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Salaries must rise to retain talent says Jeannie Edwards

We asked leading industry figures which three things they are most excited about for 2016 and what are the biggest risks? Diversity and inclusion are gaining traction but we must pay to keep the best, says MWH director for HR, Jeannie Edwards

Looking ahead to 2016, I’m most excited about:

Flexible working – the change in working habits; working from home or flexible ways to accommodate personal as well as professional ambitions are becoming more acceptable.

Diversity – an increasing focus on diversity and inclusion. Hopefully, this is beginning to get some genuine traction, instead of mere lip service being paid to it.

Being more sustainable – climate change is bringing new challenges to companies, but also new opportunities.

While the biggest risks are:

Internet – cyber-attacks on the rise.

Salaries – the culture of engineering preventing an increase in salaries; we will continue to lose good people to higher-paying industries.

Industry representation – further consolidation of companies may influence larger companies to rely
on internal resources rather than turning to external bodies such as ACE for support. ACE needs to increase its lobbying and other services that larger companies require, as well as continuing to provide a service that the smaller companies need.