Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions — all day, every day and everywhere. We all need to make efforts to break any forms of bias.

ArchTam has expanded through organic and inorganic growth over the years and one of our success areas has been growing into a mature global company that demonstrates genuine commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I).

As a regional human resources leader, I have the opportunity to work with women leaders from different countries and with diverse cultural backgrounds. Irrespective of our geographical time zones, we are all working toward a common goal. We cross virtual boundaries and embrace diversity to create an equal platform for every team member to exchange ideas and best practices in the region. Thanks to this experience, I firmly believe that ED&I is a key driver of innovation as it fosters engagement and knowledge sharing among team members with diverse backgrounds and supports the smooth implementation of global initiatives in each region.

Both ArchTam Asia, and Asia as a region, have built solid foundations in ED&I and here is how we are breaking the bias and progressing further:

• Taiwan is ranked No. 1 in Asia and No. 6 in the world in the 2021 Gender Inequality Index, as reported by the United Nations Development Programme. It is also the first Asian country to pass the same-sex marriage bill.
• There are laws or guidelines on gender equality and/or equal pay in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland. In ArchTam, we also hire employees with disabilities in these offices.
• Over 16 percent of leadership roles are held by women based in our offices across Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and Chinese Mainland. 
• In Chinese Mainland, 54 percent of our workforce are women — the highest across ArchTam.
• We celebrate the diversity of cultures across Southeast Asia through various employee engagement activities.

To advance ED&I throughout Asia, we have set KPIs to improve the women leadership pipeline and talent diversity across the region. We are also launching various initiatives and activities to integrate ED&I into the recruitment process and onboarding programs. For example, we are launching a women mentoring program to support the development of our women employees in subregions, increasing their percentage in graduate recruitment and interview selections, and embedding trainings on unconscious bias in the onboarding program for new hires. We have also partnered with NGOs in various subregions to provide employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Our employee resource group for Asia, Connect, also plays an important role by organizing activities that encourage talent growth and industry engagements.

In Asia, women represent over 40 percent of employees at ArchTam, which also represents a significant amount of contribution to the success of our business. 

This year, we plan to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) with a host of employee engagement activities such as quizzes, #BreakTheBias theme activities, panel discussions, and health and wellbeing talks throughout March. Various ArchTam offices in Asia will have programs to engage everyone and to remind us of the importance of women equality, while fostering a strong culture of inclusion and allyship.

I look forward to celebrating IWD, to #BreakTheBias with all our colleagues across the world, and to make a difference, not just for one day, but every day!

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International Women’s Day is a day to acknowledge and honor women around the world for the contributions we make each day in society and for bringing forward progress in gender parity. I personally think giving women the opportunity to succeed is not only the right thing to do, but it can also transform organizations, societies and economies. I am excited about the 2022 International Women’s Day campaign, #BreakTheBias. As a Black woman, I look forward to a world with gender equality, a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination, that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where I am valued and celebrated for my differences.

While today’s workforce feels like they can be themselves at work and that their organization is inclusive, many report experiencing subtle and indirect forms of bias in their workplace. So, what can organizations do to continue advancing their inclusive efforts, and impact the daily behaviors and experiences of their people? In the Americas, we are launching a microinequities program to educate and raise awareness of intentional and unintentional behaviors that may impact women and other culturally marginalized groups.

I am fortunate to work for a company that has a global commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I), and policies and programs in place to support the advancement of women.

In considering what #BreakTheBias means to me, I reflect on my role as ED&I lead for the firm’s Design and Consulting Services business in the Americas, and the role I play in fostering a more equitable environment that enhances advocacy for women, and creates a diverse and inclusive workplace.

In the Americas, we have an ED&I strategy that includes KPI’s for women across various roles at all levels. We also have plans in place which focus on the attraction, retention, development and advancement of women.

In 2021, we launched a Women’s Leadership Alliance (WLA) Employee Resource Group with a vision to cultivate relationships, build skills and support leadership potential to advocate for the advancement of women. The WLA mission is to provide a collaborative and inclusive environment where women of all creeds, colors, backgrounds and experiences are empowered to succeed. WLA has established goals that it works towards and has been very active in providing career and leadership development workshops for the members as well as hosting meetings to address concerns related to women.

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 and in support of #BreakTheBias, there are a host of activities planned in our offices across the Americas, as well as events hosted by the Women’s Leadership Alliance.

Together, I believe that we can #BreakTheBias!

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At the onset, I would like to wish everyone a happy International Women’s Day! This year’s #BreakTheBias theme resonates with all of us, regardless of gender. Achieving gender equality is a challenge and one we all have a role and responsibility in realizing. While every year we continue to make commendable gains in achieving equality within our industry and workplace, there is no denying that we still have numerous barriers to break down. 

I believe that knowledge is power and that the key to bringing about positive change is to listen, recognize and respond to the existing bias that surrounds women as colleagues, leaders, managers, and all the other roles they play.  

As part of ArchTam’s Enterprise Capabilities Centers (ECC) team, a diverse network of offices located around the world, my colleagues and I are committed to systematically fostering an inclusive and equal workplace while balancing an array of cultures.

