Posts filed under 'Employee Retention'
10 Ways Social Networking Can Impact Your Business & Career As A Civil Engineering Professional
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
Remember when musings of the Internet was just a fad? Remember when the compass and slide rule were irreplaceable? Remember when the Post Office was relevant? Well, as it turns out, the Internet is here to stay; if you have a compass and slide rule you just might get your 15 minutes of fame on PBS’ Antiques Road Show; and I can’t recall the last time I paid bill or sent a hand written letter via snail mail. 
That said, consider yourself forewarned in regards to the utilization of Social Networking sites LinkedIn (44M+ users), Facebook (250M+users) and Twitter (4.5M+ users), among others – don’t be a naysayer, or you will be left in the dust. Chances are, if you are reading this, you are familiar with, and hopefully active on, one or more of these technologies. The key is – how can you make sure your company stays relevant by using them effectively?
10 WAYS SOCIAL NETWORKING CAN IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS & CAREER AS A CIVIL ENGINEERING PROFESSIONAL
1. Recruiting Professionals - Did you see the user statistics in the above paragraph? And those are only the three most popular sites among hundreds. And guess what? I suspect there are likely hundreds of thousands of members of the civil engineering community who utilize these tools and share information. They have put themselves “out there.” By joining these networks yourself and “working the network,” you will find many outstanding professional candidates, both passive and active. This topic of recruiting on social networks is quite a robust topic and information can easily be found online, in books or through various seminars. There are plenty of experts in this area so invest a little bit of time and money to catch you and your firm up to speed.
2. Industry News - Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin all have users and user 
groups who will be of interest to you. You will find that ENR, ASCE, Society of Hispanic Engineers, SMPS, etc all have active users and groups on these sites where news bites and press releases are shared regularly. Also, by connecting with other friends and colleagues within the industry you will often read status updates or tweets in regards to local infrastructure news.
3. Relationship Building – Learn what your colleagues, clients, and potential clients are doing; learn their interests; follow their tweets; make logical and profound comments in response to theirs. You can get a real sense of their personality, interests, etc that will certainly assist during face-to-face marketing efforts.
4. Marketing/Branding – Develop a Facebook Fan/Group page with blog entries, promotions, press releases, wins, job postings, awards, charity events, etc.; tweet these same items; develop a compelling corporate profile on LinkedIn and make sure your employees do as well.
5. Recruiting College Students-This is a “no brainer”. If you want to reach out to the next generation of civil engineers you need to have a strong corporate brand on Facebook and MySpace for sure. 
When visiting college campuses for recruiting trips have a couple laptops up and running at your table exhibiting these pages and invite them to join your pages or groups on line. Come prepared with business cards that provide the URL’s of your corporate social networking sites. College students want to work for firms that understand and are avid users of the web 2.0 technology that they utilize. 85% of college students are active on Facebook, 65% are active on MySpace. Again, a “no brainer.”
6. Recruiting Boomerangs – How often have you had employees of your firm fly the coup, only to return because the grass was not greener on the other side? By staying in touch with well respected ex-employees by 
inviting them to join a group where they will be exposed to all the great news that is occurring with your firm, you are giving yourself a nice advantage above other firms when the time comes that he or she begins to look for a new job. Firms like URS & Toll Brothers, among others, each have “Alumni” groups on Linkedin.
7. RFP’s – It’s only a matter of time before builders, agencies and architects will be tweeting RFP’s.
8. Professional Growth – By joining Facebook or LinkedIn groups, or by following specific associations or trainers or presenters on Twitter, you can remain well informed of all of the conferences, seminars, blogs, articles and publications being offered that you find relevant in your career.
9.
10. Ignorance is Bliss. Do not fall into this trap. These networks are no longer the wave of the future, they are a mainstay. As a civil engineering professional, by not jumping on board you will become a relic – and this label is not something you or your firm will want to be labeled as as the demand for talent begins to hit the upswing.
As you can see, I intentionally left a blank space after #9 – what might you suggest to fill in that blank?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
8 comments August 12, 2009
Use the Downturn to Make Yourself Part of a Winning Firm
By Bruce Lynch, Vice President of Publishing, PSMJ Resources Inc.
