Allowing work teams to decide how to spend their training budgets, and providing staff with a $3000 referral bonus help keep the head count growing at a global engineering firm.
| Entrepreneur |
John Theodoulou, Regional Director - Victoria |
| Company |
Parsons Brinckerhoff |
| Business type |
Planning, environmental, engineering and project management consultancy |
| Employees |
1800 full-time in Australia-Pacific region |
| Contact details |
+61 3 9861 1111 |
Key Learning Points |
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Staff networks
Are the friends of your valued staff an untapped employment pool? They are likely to share similar values and aspirations to those you have already hired.
Work-life awareness
PB's ‘Bring Your Kids to Work Day' is a great way of building connection and understanding between employees and their families.
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The Parsons Brinckerhoff Story
The Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) story began more than 120 years ago in 1885 when William Parsons designed New York City's first subway from Manhattan to Harlem. In 1906 Henry Brinckerhoff, an electric railways engineer, joined forces with Parsons and since then the business has grown to become a global engineering and project management firm with total global revenues in excess of $2 billion.
In the late 1970s PB had a presence in Australia working collaboratively with other engineering firms. In 1999, PB acquired the Australian engineering firm PPK and expanded it to become a national presence, growing from 300 staff in 1999 to more than 1800 in the Australia-Pacific region.
John Theodoulou, regional director Victoria, joined the company in 2004. He says: "We have doubled in size since I joined but PB hasn't lost that friendly office feeling."
The Challenge
Retaining staff in a competitive market.
The Solution
In 2004 PB appointed a director of people. Her job is to oversee all PB's human resources, training and career development. Theodoulou says: "We knew we had to invest in our staff. The People team developed processes to encourage the flow of feedback from all areas."
PB's People team has developed an annual "Pulse" survey to gather feedback from all staff. Theodoulou says: "We need to know how we are perceived by staff. The People team analyses the data and distributes feedback to the relevant areas. It's important that staff feel they are being heard and that they are contributing to the culture and values."
Feedback from a previous Pulse survey indicated that staff wanted more clarity in their role descriptions. Theodoulou says: "We took that feedback on board and are now better defining roles and helping staff identify future career options."
A global values statement was developed two years ago as part of PB's strategy. Theodoulou says: "We sought feedback from staff from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, and held story circles to discuss the company's values, vision and mission." Those values are printed in PB's annual report and posted on its website. Theodoulou says: "We link career development and annual performance reviews to our values."
In today's competitive employment market many employees want to know how their company can help their career. In 2004 PB established development programs designed to assist staff to reach their full potential. Theodoulou says: "They want to know how they will grow with PB as professionals, managers and leaders."
The development programs are tailored to different career stages:
- Professional growth network: Staff with under ten years' experience
- Accelerated development: Identified future leaders
- Leadership training: Mid-level and team managers
- Executive development: Executive level staff
PB's development programs give staff ownership of their own professional development. Theodoulou says: "Many companies have similar programs but we have taken it to another level by giving the team a budget and encouraging them to identify varied professional development avenues."
In 2007, the Melbourne office professional growth network committee organised a function for the team and clients that incorporated guest speakers and networking opportunities. They are planning a similar event for 2008. Theodoulou says: "We see this as an important investment in the growth and development of emerging professionals."
In 2005, PB introduced a $3000 referral bonus. This is paid to a staff member who recommends a successful candidate for a job with PB. Theodoulou says: "The primary purpose is to find good people. It is a way of attracting the right people and keeping the ones we have."
PB has an incentive scheme that rewards high-performing managers with an annual financial bonus. Theodoulou says: "The bonus is linked to our values and the results achieved in key performance areas. The final amount paid depends on the performance of the individual and company."
In late 2007 PB held its inaugural Bring Your Kids to Work Day. Staff were encouraged to bring their children to the office and take part in various fun engineering-based activities including aerial mapping, a nature walk through the park and cleaning up an oil spill on a mock beach. Theodoulou says: "It was partly about work-life balance and about developing interest. It gave young people an awareness of the various disciplines of engineering and helped children understand what their parents do at the office."
The Result
PB measures staff turnover on a monthly basis and figures vary around the country. Theodoulou says: "Engineering traditionally has a low turnover but this has risen in recent years due to such trends as the resources boom. In Victoria we are slightly less than the state's industry average of 15%."
Theodoulou says the initiatives that PB has introduced in the last three years have had a positive impact on staff retention. "We will continue to strive to be an employer of choice."