Women in BIM Gold Sponsor for Asia-Pacific, Aurecon is a global leader in engineering, management, design, planning, project management and consulting. With its commitment to maintaining a culture based on respect, Aurecon aspires to create an environment where everyone feels they belong and connected, and where they can develop and have equal access to new opportunities.
We recently spoke with Louise Adams, Aurecon’s Chief Operating Officer, about why diversity, equality and inclusion are important in the future of the engineering industry.
As a Gold Sponsor, what is Aurecon’s involvement with Women in BIM?
Aurecon is exclusively sponsoring Women in BIM in the Asia-Pacific region to support talented women in BIM-related roles in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry worldwide. It is our commitment to maintain an inclusive, high-performing culture, where everyone can bring their full authentic selves to work within a vibrant community.
How can an inclusive construction industry have a wider impact on social equality beyond its industry silo?
Everything in our world is, in some way, touched by the engineering industry – from the houses we live in, the water that comes out from the shower, the roads we drive on, the buses, the trains, to the buildings we work in. It brings everything around us to life.
If we have a more inclusive industry, we will undoubtedly be able to deliver greater infrastructure outcomes and consequently, better infrastructure outcomes provide a better foundation for a better society. Ultimately, we need to have a diverse group of people around the table to serve a diverse community.
And as one of the largest employers in the country, the industry must create an environment where people want to work, where they can find purpose, security and longevity. If we can create an inclusive construction industry, it can inevitably boost social equity.
How does Aurecon encourage a wide range of people into the industry?
Aurecon deploys initiatives and policies across the organisation to foster talent from all walks of life to ensure a fair working environment. Aside from recruiting a diverse workforce, we work hard on upskilling our leaders so that we can create an inclusive culture and a good learning environment that enables us to retain our talent.
How does Aurecon ensure it has a workforce with a mix of skills, experiences and perspectives?
Aurecon works across multiple industries and sectors, where our people get opportunities to work on a broad range of multidisciplinary projects. This kind of exposure provides them with invaluable experiences that enriches their skills and careers.
Aside from this, we also provide our people the access to different platforms and programmes that can support their personal and professional developments. Currently, we are using Workday and the Peakon survey to understand our people better, and as we evolve, we’ll be using AI to maximise people’s opportunities and ensure that they are equipped and supported in the career pathway they aspire.
Why does a diverse workforce ultimately create better solutions and results?
Because it enables us to create a diversity of thinking. In an industry that has been male dominated, our initial focus is to create diversity in a demographic perspective, but ultimately, what we’re trying to look for and achieve is the diversity of thought.
To have people with diverse skillsets, backgrounds and experiences in the team allows us to see and solve problems differently and holistically. We get to exchange ideas and challenge them from different perspectives, which creates a great environment for innovation to flourish.
Ultimately, as Louise explained, the discussion around diversity, equity and inclusion goes beyond the walls of an organisation, or the entire industry even. For Aurecon, it’s about doing their part to help build better futures for all generations to come.
