Home Property Australia Why diversity is good for culture and clients

Why diversity is good for culture and clients

  • April 09, 2019

Abandoning the boys’ club ideology and beers at 5pm on Friday is good for an organisation’s culture, but also for clients, says Cushman & Wakefield’s Kristy Megaw.

Cushman & Wakefield’s national operations manager with responsibility for the NAB and MLC Life property services portfolio, Megaw, like many women in the industry, “fell into property”.

“After completing a Bachelor of Arts in professional writing, I found a job as a business analyst. I started undertaking analytics into leasing strategies and rental returns per square metre, and I found I really enjoyed it,” Megaw says.

Within two years, Megaw was national operational manager with department store Harris Scarfe. Her arts degree gave her an edge when writing tenders, and she was soon managing strategic and operational procurement at more than 40 sites around Australia.

In 2011, Megaw was nominated for the national Telstra Business Women Awards, something she says was “pivotal” to her career.

“As someone up-and-coming, the recognition made me hungry to succeed and further my abilities.”

Scoring a role as a regional facilities manager with UGL, which would eventually evolve into Cushman & Wakefield, Megaw took responsibility for 150 sites around Australia.

“It was a massive learning curve at first, but I’m inspired to better myself as a leader every day.”

 

Why diversity delivers

Kristy says she is “inspired and excited by the changing face of property”.350x350 Story 4

“I see it at Cushman & Wakefield. It’s an exciting environment and great to watch the young, diverse talent coming through our team, and in our client base too.

“There are huge benefits to diversity. Abandoning the boys’ club ideology and beers at 5pm on Friday has created a more family-friendly environment that has been good culturally for our team, but also for our clients,” Megaw says.

“The customer service that some of the younger women in the team deliver has influenced the older-school engineering thinking too. It’s been infectious.”

Megaw praises the Property Male Champions of Change as “visual and present leaders”. The next challenge is to expand the support for women returning to the workforce after having children.

“We lose a lot of women after they go on parental leave. This is something I have noticed over the years, which is why it took me a long time to make the decision to start a family.”

Megaw recently became a parent and says Cushman & Wakefield has been very supportive.

“But we do need more support and flexibility for women after taking time out to have children. It’s something that all businesses, not just those the property industry, should focus on.”

 

Top career tips

 

  • Don’t undervalue yourself. “No one else will argue for a higher wage. You have to fight for equal ground”.
  • Consider your complementary skills. “The majority of property work is communications based, and my professional writing base has contributed to my successes and helped me to take a different point of view.”
  • Persevere, because the world of work is changing. “I’ve been overlooked in the past because of specific gender ideologies. Some of it was just the period of time. It was challenging to see peers moving up the ladder and getting more opportunities – and in some cases getting paid double what I was paid – when I knew my value. But I refused to give up.

 

Kristy Megaw is one of 20 women in property featured in Grow the Talent Pool, a report developed by the Property Council and EY in 2018 to continue the conversation on gender representation, diversity and inclusion in the property industry.