For over 30 years, PSMJ Resources, Inc. has offered publications, educational programs, in-house training and management consulting services to A/E/C professionals worldwide. PSMJ Resources conducts more than 200 educational seminars and conferences annually, supported by major professional societies, including AIA and ACEC. Headquartered in Newton, MA, PSMJ Resources provides more than 150 titles in book and audio, and publishes three newsletters about A/E/C firm management. PSMJ Resources also produces the industry’s preeminent annual surveys on management salaries, financial performance, fees and pricing, and benchmarks for the design firm CEO. On the web:http://www.psmj.com/
I have spent the last few weeks interviewing the PSMJ Circle of Excellence Class of 2009. Circle of Excellence firms ranked in the top 20 percent of firms participating in PSMJ’s Financial Performance Survey that achieve the best overall performance in 13 benchmarks that measure business operations in terms of profitability, growth, cash flow, overhead control, business development, project performance, and employee satisfaction.
Virtually every executive I have spoken with from this exclusive group of design firms has told me that they have used the economic downturn to improve the overall quality of their staff. Many super-talented people with very impressive resumes – as well as star students coming out of design schools – are available and obtainable for firms that have the muscle to make it happen.
Are you one of these people that’s going to add value to a firm that is prospering in the face of tough economic times? There are a number of factors that determine the answer. In general, firms that are looking to upgrade staff try to improve their overall position in specific geographic locations, in services offered, and in markets served. To upgrade at the management level, firms are looking to hire market and/or thought leaders. In upgrading staff, firms are looking for people with direct apples-to-apples experience with a specific market or service offering or that bring valuable knowledge on the latest technology.
Here are some examples: If you are a project manager and you are a super client champion in a specific geographic area, research firms that may be interested in expanding their services in your area. Sell yourself as someone who comes to the firm with a ready-made base of new clients. If you are a K-12 program manager, look for healthy firms that may want to expand into the K-12 market – your addition to the firm gives them the opportunity to hit the ground running. What if your expertise is in a market that is currently sluggish like residential construction? Sell your value-add expertise. Do you have relationships with zoning boards or permitting authorities? These are tangible benefits that can elevate the profile of a firm overnight.
For non-management design professionals, sell your direct experience with a specific market or service. If you design health care facilities, get letters of reference from health care professionals with whom you have worked directly. Having direct experience using Building Information Modeling (BIM) software like Revit is a huge selling point as more firms work on BIM-designed projects. If you have recently graduated from design school, sell your facility in new software applications and your ability to train up your peers in these applications.
It’s also helpful to have a relationship with a professional recruiter – even if you end up finding an exciting new job on your own, these people have the experience to serve as a sounding board and alert you to opportunities you didn’t know existed.
If you are good and you have the skills and experience that other firms see as an “upgrade”, you will always be impervious to the ups and downs of the economy.
All the best,
Bruce
civil engineeering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Add comment July 22, 2009
Civil Engineering Jobs – Will Any Job Do?
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
I recently received this email from an experienced civil engineer: “I don’t care where the company is located or what types of civil engineering projects I will be working on. After 3 months of being unemployed, can you just help me find a civil engineering job?”
By now, we all know the difference that a couple of years can make.
It wasn’t that long ago that candidates would turn down good opportunities for a variety of reasons: too far of a commute; didn’t like the workspace (“I want my own office”); job title wasn’t right (“I want a Department Manager title”), etc. An upcoming CivilEngineeringCentral.com newsletter author spoke with me about an excellent article he wrote for us entitled, “Advancing Your Career.” Specifically, he lists “Top 10” ideas that one can use to help advance his/her career. Among the 10 bulleted items, the article suggests assessing where, and for whom one works. It is suggested that you then evaluate whether you are in the right company with the right people to help you reach your professional goals. I question whether many of our readers have the luxury to make these types of assessments at this stage in life.
On the company “gossip” websites, employees of A/E firms complain in great detail about their employers. In many instances they report that they will leave their employers as soon as the market allows for them to identify another job. But, for today, they will stay employed and endure their perceived incompetent management, demotivating work environment and inadequate compensation. Most are saying “any job will do”– for right now.
When the market bounces back, companies who are ignoring management training and evaluations will find voluntary turnover rates skyrocketing! Staff at all levels will leave in droves and recruiting to replace them will be a financial and logistics nightmare. Hopefully, HR leaders will keep an eye on employee comments and hold technical managers accountable during the current market.