This year, our group is targeting to have an increase of women in our overall workforce and our most senior leadership roles. As a first step, we have adopted a gender-neutral job description for promoting positions across levels in ECC. By using dedicated diversity hiring campaigns, we aim to enhance gender representation in our workforce and ensure that all genders are represented and welcomed. A mandatory guideline for all interview panels at ECC is to ensure that there is gender-balanced representation present. 

As we mark and celebrate International Women’s Day, it’s important to recognize that our efforts need to extend beyond March 8. Throughout the year, we ensure that equity, diversity and inclusion are a central part of our culture. Our reverse mentoring program allows younger colleagues to interact, coach and mentor senior leaders. Our Freedom to Grow program offers employees the flexibility and freedom to choose their work, workplace and work environment. This year, we plan to launch our Women in Leadership Program, designed to unleash the talent and capabilities of our young leaders. 

Gender equality requires the efforts of all. As women continue to overcome obstacles and fight for equality, I am reminded of Malala Yousafzai’s popular and inspiring quote, “Your gender should not create any difficulty in the choices that you make.” 

My personal goal as a leader is to help create a world where we celebrate differences, accept diversity and forge a gender-equal world. This year, I want to use the #BreakTheBias theme as an opportunity to carefully identify biases, create awareness and support employees in overcoming the same. Nurturing all talent should be a priority as we continue to deal with an ever-evolving work environment. Our world is changing, and we must change with it. Now is the time for more empathetic leadership at all levels. We have the opportunity to shape our industry and lead the way in gender equality. I encourage employees across ArchTam and our industry to actively work to recognize and address gender bias and discrimination, and work together to remove all barriers so that we can create a more equal future together.

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Having spent most of my working life in the Middle East and 14 years with ArchTam, I have experienced many positive changes aimed at addressing workplace gender imbalance both in our region and our industry. Most recently, the United Arab Emirates implemented a labour law that includes new work models covering job sharing, part-time and other flexible working arrangements. These new options provide much welcomed flexibility for people returning to the workplace after a period of absence, such as maternity leave, and open the door for conversations between employees and their managers about working in ways that allow them to meet personal commitments.

In Saudi Arabia, where the empowerment of women is at the heart of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform program, more women are working in our industry than ever before, and organizations are hiring talent based on skills and education, not gender. Our workforce in Saudi Arabia has never been more diverse, and we have a target to grow the number of women employees there by 4 percent year on year. Further, 70 percent of students in higher education in Saudi Arabia are women, so we’re confident that this will translate into more women in our sector and a steady pipeline of talent for leadership positions.

Despite all these reforms, the region and industry still have far to go. However, as someone told me recently, it’s about incremental gains, not big step changes, and this comment has really spurred me on to focus my efforts on what I can influence. 

In the Middle East, ArchTam has seen positive results from a variety of initiatives, notably the nurturing of young talent by engaging with schools on the types of careers paths for students interested in STEAM subjects. Through this grassroots approach, we can inspire the minds of young women to pursue their passion for engineering and design, and change the gender imbalance for those studying these subjects and ultimately entering our industry.

Due to our active engagements with universities across the region, our UAE Advance Program has welcomed its most diverse intake since the graduate scheme’s inception eight years ago. As part of a wider diversity and inclusion plan, we attracted a graduate intake in January 2022 comprising 12 different nationalities, with just over half of the intake being women.

To mark International Women’s Day, we are launching Alliance, a mentoring program designed specifically to elevate our high performing senior women. Alliance will see the women paired with a mentor from the senior leadership team who will ensure their exposure to the wider business and support them to achieve their career advancement goals. 

In South Africa, we have recently seen Kim Timm, structures executive, awarded Woman in Leadership of the Year by the Big 5 Women in Construction Awards.

“If we support and encourage each other, we can change the world,” says Kim. Active in the industry for 18 years, she notes that when she commenced her career, there were very few women engineers. “The industry has evolved over the past 20 years, but it can still be a challenge to be taken seriously as a woman in engineering.”

Additionally, at the CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards, ArchTam was recognized as the  Mentoring Company of the Year.

Darrin Green, managing director, ArchTam Africa, says, “At ArchTam, we embrace and enable better collaboration through our diverse teams and international nature. Our Think and Act Globally strategy sets a new standard of excellence and is focused on extending ArchTam’s industry-leading, global expertise to all projects we work on.”

International Women’s Day is important to me because on the surface, it may seem that today, men and women are treated equally. But if we dig a little deeper, we can see the subtle comments and actions, or outdated workplace policies that don’t necessarily support women inclusion. Since many of the root causes stem from other peoples’ own internal biases (unconscious or not), International Women’s Day and this year’s theme of #BreakTheBias is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of how biases manifest and demonstrate how incremental changes can make a stark difference to the employee experience as well as business performance. The more diverse a workforce, the better a business performs.

Having experienced bias throughout my life in terms of age, gender, and race, I know firsthand the impact this can have on someone’s confidence. I am doing my part in the hope that future generations are raised in a world where everyone is given equal opportunities to excel and pursue whatever path they choose.

