Establishing Your Talent Foundation

AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction for those not in the know); These three disciplines represent the core in creating our built world. In the United States, this industry makes up about 5% of GDP, or about $1.3 trillion nationally. That’s right, I said trillion! Keeping this industry running: 7.5 million workers or about 5% of total employment in the U.S.; from architects to engineers, and construction managers, to the trades & crafts, and let’s not forget about all the supporting disciplines and staff. The point being - these domains are large, both in terms of dollars & human capital, and require consistent skilling, [up]skilling, and [re]skilling to ensure the latest knowledge and skills can be applied as people come in and move up in this space.

The buildings we construct today are the most complicated structures mankind has ever raised out of the ground (yes, the Pantheon is impressive but have you seen the mechanical systems in a hospital these days!). As buildings are getting more complicated, construction schedules more compressed, and budgets needing to be used in the most efficient means possible, it’s essential people have the necessary skills to perform their work. If this is the 30,000ft view, how do we solve for this at the ground level? Here are three (let’s scope this appropriately!) areas we should focus.

First - Recognize the Importance of Talent Development 

TD is critical for your organization. Commit to bringing on people, processes, and tools to build out a formal Talent Development capability* for your organization. Taking away the “what happens if we train our people and they leave” mentality (aka spend hard-earned company capital on people who will go to a competitor) to ensuring your people want to stay by providing them with opportunities to learn and grow is the unlock required to succeed in any industry. People are a strategic investment and AEC is people driven (as of today, AI and robots are not exclusively building our structures as we stand by watching). That being said, in construction, TD can often find itself deprioritized due to immediate operational demands - we have to build the building after all. The development of your people matters, because at the end of the day skilled professionals will ensure that projects are delivered safely and efficiently (a broad statement I know, but the point holds). Without a structured talent approach, organizations risk falling behind as competitors evolve and your people see better opportunities with them.

“What happens if we train our people and they leave?” — Company CFO

Second - Develop a Talent Development Strategy

Context is everything. You need to determine a talent strategy that fits the context of your organization. This must align with the business objectives. Let’s zoom in specfically on the 'C' in AEC for a moment. If you’re a general contractor that has self-performing capability (for the layman, that means the ability to perform labor tasks like carpentry, plumbing, general labor, etc.) ask yourself what are the most critical skills your workforce needs today/tomorrow? How do you identify any skill gaps that exist? What learning formats will work in the context of your organization? If you dial this in, you may find yourself looking into industry leading organizations like the NCCER that provide training on job specific skills. If you have a project management job family (think assistant project manager, then promotes to project manager, then promotes to senior project manager - you get the idea) that levels up in leadership ability and skill set, you might want to design in-house programming that trains on processes and tools that are specific to your company goals (reduction in TRIR, faster project closeouts, more accurate scheduling, etc.), or bring on a leadership consultant to upskill your future leaders. Do you strategically focus on building learning programs that occur on a set cadence, or take a just-in-time approach that leads to having more digital content stored in an LMS?

“Sound strategy starts with having the right goal.” — Michael Porter

Third - Create a Culture of Continuous Learning

The development of skills should never be seen as one and done. Driving, cooking, painting, writing, these are examples of areas that require constant attention to continuous improvement - think Anders Ericsson’s 10,000 hours popularized by Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers (though I find that my cooking is still bland after all these years). Learning needs to span beyond a single touch point and be embedded into your daily work. The most successful teams - and in turn the most successful organizations - are the ones that continuously evolve. People will have higher engagements and longer retention if they have what they need when they need it, or better yet, know that the organization values the development of its people. Ensure you are providing the resources for this to happen, support ongoing educational opportunities, and make knowledge sharing your organization’s norm.

“Once you stop learning, you start dying.” — Albert Einstein

For some already in this space these three items may seem broad. You are right. At the same time, they are foundational. If you are new to the space and thinking about building this capability within your own organization, take these three items seriously. Before a skyscraper rises into the skyline it begins with tons of concrete and steel set into the earth. Recognizing a strong talent development strategy is the foundation of a thriving workforce, without it, the most ambitious plans cannot be achieved. Investing in your most important asset, your people, is not a nice-to-have, it is essential.

"What happens if we don't train them and they stay?" —CEO

*This can include variations of talent development, talent management, learning & development, leadership development, organizational development, organizational effectiveness, employee engagement, and more.