Education Session
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Today’s Rapidly Evolving (and Challenging) Real Estate Industry and Workplace Environment
Session Room 205 C | 9:00am-9:50am
Rapid changes in innovation and new technology are changing the way that every industry conducts its business and manages its workplace environment. To avoid an expanding shortage of skills and experience, we must ensure that Talent Development, Search and Management evolve at the same rate. This panel discussion will take a closer look at Real Estate Technology and People both today and tomorrow. Topics to be discussed include; how a growing economy and an aging population have eaten into the available labour pool, what are the primary issues that real estate owners and operators face today and tomorrow, the ways in which companies can find skilled workers, and more.
Moderator
James Ashley, Partner, HighView Partners
James cofounded HighView Partners - a talent search and recruitment firm specializing in Canadian Real Estate. HighView works in partnership with property owners, developers and service providers across the GTA to help execute management and executive level hires. As a Certified Employment Strategist, James is committed to sharing best hiring practices across the industry. He has led numerous workshops for real estate and HR professionals on Social Recruiting, Candidate Relationship Management, Employer Branding and Interviewing Techniques.
Panelists
Louise Porthouse, Vice President Human Resources, Triovest Realty Advisors Inc.
Louise is the VP, Human Resources for Triovest Realty Advisors, a Canadian commercial real estate advisory firm that employs over 500 people across Canada. Prior to joining Triovest Louise worked in a variety of HR positions with firms such as MasterCard Worldwide, Dynamic Funds, Knightsbridge and KPMG. In her current role Louise leads the Human Resource group where she is responsible for all components of core HR disciplines. Areas of specialty include HR strategy development and implementation, employee relations, employee engagement, talent management and leadership development.
Nada Sutic, Director Policy and Programs, QuadReal Property Group
As Director, Policy & Programs at QuadReal Property Group, Nada is responsible for Operational Excellence programs. Nada’s goals are to ensure QuadReal executes on strategies to deliver excellence in customer service, risk management, and building operations within the property portfolio. Nada was most recently at General Manager at QuadReal, where she managed a 4 million sf portfolio of office and industrial properties in GTA West. Nada is also Chair Elect with BOMA Toronto.
Michelle Walker, Vice President Facility Management Operations, BGIS
Michelle has over 27 years of domestic and international management experience in real estate investment, management and development. Highlights of her corporate experience include serving as Vice President, Client Services, Canada at VIXXO, Associate Vice President, National Portfolio Services for Canadian Tire Corporation, Senior Director Real Estate, Canada for Regis Corporation, Director of Existing Stores, Canada, Director of Facilities, North America, Program Manager, International Store Development for Starbucks Coffee Company and Asset Manager Real Estate at the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. She is a graduate of Abilene Christian University in Speech Communications and Psychology. She is also a Certified Coach with the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara.
Jeff Ranson, Regional Director – Greater Toronto Area, Canada Green Building Council
As the GTA Regional Director for the CaGBC, Jeff leads green building market transformation in southern Ontario through the CaGBC’s Greater Toronto Chapter. Jeff has delivered sustainable design workshops for over 100 major developments across Ontario and consulted for numerous private and public sector organizations in Canada and internationally with a focus on capacity building and strategic planning for sustainable development, climate change mitigation and resilience outcomes.
Murtaza Haider, Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
Murtaza Haider is the Interim Chair of the Department of Real Estate Management at Ryerson University. He also serves as the director of the Urban Analytics Institute. Dr. Haider is the author of Getting Started with Data Science: Making Sense of Data with Analytics.
Professor Haider writes a weekly column on real estate in The Financial Post. He holds a Masters in transport planning and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto