Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020 - 17

"Who do you pick to lead projects? Is it always the same person?" Lawson asks. "Are you allowing people who do not look
like you to step up and participate in meetings or lead them?
And in the selection process, are you selecting based on skills or
based on who you are comfortable with? If you do not have a
structured interview process, implicit bias can come into play."
Meredith Clark, vice president and director of human
resources for Urban Engineers, notes that her participation in
the working group is already resulting in changes for her firm.
For instance, the company recently named a new co-chair to its
previously dormant diversity committee. Also, Clark is pushing
to hold more social and professional events during mornings
and lunches, rather than only at night, so more people can
be included.
But to be successful, diversity and inclusion must be more
than just an HR directive, according to Clark. "We have talked
about doing cultural days, celebrating each others' cultures and
food," she says. "It is an opportunity to get together and learn."
Stephanie Price, director of human resources for Terracon,
notes that the opportunity to trade ideas and strategies among
firms can help to accelerate change and promote best practices. For example, Price was already working on developing
a women-in-leadership group at her firm, and Robert shared
information about similar work RS&H had done.
"Seeing how they approached it made me feel like we can do
that, too," Price says. "Seeing the positive impact made me feel
that this is not just something we could be doing, but something we should probably all be doing."
"We are not going to make drastic change overnight on this,"
says Keri Kocur, chief people officer at VHB. "The work that
the group has done, and those best practices and real actionable
suggestions, will help move the needle and make improvements.
It is going to be around things like: Are you checking biases in
your recruiting decisions? When you have a meeting, is everyone getting the opportunity to speak? Those little things will
add up over time and become consistent throughout a firm's
culture."

"We are hearing from
clients that want to
know what we are
doing to recruit and
retain diverse talent."
MASAI LAWSON
DIRECTOR OF TALENT
ACQUISITION
GANNETT FLEMING

The report cites research from Deloitte Insights, which states
that organizations with inclusive cultures are twice as likely to
meet or exceed financial targets, three times as likely to be highperforming, and six times as likely to be innovative and agile.
"We need to do this because it is the right thing to do, but
there is also a very legitimate business case behind it that cannot
be ignored," says Price. "If we think about inclusion as a warm
and squishy HR thing, it is easy for it to fall to the bottom of the
priority list. But this can give us a positive differentiator in the
marketplace."
"A lot of the clients we serve are in the public sector, and they
are often far more advanced when it comes to diversity and inclusion than many engineering firms are," says Lawson. "More and
more often, there are clients that are saying, 'We need to see
something other than only white men sitting across the table
from us,' to better reflect the key decision-makers in their communities. We are hearing from clients that want to know what we
are doing to recruit and retain diverse talent."
THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP

Ambitions for industrywide change tend to succeed or fail
depending on the extent to which they are embraced by leadership
across the sector. There is hope among working group members
that this effort-initiated by high-level leaders at three firms-will
have the "legs" needed to carry it far beyond the work that has
BUSINESS BENEFITS
already been done.
The DIWG report stresses that Member Firms should not only
Asked if it is refreshing to see firm leaders actively embracing
be pursuing diversity and inclusion goals for their own sake,
diversity and inclusion, Lawson was effusive in her response. "Oh
but also because these values are likely to make their firms more
my God, yes!" she says. "It really was, because they get it. Other
successful and the industry as a whole more competitive in an
CEOs in other firms listen to them. In HR, you only have so
increasingly diverse nation.
much influence. Who you get information from matters."
"Those three leaders felt that this is
important enough that they have not
only invested in their respective organizations, but they are willing to lead
"The work that the group has done,
this group," says Price. "I thought
and those best practices and real
that was extremely impactful." ■

actionable suggestions, will help move
the needle and make improvements."

To view the DIWG report, visit
https://bit.ly/dpc-diwg-report.

KERI KOCUR
CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER
VHB

Calvin Hennick is a business,
technology, and travel writer based in
Milton, Massachusetts.

SPRING 2020

ENGINEERING INC.

https://www.bit.ly/dpc-diwg-report

Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020