Best Practice Resource Guide
What to Know
- People who left the profession cited “poor management” as one of their top reasons for leaving
- Provide business management training to engineers
- Encourage engineers to enroll in a part-time MBA program or other business training course.
- Or use free courses like this one: MasterClass “How to Manage Your Employees and Build a Strong Team”
- Develop people management skills: MasterClass on managing different personality types.
What to Know
- There is a disconnect between how managers and staff perceive expectations/opportunities for advancement.
- Assess and improve your performance review process
- Collect input/feedback from everyone (simple questionnaire)
- Identify stages in the performance review process which may be vulnerable to implicit bias.
What to Know
- Alignment of daily tasks with career goals is one of the top indicators of overall career satisfaction
- Align daily roles and responsibilities with employees career goals. Re-assess assignments and employee goals on a regular basis.
What to Know
- Structural engineers with mentors are significantly less likely to consider leaving the profession.
- Create an internal mentorship program (formal and informal). Encourage all employees to find a mentor (internal or external)
- Read about different kinds of mentors: " Keeping Great People with Three Types of Mentors"
What to Know
- Burnout effect is real. The more hours an engineer works, the more likely he/she is to consider leaving.
- Curb the culture of long hours. Monitor hours worked by all staff, and do not encourage, require or expect long hours on a regular basis.
- Adopt policies (such as overtime pay or comp time) to improve engagement during periods of high work load.
- Read: Inc “Stop Working More Than 40 Hours a Week”
What to Know
- There is a gender pay gap in the structural engineering profession.
- Watch: Roundtable on Pay Equality in Technology
- Perform annual compensation audits to ensure pay equity is achieved.
- Stop requesting salary history from new job candidates
- Watch: "Closing the Wage Gap"
What to Know
- There are flexibility benefits that employees want but do not receive, and benefits that are offered, but not used.
- Create a robust transparent work flexibility program (with input from staff) and empower employees to use it.
- Read: “5 Ways to Make Workplace Flexibility the New Way of Working"
What to Know
- There is a negative stigma against employees with children. Engineers with children advance at a slower rate than engineers without children.
- Provide comprehensive support to employees with children or dependents.
- Read: “The Flexibility Stigma”
What to Know
- The best place to start in understanding engagement and equity is to collect data.
- Conduct an internal engagement/equity survey in your firm. SurveyGizmo’s “How and Why Engagement Matters and How to Measure It”
What to Know
- Firms that are able to embrace and realize the benefits of diversity are reportedly more successful and competitive.
- Identifying and assessing workplace diversity issues are key to effectively developing and implementing diversity plans
- Acknowledge and communicate benefits of diversity to all staff : "The Business Benefits of Gender Diversity"
- Acknowledge the challenges of diversity and train staff to reduce the effect of implicit bias
- Read: Challenge implicit bias
- Create and sustain a healthy workplace culture
