In a fresh attempt to bridge knowledge gap and deepen professionalism, Knight Frank Nigeria, one of the leading real estate firm in Nigeria has unveiled a learning hub of Night Frank Academic in Lagos.
Essentially, the learning hub will help in solving the problem of knowledge gap by preparing a new dimension to developing talents for the real estate industry in Nigeria so that they can add adequate value to investors.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony recently in Lagos, Senior Partner/CEO, Knight Frank Nigeria, Frank Okosun said; “stakeholders across the real estate industry have expressed concerns about the declining quality of personnel looking to develop a career as chartered surveyors, valuers, and real estate brokers.”
“therefore, Knight Frank developed the Academy initiative as one of the ways of returning value to the society by helping to bridge the gap between the competency level of fresh graduates and what is required of entry-level professionals by leading estate surveyors and valuer firms.” He added.
According to him, upon completion of the Knight Frank Academy, it is expected that the beneficiaries will be ready-to-hire candidates for any leading stakeholder in the industry who might need their services, stating that, these graduates will also be better ready to pursue professional certifications and membership of institutions like NIESV, FIABCI, IFMA, and RICS.
Continuing, he disclosed that, “I can confirm that the academy will be done annually and may evolve into more than one batch per year. This explains why we have invested a lot of resources in bringing the Knight Frank Academy initiative to life, and we are committed to even doing more. It might interest you to know that we have pulled together a faculty consisting of seasoned industry professionals and accomplished thought leaders who have volunteered to ensure effective delivery of the academy’s curriculum.”
Also speaking, Head, Human Resources and Administration, Knight Frank Nigeria, Tosin Lasaki confirmed that, the Knight Frank Academy is a CSR initiative conceived by Mr Frank Okosun and the objective is to bridge the knowledge gap they have observed in young graduates of real estate discipline, specifically Estate Management, Building Tech, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, adding that, over the years, they have observed a gap in transitioning what was learnt in school into the real world of work and the absence of key competencies required in the workspace.
In addition, she continued, the objective of the academy is also to create a talent pipeline for Knight Frank and other collaborating real estate consultancy firms to bridge the talent gap created by the Japa syndrome.
According to her, the modules have been well-refined and curated in collaboration with professionals within Knight Frank and specifically Dr Beryl Ehondor an alumni of the PAN Atlantic University Faculty who is the KF Academy Director, stressing that, the modules are presented in case study method in order to be rich, more realistic and easily applied in the world of work.
“we opened the Knight Frank Academy application portal on the 1st of August 2023 and closed it on the 8th of September 2023. Over 600 candidates applied for the KF Academy, 150 were shortlisted and only 25 candidates were selected for Cohort 1 of the academy after screening.” She noted.
