Future-proofing the workforce in engineering R&D

Rapid changes in technology are empowering engineers in R&D to lead many thrilling developments across industries, whether it’s the implementation of game-changing clean energy projects or the creation of super-strong new materials.

While the endless possibilities for innovation are exciting for business, the possibilities also present a major workforce challenge: How can an organization ensure its professionals have the most cutting-edge skills and knowledge needed for our changing times?

Assessing the talent gap

A recent Bain & Company report opens in new tab/window on the talent gap in engineering and R&D shared a few notable trends:

• 73% of engineering- and R&D-focused (ER&D) companies report talent gaps.

• The number of graduates in STEM disciplines grew at an average annual rate of 1.8% from 2016 to 2019 in OECD countries, while the population reaching retirement age (65 and older) during the same period grew 6.2% each year.

• The global percentage of engineers quitting their jobs at engineering companies has risen to 16% to 17%.

• About 40% of young engineering professionals globally say they are likely to change jobs within the next six months.

• The talent shortage is most acute in data engineering and analytics, cybersecurity, and the Internet of Things.

These are sobering statistics for any engineering organization that wants to maintain a strong R&D department and remain competitive in today’s innovation-hungry environment. This is especially true as sustainability and clean technologies take center stage.

“The overriding concern for government officials and companies should be the lack of a sufficiently skilled workforce to undertake the scale of new projects required for a low-carbon economy,” said Jean-Marc Rodriguez, former president of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), in an interview last year with Elsevier Connect opens in new tab/window:

Tending to your talent base

With retirements on the uptick and a significant number of young engineers possibly feeling ambivalent about their current employment, companies need to work harder than ever to foster a good work culture and hospitable environment where engineers will want to stay and grow their career. Everything from good pay to opportunities for advancement is important in maintaining a workforce of the best and brightest engineers.

However, it’s not only about attracting and retaining the best talent. In an ever-evolving landscape where new skills are prized, organizations must invest in their engineers by growing their capabilities in-house. This means developing a robust program for training and educational opportunities that will enable employees to continue learning and developing new technical skills.

In its Insights2Action opens in new tab/window blog, Deloitte advised upskilling and reskilling existing employees by identifying people in the existing workforce with technology skills and interests: “For example, Java programmers can be trained in cloud-native development. What would matter most in this process is a keen interest and basic aptitude in technology, regardless of where the worker sits within the organization.”

Learning from employees

A Harvard Business Review article opens in new tab/window on upskilling programs emphasized the importance of getting input directly from employees and managers to better understand what additional skills they want and need to attain. This input can come from company-wide surveys and from direct meetings with managers that are designed to help employees with career development. This information must be gathered regularly, assessed and acted upon.

HBR reports how Medicus Healthcare Solutions opens in new tab/window, upon noting an increase in resignations, acted quickly to gather feedback from employees and was ultimately able to “identify barriers and opportunities to enhance the upskilling experience at key moments in the employee lifecycle. The result was a layered, four-week program that, when designed and implemented, improved retention by 50%.”

Hiring for capability, not skill

The e-commerce company McMaster-Carr opens in new tab/window is another organization that takes the mission of growing its employees’ skill sets seriously. The company thinks outside the box when recruiting, considering people who may not have academic backgrounds in tech for tech roles, as they focus on capability as much as skill.

Claire Markey was a statistics major hired by McMaster-Carr to be a systems engineer. “McMaster-Carr emphasizes teaching young engineers, and management is not afraid to give new hires big challenges and responsibilities,” she said in an interview with RippleMatch opens in new tab/window. “New engineers who are eager to learn complex systems and solve complicated problems are given the chance to succeed regardless of their background.”

McMaster-Carr pays 100% of tuition, fees and books, which enabled Markey to earn a degree in data science. The company also has a robust mentorship program that provides both formal and informal mentoring.

Building an upskilling platform

Upskilling and reskilling is, of course, easier said than done. How do you identify which skills most need to be invested in? Which employees are interested in developing those skills? And how to match them to the right role?

An Accenture case study opens in new tab/window featuring the chemical company Henkel explains how the Germany-based multinational established a successful digital upskilling program in four basic steps:

• The Digital Capabilities Assessment. Employees took part in an anonymous assessment of their strengths and skill gaps, providing an understanding of current capabilities and their aptitude in skills that will be in greater demand in the next few years.

• Digital Upskilling. With strengths and gaps identified, learning programs were conceptualized for different job families and a learning management system (LMS) was developed.

• Creating a Digital Talent Experience. New talent-management processes were developed in a cloud HR system, enabling a new way to assess employees’ existing roles and their ambitions.

• Digital Talent Sourcing. A “recruiter toolbox” created for digital roles within the new talent management system established a better connection between the technical skills per a certain role, helping recruiters find the right talent for the right role.

Creating well-organized systems like this could help companies better handle all aspects of the upskilling challenge for their engineers.

Looking to engineering societies and institutions for continued education

Both companies and individual engineers should not lose sight of the considerable value of engineering societies opens in new tab/window, which provide professional resources for all different fields and specialties.

According to Ed Almond opens in new tab/window, chief executive and secretary of the Institution of Engineering and Technology opens in new tab/window (IET):

We offer a wealth of content and training on core areas of sustainability, dedicated to the needs of engineers. From our academic publishing program that is working to make an impact on the UN SDGs, to our practical best practice publications, training courses and thought-leadership reports, sustainability is at the core of our work.

These kinds of offerings are typical of many engineering societies.

“We have several communities with the mission of growing a collaborative network across genders, ages and specializations, and supporting equity in the fields of geoscience and engineering,” former EAGE President Rodriguez opens in new tab/window told Elsevier Connect opens in new tab/window. “We are also dedicated to offering motivational advice and mentoring, and sharing career opportunities,” he added, noting that EAGE has nearly 20 courses, e-lectures and webinars on energy transition and sustainable development.

“Industry leaders have an exciting opportunity to reimagine their workforce while they navigate the energy transition,” he said. “How can we reskill the current workforce to transition to low-carbon roles and attract new talents? How can we bridge the gap and identify the levels of crossover and proximity between current carbon-intensive skills and new, low-carbon skills?”

Knowledge resources for upskilling and reskilling

Easy-to-access information resources are vital for helping engineers keep up with evolving knowledge and acquire the skills they need. In addition to formal training programs and educational initiatives, engineers need to be able to pull up technical references, books and tools to provide them with critical support when they are preparing for or working on new projects.

Knovel opens in new tab/window is an important resource for this kind of information and data. A book like Hands-on Data Science and Python Machine Learning opens in new tab/window, for example, can be a welcome resource to an engineer looking to expand into data science. Similarly, a reference like Python Machine Learning opens in new tab/window can provide a much-needed introduction into machine learning topics for an engineer whose R&D department is increasingly exploring AI and ML applications.

What new topic or skill interests you? We invite you to visit Knovel to begin your search opens in new tab/window.