Until then, while job security is more important now than in the recent past, there are still a lot of good opportunities out there to consider. Don’t stop evaluating your career goals– just be more selective in your search. And, make sure to either talk to your HR representative OR use your anonymous employee feedback system to alert management that you don’t just want “any job” located “anywhere.” You deserve to take an active role in making the one you have much better.
8 comments July 15, 2009
Back to the Boardroom: Engineering Leaders Are Returning to the Workplace
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
The civil engineering market has seen the return of well respected senior executives. Those who either retired, or semi-retired have been enticed away from the golf courses, lakes and tennis courts back into the boardroom. Not that many of them had fully retired; but, they had found a comfortable consulting medium which has now turned into a minimum of 40 hours. Why is this return happening in the numbers that it is occurring?
Last month I spoke with the CEO of one of my clients. In 2007 I had assisted the firm on executive recruitment for their succession plan. The CEO had planned his retirement in two years. Last month he told me that he put off retirement for another year or two. He stills enjoys his work and is experiencing success with new avenues for his firm. He jokingly (with a tinge of seriousness) said that after the stock market losses and engineering market downturn, he had virtually worked for “free” for the past year and a half. This sentiment is a recurring theme with senior leaders.
Talking to several of these returning or non-retiring executives, I have seen several common themes:
1. They are fortunate to be healthy and energetic;
2. They had a history of success in building, leading, managing or cleaning up firms;
3. They are finding retirement not all they imagined it to be;
4. They love the engineering business and when called upon to “fix” something that needs repair, they can’t resist;
5. They have the expertise in technical areas that had been dormant and are now in the forefront of the industry;
6. They enjoy their work.
These execs are making changes in their firms in many important ways. For example, with technological advances such as SKYPE and other avenues for “virtual meetings,” many executives tried to minimize busy travel schedules by cutting in person regional office visits. This meant that they were less available to staff, less visible. Employees of “Best Firms” stress the importance of feeling valued and known by company leaders. Accessibility to these leaders is of paramount importance to them. Returning executives understand this and several have re-established travel to branch offices – they are bringing back the “TOWN HALL” meetings! While industry morale has been lower than in past years, the increase in potential opportunity is pulling companies up by their boot straps. To compete for work, companies need involved and committed staff. These smart executives can teach future leaders a few things. Connecting with employees in person, who are the heart of the company, is never a bad thing.
For whatever reason engineering leaders are returning, or postponing leaving…let’s learn from them. They have survived past recessions, lawsuits, bad press and staff shortages. While the industry is changing, some aspects of running an engineering consulting practice has not, or maybe should not. Let’s take advantage of mentors and pay attention, learn while we still can!
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
1 comment May 21, 2009
What Can An Animated Squirrel Teach You About Hiring?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc.
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
If You Have a Minute-and-a-Half…
What you just witnessed was Scrat, from Ice Age 2, working his tail off to get his prized acorn…he came SO close, but in the end he failed.
How many times have you come SO close to hiring the right candidate, but in the end you were not able to “seal the deal” ? In breaking down this video we can dissect how his mission is very similar to yours as a hiring manager, human resources professional, or recruiter in the civil engineering industry attempting to seek out the perfect candidate and what can occur if the proper steps are not taken.
The Hunt
The same way Scrat has pulled out all the stops in reaching his goal, you have exhausted your candidate database, your batteries in your electronic Rolodex have gone dead, you’ve dangled a boat load of “benjamins” in front of your employees encouraging referrals, you have scoured the job boards and resume databases, you have mined your way through the Internet, you have blasted through your contacts on LinkedIn to no avail…in one last ditch effort you have even discovered how to “tweet”, and as a result, you have found your acorn…errrrr, your perfect candidate!
The Capture
Visible and within reach, you loosen up the candidate with an introductory phone call that progresses nicely. At the end of the conversation you invite the candidate in for an interview…SWEET! The candidate goes through a multi-interview process and the outlook is positive, from where you are standing anyway. You feel awesome, you reeled ‘em in hook, line and sinker, he’s yours, sign him up.
The Fall Off
Wait, you told everyone in the office, you had the announcement ready for your next company newsletter, you had the press release prepared…what happened? You had your candidate right at your doorstep but he never stepped over the threshhold. Now you’ve lost the candidate and you have fallen back into the depths of the same search where you found yourself not so long ago. How could this possibly happen?
Failure To Plug The Holes
You had your candidate the same way Scrat had his acorn. The pipes began to burst, you duct taped the holes temporarily and juggled the candidate as long as you could. But in the end, he accepted a position with your nemesis two exits down off the expressway.
