Women’s presence in Indian real estate is no longer all about developer’s wife; women professionals giving facelift to the sector.
When Anuradha Sharma (name changed on request) took up a job with one of the real estate companies some 16 years back, all hell broke lose on her. The family confronted her, society looked at her with suspicion and she had to weather the whispering of the peer group. The presence of a woman in real estate, even if you live in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai, had that element of ‘outsider tag’ and definitely not what collective consciousness was ready to accept as ‘respectable’. The presence of women in the real estate business was expected to be only for the developer’s wife.
“For me an entry into real estate was something that was purely accidental. But once into this job I realised the challenges were multiple – ranging from lack of professionalism within the organisation to the societal pressures. My husband reluctantly supported the decision but with clear riders of no late hours, no field job and many other restrictions. But I think a lot has changed in the last over a decade. We no longer need to cope within the sector where woman for long has been considered ‘outsider’,” says Anuradha.
First mover women witness to change
Most of the women professionals who have risen the ranks in the Indian real estate in the last decade would agree to the fact that the stigma does not hold good any more. Women are no more considered strangers in the real estate sector. On the contrary, they are welcomed in the industry.
However, the first movers had to face a lot of resistance. Initially they did face some sort of bias but that did not deter those who are today case studies. It rather made them more headstrong in making a name for themselves in the realty sector. Once they started proving themselves with their strong sense of business strategies, they were accepted and applauded as a part of the sector.
Today, women hold prime leadership positions and have proved their mettle in various real estate companies. The realty industry has acknowledged the fact that women are naturally inclined towards this sector as they traditionally are home makers.
Manju Yagnik, Vice Chairperson of Nahar Group is one such case study who believes women in real estate are not necessarily wives of developers. She maintains that for any professional to last long one has to be passionate about it or else the performance suffers and it dies a slow death. Real estate is a very complex business and one requires skill set to be in his profession.
“My journey started more than two decades ago with Nahar Group. It was a well thought decision to enter this sector as I was passionate about the real estate industry and found it very challenging. Having an eye for detailing and quality and considering the complexity and precision required in this field, I found it very challenging to bring aesthetics out from brick and mortar. It also involved a lot of creativity and dealing with people in various fields. The sector was undergoing changes and I saw growth in this sector. My journey so far has been very good as every stage in this sector has been a great learning,” says Yagnik.
More opportunities but miles to go
The sector, no doubt, has changed towards better and has grown many folds. It has created a lot more opportunity for women now than it was prevailing at the time when first movers like Manju Yagnik joined the sector. Processes and functioning has been streamlined to a large extent where a woman can perform better.
Devina Ghildial, Managing Director of RICS South Asia maintains that across the industries there has been higher acceptance of women professionals over time, and real estate has not been immune to these changes. She nevertheless points out hat it still has a long way to go before we see balanced gender diversity in the sector. Real estate has been male dominated but she has never felt disadvantaged as a woman.
“If there has been bias, I guess I have been too busy working hard to notice. Finally, gender does not guarantee success. Only good business sense and hard work does. I was always taught that there is no bigger satisfaction in life than being ‘self-made’. This thought stayed with me ever since, so my not having a real estate background was not a deterrent in my decision to join a developer as a young management trainee. Since then, I have never looked back. Even when I was not directly working in real estate, I was managing large investment portfolios which also comprised real estate. Working in a high impact industry and contributing in some way to its success is something that intrigues me even today and keeps my interest going,” says Devina.
Equal opportunity developers deserve kudos
Mayuri Aggarwal, GM- Marketing is another success story in real estate without any family lineage. She says the credit must be given to those real estate companies that have taken a conscious decision to encourage women and inculcate gender balance in workforce. According to her, the change is visible across the domain and she cites the example of REWA India (Real Estate Women’s Affiliates–India) – a property consultancy service founded by a female entrepreneur and is run exclusively by women – for the same.
“India’s real estate sector attempts to boost transparency and professional services while embracing global best practices in order to push their case for industry status, the role of female employees can be crucial in facilitating this longstanding goal. The competency of women at workplace can be gauged from the fact that in some verticals empirical evidence indicates women are indeed the professional “better halves”, so to say, of their male counterparts and perform well in real estate and allied domains,” says Mayuri.
Not an easy journey
All this fascinating journey of successful women professionals might give an impression of romanticsim with real estate. The ground reality is that such case studies are few. Even those who have real estate family business find it challenging to excell as a professional.
Hiral Sheth, Director-Marketing of Sheth Creators makes it clear that working in real estate industry is no path of roses and one definitely has to overcome lots of challenges. She admits to love working in real estate and today it is her passion to endow the end consumers with a dream home that they have always vouched for.
“It has been an absolute pleasure providing all standards of luxuries and satisfying peoples expectation for one of their biggest purchases of their lifetime. Since childhood I always wanted to take up profession which is different. Overcoming challenges has always been the motto of my life and that has been a major driving force for me to foray in this segment. I personally do not feel that a woman has been an outsider. The perception has changed with changing times and why only real estate it is women who are leading top notch positions in most of the industries,” says Sheth.
Women in the business on the sheer merit maintain that today there is hardly a board of any company without the presence of woman. All women are blessed with certain inborn characteristics and instincts which can be effectively utilized in the real estate sector. Her perspective on lifestyle, architecture and landscaping is positively better and to top this all, her proficiency in acquiring technical knowledge that score high points in the realty industry.
Women have exceptional abilities on creativity, coping with stress, on gaining trust, building relationships and negotiating skills, so essential in this domain. And once she establishes her reputation for competence, it gets reflected not only within the organization that she is attached to but on the entire industry.
The change has come about in the last one decade. It may take another decade or two before a gender balance is seen in the real estate, like some of the other matured industries. There is nevertheless a clear realization that the presence of women professionals has brought about a much needed facelift to the sector. And mind it! The brand ambassadors of this change are not necessarily the developer’s wives but independent professionals. They have stormed into what could be conveniently be termed as the most resistant male bastion.
By: Ravi Sinha
