Engineering Influence from ACEC

The Ethical Engineer with Tim Groover

Tim Groover will be leading ACEC's upcoming course titled: “Personal and Organizational Ethics: Charting a Values-Based Course to Authenticity and Trust." We sat down with Tim to discuss the importance of ethics in engineering and how his course will differ from others on the topic.

Key Findings from the First-Ever Diversity Roadmap

The ACEC Research Institute has released its first-ever Diversity Roadmap, the culmination of a six-month process designed to help member firms execute against their diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) goals. Launched in Summer 2023 and sponsored by the Zweig Group, the Roadmap is a comprehensive, data-driven tool that assesses the maturity of a firm’s DEIB program. Using these data, the tool then provides actionable suggestions on how firms can make further progress on their diversity journeys. In short, the tool doesn’t just tell firms how well they are doing. It tells them how they can do better. To participate in the Roadmap, firms were asked a series of questions about their practices and policies in a variety of areas: Workplace, Workforce, Marketplace, and Supplier/Community. Their answers to these individual areas were scored, then aggregated to produce a final score. Scores range from Aspiring (for firms at the earliest stages of building their DEIB disciplines) to Optimizing – firms that have robust strategic programs in place. In between are firms that are Emerging or Managing, signaling solid progress but outstanding work yet to be done. While most member firms are early in their DEIB journeys (80 percent scored as “Aspiring”), it is worth noting that nearly 200 ACEC member firms participated in the Roadmap initiative, which signals both a willingness and an appetite for creating diverse workspaces. And that appetite comes from the top of our firms. The data indicate that firm leaders show significant support for DEIB issues; the majority of responding firms have a CEO or president who articulates a commitment to these issues (68 percent always/often). This commitment can be seen in the numbers of firms that have initiatives for creating an inclusive work environment for all employees (68 percent) and in firms that have mechanisms in place for actively recruiting diverse candidates (64 percent). Nearly half (49 percent) are seeking to broaden awareness of DEIB topics, with 42 percent of firms reporting that they communicate the importance of these issues to their employees. While 24 percent of firms report having no DEIB initiatives, these firms’ participation in the Study would seem to signal at least some level of interest. And it’s not too late for firms that are interested in participating in the Roadmap but have not yet entered their data. The tool was closed for responses in advance of the ACEC Fall Conference but has been reopened and will stay open through the end of the year. If your firm would still like to participate, please contact institute@acec.org to receive your login information if you don’t have it. The deadline to submit 2022 data is Dec 31, 2023. Submitting by the end of the year will enable firms to benchmark year over year improvements when the tool opens back up for 2023 data collection in early Spring 2024.

Government Affairs Update for January 2024

Steve Hall, ACEC's Executive Vice President, joined the podcast to provide an update on what the Council's advocacy team is working on and what we're expecting for 2024.

Winds of Change - How Climate Change is Impacting the Legal Standard of Care

"Winds of Change - How Climate Change is Impacting the Legal Standard of Care" orginially appeared in issue four of Engineering Inc, the magazine of the American Council of Engineering Companies.  For more information please visit www.acec.org. 

Diversity Roadmap Helps Unlock the Power of Inclusion

Last week, the ACEC Research Institute released its first-ever Diversity Roadmap Report on the state of DEI&B programs and practices at ACEC member firms. The Report offers a view of where we are as an industry on our DEI&B journey and, as its name implies, gives actionable suggestions on how firms can take the next steps that are right for them.
We gave a brief preview of the Roadmap’s findings at our Fall Conference in Austin, where we shared that most of our firms’ DEI&B programs are still in their early stages. That’s an important metric, but it tells only part of the story. As Chair of ACEC’s DEI&B Committee, I keep hearing one recurring theme: “We know we need to do better. We just need more support.”
And that is where the Roadmap comes in. Where there is a will, there is a way – and this Roadmap shows the way. A way for firms to see where they are (and to see they’re not alone in their progress) and how to move forward. A way to help our members build firms that attract talented candidates and enable them to thrive. A way to ensure that our industry is positioned to compete – and win – in a globalized and diverse marketplace.
To borrow a line from Yogi Berra: “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” Our industry can’t afford to wind up someplace else. Not when we’re all in the recruitment and retention trenches, fighting for talent. Building the kind of diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve is more than just the “right thing to do.” And of course it is that, but it is so much more than that. Our industry has assumed a great deal of responsibility for our country’s continued progress and prosperity. We have been charged with building the future, and the more skills, backgrounds, and perspectives we can bring to our efforts, the better we all will be.
There is still time to participate in the Roadmap and enter your 2022 data; the tool will close for responses on December 31. It will reopen in Spring 2024 to enter 2023 data. So if you don’t already have your login information, please email institute@acec.org and they will get you set up. Let’s close the year strong.

ACEC Research Institute Diversity Roadmap: Embracing Differences, Empowering Success

The ACEC Research Institute has released its first-ever Diversity Roadmap, the culmination of a six-month process designed to help member firms execute against their diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) goals. Launched in Summer 2023 and sponsored by the Zweig Group Group, the Roadmap is a comprehensive, data-driven tool that assesses the maturity of a firm’s DEIB program. Using these data, the tool then provides actionable suggestions on how firms can make further progress on their diversity journeys. In short, the tool doesn’t just tell firms how well they are doing. It tells them how they can do better.
To participate in the Roadmap, firms were asked a series of questions about their practices and policies in a variety of areas: Workplace, Workforce, Marketplace, and Supplier/Community. Their answers to these individual areas were scored, then aggregated to produce a final score. Scores range from Aspiring (for firms at the earliest stages of building their DEIB disciplines) to Optimizing – firms that have robust strategic programs in place. In between are firms that are Emerging or Managing, signaling solid progress but outstanding work yet to be done.
While most member firms are early in their DEIB journeys (80 percent scored as “Aspiring”), it is worth noting that nearly 200 ACEC member firms participated in the Roadmap initiative, which signals both a willingness and an appetite for creating diverse workspaces. And that appetite comes from the top of our firms. The data indicate that firm leaders show significant support for DEIB issues; the majority of responding firms have a CEO or president who articulates a commitment to these issues (68 percent always/often).
This commitment can be seen in the numbers of firms that have initiatives for creating an inclusive work environment for all employees (68 percent) and in firms that have mechanisms in place for actively recruiting diverse candidates (64 percent). Nearly half (49 percent) are seeking to broaden awareness of DEIB topics, with 42 percent of firms reporting that they communicate the importance of these issues to their employees. While 24 percent of firms report having no DEIB initiatives, these firms’ participation in the Study would seem to signal at least some level of interest.
And it’s not too late for firms that are interested in participating in the Roadmap but have not yet entered their data. The tool was closed for responses in advance of the ACEC Fall Conference but has been reopened and will stay open through the end of the year.  If your firm would still like to participate, please contact institute@acec.org to receive your login information if you don’t have it. The deadline to submit 2022 data is Dec 31, 2023. Submitting by the end of the year will enable firms to benchmark year over year improvements when the tool opens back up for 2023 data collection in early Spring 2024.
To read the full Report, click here.
 

Previewing the New Private Market Brief - Commercial and Residential Real Estate

ACEC's Director of Private Market Resources, Diana Alexander, previews the newest Private Market Brief on the Commercial and Residential Real Estate market.

Catching Up on AI with BST Global’s Javier Baldor

At the end of the 2023 Fall Conference, we sat down with BST Global's CEO, Javier Baldor for an update on AI and what's changed since our last conversation at the Spring Convention in Washington DC earlier in the year.