“We take a multifaceted approach to professional development,” says Pasqual V. Gutierrez, AIA, Director of Architecture. Among HMC’s career development programs:
• IDP Forum, held once a month for those employees who are fulfilling the Intern Development Program. “We use the AIA Emerging Professional Companion in combination with specs of real HMC projects, so that they learn about specifications but also our HMC protocols,” says Gutierrez.
• After-hours study programs for employees preparing for the Architectural Registration Exam are supported by senior architects.
• Accessibility Workshop: a five-hour program held in odd-numbered years for employees—and clients—who need to meet state licensure renewal requirements for Mandatory Accessibility coursework.
• Access to 1,040 hours of the AIA Virtual Convention for 80 licensed architects at the firm to view and earn AIA/CES learning units.
The Emerging Leaders Forum is a two-year “corporate overlay experience” program for mid- and upper-level management-track staff to hone their corporate governance skills. Emerging leaders engage in reading assignments, community service, and professional practice mentoring sessions to help them refine their practical skills while providing insight into executive management.
At the top level, Principals, Associate Principals, and Senior Project Managers are provided a reimbursable allowance for conferences and books, plus each studio managing principal receives a discretionary fund to administer education and training for technical and administrative staff.
In what may be a unique offering, HMC recorded a thousand hours of its own lunch-and-learn “Back2Basics” learning workshops—covering such topics as BIM and cost controls—and contracted with the AIA to make them available online to HMC staff for continuing education credits.
Two employee-initiated forums meet after hours to explore issues in design, take field trips, make presentations, and enter competitions, all on their own time.
Every September, HMC’s ArchLab takes a group of 20 or so employees into the woods for a weekend retreat to dig into sustainability. “We don’t talk about LEED,” says Gutierrez. “We talk about high-performance architecture and the strategies you need to deliver it.”
More at: www.BDCnetwork.com/HMC/Careers. +
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Nov 1, 2017
Top 35 industrial architecture firms
Jacobs, Stantec, and BRPH top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest industrial sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
K-12 Schools | Oct 31, 2017
Exploring empathy in architecture: Put yourself in your student’s shoes
People are enigmatic and inherently complex, which can make it difficult to design for a larger population.
Architects | Oct 31, 2017
AIA selects recipients for the 2017 Innovation Awards
The program honors projects that highlight collaboration between design and construction teams to create better process efficiencies and overall costs savings.
Giants 400 | Oct 30, 2017
Top 130 green architecture firms
Gensler, Stantec, and HOK top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest green sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Architects | Oct 30, 2017
City 2050: What will your city look like in 2050?
What do we think the future will look like 30 years or so from now? And what will City: 2050 be like?
Architects | Oct 25, 2017
Mason & Hanger appoints Ben Lilly as its new president
The firm expects to continue mining growth opportunities with its federal agency clients.
Healthcare Facilities | Oct 25, 2017
Creating child-friendly healthcare spaces: Five goals for success
Children often accompany parents or grandparents in medical settings; what can we do to address their unique needs?
Giants 400 | Oct 24, 2017
Top 160 reconstruction architecture firms
Gensler, Jacobs, and Stantec top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest reconstruction sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 20, 2017
Top 40 sports architecture firms
Populous, HOK, and HKS top BD+C’s ranking of the nation’s largest sports sector architecture and AE firms, as reported in the 2017 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Oct 19, 2017
Race for talent drives office designs
Is the shift toward attracting younger workers too much or not enough?