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Significant change starts from the top of the executive ladder. Leading by example and understanding that amplifying diverse voices allow for change, I am grateful to work amongst allies, such as the, President of our Construction Management business Jay Badame who makes it his personal commitment to empower and help develop diversity in the construction industry. An active board member for Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) and executive sponsor for ArchTam’s Women Initiative Network (AWIN), he takes great pride in knowing that he’s part of an organization that celebrates and advances diversity.

I began my career in the construction industry at a time when men dominated all leadership positions and women served as an executive assistant or administrative assistant. As Director of Community Relations for ArchTam Tishman, I am seeing the growth of diversity with more people of color and women within the workplace, which includes the office and project sites. While we have been guided by goals through the years for public works projects, our business has taken a more aggressive approach in fulfilling positions that include professional and technical roles. ArchTam is committed to #BreakTheBias by leading initiatives and activities that are focused on people of color and women through promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Through strong leadership and allyship, our Construction Management business’ culture is taking off to greater heights through promoting and hiring intelligent, strong, and powerful people from underserved communities who continue to prove themselves as successful leaders. Our clients have begun to set a new and higher standard for the inclusion of underrepresented groups, which enhances the level of excellence in everything we build. Our employees are curating events where our employees are being seen, heard and represented through conversations and community service.

It is these actions that I am reminded how far our company has come since I began over 24 years ago, and now the future looks bright as we work to retain and inspire diversity through partnering with organizations that support diversity. Again, with construction being such a male-dominated industry, it is not only necessary, but imperative to #BreakTheBias to make our industry more inclusive and create more safe spaces for diversity to thrive in this industry.

Each day I come to work knowing there is always an opportunity ahead to make a difference and to advocate for change with the goal being to recognize marginalized communities for their talents and successes, and not for their identity.

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As we celebrate International Women’s Day, I reflect on my five years at ArchTam and am very proud of the achievements we’ve seen in improving gender equity during this time. Having experienced firsthand the juggle of work, study, family and health, and the positive impact a supportive work environment that challenges gender bias can have, I didn’t hesitate when the opportunity arose recently to step into the Inclusion and Diversity Manager role for our Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) region.

We’ve worked hard at ArchTam to improve gender balance at all levels of our organisation, and have seen steady improvement, with women in leadership increasing by 8 percent over the past six years in the ANZ region. This has been achieved through:

• Challenging and breaking down bias through our annual gender pay gap analysis with targeting funding towards closing any unexplainable gaps. 
• Paying superannuation on top of government parental leave to assist with closing the gender gap seen in retirement savings, a phase of life where women are financially more vulnerable.
• Disrupting gender stereotypes and norms to create a fair and flexible work culture for people of all genders. This includes championing shared family caring responsibilities, and we have seen a 43 percent increase in male parental leave uptake since 2018.
• Targeted mentoring and sponsorship programs for women to support career development, help them form strategic alliances, and provide exposure to career building opportunities.
• Our mCircle program across ANZ, a platform for women to connect and to learn from each other’s experiences. 
• Working together with our competitors to influence change at an industry level as a Member of Consult Australia’s Champions of Change Coalition.

While there has been encouraging progress, we must continue to work on building inclusive mindsets, break down bias, and actively providing opportunities to support women’s careers. 

For me, the importance of International Women’s Day is more than celebrating the achievements of women, or campaigning for gender parity. It’s also about acknowledging that the path to gender equality has been long and bumpy, forged by many strong women before me, while looking to the future to drive continual progress. The first International Women’s Day gathering was held in 1911, and since then, it has taken successive generations of advocates to achieve the momentum we see around the world today. 

Looking to the future, an ever-changing global landscape presents new and continued challenges for women. We have come a long way, but women still earn less than men. The World Economic Forum’s global gender gap report for 2020 highlighted that it will take 99.5 years to achieve gender parity at the current rate of progress. Part of the reason is because women tend to take on a greater load of duties at home, such as cooking, cleaning, or caring for children or elderly family leading them to do on average 2.7 more hours of unpaid work per day than men (IMF, 2021). This has been exacerbated by the global pandemic where work and personal life boundaries have been blurred more than ever. This is so important it has been addressed as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as an economic and societal issue. Reducing gender imbalances in unpaid work has shown to benefit not only women, but also lead to stronger workforces and economies.

Coming out of the pandemic, ongoing hybrid work presents many opportunities for women to balance careers and home. To be successful, it requires continued focus on shared family caring responsibilities, equitable flexibility, and access to opportunities whether they are home or office based. Breaking down bias not only makes ArchTam stronger and more inclusive, it better enables us to serve our clients and communities, improve social outcomes, and make the world a better place for future generations. 

For these reasons, International Women’s Day is for everyone. Everyone plays a part in raising awareness of how bias can hold women back, to understand and address the biases that we all hold, and take action when we see bias in action. I want my daughter to live in a world free of stereotypes and discrimination, where her gender does not hold her back or limit the opportunities available to her. Everyone benefits from a world without gender bias.   

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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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