefits, or is that just an ‘urban myth’? If indeed it does, can you give concrete examples of how it does so for you, following execution of initiatives?

• Within your business, what are particular employee and stakeholder groups that have benefited most from an inhouse Diversity programme?

• What timeframes have your programmes set from the outset to achieve better Diversity - and do they have clear statistical objectives (eg, by such-andsuch a date, we will xxx).

• What are your ‘next steps’ in implementing stronger Diversity?

• Have you actually recruited new team members to headup Diversity initiatives, or transitioned existing staff members?

• What’s your ‘Blue Sky’ Diversity vision for the organisation?

Now read on to find out the answers…

The Diversity Report speaks to HKA

Chris Bernard is Partner, Global People Recruitment & Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, HKA - the leading global consultancy in risk mitigation and dispute resolution, providing expert claims and advisory services on a comprehensive, international platform.

hat initiatives have you put in place that enabled the Diversity agenda to develop more traction in your sector?

There are a number of examples, and I would like to highlight three in particular.

Firstly, we align our ED&I objectives with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals: UNSDG 5 on Gender Equality and UNSDG10 on Reducing Inequalities.

Across our business, we have established executive-sponsored, colleague-led regional equality, diversity and inclusion committees to create a forum for colleagues from all backgrounds to come together to discuss and prioritise ED&I plans for the regions.

Then, externally, we are an early signatory of the Equal Representation for Expert Witness Pledge (Equal Representation in Expert Witnesses (ERE) | Take The Pledge | ERE (expertwitnesspledge.com) where we have committed to increasing, on an equal opportunity basis, the number of women appointed as expert witnesses in dispute resolution procedures worldwide.

This commitment looks to achieve a fair representation as soon as practically possible, with the ultimate goal of full gender parity.

Have you created Diversity initiatives that are truly market-leaders, above and beyond those we see in other businesses?

We are on an exciting ED&I growth journey at HKA and it is paramount we consistently listen to our colleagues and obtain rich feedback via anonymous annual surveys, which inform our improvement initiatives. Of course, it is always our goal to be true Champions of diversity reform, and I believe that while there is still much to be done, we are on the right track by embedding the principles of ED&I throughout our employee life cycle.

Do you feel that there’s a difference in approaches to Diversity between the GCC and other regions - and is this true across your own divisions?

Our focus is firmly on the leading international benchmarks and reaching the best standards of practice currently available. We have alignment with our gender focus agenda globally, and with our Americas and Oceania regions.

What are the key things that a business needs to action in developing an effective Diversity programmeand how has your organisation been a Champion of these?

There are really four terrifically important steps:

• Ensure you obtain executive leadership sponsorship of your ED&I agenda and that this is communicated to all our colleagues and stakeholders.

• Along with this, have mandatory ED&I learning and development across your colleague population, including unconscious bias learning.

• Ensure all stages of your employee lifecycle from recruitment, onboarding and induction, performance management to career progression, are fully embedded with ED&I principles of equality of opportunity.

• Create an inclusive culture for all colleagues so they can always be

themselves and be at their most productive. This can include ‘taking a stand’ and recognising notable dates for underrepresented groups, e.g. International Women’s Day, Black History Month, First Peoples’ Day, and so on.

Does a Diversity initiative actually deliver commercial benefits, or is that just an ‘urban myth’? If indeed it does, can you give concrete examples of how it does so for you, following execution of initiatives?

I want to say categorically that yes, diversity does deliver a range of commercial benefits. It is proven that ED&I delivers commercial business benefits from optimal profitability, creativity and employer profile.

McKinsey & Company found in 2019 that businesses with high gender diversity on their executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability and that businesses with high ethnic and cultural diversity outperformed other companies by up to 36% in profitability.

This is particularly the case for ‘people’ businesses. It means we can attract brilliant and diverse colleagues to join us and help us grow our business and deliver for clients. Having a strong focus on equality, diversity and inclusion means we can retain our brilliant and diverse colleagues and reduce our attrition.

Within your business, what are the particular employee and stakeholder groups that have benefited most from an in-house Diversity programme?

We believe all our colleagues benefit from HKA’s ED&I agenda. In our 2021 ED&I global colleague survey, we received the following feedback scored out of a total of 10 from our colleagues:

Chris Bernard is Partner, Global People Recruitment & Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, HKA. She is very much in the ‘front line’ of ED&I management and alignment.

