For many if not most of us, our most important and consequential workplace relationship is with our line manager. Line managers are usually empowered to set workloads and expectations and give feedback. They can be gatekeepers and/or champions to opportunities in the form of stretch assignments, exposure to clients and mentoring and often have an outsized say on visibility with senior leaders and opportunities for progression. Effective relationships can elevate careers and underpin organisational objectives through increased loyalty and productivity; ineffective ones are among the top reasons why people leave positions. Recruiting, onboarding and training replacement staff is a significant business expense.
At Real Estate Balance, we believe feeling open to discuss career and life aspirations with a line manager is a key indicator of a successful working relationship. Since 2016, we have asked individuals taking part in our Industry EDI Survey to share whether they feel they can or cannot have such conversations with their manager. Back then, there was clear gender divide, with 16% of women and 8% of men answering in the negative. Our most recent survey in 2024 found the gap had closed: between 15 and 20% of both women and men said they do not have that kind of relationship with their manager.
Of all the aspects of our survey work, this is the one that resonated the most. We asked respondents to elaborate on why they could or could not discuss aspirations with their line manager. Close to half of participants did so, even though it was optional.
We undertook a sentiment analysis of the comments and found 64% to be positive. Authenticity, approachability, empathy, trustworthiness and emotional intelligence were among the values people said they appreciated in their line managers.
For example:
“My line manager has high emotional intelligence and champions EDI. Her leadership style involves empowering those that she manages regardless of your gender/culture/background. She is always keen to learn more about her shortcomings so she can improve as a leader. That in my eyes is the true definition of a great manager/leader.”
And:
“My line manager is my biggest supporter and wants me to progress and do well. He has sponsored me by speaking well of my achievements in settings that I do not have access to, which has raised my profile and visibility in the business.”
A quarter of the comments were deemed to be negative, including:
“I wouldn’t want to discuss family planning matters as this may be perceived as a lack of commitment to objectives which my line manager would like me to pursue.”
And:
“There is limited interest. The main focus is on fee generation.”
These comments get to the heart of the matter. Not everyone is promoted into positions of responsibility over others because they have a genuine interest in supporting and challenging the people they manage to be the best versions of themselves at work they can be. On occasion it is simply the case that adding value to the organisation, such as via fee generation, is the primary reason for a promotion into such a position.
Sometimes managers have gaps in their knowledge, skills and experiences – often through no fault of their own. If that sounds like the position you are in, you are in the right place. The following is an introduction to our principles of effective and inclusive line management:
- Self-awareness
- Enabling emotional safety
- Communicating
- Role modelling
- Nurturing talent
Being a manager of people and teams in real estate can involve working to tight deadlines, client and community complexities, multi-disciplinary projects, cyclical demands and financial pressures. Line managers are not always afforded significant dedicated time for people management. It may not be possible to adopt everything discussed here, but we hope to inspire the development of practices through further reading, reflection and training.
Self-awareness
Whatever the workplace, we tend to start our careers in junior or entry-level positions under the supervision of others. Self-employed people may undertake apprenticeships or similar, even entrepreneurs and freelancers know what it is like to be the party in a conversation with less agency and power due to the nature of the client/service provider relationship.
Being a line manager means recognising the responsibility to step into the shoes of those we lead. As suggested above, most of us have formed ideas about effective management through our own experiences of being managed, our professional journeys and our personal values. But great managers also ask themselves whether they are being as inclusive and effective as possible. Reflecting on our own biases and leadership style – and staying open and curious to new approaches – is especially important when managing teams and the inherent differences, similarities and diversity within them. One-size-fits-all rarely works in people management.
Staying open to our own learning and development is core. On a fundamental level, this means trying to find out the type of management individuals respond best to with an understanding this could take time because of the power dynamics in play. Inexperienced individuals may not yet know which management style they prefer. On a practical level, the Equality Act 2010, Workers Rights (Amendment of the Equality Act 2010) 2023 and upcoming Employment Rights Bill all impact line managers in areas including respect, discrimination and harassment in the workplace. It is important to be conversant with them.
Day-to-day self-improvement can include asking for feedback from those we manage and those who manage us, taking part in inclusion-related training and workshops when they are offered and requesting them when they are not, and engaging with management podcasts, YouTube videos, books, reports and research. If you work for a member of Real Estate Balance, request a place at one of our regular Reverse Speed Mentoring sessions to hear how the world of work works for up-and-coming talent in a relaxed and informal setting.