Unfortunately I have witnessed this scenario all too often in my career as a search consultant. The goal of course is not to learn how to plug the holes (because you saw what happened to Scrat when he tried to do so), but rather how to prevent those unexpected bursts from happening altogether.
- Be On Time. The same way you expect a candidate to arrive on time for their interview, make sure you are on time as well. Prior to the interview make sure you exchange cell phone numbers in the event that something arises that is going to cause you to run late or have to reschedule. Last week on our LinkedIn discussion board we learned of a candidate that arrived to his interview on time, but was made to wait thirty minutes before the hiring executive was able to invite him back for the interview. Once the interview begins the candidate may be pre-occupied with the fact that he had to wait thirty minutes. And even if he does get over it and the interview goes well, that thirty minutes of unjustified monotony sitting in the lobby has created a seed of doubt in that candidate’s head as to how you or the company may operate…as if they do not care about people.
- Don’t Skimp. If the interview was scheduled before lunch or before dinner, and it is going well and you see it carrying over for some time, take the candidate out for a meal. Not only is this a memorable gesture, but as always it gives you the opportunity to evaluate their demeanor in a public setting. And if the IHOP is the closest restaurant to your office…you might want to try the NEXT closest restaurant.
- Get Off The Fence. Make a decision. Once the interview(s) are complete, your ability to get off the fence and make a decision is crucial. Don’t let the engineer in you be the cause of losing the candidate. The longer you sit in a deep contemplative state analyzing the potential hire the less interested the candidate becomes and the more likely he is to be scooped up by another firm. Even if it’s a no-go, communicate this to the candidate. Your failure to communicate even the decision not to hire the candidate will be remembered, and you never know when you may need to call upon that candidate down the road.
- Avoid The Low Ball. Evaluate your current salary structure and make nearly the best, if not the best offer you can, right off the bat. This shows you are serious. If the candidate is considering other offers on the table, even though you make it known you are open to negotiation, the first impression of you attempting to short change them more-often-than-not leaves a sour taste in the candidates mouth.
- Remember Magnum, P.I. Make sure you, your human resources staff or your recruiter conducts a full and comprehensive investigation. By understanding all the details of the candidates compensation (and I mean ALL the details) and benefits you will limit the sneak attack the can often occur at the end of the process. You know, the sneak attack when the candidate has all but officially accepted and then he drops the bomb that he is declining your offer to accept another? Make sure your understand their current and desired title and responsibilities. You could make a fantastic offer, but “if the shoe don’t fit” then you have wasted your time. Uncover their hot issues. Why are they looking to leave? What was the initial appeal to your firm? Speak to references to get a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses so you can be prepare to offer an opportunity that will improve their weak points and tone up their strengths. And finally, know what they are up to. This may be a little tricky without utilizing a seasoned search consultant, but you need to find out what other firms they are meeting with and what the details are of any other offers they may be considering.
- Make Sure The Fat Lady Sings. The old saying holds true during the hiring process. You must continue to close the deal with the candidate until the day they walk through your door. There are a number of things that you can do to minimize the chances of them accepting another offer from another firm, or a counter offer from their existing employer.
- Require them to provide their current employer with no longer than a three week notice, though a two week notice is even better; any longer and that leaves a large window of opportunity for them to change their mind.
- Have them sign an offer letter. The psychology behind having a candidate sign and return an offer letter to you is huge. It shows another level of commitment beyond the verbal acceptance and holds them more accountable.
- Meet with them once a week for lunch until they start in order to discuss their office set up, their technology requirements (blackberry, lap top, etc) and to prepare them for the projects that they will be working on. This mentally pulls them in closer to you and further away from their current employer or any other firms that may be dangling a last minute carrot.
- And finally, have Human Resources invite them into the office to fill out the hiring documents so they can hit the ground running on their start date.
By following some of these simple steps you will find that your ability to bring on top talent will be sure to improve, and you will be able to have your acorn…and eat it too.
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering blog :: civil engineering discussion
Add comment April 23, 2009
Do You Work For A Communicative Leader? Is No News Worse Than Bad News?
By Carol Metzner
Co-Founder A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com &
President, The Metzner Group, LLC
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” -Peter F. Drucker
According to Drucker, “Managers are concerned with immediate results. Leaders are concerned with long-term results.” To succeed, companies need both of these people. That being said, companies need leaders who can and will communicate.