8.4/10

8.4/10

8.1/10

8.1/10

8/10

What timeframes have your programmes set from the outset to achieve better Diversity - and do they have clear statistical objectives (eg, by such-and-such a date, we will xxx). We have a target to achieve global gender balance by the end of 2023. We are currently at 37% female - so we have work to do to achieve gender balance.

What are your ‘next steps’ in implementing stronger Diversity?

During September 2022, as part of our global engagement survey, we polled our colleagues globally in 13 areas, to find out how we are doing as a business in ED&I. Our overall ED&I survey result has increased from 8 in 2021 to 8.1 in 2022. We need to obtain

the quantitative data from the survey to inform our next improvement and impact areas.

Have you actually recruited new team members to head-up Diversity initiatives, or transitioned existing staff members?

Our ED&I targets

50:50

HKA’s target to achieve internal colleague gender equality by December 2023

I’m an example of that specialised new recruitment. I joined HKA with global responsibility for equality, diversity and inclusion and this is a newly-created position for us.

What’s your ‘Blue Sky’ Diversity vision for the organisation?

Three simple (but perhaps not so simple) phrases: Equality for everyone. Diversity valued. Inclusion always

Achieving a 50-50 balance is of course the ‘holy grail’ of gender policy, and it’s best if accompanied by strict timeframes, like here.

Key result from our ED&I survey

“I can be my authentic self in HKA”

“HKA supports ED&I”

“My manager is supportive of ED&I initiatives”

“Regardless of my diversity, my personal development plan is supported by my line manager”

“My colleagues in HKA are treated equally, fairly and are included”

THE RITZ CARLTON JBR / DUBAI / UAE

The Middle East’s most respected consultant focused awards ceremony

About The Event

These awards celebrate the consultants - whether businesses or individuals - at the heart of the construction and development sectors. As well as honouring outstanding technical skills, they highlight the change-makers who deliver better, fairer, and more sustainable business.

The construction and development sectors are among the largest sources of income for every GCC nation and their innovation, scale and breadth of vision has helped focus world attention on the Middle East. These awards honour not only the subject specialists

– the architects, technicians, risk managers, designers, and technologists – but also the disruptors: the people pushing the envelope when it comes to critical factors like sustainability, gender balance and iconic leadership.

The Categories

Ranging from the best multi-discipline consultant to the lighting firm of the year, the diversity of the categories aims to give a chance to all the companies that play a vital role in the industry.

About Sponsoring

Raise your brand profile, establish yourself as a thought leader and utilise this opportunity to encourage new business and empower your sales teams to generate effective new leads.

Award Nomination Enquiries

Table Booking & Sponsorship

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Awards Categories

COMPANY AWARDS

Architectural Company of the Year Cost Consulting Company of the Year Dispute Resolution Champion of the Year Gender & Ethical Employment Champion of the Year

Health & Safety And Wellness Champion of the Year

Interior Design Company of the Year Lighting Design Consultancy of the Year Mep Engineering Company of the Year Multi-Discipline Consulting Company of the Year Project Management Company of the Year

Specialist Consulting Company of the Year Enterprise Business of the Year (Up to 5 Years Old)

Structural Engineering Company of the Year

Sustainable Consultancy of the Year Company of the Year

PROJECT AWARDS

Project of the Year – Government & Infrastructure

Sustainable Project of the Year – Retail & Public Facilities

Sustainable Project of the Year –Residential & Commercial Sustainable Project of the Year –Hospitality & Tourism

COMING SOON – PEOPLE’S CHOICE VOTING CATEGORIES

Under 30 Champion of the Year Executive of the Year Women in Construction Professional of the Year

Event Partners

SILVER

SILVER

The Diversity Report speaks to AESG

Katerina Uherova Hasbani is Partner and Global Director of Strategy and Advisory, AESG, an award winning, specialist Consultancy, Engineering and Advisory firm with offices in Dubai, London, Singapore and Riyadh.

s AESG paying fairly across nationalities and gender?

