Our people will support RICS to meet its vision. They are at the centre of everything we do, and we are continually inspired by their dedication, expertise and ambition.
This year we have focused on harnessing the power of our people through engagement, development and support, ensuring they have the tools to thrive while shaping an inclusive workplace where they can contribute fully to our success.
Setting ourselves up for the future
To lead us in our journey to becoming a world-class organisation, this year we defined our permanent Executive Team structure for the future alongside our target operating model for an experience-led RICS. This includes putting our members’ and other stakeholders’ needs at the heart of everything we do and using data and insight to design the right experiences for them.
The changes we have made to our executive structure will support our people to succeed by building the capabilities that we need, grouping the right activities together, and clarifying key roles and objectives so that together we can make progress on our goals.
‘We want to ensure that our people are set up for success to deliver our new strategy and to continue to transform RICS. Our new executive structure and operating model will support them to thrive well into the future and will deliver quality experiences for our people, members and stakeholders that prioritise their needs.’
Andrea Sutherill
Interim Chief People Officer
Redefining our values
To support the delivery of our new strategy, we took the opportunity to reassess our values. We asked our people what they felt it meant to ‘be RICS’, leading us to co-create four new values that will guide us in achieving our purpose.
We place the highest standards at the heart of what we do and work honestly and transparently to build trust and confidence.
We are passionate and ambitious, seeking innovative and sustainable solutions, and lead the debate on issues that matter now and for the future.
We believe in building partnerships and finding opportunities to achieve shared goals wherever possible.
We are respectful, consider the impact of our actions and seek to build a diverse community where difference is valued.
Ensuring we are aligned to our values is paramount, and during the summer we ran over 40 Bridge workshops. The sessions were an opportunity for everyone at RICS – from colleagues to the Executive Team, CEO and Governing Council – to explore how we can bring our new values to life in our day-to-day roles and commit to building our new world together.
Listening – and taking action
Our ambition to become an experience-led organisation includes delivering first-class experiences for our people. An important part of this is actively listening to our colleagues to understand what is working well and where we need to pay more attention.
Our regular employee surveys allow us to identify where we can take meaningful action to ensure our organisation remains a great place to work. As always, we still need and want to do more, and our focus remains on building on the progress we have made this year.
Meanwhile, through open channels of communication, our Employee Voice group has continued to represent our people’s views across RICS, enabling us to work together to drive improvements to enhance our colleagues’ experience.
‘As an Employee Voice representative, I bridge the gap between employees and leadership, ensuring every voice is heard and valued. It is not just about speaking up: it is about creating tangible change that enhances our workplace. Together, we shape a future where every employee’s perspective matters and drives meaningful impact.’
Archana Dutt
Candidate Engagement Manager
Bringing our people together
Maintaining our connections and building relationships is key to our collaborative culture at RICS.
This year we launched our inaugural all-employee Vision events, an opportunity for colleagues to meet, connect and hear about our strategy and the fundamental part they play in it. The events were held physically in the UK and virtually for those based in our world regions.
We were also fortunate to welcome members from across the globe to our Vision events to share their inspiring stories of entering and working in the profession.
The events have been invaluable in igniting vibrant discussions, strengthening our relationships with each other and our members, and boosting our collective pride in our purpose and mission.
Our Vision events ran alongside our Loop calls, which regularly bring all of our people together virtually to hear and share updates from across RICS and openly ask our leaders questions.
Developing our people
We continued to invest in our people’s personal and professional development this year. We introduced LinkedIn Learning, a best-in-class learning platform, for all colleagues, while our new learning hub provides a variety of dynamic resources to enable our people to acquire new skills independently.
Developing our leadership talent has also been a top priority. We piloted our High Performing Teams programme and delivered three further cohorts of our popular ASPIRE programme, aimed at nurturing our first-time people leaders.
We were also proud to have four colleagues qualify with a level 5 coaching apprenticeship who are now offering coaching opportunities for colleagues across the organisation.
‘The ASPIRE course has been a real game-changer for me. The breadth of soft skills content, ranging from emotional intelligence, giving feedback through to listening, has really helped to deepen and enrich the connections I have internally and externally, enabling me to really push on in my role.’
Nigel Sellars
Senior Specialist – Property
Creating a culture of inclusion and belonging
Inclusion is at our core at RICS. We are passionate about fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging where our people can bring their whole, authentic selves to work, propelling us towards our goal of becoming a world-class organisation.
