Opinion piece written by College of Leadership and Management WA committee member and Immediate Past President Francis Norman AFIEAust CEngA EngExec NER
Periods of economic upheaval, such as the engineering profession is currently experiencing in WA, are often some of the best times to rethink how we do things, to question the sacred cows and find new or novel ways to restructure and plan for the future.
Much of our past has been dominated by large greenfield projects, projects where the work was often managed using practices with their roots a century ago in Samuel Taylor’s theories of scientific management rather than modern forms of leadership. While some of these ideas may have served us well in the past, in the modern engineering workplace, where value should be placed on the knowledge of the individual rather than their ability to perform as an automaton we need to seek out ways to recognise the knowledge and make the workplace friendlier to everyone.
We need to look toward rewards based on outcomes rather than attendance. So that organisations and individuals are recognised for the value they add rather than the hours worked, regardless of the tasks allocated. We need to find ways to include all members of the profession equally, making work more family friendly for those with young families, ageing families and who simply choose a flexible work life. We must trust our personnel to work outside of the traditional office without penalty, and to balance their work with their personal lives as those lives evolve.
We also need to allow personnel to have more flexible careers, to live portfolio lives, where they may work for more than one employer and even for more than one industry simultaneously, sometimes balancing paid and volunteer work, recognising that every activity adds value to them as a whole. Value that can be of advantage in each aspect of their lives.
But, we need to find ways to do this that improve our productivity, increase our value as a profession and society, allow our industries to become more competitive and attractive and reward people fairly for their contribution.
Much of what I have described above has been discussed for many years but we have often been too busy to put it into effect. I believe that, while many of us are less busy, now is a perfect time to review our practices going forward. To take the time to find ways for us all to move forward together ready for the next challenges ahead.