The AESG Employee representation is of 50 countries, of which 45% are female, and 44% of senior management is female. This significant percentage of the women employees’ part of the AESG workforce is a testament to AESG’s commitment to gender equality in the workplace and the industry at large. AESG recognises the importance of a gender-equal workplace and focuses on equal rights, promotions and pay, as well as a fair hiring process. AESG strives to be an inclusive organisation, committed to providing equal opportunities throughout employment including in the recruitment, training and development of employees, and to pro-actively tackling and eliminating discrimination. Every employee is entitled to a working environment that promotes dignity, equality and respect for all.

What initiatives have you put in place that enabled the Diversity agenda to develop more traction in the sector? AESG are committed to building on our employees’ areas of specialism and focal interest points, supporting individual professional development through a structured training and mentorship program. Allowing individuals to flourish by enabling them to take on positions of

responsibility at an early stage, and providing clear career progression pathways for all. We run very regular, anonymous employee feedback surveys: AESG conducts an anonymous employee feedback survey on a bi-annual basis in order to monitor and track employee engagement and happiness, as well as to identify and act on any underlying issues. Below is a brief overview of the results:

99% of AESG employees feel a sense of personal accomplishment at work 99% of AESG employees think that their colleagues are helpful and cooperative 95% of AESG employees believe that the work environment and the culture promotes collaboration

94% of AESG employees believe that their job makes good use of their skills and abilities 93% of AESG employees are satisfied with role at AESG 90% of employees feel that management visibly demonstrates commitment to quality 89% of employees would refer someone to work at AESG 87% of employees feel valued at work

There are also the following employee and stakeholder support mechanisms:

• Coaching Scheme/Mentorship: AESG also launched a coaching scheme for all staff, giving employees an opportunity to be mentored by the AESG Leadership Executive team - helping employees

develop their skills, discover their potential and gain constructive feedback.

• 360 feedback and Executive Coaching: AESG also conducts confidential 360 review feedback surveys twice a year for the leadership team. This encourages staff to rate their managers across several parameters and provide constructive feedback. The responses gathered are then shared with each leader as part of a one-on-one coaching and leadership development scheme, helping them become better leaders.

• Investing in our people: AESG includes a formal procedure for the ongoing training and development of staff, both through internal training programs and external paid-for training and accreditations. In addition to the internal training sessions provided to all employees, AESG invests in external training, certifications/accreditations and professional memberships to support the continued professional development of our consultancy team.

• AESG’s Graduate Program: AESG also has a Graduate Program in place in order to support emerging young talent as well as to safeguard the future of our industry for the next generation. Through this program, AESG provides young

graduates with a springboard to success and early opportunities to realise their full potential as future pioneers of the industry.

With the already very diverse employee representation, we are able to tap into a network of professionals around the globe. We emphasise and proactively seek out diversity referrals.

We have received in-excess of 100 employee referrals this year, with candidates based globally which showcases a positive and diverse work culture.

• White Papers and Industry Participation: AESG junior and senior staff are encouraged to collaborate, research and publish white papers for free access to industry peers. This is in line with AESG’s commitment to help advance the industry through knowledge sharing.

• We utilise a broad range of social media marketing and a strong brand identity that puts diversity at the forefront of its business, especially when promoting job advertisements on a plethora of platforms including international, local and specialist job boards globally. Have you created Diversity Initiatives that are truly market-leaders, above and beyond those we see in other businesses?

AESG has implemented its recently launched maternity policy aimed at fostering more equitable and gender-neutral career growth opportunities across its organisation. The policy generously extends on the UAE’s labour laws by offering 90days paid leave, with an additional 90-days of optional unpaid leave, to its female staff in the UAE. While the announcement will stand to make employment at AESG a more attractive proposition for aspiring female professionals in the construction industry, the company has cited its desire to empower its female employees to ‘thrive in both work and family life’ as the foremost reason for this decision.

Katerina Uherova Hasbani is Partner and Global Director of Strategy and Advisory, AESG

AESG is an award winning, specialist Consultancy, Engineering and Advisory firm with offices in Dubai, London, Singapore and Riyadh

Female employees at AESG - by virtue of their merit and the company’s fairness policies - are already well represented in senior positions. With the implementation of these new provisions, AESG helps ease the transition into motherhood while giving its female employees the confidence that the hard-work and progress they have made in their careers will be safeguarded. AESG follows world-class project management workflows that incorporate industry bestpractices which ensure that the quality of its services and progress of projects will remain unimpacted by the maternity policy. AESG have always implemented a ‘softhandover’ process with a sufficiently long duration. This has served to ensure that newly assigned team members have an in-depth understanding of the project and their responsibilities much before the actual transition takes place.

