Follow this year’s conversations on LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as the ArchTam Blog.

We are celebrating International Women’s Day this year by recognizing the remarkable achievements of women in our industry and lending our voices to bring awareness to the challenges women continue to face around the world.

For us, #EmbracingEquity means leveling the playing field. Once we acknowledge that we don’t all start from the same place, we can create an equitable workplace through identifying the barriers that exist within our systems and processes, developing programs and policies that generate equal outcomes, and leading the change in our industry.  

The benefits that come from diverse and inclusive teams, both organisationally and culturally, are hard to ignore – when our teams reflect the communities they serve, our people are more engaged, innovation and collaboration flourishes and we deliver better solutions for our clients. However, the pace of change, particularly in increasing the number of women in our industry and STEM fields, is slower than we would like.  

Across our company, we’ve improved gender diversity of our workforce. Women comprise 19 percent of our leaders, which puts us close to achieving our near-term target of 20 percent. We are also making progress towards our goal of 35 percent of our overall workforce being women—we’re currently at 33 percent. Recognizing that diversity looks different everywhere in the world, we have also established KPIs and associated near- and long-term diversity targets in each region of our business.  

We are ensuring leaders and managers are accountable for our inclusive culture because it takes all of us to be more mindful of inclusion and unconscious bias. We encourage hiring managers to take training on inclusive practices in sourcing and interviewing candidates, and in making hiring decisions.  

What’s more, it’s not just about hiring more women. We need to support them throughout their career through job opportunities, learning and mentorship programs, and family-friendly policies. Globally, we offer a suite of development programs, four technical and business-related career paths, and flexible work arrangements that support work-life balance for all our employees. Additionally, in the U.S., we’ve doubled our parental leave this year, and it applies to birthing and non-birthing parents, foster placement, or adoption. 

When our employees thrive both personally and professionally, they deliver their best for our clients and better social outcomes in the communities we serve. We establish partnerships with small and minority-owned businesses in our projects and make strategic community investments that benefit society and generate opportunity. For example, our work on the Arthur Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx, New York is improving community access to waterfront recreation areas, and our Safe Places Initiative is helping counter inequities and create more inclusive public spaces in Sydney, Australia and beyond. 

This year’s theme, #EmbraceEquity, is particularly meaningful to us as we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring workplace equity, diversity and inclusion. 

Happy International Women’s Day!

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We live in an ever-changing world, and it is up to us – as individuals and as an organization – to help lead the change toward a more equitable future.  

In recent years, we have prioritized and facilitated talking about gender bias and the importance of true equity in our society and workplaces. This indicates there is learning and growth happening in this space, and that is fantastic! While it is important to celebrate successes along the way, we must also understand that acknowledging the need for change is the first step. 

We recognize that gender biases are still strong across our industry. We are doing our part by making meaningful strides toward developing and implementing programs that break the bias in the workplace. As part of our Sustainable Legacies strategy, we build safe and respectful work environments where our employees are invited to bring their talents, backgrounds and expertise to bear on some of the world’s most complex challenges and where everyone can thrive both personally and professionally.  To ensure our people feel supported at ArchTam and have access to equitable opportunities, we have implemented several programs across the globe, including:

• A reverse mentoring program that enables our leaders to learn more about our organization, employees and culture through the eyes of our people 
• An employee resource group in the Americas for gender equality, Women’s Leadership Alliance, with another being established in Europe 
• Networking and mentoring forums for women called mCircles, active across several countries 
• A “returnship” program that provides opportunities for job seekers who are returning to the workforce after a career break 
• An active, formal sponsorship program that supports the continued career development of women 
• Ongoing review of our processes including promotions, pay equity and career development opportunities  
• Unconscious bias training for all employees  
• Our Freedom to Grow framework offers the flexibility employees need to do their best, deliver for clients, and bring their whole selves to work
• Coming soon, inclusive hiring training for all hiring managers on how to recognize and disrupt bias in the talent pipeline  

International Women’s Day is a time of reflection, to stop and celebrate the progress we have made as a global community, as each of us becomes more mindful of others’ experiences and understand that we all bring unique value to our community and workplaces.  

We choose how we interact or empathize with others, and we decide what behaviors we need to unlearn to move forward.  

Breaking the bias takes initiative and determination, an open mind in how we see the world, and – importantly – a willingness to change.    

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I started my professional working life at a time when expectations of women were very different from today — few women went into business and even fewer stayed throughout their career.  As a result, women had very few female role models.

Having good mentors, regardless of gender, helped me in my career and continues to be important to me today.  Strong mentoring relationships need to feel natural to work. You must be able to be yourself, be open to learn and be honest about what you want to achieve.  I personally took the initiative to reach out to people I saw as potential mentors and always looked for opportunities to expand my network. Having exposure to different people is critical because these relationships grow and change throughout your career—what you need today may be different from what you need five years from now.

I recall one mentor of mine who recognized potential in me and told me he believed I could become a partner in the firm I was working for, at a time when I did not think it was remotely possible.  He helped me map out a practical progression plan, which included getting experience in different parts of the business.  He taught me to seek sponsorship, put my hand up for new opportunities and speak more confidently and coherently about my career aspirations – but most importantly, do great work every step of the way. Having someone who had such faith in me, not only inspiring me to think bigger, but being sensible about an approach to achieve it, made a big difference in the way I thought about myself.

That experience made me realize the type of leader I wanted to be and the work environment I wanted to create. The current business landscape has come a long way since then. At ArchTam, there are many resources and programs aimed to help women thrive. Our Women Business Council in Asia and Senior Female Sponsorship Program in Australia/New Zealand enable our female employees to participate in mentorships and network to better understand unique issues faced by women at work. In the Middle East and Africa, our graduate programs, school visits and peer-to-peer mentoring accelerate the growth of women in our industry and educate students on the types of careers enabled by the study of STEM subjects. In Europe, our Freedom to Grow flexible work program and mCircles mentoring network aim to provide a more supportive and inclusive work environment for our employees to contribute in ways that work best for them. In the Americas, we’re forming an employee resource group for our women employees to facilitate conversations and better address the unique needs we face in a male dominated industry.

As my career progressed, my experience of great mentors helped me recognize I too could help mentor others – we all can!  I want all our employees at ArchTam to feel that they can be a mentor and an inspiration to someone else. In a safe space, where we can be open and honest, and make others feel like they have potential beyond their wildest beliefs — that is the type of environment where one can truly thrive.

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