Women estate surveyors have been asked to be wary of professional misconduct, technicalities of establishing partnerships and develop expertise in proposal writing. This is in a bid to become more relevant in the profession.
The call was made at a lecture series and interactive sessions entitled, ‘Beneath the Glamour, Operating a Successful Practice’ organised by the Women Wing of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Lagos branch.
The forum brought together women practitioners across the state including the chairman of Lagos branch of the institution, Mrs Olabisi Demola-Alade and a past president of NIESV, Mr Bolarinwa Patunola-Ajayi.
In her presentation on estate surveyors and valuers and professional ethics, the Partner, Mark Odu & Company, Bridget Oranye, said women practitioners must be observant of the general ethics that cover the way they should act while conducting the business of estate surveying and valuation.
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She stressed the need for women to imbibe the virtue of honesty and devotion to the institution in professional practice.
“You are expected to be honest, trustworthy, loyal, respectful, adhere to the law of the land, avoid harm to others and be accountable. All these are embedded in our code of conduct from the registration board of the institution,” she said.
Oranye, who is also the NIESV National Women Coordinator, charged practitioners to familiarise themselves with the Act, which sets up the institution, the green book and the constitution to avert professional pitfalls.
The Partner, Estate Links/ Gbenga Olaniyan & Associates, Mrs Adejumoke Akure, who spoke on the technicalities of partnership, explained that it was important for practitioners going into partnership to define the reason for it and ensure complementary of strengths rather than excluding men in the business partnership.
Akure said there was need for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, which is a strategic planning and management technique to help identify threats related to business competition or project planning.
A lecturer in the Department of Estate Management and Valuation, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, lkorodu, Mrs Olubunmi Adeowo, stated that there are things that are very essential, especially for solicited briefs when writing briefs on property management and valuation.
Speaking on acceptable briefs and proposals, she noted that some of these are the open statement, description of the objective of the valuation report, the targeted audience and budgeting for the particular job, ability to adapt as well as description of the success rate.
The coordinator, NIESV women wing, Lagos branch, Mrs Olufowobi Olawunmi, said: “There is a need to organise more programmes that will enlighten female surveyors so that they can excel in the profession.”
Olufowobi disclosed plans to bring more women estate practitioners into the association to train and educate them.
She stated that every practitioner that studied estate management can excel and supersede the performance of her male counterpart.
On her part, the Director of Estate, Lagos State Ministry of Housing, Mrs Olayinka Patunola-Ajayi, who moderated the sessions observed that for most successful women in the business, what the society sees is the glamour and not the roughness that they must have experienced.
