In this new blog series "Discussing Diversity," Alfred Benesch & Company Marketing Communications Manager Chad Bay answers questions about diversity, equity and inclusion and how Alfred Benesch & Company contributes to a welcoming workplace environment for all.

What is the overall mission of Alfred Benesch & Company?

Through engineering, planning and design, Benesch aims to improve people’s daily lives. We create spaces, provide connections and improve infrastructure to enhance mobility, sustainability and safety in communities nationwide. We are a multi-disciplinary mid-size professional services firm—large enough to handle our clients’ most complex and challenging assignments, but nimble enough to offer an exceptional level of customer service. It's a great place to learn and grow your skills while having a positive impact in your community.

How do you incorporate values of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace?

Benesch takes hold of every opportunity to involve all employees in company initiatives and professional development programs while maintaining transparent leadership. Through regular touchpoints, employees can hear directly from the company’s corporate management team about new growth plans, HR programming and more.

The combined efforts of our HR; recruitment; and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion teams are focused on infusing EDI into every company process with an added focus on allyship.

What DE&I programs or initiatives does the company have in place?

Our employee-driven Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Focus Team is focused on making Benesch a more inclusive, diverse and equitable place to work. Founded just over a year ago, we’ve been working on the following initiatives so far:

• Instituting regular educational and growth opportunities for all employees in areas of ED&I. Our CHRO is currently establishing an allyship training program for all manager-level staff and higher. The ED&I team provides educational resources to employees about various holidays. So far this year, we’ve celebrated Juneteenth and Pride Month by providing historical context surrounding these holidays with links to further educational resources and various nonprofit organizations to support. We also have an ongoing Learning Fridays program, which provides training opportunities to all employees covering a variety of topics each month, including ED&I.
• Establishing Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which create professional and social networking spaces for employees based on specific identity traits such as gender, sexuality, race and others. The ED&I team proposed ERG formation in late spring 2021. We are working with our CHRO and HR team to launch these groups later this fall. 
• Reviewing our employee policies and procedures to ensure equitable treatment for all. This is an ongoing process and will cover many different areas. Starting in 2022, we will be using the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index as our new benchmark for ensuring equitable treatment for LGBTQ+ employees. We are beginning the formal review and application process for the index this winter. We will be researching additional benchmarking tools for other race, gender and ability identities this winter, as well.
• Establishing benchmarks for measuring and rating the diversity of our staff at all levels within the company.

How do you ensure that all employees feel welcome, including new hires and interns?

Benesch offers a comprehensive onboarding process for all employees, including our interns, which helps them understand the professional and personal resources provided to them by Benesch. Our formal internship program provides an opportunity for interns to meet once a week with various company leaders and encourages participation in different tech group meetings and Toastmasters (public speaking club) events.

While each office at Benesch is different in terms of its size and the type of work completed there, the thing that remains the same across the board is our commitment to each other—not just as colleagues completing work for our clients, but as people building personal relationships to help new employees find their niche, build their skills and get to know their co-workers through social and service events.

Whether employees are interested in joining a tech group to learn more about a specific technical skillset or want to make a difference as part of one of our four employee focus teams (Rewards & Recognition, Corporate Social Responsibility, Work-Life Balance and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion), there are a multitude of ways to get involved at Benesch that go beyond the work they do at their desk or in the field.

Benesch also conducts an annual engagement survey to understand the employee experience and how well they feel the company is doing at being an inclusive place to work and grow. These surveys are taken very seriously by company leadership—many of the things that make Benesch a great place to work are the direct result of survey data from employees.
 

Why do you think it’s important to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace environment?

For me, personally, I believe that diverse and inclusive work environments empower individuals to bring their unique backgrounds, skillsets and identities to their work—that kind of authenticity is a game-changer when it comes to enjoying your job and the people you work with every day. It promotes better problem solving and more effective collaboration within work groups. It’s a win-win!

What are you looking for in UD students who want to intern or work at your company? How can they stand out when speaking with your recruiters at our career fairs?

Benesch interns are excited to get hands-on experience in their field while developing other skills like public speaking, technical writing and communication, and participating in extracurricular events like our summer outings and community service programs. It’s not uncommon to see interns out in the construction field surveying an active project during the day and then rushing off to meet their local office’s volleyball team for a match that night.

Our formal internship program also allows interns to interact with company leaders to learn more about the industry from the business side, ask questions and more. The students who take advantage of these opportunities tend to intern with Benesch for multiple summers and, ultimately, land entry-level positions with us after they graduate. If that kind of internship experience is appealing to them, we want to know—they’d probably be a great a fit!

Are you currently hiring interns or entry-level employees?

We are! We have open positions across the company. We are working on building our Summer 2022 intern class, and we have entry-level positions available year-round. You can check out benesch.com/careers to learn more about life at Benesch and explore all available positions across the company, or check out our opportunities on Handshake.

Is there anything else UD students should know about your organization?

We strive to be the company of choice for top industry talent. This is rooted in a deep understanding that we are only as good as the people we have. It may sound cliché, but we truly believe that our employees are our greatest asset. As a mid-size firm, we pride ourselves on providing a true professional home to our employees where they are valued for the individual skills and experiences they bring to our team. At Benesch, employees aren’t at risk of becoming “just a number.”

We work hard to sustain a culture that is inclusive, collaborative, supportive and respectful of work/life balance. We also strive to be a very transparent company—keeping employees in the know about the direction we're headed and how we might get there. We want everyone to feel empowered and understand the role they play in helping us achieve our company goals.

I came to Benesch right out of college as a temp-to-hire employee. I thought that I'd work here for four months to get my footing in a new city and then take off when the contract was over. Fast forward to 2021...I'm celebrating my 10th anniversary with the company. I've moved up from being an assistant to managing my own growing team of marketing experts and I have the honor of being co-chair of our Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Focus Team. I honestly can't imagine myself anywhere else; it really is a great place to work.