Women in the City Winner: Lisanne Schloss, Vice President, Property Services, Morgan Stanley

by Elizabeth Harrin (London)

When Lisanne Schloss picked up the phone and heard founder of Women in the City, Gwen Rhys, on the other end, it must have been a tense wait until Gwen broke the news. Lisanne had sat through a panel interview a few days before, and this was the call with the results. She’d done it: Lisanne Schloss, Vice President, Property Services, at Morgan Stanley, had won the Facilities Management category of the Women in the City awards 2008.

“I was delighted to hear the news,” she said, “as this is not only a great honour for me personally, but it’s also a ringing endorsement of my colleagues at Morgan Stanley and the great work they do in inspiring women to fulfil their potential.”

Morgan Stanley, the global financial services firm, has over 600 offices in 32 countries and is a leader in many of the markets where it operates. The company has a strong commitment to supporting women in the workplace and in September was named one of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers.”

The company has an active women’s network group called Women’s First Choice, which aims to attract, develop and support female employees through networking opportunities, support structures, social activities and inspirational events, like talks by high profile external speakers.

“All these events are well subscribed and administered by volunteers throughout the organisation,” Lisanne says. “Morgan Stanley is proud of its reputation of recognising diversity and particularly aspires to be the first choice for women working in the financial sector. We want to foster an environment where women can achieve personal goals as well as have a successful career.”

Lisanne’s career has certainly been successful. Before she joined Morgan Stanley last year, she was UK Head of Facilities Management for PricewaterhouseCoopers and before that she worked as a consultant with clients like Polygram and Discovery Communications. She’s had international experience too, working with teams from the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Russia.

“I have been extremely lucky to have had excellent personal and professional role models,” Lisanne says. “I hope that I have been able to pass on that torch to the some of the younger women coming up through the ranks and I am proud to see what they have achieved, including a healthy work/life balance as well as promotion.”

One thing the Women in the City award winners have in common is their interest in supporting women further down the organisation through investing time in mentoring schemes, be they formal or informal. Lisanne is no exception. “The most important characteristic for a mentor is to be a good listener, not just what is said, but tuning into what is behind the words,” she says. “Mentoring is a question of unlocking a person’s potential and being able to offer guidance from a different and objective perspective. I know I don’t have all the answers, but I can pass on the experience of learning from my own mistakes and rising to challenges.” Lisanne believes that it is extremely rewarding to see people grow and feel that you have had some influence in helping them succeed in their chosen field.

Facilities Management (FM) isn’t a field that many women think of in relation to a successful career in financial services. After all, it’s just about keeping the buildings working, isn’t it? Knowing the schedule for elevator maintenance hardly seems a critical part of making your mark in the global economy.

Actually, FM is much more complicated than that. “Facilities Management involves maintaining the working environment to high standards and enhancing the experience of employees and clients visiting or working in our buildings,” Lisanne explains. “There are formal qualifications for technical aspects of the role, such as engineering, procurement, finance, space planning and project management, although it is also possible to learn these ‘on the job’.”

Technical skills alone, though, aren’t enough to guarantee success. “The key aspects of being successful in FM are strong interpersonal skills, a collaborative working style and a multi-tasking ability,” Lisanne adds. “In my day to day work I have to find the right balance between managing operational issues while driving a longer term strategy, which means that I have to have a good team around me who will support me, who can create and evaluate options, who can implement solutions and are self motivated.”

What would Lisanne advise women wanting to enter FM as a career? “Consultation with others is key to enhancing your own knowledge and seeing trends in the market,” she says. “So I would advise becoming involved in networking groups, visiting other premises, speaking to your role models and finding a mentor. Lastly, as with all jobs, it helps if you have a good sense of humour!”