Over and above the maternity policy, AESG also provides new mothers with flexibility post-delivery to work from home. This enables them to balance both work and family life.

AESG’s Paternity Policy as well extends on the UAE’s labour law by offering 10 days of paid paternity leave during the period of 6 months following the child’s birth. This provides male employees with time to be with their families and children at the most important moment in a new family’s life. These above AESG initiatives help in improving employees' lives at home and contribute to job satisfaction, and overall well-being.

Do you feel that there’s a difference in approaches to Diversity between the GCC and other regions - and is this true across your own divisions?

The approach towards diversity across the GCC and other regions has to take into account the changing regional rules and regulations and nationalisation programs. Being aware of local immigration laws is crucial. However with the newly implemented UAE work visa scheme we are certain this will further strengthen our diversity in the UAE workforce.

What are the key things that a business needs to action in developing an effective Diversity programme - and how has your organisation been a champion of these?

Diversity and inclusion is a key pillar of AESG’s Culture, Philosophy and Approach. This is deeply embedded across every decision and action made and is actively championed by the CEO, Managing Partner and the Executive Board. Unconscious bias training for all managers and interviewers helps to understand and rectify their own personal bias (If any) which can then positively encourage equality in candidate selection.

One way to we have cultivated an equal opportunities workplace is when creating a shortlist for any open positions is to involve a range of diverse stakeholders in the initial screening process. Having a range of people from different backgrounds, perspectives and opinions involved in reviewing CV’s has helped AESG deliver more informed and balanced selection outcomes.

Within your business, what are particular employee stakeholder groups that have benefited most from an in-house Diversity Programme?

Throughout AESG, since the early days we have always found value in diversity throughout the business. We celebrate our rich diversity in age. Our youngest graduate is 20 while our most senior consultant is 55. This broad range of age and experience helps facilitate healthy cross-collaboration for better outcomes.

In order to attract the best talent into the business we find it important to ensure we have appropriate role models in the leadership team and have a strong generation of future leaders in the business who want to embrace the same culture and philosophy. Our consultancy team come from a

range of diverse backgrounds, mixing architectural and engineering expertise to provide engineered solutions to design and construction challenges. Through our internal integration and coordination of specialist services, we have identified the key value proposition areas from a crossdiscipline approach.

By breaking down internal barriers between technical disciplines, providing effective platforms to share resources and collaborate on projects with minimal bureaucracy, clients are provided with well-rounded solutions that consider all aspects of the development.

What timeframes have your programmes set from the outset to achieve better Diversity - and do they have clear statistical objectives (eg, by such and such a date, we will…) AESG has an Employee Referral Program wherein employees are entitled not only to a compensation but soon an additional part of this compensation will be towards a Charity and NGO of their choice. This serves as a great way to not just diversify our workforce but supports a good cause in turn. Our diverse workforce helps us enter new markets and improve customer orientation and service, innovation, productivity, profitability, staff engagement and staff retention.

Have you actually recruited new team members to head up Diversity initiatives or transitioned existing staff members?

We have recruited Regional HR and Regional Operations Managers across all our global offices who, together with the recruitment and management of teams, are responsible for continuing to advance the agenda for inclusion and diversity of the AESG team through various initiatives and programmes

Understanding the complexities of making Vision 2030 a reality

About the Construction Intel Summit KSA

About the Construction Intel Summit KSA

Work on a number of large-scale, iconic construction projects is well underway in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as part of its Vision 2030 blueprint. While the Kingdom’s leadership aims to transform the country, it also wants to be mindful of what this transition means for its people, its culture and its environment.

Work on a number of large-scale, iconic construction projects is well underway in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as part of its Vision 2030 blueprint. While the Kingdom’s leadership aims to transform the country, it also wants to be mindful of what this transition means for its people, its culture and its environment.

Therefore, as the GCC’s largest country moves towards a more diverse and sustainable economy, it is essential that the global construction industry equips itself with the knowledge and insight to grasp the unprecedented opportunities presented to them by Saudi Arabia’s transformation.

Therefore, as the GCC’s largest country moves towards a more diverse sustainable economy, it is essential that the global industry equips itself with the knowledge and insight to grasp the unprecedented opportunities presented to them by Saudi Arabia’s transformation.

