Anjana Sastri, Director – Marketing, Sterling Developers
The demand for residential real estate has grown exponentially over the last few years. However, the most noteworthy development is the remarkable rise in the number of women who are making a mark in the real estate sector with their visionary approach and strong business acumen. Real estate has undergone a sea of change in the country with changes in gender diversity, putting to rest the earlier norm of real estate being a male-dominated industry. From property consultants, channel partners and agents to engineers, architects and leader of multinational real estate development firms, women are leading the Indian realty sector to scale new heights. Dynamic and adaptable, the sector has exhibited a strong growth trend that has gained from women taking up more active roles. Hence the International Women’s Day theme, this year, “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”, is a vital key in women’s progress.
Traditional roles are no longer road blocks
The inspiring stories of women taking up leadership roles in the real estate sector have proved that traditional homemaking roles are no longer road blocks in their professional growth. Exhibiting great adaptability, women have now broken many old myths and are entering the domain previously out of bounds to them. In a dual role now, women are proving each day that their multi-tasking potential is par excellence in both professional and personal domains. Real estate companies have become alert to the skills women exhibit and hence are making changes in their policies and are enabling women in various ways to optimize their performance.
Real estate bodies are pushing diversity
Real estate companies through industry bodies like the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) have made a significant push to encourage gender diversification and inclusivity within the sector. These bodies are playing a major role in getting companies to make gender sensitive a priority. Complementing the companies’ approach, women employees are exhibiting great talent and ambition to rise in ranks based on their merit alone. The roles that they are taking are varied and diverse in various domains like sales and marketing, finance, engineering, administration and human resource management, thereby enabling women to play greater professional roles.
MNCs are bringing in gender neutrality
The entry of multinational companies into the Indian realty market is another reason for its increasing gender neutrality. These companies work on an equal opportunity principle and have been offering greater avenues for growth. Given their excellent reasoning and empathetic outlook, women have been an asset to real estate companies. Some of the work principles of many international firms are being adopted in Indian companies too to make them more democratic. Corporate history in India has been dominant over the last decade and has opened up opportunities for women to meet people from varied domains and countries across the globe to experience how companies work and what can be adopted in the Indian real estate sector.
Women have a more customer centric approach
Women are capable of intuitive thinking and understand what a customer expects. Their customer centric approach helps organisations tailor products that keep in mind the minute details. Typically, real estate sees diverse customers with different tastes, conceptions and outlook and hence it is necessary to understand these multiple wants. Women are best placed in the industry to handle a variety of demands from customers given their natural outlook towards balancing a home environment. Once they have a clear picture, execution of a decision comes quickly to women and hence they are placed in positions that demand multiple skills and optimize customer relations. This skill has played a great role in the successful operations of real estate companies. One of the primary merit’s women possess in the field of real estate lies in their inherent aptitude for collaboration and adept communication.
Today, women are excelling across sectors and real estate is no different. In conclusion, it can be said that the future growth of the realty sector cannot be achieved without the equal contribution of women who are half of the talent pool available. It is absolutely certain that women inspire greater trust and responsibility in the decisions that they take. As the participation of women increases in the real estate sector, they are actively advocating for gender parity, commemorating their achievements, and setting up platforms to rectify existing imbalances. The industry is seeing that gender diversity is not only about equality but also about advancement and success. The future of real estate contains enormous promise and opportunity, with women leading the way.