Do you work for a communicative leader? To survive the next few years company leaders need to be visionary, strategic thinkers. They need to take information from a variety of sources, set direction and communicate that to staff.
Conducting searches in the civil engineering marketplace, I hear from many of you that confidence in your current company leadership is falling. Much of that drop can be attributed to lack of communication. No communication is deadlier than bad news. With company teleconferencing, intranets and email blasts there is no good explanation for silence from the top. If you are at the top, why aren’t you talking to your employees? Many staff are walking on egg shells. Are they next to be laid off? Do you have a plan? If not, are you working on one?
Many qualities of the best civil engineering firms are those where the leaders:
- Stress the importance of communication and communicate openly and honestly;
- Practice an open door policy;
- Encourage employee input in strategic planning;
- Encourage employee feedback;
- Practice an open book management style, sharing financial performance with employees (the good and the bad);
- Clearly communicates goals and direction.
There are other characteristics of successful firms for sure, but if these few qualities are put into practice then employee fears would be somewhat lessened and productivity may likely rise. What do you think?
civil engineering jobs :: civil engineering resumes :: civil engineering industry blog :: civil engineering discussions
1 comment February 18, 2009
Cutting Fees To Get Work
By Carol Metzner
President, The Metzner Group, LLC and
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
“We have to keep the staff working” is the phrase I hear from many in the engineering community. The statement lends itself to questions of exactly how to do that. Larry Courtney wrote an insightful newsletter for us this month discussing the importance of good company leaders to guide firms through these times. If you haven’t read it…it is a MUST read!
Along these lines of “feeding” staff and how to do that, I read an article that brought this and our LinkedIn discussion on firms lowering their fees back to debate:
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Authority received bids to replace two 51 year old bridges on their Northwest Extension (I-476) in the Pocono mountains. About “3.2km (2 miles) of new approach road work is needed plus removal of the the 1957 spans.” It is reported that the work was costed at $127M in 2007.
Fast forward to this past week, 2009…the top 4 bids ranged from $102M to $113M, with the winning bidder coming in at under $110M. Tollroads News did an interesting article on this notable reduction in fees. It was suggested that there are several explanations for the $17M reduction in cost. Drop in material cost and utilization of pre-stressed concrete beams for steel could contribute to the lower bid. BUT it could be due in part to the increased competition for work. Firms are willing to cut fees, seemingly significantly, to win work.
Here is the debated topic of reducing professional fees to bring work in the door and keep existing staff billable. While the majority of comments from our discussion board are slanted toward civil engineering firms NOT reducing fees, there are some firm owners who have other ideas. One owner tells us: “As an owner who wishes to keep his best assets, his staff, I am using my negotiating skills to get the price I can in a tough market, while making sure I get the appointment. Sometimes the profit element will suffer. The customers who you have a long term relationship with will remember this later.”
This is a tough discussion. When the market picks back up, and it will…do you think you or your engineering firm will be able to get your fees raised? But do you have a choice not to lower your fees with staff to “feed?” With the Turnpike example, we now see that small privately held firms, as well as the large public firms, are all struggling to keep profitability up while maintaining the staff workload. Are clients going to choose their consultants based on fee and not expertise or excellence? Do you really believe that all engineering firms are basically the same, provide the same quality and should be selected on whom is the cheapest? This is the same argued topic that recruiters – headhunters- search firms have had in regards to their fees for decades! Ready for discussion #2! Let us know!
3 comments February 5, 2009
And The Gap Widens
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
This month Pamela Mullender inked for us a very enlightening article in regards to the ACE Mentor Program and the statistics she presented were numbing, at best:
…the industry is facing a workforce situation that is at a crisis level. The Brookings Institute states that only 50% of all the buildings that will be here in the year 2030 have not been built yet. Our workforce is aging. For every 5 workers who leave the industry, only one enters. The shortage in employees will reach and exceed the 1.3 million mark by the year 2012.
What’s even more staggering is that this report likely did not take into account the current economic recession we are in, which will likely create even more pressure on the industry. What I am referring to is the increase in the number of civil engineering professionals exiting stage left and leaving the theater altogether because they got “the hook.” With many state DOT’s dealing with crippling funding issues and with the land development and home building community leaving vacant parcels of land behind only to be occupied by unmanned bulldozers, elevating/self loading scrapers and various other earth-moving equipment, the only thing that is moving at a fast and furious pace is the escalating unemployment rate and the number of civil engineering firms experiencing multiple rounds of layoffs. Frustrated by the limited options available and the increased competition for those scarce jobs, and left with a bad taste in their mouth, many folks decide to leave the industry altogether.