This is why the Construction Intel Summit KSA is coming to Riyadh on November 23, 2022. The third edition, and the first live iteration, the Construction Intel Summit KSA aims to inform and educate attendees about the massive opportunities that remain across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This is why the Construction Intel Summit KSA is Riyadh on November 23, 2022. The third edition, and the first live iteration, the Construction Intel Summit KSA aims to inform and educate attendees about the massive opportunities that remain across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Networking

Networking

This event presents you with an opportunity to interact and connect with regional industry decision makers and influencers. There are several innovative ways to sponsor and participate from speaking opportunities to branding, interactive live polls to presentations. Contact us for detailed information.

This event presents you with an opportunity to interact and connect with regional industry decision makers and influencers. There are several innovative ways to sponsor and participate from speaking opportunities to branding, interactive live polls to presentations. Contact us for detailed information.

focus

z Visionary Designs: Design Considerations and Procurement Strategies to achieve Vision 2030

key

The event will focus on four key themes:

z Project Interfaces: Integrating Multiple Contract Packages and Sequencing Workflows on the Kingdom’s gigaproject

z Energy Transition: Providing direction and unification while driving Saudi Arabia’s Energy Transition process

z Enabling Saudization: Providing pathways of growth and development to Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning talent pool of Saudi construction professionals

Sponsorship

Sponsorship

The Diversity Report speaks to Compass Project Consulting

Powered by Dar Al Arkan, Compass is a multi-disciplinary consultancy working across Development Management, Programme Management and Project Management. Significantly, the company’s core vision is that “we have nurtured a corporate culture built on a shared vision, aligned to our shared values, driving our processes and empowering our people”.

25 different languages, originating from 21 different countries, with a gender ratio of 40:60 female : male.

What we have noticed, in more recent years, is that clients are demanding more diversity within their own workforces, which means with specific secondments - particularly within KSA giga-projectswe are given quotas to meet with regards to gender and nationality.

process, onboarding, or even once they’ve joined - what their religion is, what their sexual orientations are, and others which are not impactful on how they carry out their roles and responsibilities.

Have you created Diversity initiatives that are truly marketleaders, above and beyond those we see in other businesses?

Our corporate policies have always been very much demonstrative of leading ED&I practices.

Aligned to our Talent Attraction activities, and due to the shortage of talent within our industry locally, we are actively recruiting from the likes of South Africa, United Kingdom, and Australia, to bring highly capable ladies - and gentsinto the region.

hat initiatives have you put in place that enabled the Diversity agenda to develop more traction in the sector?

To be honest, we aspire to be a company that reflects the diversity of our client base. The main initiative, and something we have always done, is employ people based on their abilities and their merit, never their gender, nationality, or creed. So much so, we have a Team who speak over

Our Talent Attraction videos and overall Talent Marketing activities demonstrate the diversity within our offices, both in the UAE and KSA. These are geared towards attracting the best people to do the best work, comfortably fitting within our corporate-cultural fit, aligning to our core values.

We don’t ask people certain questions, whether it is through the interview

We have a mix of internal trainings, encouraging each team member who wishes to take on the trainer role to do so, sharing skills and creating confidence. We have also brought in a mix of external trainings, from more CIPD-led organizations, such as RICS, and now more focus on soft-skills, leadership and such.

We are currently working with a specialist Women in Leadership coach with a view to launching a series of leadership developmental workshops in the new year - open to all within our Team - teaching leadership skills and how to reach the ‘idyllic’ work : life balance. This longer-term approach is part of a groupwide strategy to both raise awareness,

skills development, as well as assist in our own succession planning.

We run regular Team Surveys, sometimes anonymous, others not (but always letting the Team know when they are or aren’t!) to really understand what makes our people tick and be able to personalise our journeys with them better. Some examples include how people like to be communicated with, their visibility within the group, their views on leadership and other engagement impacts.

We also advocate equal pay - our salaries are market-related, and each person is considered based on their experience, attitudes, and aptitudes.

Do you feel that there’s a difference in approaches to Diversity between the GCC and other regions - and is this true across your own divisions?

Diversity is recognised as the coming together of different people, perspectives, backgrounds, and thoughts.

Of course, due to certain cultural differences, there are variations in approaches to Diversity between the GCC and other regions.

