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OPINION
Urban Engineers’ LGBTQ+ employee resource group, Urban Alliance, at an in-person meet-up.
If you want to hire people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, it’s important to understand them and provide a comfortable, motivating space for all. Employee resource groups for recruiting
I n the past couple of years, the engineering industry has seen a lot of movement in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion. I find that aspect of work culture to be very important, as do a lot of people. There are some who may feel like DEI initiatives are overused these days. This can have the unwanted effect of pushing them away and making the issue seem less important than it is.
Tim Dunn, P.E.
At the end of the day, no matter what industry you work in, there will be a diverse array of human beings who make up your staff and the hiring pool you are recruiting from. It is important that organizations – including those in consulting engineering – recognize this and make efforts to support employees and candidates from all backgrounds. Urban Engineers has long supported internal networking groups for staff, like the Urban Younger Members Forum and the Urban Women’s Professional Network. When I returned to the firm – after having taken a few years off to travel – I saw an opportunity to start up an LGBTQ+ employee resource group at the company, which has been a common resource
in other industries. I realized that this group could be a benefit to both employees and the firm. When our resource group – which we aptly named the Urban Alliance – began to meet, we realized that our purpose became more than just rainbow flags or sharing an occasional post on social media. Our purpose is about awareness and the internal culture of the company. As an employee resource group, our goal is to inform the company about the LGBTQ+ community and help it to cultivate those dynamics, as there are many of us already in the firm and many great potential employees out there who can help lead our future
See TIM DUNN, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 16, 2023, ISSUE 1472
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