Leah Landro, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworks: 2023 Conference in Las Vegas on June 28-29.
Landro discussed how REITs can attract and retain a more diverse pool of candidates, offered advice for companies about how to communicate what DEI and belonging means to its workforce, and commented on what training should be used for supervisors in order to maximize what the company is trying to do with regard to DEI.
Landro noted the importance of getting a partner to help diversify the candidate pool, and pointed out that Kimco is working with Project Destined to this end. “They’re able to deliver to us students that are very excited about real estate.”
Other recommendations include seeking out certifications that are relevant to people of underrepresented groups so that a company can establish its own brand, Landro said.
Meanwhile, Landro noted that executive teams need to demonstrate the importance of diversity and what it means to the company. She also stressed that unconscious bias training should be separate and apart from annual compliance training, so that people are comfortable asking questions.