KAJIMA · TECHNICAL MENTORING
A sounding board for a sustainability lead with a wide remit
Victoria Jones leads sustainability across Kajima’s European real estate business. I provide ongoing technical mentoring and document review, helping her test decisions, shape plans for their audiences and build confidence in senior discussions. She leads the work and owns the documents; my role is to support and challenge her thinking.
Real estate · Technical mentoring · Practical sustainability plans
THE STARTING POINT
One sustainability lead, many different responsibilities.
Victoria’s remit spans corporate sustainability, reporting, GRESB, energy, water and waste, alongside engagement with Kajima’s Japanese parent company. As the sole sustainability professional covering this work, she needs to move between technical questions, operational priorities and formal reporting to senior management.
She wanted an experienced person to turn to: someone who could help her work through unfamiliar subjects, test her approach and prepare for conversations with different parts of the business. Our relationship began with mentoring and has developed to include more detailed technical review as her responsibilities have grown.
WORKING TOGETHER
Victoria drives the work. I help her test the route.
Victoria produces the documents. I review them, return comments and then we meet to work through the reasoning together. That discussion gives her space to question an assumption, explore an alternative and decide how to take the work forward.
Our current arrangement provides four hours a month, shared between mentoring and consultancy support. The work has included reviews of the development sustainability brief, carbon, circular economy and nature action plans, and the annual ESG fund report.
We also take a deeper look at topics such as water, waste and social value, considering industry practice alongside Kajima’s own approach. This connects technical learning with the decisions Victoria is making in her role.
MAKING THE WORK USEFUL
Write for the people who need to act on it.
I bring experience of how fund managers, asset managers, property managers and managing directors look at sustainability information. In a review, I consider what each audience needs to understand, what they can influence and what they are being asked to do.
Sometimes that means strengthening the technical detail. Sometimes it means cutting it back. We have worked through scope, responsibilities, evidence and the distinction between what Kajima can control directly and where it needs to influence others.
I also keep bringing the conversation back to delivery. Who will receive the plan? How will it be introduced? Who owns the actions, and how will progress be monitored? Those questions help connect the finished document with the teams who will use it.
THE PROGRESS
Approved plans and greater confidence to lead.
The plans we have worked through have been approved and are now being rolled out. Victoria has also received positive feedback from her managing director on both her development and the quality of her work.
I have seen her become more confident and articulate in senior discussions: explaining ESG and sustainability clearly, judging what an audience needs and challenging advice when it does not meet that need. It is a part of her development that I am proud to have supported.
The next stage is to learn from implementation. These are live documents. Data, feedback and practical challenges will show where they need to change. Our ongoing work gives Victoria a sounding board as she makes those decisions.
“Joanna cuts through the overwhelm and focuses on what matters. Her mentoring is practical, supportive and gave me greater confidence in my role.”
ESG Manager, Kajima Properties (Europe) Limited
TECHNICAL MENTORING