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The ACEC Research Institute, in partnership with Zweig Group, has relaunched the Community Building Roadmap (formerly known as the Diversity Roadmap), a tool that captures the state of inclusion and belonging across the engineering industry and highlights opportunities for firms to strengthen their workplace culture and community impact.

Since its original launch in 2023, nearly 200 ACEC member firms have participated in this initiative. The Roadmap offers engineering firm executives a comprehensive, data-driven tool that assesses the maturity of a firm’s inclusion and belonging program and provides actionable suggestions on how firms can make further progress.

The ACEC Research Institute’s Community Building Roadmap is an inclusion and belonging maturity model and benchmarking tool for ACEC member firms.

The Community Building Roadmap is essential for engineering firms representing the built environment for several reasons:

Assessing Current State and Future Progress: The Community Building Roadmap allows engineering firms to measure their current inclusion and belonging efforts and progress over time. It provides quantitative and qualitative insights to help firms understand their current position and identify opportunities to strengthen their culture and impact.

Identifying Gaps: Engineering firms can now compare their inclusion and belonging practices with industry standards and select peer groups. These insights help firms pinpoint gaps between their current efforts and future goals, highlighting opportunities for continued growth and improvement.

Attracting and Retaining Talent: A strong inclusion and belonging focus has become increasingly important for attracting and retaining talent. The Community Building Roadmap helps engineering firms identify strategies to create an inclusive and equitable work environment, improving their ability to recruit and retain a diverse range of employees.

Fostering Innovation and Creativity: Teams benefit from diverse perspectives and experiences, and engineering firms with a culture of inclusion and belonging where everyone feels that their voice will be heard develop more innovative solutions for complex challenges in the built environment.

Enhancing Decision-Making: The Community Building Roadmap provides valuable data and insights that inform decision-making processes within the engineering firm. By understanding their strengths and weaknesses, firms can make informed decisions regarding talent acquisition, training, policies, and resource allocation to advance their inclusion and belonging goals and investments effectively.

Meeting Client and Stakeholder Expectations: Many clients and stakeholders now prioritize inclusion and belonging. Engineering firms that demonstrate this commitment through benchmarking and improvement initiatives are more likely to align with the values and expectations of their clients and stakeholders, enhancing their work quality, reputation, and competitiveness.

Additional Community Building Roadmap Resources

YouTube video
YouTube video

The Community Building Roadmap provides engineering firms representing the built environment with a structured approach to assess, monitor, and advance their inclusion and belonging efforts. It allows them to align with industry standards, attract diverse talent, and create an inclusive workplace that promotes innovation, creativity, and sustainable growth.

Sponsored By:

zweig group

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