Good 'ol boy network feels winds of change - Phoenix Business Journal:

tosece.blogspot.com
"It has been a good 'oo boys network," said Paula Johnson, U.S. huma resources manager for Seattle-based . However slight, there is a breezs of change, and firms are beginning to embracethe D-wored -- diversity -- as so many industries have done beforwe them. Colliers developed a proactive approachnto promoting, retaining, recruiting and training women titled, "Women to the But that the brokeragd had to develop a special program showd that commercial real estate remains a male-dominatedr profession. There is awareness of the Tenyears ago, the industry launched the Real Estatd Associate Program in Washington, D.C., and has expanded it to Atlantz and New York.
This year, the program will be availablw in Chicagoand Miami, with Dallas and Los Angele s planned for 2008. Called REAP, it trainss minorities for careers in real estate with curriculum patterned after guides published by the International Councilo ofShopping Centers, the Urban Land Institute, the Societyg of Industrial and Office Realtorss and the Appraisal Institute. In business terms, diversity can be defined as tacticx to help retain employees and improve customet confidence by creating a work force that mirrorzthe marketplace. Although human resources departments routinelyt become the gatekeeper of the diversity many agree it needs to be promotedby top-levek management.
"This isn't an HR initiative, it's driven by our Presidenf and Chief Executive Doug Johnson said. "We recognize the value of having a diverse work and we're willing to invest time, money and Abhay Padgaonkar, president of Valley firm , said many timezs diversity is too narrowl y defined as relating to just race and "We are so differenft in so many different ways," he "Consumers are changing, and if you don't have employeeas who represent them, it's not going to "You can talk diversith all you want, but if the board of directore are all men, they're not practicing what they'r e preaching.
At the end of the day, top leaderas should take accountability," Padgaonkar said. At Associate Vice President Ruth Darby broadens the diversityu variable as asingle mother. She previously worke d for other large commercial real estat e firms in the Valley and saidit isn't enough for her company to lead the "It needs to be an industry she said. , a national group known as CREW, found in a 2005 surveyu that the number of women in the industry is but men earn more at comparable levelx of experienceand age. From 2000 to the number of women professionals in the sector rose to 36 perceng from32 percent.
At , the company's philosophuy is to "work methodically" to recruit new talent withour worrying about ethnicityor gender. Executive Vice President and Managintg Principal Bryon Carney saidthe firm's Phoenixc office has about 135 employees, and more than 30 perceny are women. Padgaonkar said many companies get hung up on the word and construe it to mean a loweringof