Enabling emotional safety
Alongside the responsibilities to those they manage, line managers have responsibilities to those who employ them. Organisations expect line managers to get the most out of those in their teams, often measuring them against productivity-related targets. Line managers should expect to be involved in rewarding the staff they manage, and they should expect to be involved in improving the performance of staff not meeting expectations and, potentially, removing them from their roles. A typical line management lifecycle could include:
Probation / Team meetings / Performance/development reviews / Appraisals / 360 feedback / Project review analysis
Within the formal process of managing individuals or teams outlined above, an inclusive manager prioritises emotional safety. Promoting a culture where all feel heard, valued and free to contribute honestly is in the best interests of organisations and the individuals who populate them.
Our emotional safety checklist includes:
- Creating a safe space for new joiners (regardless of their seniority) to ask questions and admit mistakes without fear of judgement.
- Setting clear expectations around behavioural competencies.
- Focusing not only on performance but how supported team members feel.
- Encouraging everyone to contribute to group conversations, not just the loudest or most confident voices.
- Making it clear that differing perspectives are welcomed and valued.
- Allowing disagreement and healthy conflict, but not aggression or blame.
- Framing feedback constructively, focusing on growth, asking what we can do better when things do not go to plan rather than what went wrong.
- Recognising effort, collaboration and resilience alongside outcomes.
- Exploring career aspirations without limiting assumptions about backgrounds or circumstances.
- And most importantly: being vulnerable, accepting we do not have all the answers, revealing our own flaws and mistakes.
In short, emotional safety is not about being nice or avoiding difficult conversations because you do not want to feel uncomfortable or cause discomfort to others. It is about trust, respect, understanding and openness. Nobody wants to be part of a team lacking those values, and a team lacking those values may find itself to be less successful.
Communicating
Communication is the bedrock to the success or otherwise of relationships between individuals and teams. Inclusive managers typically ask open questions, not leading ones. A simple “what do you think?” is empowering. They want to foster dialogues rather than delivering monologues. Listening is a huge part of communication, after all.
Words like “leverage,” “bandwidth,” “deliverables,” “headwinds” and “synergy” often creep into workplace communication, especially in corporate settings. There is likely even jargon in this piece of work. While familiar to some, such language can exclude others. The same applies to acronyms. When they are necessary, managers should introduce them with patience and give new joiners time to adopt the use of them. Every workplace develops its own vocabulary, shorthand and tone of communication, but people at the start of their careers – or those from backgrounds without role models working in corporate positions – cannot be expected to know them straight away. Simplicity is often preferable. As Sir Alex Ferguson, one of football’s most successful managers, said: the two most important words he ever used in his career were simply “well done.”
Inclusive managers explain not only what decisions are made but why they are made and may dedicate more time to the explanations for those who are most affected by the decisions to help them understand them. When setting expectations, either for performance or behavioural standards, clarity is key. It is unreasonable to expect people to meet objectives that have not been clearly articulated with requisite detail.
Inclusive managers take practical steps to communicate effectively, including typing in larger fonts for those with eyesight or learning difficulties, recording meetings for those who like to revisit content, asking people whether they prefer emails or calls, allowing written submissions from those lacking the confidence to speak up in group settings and by reinforcing their approachability on an ongoing basis.
Communication can also involve emotional intelligence. Line managers should expect for those they manage to experience common life challenges like the breakdown of relationships, loss of loved ones, changes relating to caregiving, health and wellbeing issues and more. When such a challenge occurs, it is best to acknowledge what the person is going through without judgement, respect their privacy, explore possible reasonable adjustments which could include flexibility and, if necessary, discuss workload distribution with others while maintaining the dignity of the person affected. When situations are severe, it is not the role of line managers to be counsellors. There is rarely any need to hide natural human reactions to the suffering of others in the workplace, but the utilisation of internal and external support services and expertise must always be prioritised.
Role modelling
Walking the talk builds trust; inconsistency erodes it. How we are at work has the power to influence others, particularly those we manage but also other managers.
Inclusive managers role model by showing humility in everyday actions. Being open, honest and accountable when we come up short is not a sign of weakness, it is a signifier that there is no shame in making errors and individuals can grow and improve from them. Mistakes are inevitable, positive reactions to them are not, and managers can make constructive feedback part of a team’s ethos to try to reduce them over time.
Micro behaviours can accumulate with time into macro cultural norms that make individuals and teams feel at-ease and motivated. This applies to the good times and the more difficult ones. Successes should be celebrated, both big and everyday wins. Gestures can be tailored towards individuals and used to reinforce collaboration, resilience or other beneficial values. However, recognition should not be skewed towards extroverts or those closest to us or be overly generic or feel inauthentic.
Role modelling only works if it feels authentic. Managers who signal commitment by being the last to leave or constantly available out-of-hours risk encouraging presenteeism (traditionally an issue in our industry) and unhealthy boundaries rather than genuine productivity. While extra effort and time is sometimes needed in short bursts and can generate the required results, making this the norm is unsustainable and can lead to burnout for managers and their teams alike.