I am reminded of an engineer in Fort Worth with whom I spoke earlier this year (I’ve always wanted to use this line, I sound like a presidential candidate out on the campaign trail! ) who was let go from his firm due to the economic slowdown. He has now started his own company manufacturing and distributing state-of-the-art lasso’s and whips (I never figured I would use “state-of-the-art” and “lasso’s and whips” in the same sentence; but I’m just a city boy from the east coast, so what do I know?!?).
Then there is another professional civil engineer in Michigan who followed his faith and became a pastor as a result of his firm letting him go.
And finally, there is the human resource professional in Pennsylvani who spent many successful years as a corporate recruiter for the home building / civil engineering industry who survived multiple RIF’s, but was the unfortunate casualty of the most recent one. He is now considering turning his mountain biking hobby into a profitable and passionate business through the development of his own custom bike building company.
Being released from your firm can certainly be disheartening and can be quite a blow to one’s ego. But how exciting is it, in some of the instances above, as one door closes but another one opens wide in a completely different building? Sometimes that is just the kick in the pants one needs to follow their passion or dream.
So we have identified a few more folks who leave the industry altogether as a result of our battered economy…the gap widens.
Struggling to recruit high school students to pursue degrees and careers in civil engineering and baby boomers retiring at a record pace is creating quite an uphill battle. The current recession further widens the gap of experienced civil engineers as many will leave the industry altogether for other pursuits. The way I see it, it’s just another bump in the road – there has been a shortage of civil engineers as long as I’ve been recruiting in this industry, so it’s really just more of the same (“more of the same,” yet another often used phrase in the recent presidential campaign – clearly too much CNN). But we can’t give up. Get out to your local elementary, middle and high schools, get out to your local universities, be a mentor. Find a way to close that gap between yourself and the civil engineers of tomorrow.
2 comments November 20, 2008
Hogwash & Hiring Standards
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
At the risk of beating a dead horse, I feel compelled to write about something I recently read about Generation Y. In the most recent issue of CE News Magazine there was an article written at the very end of the periodical titled “New Era of Opportunity.” Initially the article discusses civil engineering and the turbulent economic crisis and how companies should handle the current economic climate. The latter part of the article articulates that firms and agencies should be prepared to enter a “new era of employee relations as they begin to bring on members of the Y Generation.” As a Gen X’r myself, not too far removed (in my own mind anyway) from Gen Y, I would have to agree with much of what the author suggested in regards to their character traits. One item did strike a chord with me though:
They (Gen Y) live for the moment. They expect to make many job changes is their careers.
And then, as a result,
They (Hiring Managers) will need to expect higher turnover rates and find ways of accommodating this change.
As I see it, the Hiring Managers should not tolerate high turnover rates and should not prepare to accept frequent job moves from Gen Y, but rather adapt the work place and company culture in other ways that would reduce, or at least maintain, current turnover rates.
Frequent job moves may be acceptable in the IT industry, but no matter how high-tech your civil engineering firm, and no matter how IT savvy it may be, erratic job changes in this industry will always be frowned upon. The consulting civil engineering industry is about relationships and trust between client and consultant. If Mr. Gen Y travels from firm to firm every few years, not only does he lose professional credibility and a diminishing level of trust for himself, but for the firm that he or she is working for at that time as well. Certainly Generation Y is a very different generation from those of the past, and they do have a lot to offer. Because of that, it is imperative that your firm constantly evaluate and evolve it’s philosophy, technology and work environment to meet the needs of the generational workforce. One constant that should remain is your ability to hire the right people, and no matter what generation you may come from, giving into the idea that you need to accept the fact that you will need to lower your standards to accommodate the new generation of engineers that will make frequent job changes is, in the words of a generation much earlier than mine, “hogwash.”
As side note, I JUST received this video via email and thought you might be interested. ERE recently interviewed some folk on their thoughts of Gen Y, take a look:
And, Just Curious:
2 comments October 23, 2008
National Politics vs. Workplace & Employment Politics – Is There Really Any Difference?
By Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search
Managing Partner, A/E/P Central, LLC, home of CivilEngineeringCentral.com
An admitted CNN Junkie (In fact, I am watching it as I type!), and in light of the political headlines which seem to change by the minute, I am inspired to discuss politics. Not THOSE politics, but rather office and employment politics and how they mirror the current national political headlines. Having worked in a true office environment for the first five years of my professional career, and speaking regularly to civil engineering professionals who work in an office environment all day for the past 11 years of my career, I’ve either witnessed or heard most scenarios out there as it relates to office politics in the civil engineering industry. That being said, I still probably have more questions here than comments, so I would be very curious as to your responses. Below you will find some recent political headlines and how they might parallel what you see in your office. Are these parallel’s true? What is your philosophy? How has your company handled these situations?
John McCain Is Too Old To Be President
John McCain is 72 years old, but he clearly believes that he is healthy enough to lead the nation for the next eight years. Should John McCain be elected President of the United States? He will be 80 years old if he serves two full terms. I am sure you have read all the rage as to how 60 is the new 40. Earlier this year we blogged about how one should never underestimate the gray haired engineer. What I am seeing in the civil engineering consulting world though, is that this philosophy does not always hold true. Companies may claim that they are on board with this belief, but when it comes to pulling the trigger and promoting or hiring folks in their sixties, they are very hesitant. The fact is, that generation is not retiring at 62 or 65, they are working well into their seventies. Many of these folks are vibrant, internet savvy, and well experienced with still a lot to offer. What is preventing you from considering these professionals for serious positions within your organization? Even better, what success stories do you have where you actually did hire someone with that much experience?
Sarah Palin Does Not Have The Experience
John McCain clearly went out on a limb by selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate for Vice President, and though his campaign may not admit it as such, it was clearly an “out of the box” selection. Though she has executive experience, it has been only for a short period of time, and there are only three states with a lower population than Alaska. She has no foreign policy experience and she is extremely conservative. BUT, she clearly inspired the base of the Republican Party at their convention, she is high energy, she fights government corruption, she brings some new ideas to the table, and she has intrigued a lot of people. What type of risk does your firm take, if any, in making a strategic hire? Have you ever hired someone that doesn’t necessarily have all the technical skills you are looking for on paper, but has the energy and the appeal; that when meshed with all the other components of your company generated some great success? Or maybe you did but they fell flat on their face? What risks have your firm made in regards to this scenario? Was it worth it? What did you learn from if it turned out to be a big mistake?
The $700B Dollar Bailout
What I see here is that everyone on Capitol Hill is looking out for their own personal gain and best interests versus what is best for the American citizens. On a personal level, I’m still undecided as to what they should do as I feel as though the information is lacking, but we are in a crisis here and these elected officials need to put their interests and partisanship aside for the better of the country. From time to time, this scenario plays out in corporate America, and in turn in your offices. In a day and age where everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones’ and climb the proverbial corporate ladder, quite often professionals make decisions that work best for them, but not the company. Frequently this is a fine line. Maybe someone cuts you off or blindsides you in pursuit of a project that you had the beat on but were approaching differently and swipes it out from under your feet. Maybe someone is influencing the pool of staff engineers and cad technicians to spend more time on their projects which pulls them away from yours, with complete disregard to your needs. Or maybe someone on your team takes valuable information that you have shared (aka “stealing”) and takes it to his or her boss, or even worse, to another firm, as leverage to be hired for a bigger and better position. These people are not able to see the forest through the trees and I am sure you have bumped into one or two of these folks, right? How did you handle that situation?
Lobbyists & Pork Barrel Spending
Earmarks and Pork Barrel spending have been a contentious point, to some extent, between McCain and Obama. In a nutshell, lobbyists are hired by organizations to contribute funds and cozy up to lawmakers in order to receive funding for projects that they will benefit from. The comparison is pretty cut and dry here. Are there folks in your office that are “brown nosing” the executives in order to help elevate their own career, even though they may be stepping out of bounds with their own beliefs in the short term to get them where they want to be long term?
Like it or not, politics effect our lives each and every day. Whether it is at the national or international level, at the office, or right inside the walls of our own homes. Every situation is different and calls for a different solution, and often times there is fine line that is drawn. Just like in government, in office politics, it is how close you walk to that line, or even how far you step over that line, that determines your standing in the confines of your organization.
2 comments October 1, 2008
