Events and Exhibitions specialising as a community relations consulting firm that provides services to the property construction environment . Essentially her business fulfils a dual role being the assistance to developers in terms of community engagement and on the other hand , assisting the communities on educating themselves on how to embrace opportunities , how to present themselves , and how to qualify themselves to gain access to opportunities . Sadly , she noted that what happens today is that many aspects of business have become a tick box exercise , lacking tangible good outcomes and it is also clear that “ a disjointed approach towards the implementation of community engagement is very unlikely to provide any benefit to all stakeholders .” She touched on the intricacies involved in community ecosystems and the increasing pressure for businesses to report on their environment , social and governance ( ESG ) aspects . The strategy to focus on social and governance aspects adds value to the industry by identifying talent that is not being easily discovered . Through collaboration , she noted that “ bridging the gap becomes possible .”
Pieters took the opportunity between speakers to share something close to her own heart – being , “ giving back .” Each female coming into the working environment needs the handing down of advice and each lady should share and give back to the younger generation through sharing and nurturing she commented .
The final speaker at the event was Wendy Cerutti – director and head of cost management at Turner & Townsend who delivered her personal perspective as a woman . She recalled her time entering the built environment that was highly maledominated and was only hired at her first job because of sibling relationship . She stressed that is not the way women want to be recognised though and added that “ women want to be hired and treated based on merit .” She continued to share her experience in that women already have a seat at the table but their views and opinions must be heard , they are already empowered with education , business acumen , leadership , and are great in business and shouldn ’ t accept “ being tolerated ” because many more opportunities are out there . She echoed the sentiments and great importance around mentorship for women while “ male counterparts are twice as likely to receive mentorship opportunities and be placed in top management positions .” She added that women can achieve this too by changing the dynamics in these sectors and engaging in mentorship programmes . “ We need to all be a mentor , a role model to young women that can break the biases in the work environment .” She noted additionally by making changes and working together , women will bring out the best there is to offer and ensure a future with values . She concluded with # loveachallenge , # strongertogether , and # bringoutthebest .
The proceedings were concluded with a short Q & A where attendees offered some comments and had the opportunity
to ask the speakers some questions . Afterwards , guests were invited to share in some eats and refreshments and continue networking engagements .
Some comments from the attendees included that “ it ’ s always great to have the support of other females in the industry ”, “ I felt informed today ”, “ Having a forum like this feels like a safe space to share ”, “ the relationships and experience shared today really inspired us to know that as women we can do it too !”, and , “ getting to know other people in the industry and the networking opportunities are awesome .”
Concluding the event , the organising team offered much thanks for the support and participation from the different professionals and varying sectors of the built environment that came together in one room to celebrate being a woman in the built environment , amazing talents and contributions to South Africa . “ We are very pleased and believe this was another excellent turnout and possibly will consider a bigger conference-type setting for the next event . It is clear that this sort of networking and support platform is essential to ensure the mentorship and nurturing that was spoken about today continues to be available for the next generations of women that have excellent creative ideas and are able to bring those ideas to life through the various disciplines of the sector . We envision taking this platform further to include all women in the built environment from the professional to sales , and even marketing roles as each have a different perspective , different impact and different experience others can learn from . We look forward to the next bigger and better delivery .”
Two lucky draws took place during the proceedings with the winners receiving a 27-inch Samsung Smart Monitor each . RACA
Guests enjoyed a brunch spread at the end of the event while taking the opportunity to continue in the valuable networking .
During the networking session , guests were also able to engage in a virtual reality experience of the Leonardo building .
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za RACA Journal I October 2022 23