Rapleys launches pioneering People Plan in drive to be employer of choice

• New reward & recognition strategy
• Focus on training & development programme
• Wellness, Diversity, Flexibility are key themes

Published by CoStar – Exclusive (20.06.23) and Workplace Wellbeing Professional (03.07.23)

UK June 2023 – Rapleys has launched a new People Plan, which aims to make the property consultancy the industry employer of choice. Rolled out to all employees in May 2023, the plan brought all elements of investment in people announced in the business rebrand from September 2022 into one place.

Key initiatives in the plan include truly flexible working where employees can choose what hours they work with the agreement of their manager; an increased learning and development strategy that includes wellness, equality, diversity & inclusion and emotional intelligence modules, and a new streamlined incentivisation and reward process which links behaviours and recognises teamwork.

In addition to investment in supportive technology, CPD, rewards and training & development – the latter focussing on coaching & mentoring and understanding emotional intelligence – the plan also homes in on wellbeing with a wellbeing hub launched, upgraded people policies including menopause and adoption, and refreshes the job titles and levels to recognise the importance of operational and support services.

Holidays are increased for all levels with a minimum six weeks off with incentives to take annual leave in full. Other additional leave includes birthdays and wellbeing days. A new junior board is launched that is chaired by the Managing Partner while  employee recognition is upgraded to embed company values & behaviours.

Equality, inclusivity & diversity initiatives include a focus on reaching schools to educate about property as a career, an increased EDI group and awareness and training.

Finally, traditional core working hours are removed with each person able to work to suit their lifestyle with their manager’s agreement.

Justin Tuckwell, Managing Partner at Rapleys said: “We are really proud of our new People Plan which firmly places people at the centre of all of our business activities. We want to promote a fun and positive working environment and be the industry’s employer of choice. As a partnership we were united in our decision to invest significantly in initiatives that will support and empower every person at Rapleys from learning & development to health & wellbeing, diversity & inclusion to reward & recognition and everything in between. It’s crucial we get our people framework right – with the business looking to continue to grow significantly over the coming months and years, we need to ensure that our existing talent is happy and well looked after while hiring similar best-in-class teams attracted to our culture and offer. We firmly believe that in prioritising our people, everything else will follow – client service, performance, success. Given the proportion of our lifetimes we spend working, it needs to be a positive and happy experience.”

Rapleys pioneered the idea of a four-day working week and a nine-day fortnight back in 2019 before Covid accelerated a wider industry acceptability of flexible working. In September 2022, Rapleys rebranded and reorganised the business placing people at its heart and has acquired and integrated three businesses in the last 12 months. Last week the partnership announced record figures with turnover and profit up, and recommitted to investing in the business and future strategic growth.