Culture, values and inclusion

We strive to deliver excellent services and value for money for our clients and the public. Our core values, our culture and our commitment to inclusion drive our success.

When we launched LocatED, it was important to build a culture that created a positive working environment – and that is still true today. Every member of our team has a part in delivering high quality services and value for money in all that we do. It’s in working together, and in building effective relationships with our partners and the property market, that we can deliver our best.

Our core values Our culture D&I at LocatED

OUR THREE CORE VALUES

These are central to how we work with our customers, our partners, within our wider communities, and with each other:

  • Accountability – we are responsible individuals, who make ideas happen
  • Collaboration – we combine our expertise for the best results
  • Self-improvement – we prioritise personal growth and development.

OUR CULTURE

Here is how we maintain our positive working environment

Collaborative, team-oriented working

  • We set out clear aims and articulate LocatED’s remit so everyone knows how they contribute to our success; we encourage a team-oriented environment where each person is motivated by our wider organisational goals
  • We facilitate open, honest, and regular communications as part of our employee engagement; trusting and supporting our team to meet challenging targets while enjoying and valuing the work we do
  • We proactively support and facilitate valuable social interaction between individuals, teams and as a whole company, to support collaboration.

Supporting our people to deliver their best

  • We promote entrepreneurialism within robust and clear financial controls
  • We reward and recognise achievement – seeking to coach, train, develop and progress our team
  • We lead by example to encourage everyone to maintain a positive balance between work and their personal life.

PROMOTING A MORE INCLUSIVE SOCIETY, BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE WORKPLACE

photo of Lara Newman

“We are committed to fostering an environment that encourages everyone to reach their potential. We want to build a diverse team that will enhance the property profession with its ideas, contributions, and talent.”

Lara Newman, Chief Executive

As a team, we have created a shared vision for a diverse and inclusive LocatED, where:

  • Our workforce reflects society as a whole, at all levels of the organisation
  • Every person can be their authentic self in an environment that welcomes all backgrounds, among colleagues who actively value inclusion
  • People feel comfortable talking openly – and asking questions – about the issues that affect us all
  • Everyone feels empowered to use their unique talents and skills to contribute to and make an impact on our company, our work, and the world around us.

Our Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee

We set up our D&I Committee in June 2021 to drive this shared vision and to empower our team to promote a fairer and more inclusive society; one which celebrates our differences and recognises the benefits that stem from having people with diverse perspectives and experiences working together.

The Committee includes people from all levels of our organisation, across all departments, and we rotate membership annually. This ensures that this all-important conversation benefits from a wide range of voices.

We have put in place a number of key initiatives as part of our dynamic D&I action plan:

Improving pathways into the property

  • We showcase lesser-known pathways into the profession, such as our Apprenticeship Surveyor Programme, as well as routes such as our Graduate Surveyor Programme
  • We host micro-placements and work experience programmes, enabling school leavers and college/university students to explore different areas of property as they consider their future
  • We attend career days at secondary schools, targeting those with a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds to show that property is a viable and attainable career path for them
  • We work with universities to ensure equal access to experience for all, and take part in mentoring and insight sessions with students
  • We work with government organisations and those in the wider sector to improve pathways into property and progression for under-represented groups.
  • We have signed up to the Care Leaver Covenant and will provide support for care leavers aged 16-25 to help them start careers in property by offering insight days and work experience.

Accreditations

  • We are a ‘Disability Confident Employer’, committed to ensuring that people with disabilities and long-term health conditions can fulfil their potential at LocatED
  • We have received the ‘5% Club Platinum Award’ for our significant contribution to the continued development of all our team through our ‘earn and learn’ schemes
  • We Invest in People’, demonstrating that we are an organisation that leads, supports, and develops our team.

                             

Getting everyone involved

  • We host regular lunchtime seminars which explore D&I themes, with internal and external speakers
  • We facilitate regular employee surveys and opportunities for feedback and input to the D&I Committee.

Real Estate Balance – CEO Commitments on Diversity

Real Estate Balance logoSince December 2020, we have been a member of Real Estate Balance. The campaigning organisation was formed in 2015 to address gender imbalance at the senior levels of the real estate business and has since expanded its scope to include broader diversity and inclusion objectives.

Our Chief Executive, Lara Newman, has signed up to the following Real Estate Balance 10 CEO Commitments, and we are incorporating them into our D&I action plans and initiatives:

  1. Lead change and empower people in your organisation to visibly demonstrate that equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are core to your culture.
    How could this be achieved? Publish your CEO Commitments within your organisation and self-report to Real Estate Balance on your progress in achieving them on an annual basis.
  2. Gather, analyse and act upon your diversity data and regularly report progress, where possible, and contribute to the establishment of an industry benchmark by taking part in our Industry EDI Survey.
    How could this be achieved? Engage your employees to maximise diversity data collection exercises in a way relevant to your size and location and share your workforce diversity data with Real Estate Balance by taking part in our biennial survey. Actively encourage your staff to take part in our research as individuals.
  3. Ensure a culture of understanding and respect where everyone feels safe to challenge bias, discrimination and inappropriate attitudes and behaviours whenever they witness them without fear of reprisal.
    How could this be achieved? Consider providing training relating to EDI issues and biases for all staff alongside enhanced cultural learning and development opportunities for managers of people.
  4. Implement inclusive recruitment practices to improve the diversity of your workforce.
    How could this be achieved? Value transferable skills and insist that a variety of protected characteristics and social backgrounds are represented in longlists, shortlists and on interview panels.
  5. Promote equitable pay and opportunities for professional development.
    How could this be achieved? Report and publicise gender and ethnicity pay to the extent that it is possible to ensure fairness in remuneration and promotion opportunities. Consider applying the same lenses to the socioeconomic backgrounds of your workforce.
  6. Only speak on panels and at events where organisers promote a diversity of voices.
    How could this be achieved? Encourage your colleagues and peers to abide by this too and consider working with event and conference organisers to achieve a balanced representation of genders, ethnicities, other characteristics and social backgrounds in speakers and attendees.
  7. Commit to diversity and representation in your leadership team and senior managers.
    How could this be achieved? Understand the diversity of your workforce and any gaps in representation. Adopt a fair and equitable approach to training, mentoring, sponsorship and stretch assignments. Link individual incentivisation to EDI progress.
  8. Encourage EDI throughout your organisation’s business relationships.
    How could this be achieved? Find out what EDI means to those you do business with, use effective governance to determine how compliant they are with your principles and whether they are members of any EDI organisations when tendering or working with client teams. Monitor relationships to measure progress.
  9. Establish channels for senior leaders to personally engage with and listen to the wider workforce to share different perspectives.
    How could this be achieved? Consider introducing reverse mentoring by asking for volunteer junior mentors and highlight the EDI champions in your organisation in internal communications.
  10. Promote EDI in any groups or communities you or your organisation are members of.
    How could this be achieved? Use networking and speaking opportunities to learn EDI strategies and share best practices. Use your marketing and messaging to represent your organisation’s dedication to EDI to inspire others. Demonstrate your membership of Real Estate Balance and other EDI organisations.