Engineering Inc. - November/December 2007 - 16

And Retention Initiatives 5 Ways to Enhance Recruitment n Look for creative ways to land and retain talent. offer promising college students tuition assistance in return for joining the firm. Provide a free vacation anywhere in the United States to the person who comes up with the best innovation or moneysaving idea each year. “Create buy-in, not just financially, but emotionally,” notes Lori oakes-Coyne, principal at consulting firm ZweigWhite. “The exodus of [baby boomers] is a significant event. There aren’t enough younger people coming up to replace them,” explains Rod Hoffman, senior vice president and director of strategic planning and n Offer the right benefits, not necessarily the most benefits. It’s important to acquisitions at Denver-based HDR, Inc., use industry benchmarks as a general guideline for compensation and benefits. and chair of the ACEC Institute for BusiHowever, more benefits don’t necessarily equal longer-tenured employees. Use ness Management Committee. internal surveys to fashion programs intended to boost satisfaction and improve Foreign workers also are tougher to come the work-life balance. Such programs might include flextime, job sharing, telecomby. New federal restrictions make it harder muting and phased retirement. to obtain and renew H-1B visas. As a consequence, many foreign nationals who once n Focus on emotional intelligence and an ability to learn rather than superior made their living at U.S. engineering firms technical knowledge. Use behavioral-based interviewing techniques to identify job are opting to return to their native councandidates who approach problems and situations in the right way. no less important: tries, where they can enjoy an improved Look for those who are able to initiate, collaborate and problem solve. standard of living and, in many cases, start their own engineering firm. In response, n Develop talent internally. Establish mentoring and leadership programs. offer ACEC is lobbying aggressively to reform training, tuition reimbursements and other benefits designed to boost skills and knowl- H-1B visa restrictions. edge. a new hire typically costs a firm tens of thousands of dollars. But empty posi“An emerging middle class in many fortions can tally even more in opportunity costs, says Chris Swan, Ceo of recruiting firm eign countries has altered the landscape,” Hoffman points out. The United States is rSmr Global resources. no longer the only option, or even the prin Understand the needs of different employee segments. Boomers, Gen X, mary option. The end result: Some organizations find Gen y, women and minorities all have different needs and desires. Understand what’s it difficult to manage projects on time and required to recruit and retain these different segments. Survey staff or conduct focus on budget. “Some engineering compagroups to find out what employees desire or what special needs they have. nies report that they have had positions open for over a year and cannot fill them,” Getting Them Attracting and retaining talent has always been an important concern for engineering firms. But a shortage of talent over the last few years has begun to affect the way firms operate. U.S. Department of Labor Statistics say that many engineering sectors are in the midst of double-digit growth cycles that started in 2000 and likely will continue until 2010. The number of biomedical engineering jobs, for instance, will grow by as much as 31.4 percent by the end of the decade; environmental engineers, 26 percent; and computer hardware engineers, 24.9 percent, statistics show. “There’s simply a greater demand for engineers,” says Greg Churchman, an interview and retention strategist at Churchman Consulting Services, a Fort Collins, Colo.–based firm that specializes in the engineering industry. Despite increased 16 ENGINEERING INC. NovEmbER / DECEmbER 2007 demand, many firms are suffering from a smaller candidate pool, especially in the built environment sector where many of the best candidates are routinely gobbled up by other professions. Making matters worse, the number of engineering students graduating from U.S. universities is on a decline. Compounding matters, freshman enrollment in engineering schools hit a five-year low in 2005, and the number of women majoring in engineering has dropped. An informal 2006 Duke University study found that 25 to 40 percent of all engineering students accept nonengineering jobs after college. At the other end of the career spectrum, older engineers are aging and retiring en masse. Today, more than half of the science and engineering workforce is over 40. As a result, more than one worker out of four will reach traditional retirement age by 2020. C ompanies that rely on the same methods that have always worked are likely to find themselves slipping backwards. GreG CHUrCHman CHUrCHman ConSULtInG ServICeS
Engineering Inc. - November/December 2007

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