A key component of this has been the growth of our colleague-led networks, which are the foundation of our inclusive culture:
- Inclusion Group
- Pride at RICS
- Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage (REACH) network
- Accessibility network
- Menopause Support Group
- Mental Health network.
Our networks have dedicated time and energy this year to celebrate the strength of our diversity.
- Our monthly Inclusion Group meetings continued to provide a safe space for colleagues to discuss inclusion topics and commemorate DEI awareness occasions.
- For Pride Month in June, our Pride at RICS network hosted a virtual ‘Ask me anything’ event, an open forum for colleagues to understand more about the LGBTQ+ community.
- Our REACH network hosted its first Diwali event in our Birmingham office, aligning with the festival’s theme of togetherness.
Our internal campaigns also underscored the value we place on the unique perspectives of our people.
- During Women’s History Month, we celebrated allies who have supported our female colleagues professionally and personally.
- For UK Black History Month, we delved into Black culture, identity and allyship through colleague-led videos and articles.
- We honoured the resilience of the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month with a video featuring colleagues expressing what makes them proud of LGBTQ+ individuals. We also heard from a colleague on their poignant experience of serving under the 'Don’t ask, don’t tell' policy in the US Air Force.
Our workplaces should reflect the evolving needs of our people, which is why we introduced new initiatives to make our office spaces more inclusive too. This included creating quiet zones and providing period products free of charge in our London and Birmingham offices.
‘Since the creation of the Inclusion Group a few years ago, we have seen a rise in our employee-led networks, all dedicated to fostering a more informed and inclusive workplace culture. Colleagues in these networks invest time to raise awareness on various DEI topics and establish safe spaces for employees worldwide. They help form the foundation of our organisational culture, and we deeply value their contributions.’
Sybil Taunton
Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
‘Creating an inclusive work environment is not just smart, it’s essential. I am passionate about making spaces comfortable and productive, whether through small adjustments or significant changes. Embracing our differences and addressing unconscious biases are vital. I learn from global teammates and strive to enhance our work environments.’
Mark Southwell
Head of Workplace & Facilities Management
Reducing the gender pay gap
Like many organisations, our Gender pay gap report 2023 highlights that there is more we can do to build an inclusive and gender-balanced workforce and talent pipeline across RICS, but we are making good progress. We have a larger proportion of women than men within the organisation overall, but we need to improve the number of women in our more senior roles. We continue to seek a gender-balanced and more diverse field of external candidates when recruiting for our senior roles.
Improving our accessibility support
We received consultancy support from Purple Tuesday this year to help identify and improve accessibility and support in our organisation, including training for hiring managers on inclusive recruitment practices. This partnership will continue through 2024 as we work to deliver a best-practice disability policy.
Celebrating our achievements
We value the contributions of our people and regularly take time to celebrate successes. This year we sent more than 1,150 thank you messages to each other on our recognition platform. Meanwhile, our Quarterly Recognition Awards, nominated by colleagues and decided by a global judging panel, celebrated exceptional individual and team achievements.
Supporting our people’s well-being
We recognise that we cannot achieve great things without happy and healthy colleagues. This is a responsibility we take seriously, as do our own people, who have been instrumental in creating an environment of care and compassion at RICS.
We launched our Mental Health First Aiders and Well-being Champions network this year. The group offers confidential support to colleagues worldwide, guiding them to local mental health and well-being resources. They have also amplified awareness on a wide range of well-being topics, including mental health, neurodiversity, menopause and much more. We also welcomed our partner charity LionHeart for a series of in-person and virtual well-being days to inform colleagues of the services available to them, from counselling to career coaching. This year also saw us relaunch our Employee Assistance Programmes for both our UK and global colleagues, offering improved and region-specific services and support whenever they need it most.
‘I am grateful to be of service to colleagues. I feel useful, my mood is lifted and there is an element of satisfaction, which helps keep things in perspective and encourages me to be more available. Although navigating challenges can be difficult for colleagues, being available when needed is a good feeling.'
Angela Browne-Johnson
Profession Support & Assurance Technical Specialist (Regulated Firms) and Well-being Champion
‘I love being a Well-being Champion and holding a safe space for conversations with my team. We have built and established meaningful connections and support to each other at work and have created a space where we can freely and honestly express ourselves without being judged.’
Pia Kobal Snoj
Early Engagement Co-ordinator and Well-being Champion
