Adding a touch of culture to engineering
As a business that’s gone from an Australian backyard to employing more than 6500 people worldwide, Sinclair Knight Merz has built a reputation for delivering great results both to clients and to employees. Globally, the business believes in providing the best opportunities for career progression, mentoring, learning and development for every employee. And it is not afraid to break new ground to give employees new and exciting experiences.
It’s one of Australia’s quietest success stories. In a Sydney backyard in 1964, two men decided to start an engineering business, which, more than 40 years later, has grown to be a global force in project design and delivery. Sinclair Knight Merz, or SKM as it’s known by most people in the industry, operates in 17 countries and works in some very diverse environments. It’s a business that is built on delivering the right solution to the right client. And, up until recently, finding the people to do that was not a problem.
“What we’re finding now is that our success as a business is only half the reason candidates are coming to us,” says SKM’s Head of Recruitment, Bevan White. “It’s our reputation as an employer for having a two-way relationship with our employees that’s become the focus now. We’ve stopped looking at this talent shortage as a crisis and started to see it as an opportunity to change the way we look at our candidates.”
It’s certainly a different strategy. With a dearth of around 30,000 engineers in Australia alone, the industry is reaching a crisis point. The lack of available talent for roles is being felt particularly strongly in consulting engineering, where big companies hunt to fill their own gaps in experience. Factor in the combination of Generation Y’s contribution to workplace cultural change, a surge in international hiring and a resources boom in Western Australia, and suddenly the dangers of getting recruitment wrong become very clear.
“When you’re looking for a job, there’s more at stake than just where you work or what you’ll be doing,” White says. “There’s a social and a cultural aspect that is part of the employment experience. As a recruitment team, we need to understand that and show respect for the magnitude of the decision and the needs of our people right from day one.”
Given the shortage of highly specialised individuals, SKM created a specific Planned Resourcing function 12 months ago, which identifies long-term strategic needs for the business, and works with the management team to create a successful environment for new leaders coming into the business. SKM’s Planned Resourcing Manager, Joanne Dellicott, says it’s a real point of difference to candidates.
“Having someone totally versed in understanding what you’ll bring to a specific role is a huge relief to candidates,” Dellicott says. “Plus, it gives us an opportunity to talk about the specifics of each role from an internal perspective as well, which is something recruitment consultants can struggle with. There’s a different kind of communication you can have with a potential candidate when you’re living the culture that they want to know about.”
The culture is one of SKM’s unique selling points. The past two years have seen significant changes in the workplace: for instance, introducing a more flexible and rewarding environment for people. “We offer over 70 accredited learning and development programs, flexible working hours, a range of financial recognition programs and performance bonuses, regular, scheduled Performance Dialogues and access to opportunities all over the world,” says SKM’s General Manager of Human Resources, Steve Dorian.
“We’re very focused on giving our people the opportunities that will keep them inspired and help them build a career with us. We want our employees to make the most of their time, and we’re continually engaging with our employees to see what else we can do to offer them more challenges and more options to better their lives.”