Inclusive managers role model work/life balance by taking their annual leave fully, switching off outside working hours, and encouraging colleagues to do the same. They create equitable opportunities by offering flexibility to parents and caregivers if they can, while recognising that individual needs may differ and avoiding assumptions about what works best for those with caring responsibilities. When a man takes their full allocation of paternity leave and focuses on his family, it shows other men it is acceptable to do the same if/when they become fathers. Championing initiatives such as Employee Resource Groups can demonstrate allyship and help build a culture where people feel connected beyond day-to-day tasks. Participation should always be presented as a choice, though, not an expectation. The aim is to balance equity and fairness, so flexibility and inclusion are seen as enabling equal contribution, not offering special treatment.
Positive role models do not let inappropriate attitudes or behaviours slide when they witness them happening to others, even if the offender is someone senior to them. Being courageous in such situations can inspire others to do so too, raising the both the floor and ceiling of workplace culture. The nature of the situations dictates whether it is best to intervene in the moment of follow up afterwards, with responses ranging from a conversational steer, calling someone out and running the risk of escalation to a formal complaint. When an unwitnessed allegation of inappropriate attitudes or behaviours is raised, an inclusive manager should respond with calmness and reassure the individual that their concerns will be taken seriously. Checking in on their wellbeing, maintaining discretion, not taking sides and promptly escalating to HR or the relevant channel will demonstrate managerial integrity.
Nurturing potential
Ethical and legal considerations require impartial management of all. Line managers should be fair and evidence-based and avoid managing with “gut instinct”, preference or allowing past experiences and/or personal biases to influence their approach. Inclusion means career development opportunities being visible and open to all and initiating structural change when they are not.
Such opportunities include:
- Internal and external training courses, professional qualifications and further learning opportunities.
- Stretch assignments, job shadowing and secondments.
- Regular and structured career development discussions, personal development plans and time and tools for self-assessment and reflection.
- Opportunities to attend webinars, conferences and industry networking events.
- Access to mentoring, sponsorship and professional coaches
If you work for a Real Estate Balance member, encourage the people you manage to take part in one of our regular cross-company Speed Mentoring sessions so they can learn from leading industry figures, make new connections and expand their network.
When it comes to promotions, inclusive managers work with HR/People teams to ensure decisions are transparent and consistent. They should be based on clearly defined and well-communicated skills, behaviours, and results, with multiple decisionmakers involved and consistent scoring criteria applied to reduce bias. Routinely providing feedback to unsuccessful candidates helps build trust that promotions are based on fairness, not favouritism.
UK law on positive action allows organisations and managers to take targeted steps to support people with underrepresented protected characteristics, helping them to compete on an equal footing with others. This could include initiatives such as mentoring, coaching or tailored development opportunities. But positive discrimination – such as promoting someone solely because of a protected characteristic when they do not meet the role requirements – is unlawful.
Managers are well within their rights to encourage their people to aim high and to provide opportunities and access to tools that can enable progression. But choosing not to pursue the next step does not necessarily signal a lack of confidence or ambition – there are many professional or personal reasons why someone may be content in their current role. It is also natural that some team members will eventually surpass the level of their line manager, and that is by no means a failure of management. For an inclusive manager, supporting others to soar is simply a job well done.
Related resources
Real Estate Balance Employer Toolkit – our member-only toolkit elaborates on some of the concepts touched upon above including embedding leadership commitment, banishing bias, everyday inclusivity and enabling talent to grow.
Research on line management in UK real estate and its associated sectors– for further engagement with our survey work on whether our industry participants feel comfortable to discuss their career and life aspirations with their line managers.
Speed Mentoring and Reverse Speed Mentoring – sessions held in partnership with our members and open to all who work for them are regularly advertised in the Events section of this website.
MAPP case study – the steps taken by MAPP to establish channels for senior leaders to personally engage with and listen to the wider workforce to share different perspectives.
The Circle Academy – The Circle Partnership’s 12-month programme designed to build women’s authenticity, agency and impact and give them the skills, confidence and connections they need to progress their careers to senior levels.
Inclusive workplaces focus on inclusive management practices that matter – McKinsey and Co’s article discussing their model of 17 practices and six outcomes that form the backbone of assessing the effectiveness of inclusive management techniques.
Recruiting, promoting and assessing inclusive leaders – the outlining of inclusive leadership competencies in section two is particularly useful in this guidance from Business in the Community: The Prince’s Responsible Business Network.
Performance management: an introduction – the Chartered Institute of Professional Development’s practical guide to effective performance management in areas including setting objectives and reviewing performance.
Leaders as Change Agents (LACA) Employer and Employee Guide – sponsored by the Government Equalities Office, the advisory panel is urging companies to adopt its eight recommended commitments relating to inclusive management.