Deltek Inc.
Deltek Inc.
15/08/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 15/08/2024 12:24
Human Capital Management―What A&E Firms Should Be Focusing on Today
Human Capital Management―What A&E Firms Should Be Focusing on Today
August 15, 2024
During a recent interview, Deltek's David Lee, Product Director, Talent Management, discussed the latest human capital management trends and how A&E firms should use that insight to inform their business strategy.
What are some human capital management trends you see in the industry?
Currently, architecture and engineering (A&E) firms are focused on improving employee career development and implementing strategic workforce and employee resource planning programs. This is great to see because learning and development programs benefit both the employee and employer. Using those programs to help upskill staff provides a path to career growth for employees in the firm, while increasing retention rates save firms the cost of constantly paying third parties to recruit candidates.
According to the last Deltek Clarity Architecture and Engineering (A&E) Study, firms implementing career development plans grew to 40%, which is a 13 percentage point increase year over year. Improving career development and promotion programs is a top HR goal for 65% of firms. In addition, there has been a 3.2% rise in firms with learning management systems.
The study also showed that employee turnover was nearly flat year over year and stands at just under 14%, while accepted job offers were reported at 80%, which was up 9.2% year over year. This suggests that firms are starting to better understand what candidates want, allowing them to make more competitive offers.
Another significant trend is the focus on retaining employee knowledge, as older workers retire. Finding skilled replacements isn't easy, and 90% of Deltek Clarity Study respondents cited acquiring top talent as their biggest challenge.
When thinking about acquiring good candidates it's important to understand who will be successful in your firm. As human resource professionals or as architecture and engineering leaders, when you take a step back and acknowledge that you're having difficulty finding good candidates, you need to make sure you have taken an opportunity to analyze what that means.
Look at what roles can be handled remotely, consider promoting from within, and implement strategies to make sure that you are providing as much diversity to your talent pool as possible to find staff that makes your firm successful. Consider good transferable skills for open roles and identify people that you could train to take on key responsibilities.
Succession and career development planning, as well as employee engagement, continue to be top challenges for firms, which recognize that it is essential to upskill and retain talent to foster a sustainable workplace culture. According to the Clarity Study, firms with succession planning grew to 44%, an uptick of four percentage points year over year.
What should firms start doing today?
Firms are in different stages of their digital maturity journey, so it is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Unfortunately, Human Capital Management (HCM) software is typically one of the least prioritized platforms to build out in a firm. That said, all firms would benefit from having an HCM platform that supports acquiring and retaining the best people as firms can't deliver timely, profitable projects without them.
As a potential starting point, firms should think about an employee's experience with onboarding, which not only sets the stage for how they feel about the company, but there is a significant tie between the strength of an onboarding program and retention. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a strong onboarding experience ensures that 69% of workers remain with a firm for three years.
After the applicant has been hired, it is crucial that firms do more to engage with the new employee during their onboarding. This should consist of more than simply supplying links to reading materials and welcome videos and really looking to embed them into part of the culture and team. An organized schedule of onboarding tasks, with assignees and due dates, helps ensure the onboarding process goes smoothly. With automated reminders to guide employees to finish all onboarding tasks, you can make sure that they're getting through all the appropriate materials and can start working on projects sooner.
HCM software can automate task reminders for people and managers to make the process easier for all, and the onboarding experience can lead right into an employee development and/or career pathing plan.
How can technology solve some of the challenges A&E firms are facing?
Firms should look at evolving their business practices, adopt new technology and embrace remote/hybrid work. With high competition for talent, technology tools to allow employees to work remotely are critical so firms can hire from a wider talent pool.
At a basic level, technology can help firms reduce the number of time-consuming, repetitive tasks and allow HR teams to spend more time on higher-level tasks. The Deltek Talent Management solution includes Deltek Dela™, an AI-embedded tool that can help create and write job descriptions for recruiting or course descriptions for your learning management systems. Dela can also be used to help HR partners write appraisal comments for employee reviews, removing bias and helping to create well-rounded statements.
Deltek Talent Management helps firms sort through resumes quickly when acquiring staff by applying a relevancy score to each candidate's resume, making the process quicker and more accurate.
Overall, implementing the right technology can make your operations run smoother and help make your company more attractive to younger workers.
Any other advice for A&E firms?
The trends in human capital management highlight the need for strategic workforce planning, robust career development and effective employee retention strategies in A&E firms. As the industry navigates challenges such as the retirement of highly experienced professionals and the competitive landscape for acquiring top talent, embracing technology becomes indispensable. Tools that facilitate remote work, streamline HR processes, enhance employee development, improve operational efficiency and make firms more attractive to potential hires are now table stakes. By prioritizing digital maturity and investing in comprehensive human capital management platforms, A&E firms can create a sustainable, engaged, and skilled workforce ready to meet future demands.