In early 2022, the AE firm SSOE Group’s Board of Directors reiterated its commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Thus began a journey that found SSOE moving toward a more representative mix of diverse employees within its nearly 1,500-person workforce, on project teams and in corporate groups.
This mandate led to the formation of advocacy groups for underrepresented employees within the company, as well as changes in SSOE’s hiring practices and employee benefits. It has also placed SSOE in a better position to compete for projects from developers and organizations (especially in the public sector) that are seeking partners with well-defined DEI programs.
A growing number of AEC firms have been looking at themselves critically through DEI lenses that have brought into sharper relief shortcomings in their human resource policies and programs. These assessments are also being conducted at a time when a company’s DEI reputation can be a determinative factor in where skilled and educated employees choose to work.
SSOE Group can be seen as a case study for how AEC firms are adapting to employees’ shifting expectations of more-inclusive work cultures.
Top-down support for DEI efforts
Catherine Myers, PE, SSOE’s President, notes that prior to its latest actions, the firm didn’t have a specific DEI-focused group that was directly connected to the Board of Directors. That changed when, in March 2022, SSOE added a DEI committee to its Board, and hired its first Director of DEI, Candice Harrison, who had previously been external communications manager for the Toledo (Ohio) Public Schools.
To encourage team buy-in, SSOE held global DEI roundtable discussions in small groups. More than 15 percent of the company’s workers responded to questions that probed their understanding of DEI, why they thought improvements were important for the company, and what challenges in its execution might arise.
Outcomes from these sessions helped to establish DEI priorities such as enhancing diversity in the talent pipeline and setting metrics and management tools.
DEI groups give voice to different employees
After completing this company-wide assessment, SSOE Group formed internal Employee Resource Groups (ERG) to give greater voice to its underrepresented workers. One group, the Black Leaders and Collaborative Change Makers (BLACC), initially had 25 active members; the PRIDE group for LGBTQ+ individuals had 27 members; and there were 72 participants in the Women’s ERG. (At the time, SSOE had very few women in its engineering and architecture departments, particularly in leadership roles. And female technical employees created a subgroup because they had different needs regarding representation and support than the larger Women’s ERG.)
Participation in the ERGs was voluntary but strongly encouraged. Each group had at least one member of leadership as an executive sponsor who sometimes came from outside the respective underrepresented group.
Each ERG devised its own mission statement and charter, as well as a leadership/management hierarchy. Broad objectives were refined for specific actions that could range from recognizing holidays like Martin Luther King Day to revising time-off policies. Each ERG meets monthly, and in their first year, the groups were instrumental in strategic benefits planning and Lean Operating Strategy initiatives. The BLACC group assisted SSOE’s human resources department in recruitment events, and invited Dr. Melvin Garvey, the author of Dear White Friend, to speak about DEI.
SSOE has partnered with Historically Black Colleges and Universities such as Tennessee State, through which the firm conferred its first scholarship. The firm’s DEI program also partnered with the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. SSOE developed corporate metrics that impact the entire company related to DEI. Tracking those markets is tied to performance, which encourages corporate accountability.
The PRIDE ERG partnered with Hummingbird Humanity, a DEI consulting firm, to help the group elucidate the history of the gay pride movement and to dive deeper into gender identity.
DEI can provide a competitive edge
As part of its DEI journey, SSOE Group conducts virtual training sessions on diversity. The firm required attendance for employees to receive their bonuses. According to Harrison, the focus of SSOE’s diversity efforts has been to embed DEI into daily operations, “creating a space where our employees feel as though they can bring their whole selves to work and have a sense of belonging.”
As the cultivation of these values becomes more intensified, SSOE can distinguish itself with potential partners and incoming employees. “What we’ve developed is more focused on measurement,” said a company spokesperson.
Related Stories
| Jan 6, 2014
What is value engineering?
If you had to define value engineering in a single word, you might boil it down to "efficiency." That would be one word, but it wouldn’t be accurate.
| Jan 6, 2014
Green Building Initiative names Jerry Yudelson as new President
The Green Building Initiative announced today that it has named Jerry Yudelson as its president to accelerate growth of the non-profit and further leverage its green building assessment tools, including the highly recognized Green Globes rating system.
| Jan 6, 2014
An interview with Jerry Yudelson, President, The Green Building Initiative
Green building consultant Jerry Yudelson has been named President of the Green Building Initiative and the Green Globes rating program. BD+C's Robert Cassidy talks with Yudelson about his appointment and the future of Green Globes.
| Jan 3, 2014
Norman Foster proposes elevated bikeways throughout London
Called SkyCycle, the plan calls for the construction of wide, car-free decks atop the city's existing railway corridors.
| Jan 3, 2014
World’s tallest vegetated façade to sprout in Sri Lanka [slideshow]
Set to open in late 2015, the 46-story Clearpoint Residences condo tower will feature planted terraces circling the entire structure.
| Dec 31, 2013
Top 10 blog posts from 2013
BD+C editors and our contributors posted hundreds of blogs in 2013. Here's a recap of the most popular topics. They include valuable lessons from one of the first BIM-related lawsuits and sage advice from AEC legend Arthur Gensler.
| Dec 31, 2013
BD+C's top 10 stories of 2013
The world's tallest twisting tower and the rise of augmented reality technology in construction were among the 10 most popular articles posted on Building Design+Construction's website, BDCnetwork.com.
| Dec 30, 2013
Calatrava facing legal action from his home town over crumbling cultural complex
Officials with the city of Valencia, Spain, are blaming Santiago Calatrava for the rapid deterioration of buildings within its City of Arts and Sciences complex.
| Dec 24, 2013
First Look: Calatrava's Sharq Crossing in Doha, Qatar [video]
The government of Qatar has released details of Sharq Crossing, a massive infrastructure project designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
| Dec 23, 2013
MBI commends start of module setting at B2, world's tallest modular building
The first modules have been set at B2 residential tower at Atlantic Yards in New York, set to become the tallest modular building in the world.