Being a homegrown consultancy, headed up in the UAE and KSA, it would be a nonnegotiable to demonstrate our support for certain aspects of diversity very openlyand we are yet to see a similar homegrown company do the same. And it is tough to say this, being aware of the definite diversity we have within our Team, and even Clients.

What are the key things that a business needs to action in developing an effective Diversity programme - and how has your organisation been a Champion of these?

Importantly, Leadership needs to walkthe-walk rather than just talk-thetalk. Leadership and decision makers (particularly with people) need to champion ED&I efforts.

Remain curious: embrace other people’s experiences and realities, always

be learning about other cultures and foster and inclusive workplace.

Strategic training: mix-up training topics across all people, to truly encourage, challenge and open conversations, or highlight where/what people seek within their own developments. Use internal and external consultants to get a good mix of transparency and comfort.

Unconscious bias needs to be understood, uncovered, made aware of, and communicated.

Feedback, feedback, feedback: as the acronym ABC says - Always Be Considering

Does a Diversity initiative actually deliver commercial benefits, or is that just an ‘urban myth’? If indeed it does, can you give concrete examples of how it does so for you, following execution of initiatives?

For sure, the more diverse our Teams are, the more attractive joining our Compass journey is for new Talent. Helping with a competitive edge in securing the best talent.

A diverse and inclusive mix of perspectives offers greater innovation and ability to come up with ideas, solutions, and strategies. Again, always a competitive edge to have wisdom and curiosity on your side.

As touched on previously, more and more KSA clients are seeking a highly skilled and balanced workforce, both reflective of gender equality as well as the Saudization and Vision 2030. Having these talented people on board for Compass has proved valuable in meeting client requirements with agility.

Within your business, what are particular employee and stakeholder groups that have benefited most from an in-house Diversity programme?

To be honest, everyone has! We all learn, lead, and grow together. With a fairly flat hierarchy, and open, encouraging workplace and environments, we are all constantly learning from each other. For

sure, there will be things which we could do better, and we will, but as for where we currently stand – it’s been a feat to achieve over the past 8 years since our inception, and specifically throughout the intense growth chapters we keep evolving through.

What timeframes have your programmes set from the outset to achieve better Diversity - and do they have clear statistical objectives (eg, by such-and-such a date, we will xxx).

We have spoken about 50-50 gender balance, through 2022 - as we go, we are on-track to reach in Q1 2023. With our new HR Director, and an enhanced HR agenda coming into play during Q1 2023, we expect these goals will be further qualified and solidified.

What are your ‘next steps’ in implementing stronger Diversity?

We are currently recruiting for an HR Director, someone who will come on board to really drive our Talent Development, Training and Recruitment activities over and above what we have ever had before. This person will be tested with elevating our various policies, including ED&I, enhancing our reputation as a great company to work for, addressing any concerns our Team may have, building out our leadership succession plan. Ultimately, we are excited for this new person to join our HR Recruitment, Leadership and wider Team, to bring best practices and new eyes as to how we can be better.

Have you actually recruited new Team members to head-up Diversity initiatives, or transitioned existing staff members?

Up until now, our existing Team have naturally grown with the organisationespecially the ones overseeing these ED& I initiatives. These core Teams have been with us since we were only a literal handful of people. Now, as we are nudging 130 people across our multiple offices, with a

possible 150 by January 2023, we have taken the decision to bring on an experienced HR Director, who will spearhead the vast majority of our initiatives, and make them the best in the industry, not only regionally, but globally too.

What’s your ‘Blue Sky’ Diversity vision for the organisation?

We believe that diversity is a key ingredient to our success. We are dedicated to creating an environment of

trust, respect, inclusion, and tolerance that positively impacts employee attraction, engagement, and retention.

We believe that all Teams should feel comfortable with each other and their work environment. We want everyone to feel like they belong here. We strive to make sure that our Team have the opportunity to use their skills at every level of the organisation. We believe that diverse Teams are more creative, innovative, and productive. We believe that diverse Teams

A few snapshots of Compass Diversity

develop better solutions for our clients and can see problems from different angles. We believe that diverse Teams build better relationships and lines of communication with more clients because they can relate to them across a wider breadth, and more personally.

We strive to hire our Team from different backgrounds and with different experiences so that we can bring the best ideas together into one place - and deliver results for our clients!

Australian Bosnian Chinese Egyptian Indian Iranian Irish Jordanian Lebanese Luxembourgish New Zealander Filipino Polish Portuguese Saudi Arabian South African Sri Lankan Sudanese Swedish Syrian British

valued

THE DIVERSITY REPORT SPEAKS TO JLL

Kabira Bhatporia is Head of Human Resources, MEA & Turkey, AnneLyse Raoul is Head of Head of DEIEMEA and Elaine O’Connor is Head of Fit Out MEA. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $19.4 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 102,000

hat initiatives have you put in place that enabled the Diversity agenda to develop more traction in the sector? First things first. The starting point when we are discussing JLL’s DEI initiatives is that they have developed in tandem with our comprehensive and ongoing commitment to Sustainability, as detailed in the firm’s 2022 Global Sustainability Report. JLL’s Sustainability Program recognises the importance of promoting health and wellbeing among our workforce, through the buildings we manage for our clients and the wider services we provide. It also puts diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) front and centre and is determined to create a culture that fosters DEI in all

areas of the business. This has resulted in achieving some key performance targets -

• 36% of our top two senior management levels are female, with a target to achieve 40% by 2025

• We supported 33 Women’s Business Network Business Resource Groups around the world and launched a global Women Transforming Tech resource group

• We continued to grow Business Resource Groups - nine in the Americas, eight in EMEA, and seven in Asia Pacific (along with 11 country and regional DEI groups) - which help drive the business by providing professional development, training and networking opportunities for employees with shared backgrounds, experiences, aspirations and goals

• We strengthened global training to empower every individual to reach their full potential by launching a new learning platform providing access to 25,000 tailored courses and increased investment per employee by four-fold on the previous year, to $316 per employee

Anne-Lyse Raoul is Head of Head of DEI - EMEA

Initiatives of this kind are possible because we have a dedicated team which totally understands and visualises what we should be doing, how we can drive that vision and the best ways to bring it across to the organisation.

It’s also important to mention three particular initiatives. Firstly, the Middle East, Africa and Turkey chapter of the Women’s Business Network: launched on International Women’s Day, 8th March 2022.

Its core purpose is to inspire and to support the success of women in business in the region and in fact, everything we do reflects that intent. We strive to provide an open and safe community that helps our participants take steps to achieve their goals and find their own version of success. We embrace participants of all generation, cultures, orientation and professional levels across all business lines. Then, the Graduate Program for internal and clients: this is designed to develop high potential, fresh graduates for critical functional future roles. The key drivers here are -

• Prepare for generation shift

• Diversity of Candidates

• Future skills

Next, DEI awareness through online learning courses (eg, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging; Confronting Bias; Thriving across our Differences, etc.).

The key focuses here are –

• Providing short, bite-sized, easy-toaccess programs

• Giving employees the flexibility to attend at their own pace

• Offer good ‘reminders’ and top-ups at regular intervals

Have you created Diversity initiatives that are truly marketleaders, above and beyond those we see in other businesses?

Celebration of diversity - and promoting it - is one of our key agendas. Let’s look at five important examples:

• Dedicated DEI team: earlier this year, our CEO, Christian Ulbrich, announced our firm’s increased focus and priority on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and appointment of a new Global Head of DEI, Nashunda Williams, who will report directly to him. Nashundra will focus over the next 24 months on identifying comprehensive actions and assessing future leadership investments that will accelerate JLL’s culture of DEI. We have also appointed three regional heads for EMEA, Americas and APAC regions.

• Talent attraction/hiring - we have over 60 nationalities in our Middle East, Africa and Turkey business and we encourage the team to continue to embrace more diverse representation from skills, knowledge and industry in order to strengthen the team knowledge overall.

• Celebrating and embracing diverse cultures - National Days and festivities such as Diwali and

Christmas are celebrated in our regional offices, and we organise various activities so everyone can experience the different celebrations.

• Another example is Kid’s Day, where we ask employees to bring their children to work, and we organise not only lots of games for the children, but also provide health check-ups.

• Leading by example - we consciously encourage leaders to demonstrate their engagement and lend their full support to our initiatives. For example, our Women Business Network is led by an executive committee member.

Do you feel that there’s a difference in approaches to Diversity between the GCC and other regions - and is this true across your own divisions?

Our belief and approach is that while we have an over-arching vision to drive DEI, we always need to be mindful of cultural sensitivities and representation while working on local initiatives across each country in our region.

Does a Diversity initiative actually deliver commercial benefits, or is that just an ‘urban myth’? If indeed it does, can you give concrete examples of how it does so for you, following execution of initiatives?

We recognise that having a range of experiences, backgrounds and perspectives allows us to find new ways of doing things, leading ultimately to the creation and delivery of the best possible services to our clients.

Many of the actual numbers are confidential, but we can share the following examples:

• We always strive to ensure there is a gender balance across our senior leaders and that they also come from diverse backgrounds. This enables us to bring in more balanced views

on any discussion we have or any strategy we are considering to drive. It also allows us to include different perspectives in our management strategy.

• In our Early Careers program, we work in partnership with various universities and schools in the region to raise awareness of the different career opportunities within real estate to bring in diverse talent and increase representation.

Within your business, what are particular employee and stakeholder groups that have benefited most from an in-house Diversity programme?

All of our people have benefited - and continue to do so - across the many diverse nations in which our initiatives are active.

What timeframes have your programmes set from the outset to achieve better Diversity - and do they have clear statistical objectives (eg, by such-and-such a date, we will xxx).

As above, note that our top two senior management levels have a target to achieve 40% female representation by 2025.

Also, our view is that the representation of female talent is best kept in balance by

selecting female talent across all levels and departments.

DEI awareness is kept high by online learning courses (as highlighted above), complemented by setting firm completion targets.

What are your ‘next steps’ in implementing stronger Diversity?

The next action points both revolve around KPIs -

• To keep raising awareness and reinforce the role that everyone plays in driving the DEI agenda

• Embed DEI in everything we do, working on structured and targeted KPIs based on localised requirements

• Create more focused KPIs that allow the effective measurement of ROI

Have you actually recruited new team members to head-up Diversity initiatives, or transitioned existing staff members?

We have used both approaches. We have a dedicated team globally and regionally as well as committees headed by volunteers within the business which totally understands and visualises what we should be doing, how we can drive that vision and the best ways to bring it across to the organisation. For example, we have four committees in Turkey, one of them being focused on People which drives the DEI initiatives.

What’s your ‘Blue Sky’ Diversity vision for the organisation?

JLL’s DEI Vision: At JLL, diversity, equity and inclusion are core to our purpose of shaping the future of real estate for a better world. Our vision is for a culture where differences are valued, people feel they belong, and authenticity thrives across the communities where we live and work.

Elaine O’Connor is Head of Fit Out MEA

The Diversity Reportlobbying for change via ongoing dialogue

he data, commitments and initiatives described in this report are the subject of discussion at the Women in Construction: Diversity & Inclusion Summit, held on 25th October 2022.

The day’s apex panel session is dedicated to the trends and actions of the four companies highlighted here, in a dialogue featuring the following panelists -

• Olga Litkovets, Director Business Development and Marketing MENA, Cundall

• Shorouq Hamawi, Regional Communications and Marketing Director

- International Development, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Mott Macdonald

• Katarina Uherova Hasbani, Partner and Global Director of Strategy and Advisory, AESG

• Chris Bernard, Partner, Global People Recruitment & Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, HKA

• Samantha Rowles, Operations DirectorTransport, Serco

• Elaine O’Connor, Head of Fit Out MEA at JLL

The intention throughout - in addition to highlighting the strong raft of excellent achievements - is to put a sharp focus on the initiatives that still need to be taken, a number of which even acknowledged industry leaders have perhaps yet to fully embrace.

The role of Middle East Consultant

Middle East Consultant magazine will henceforward sustain and nurture an editorial commitment to ED&I initiatives,

and will create an ongoing, monthly section called ‘Diversity Champions’. This will give further businesses the opportunity to showcase their key gender and diversity activities, whether through generic case studies or senior executive interviews.

These discussions can also continue online via the powerful format of ME Construction News - https:// meconstructionnews.com/ - with the aim of never letting the dialogue ‘go cold’.

The Women in Construction: Diversity & Inclusion Summit will also start a discussion which, by 1st January 2023, will aim to identify five eminently achievable goals across the gender and diversity agendas. These goals will be showcased across further events and in any every monthly issue of Middle East Consultant magazine, attracting the attention and buy-in of leading consultancies, key stakeholders and government and public sector entities

Jamil

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