Diversity
We firmly believe that the different viewpoints and experiences of a diverse workforce offer best value to our clients, and to our individual employees.
Atkins is a multi-local company; we assemble teams that cross geographical and cultural boundaries and recruit from most parts of the world.
It is essential to our success that we attract, retain, and develop talented individuals who reflect the diverse nature of the areas in which we work. Success in this regard is critical for us in order to build a balanced workforce to meet our clients’ needs, broaden our skills base, increase productivity, address a growing skills deficit in the science and engineering disciplines, and promote employee retention.
We strive to foster a climate of inclusion and respect for all people and to promote diversity as an integral element of our corporate culture. We are making progress in several areas through internal initiatives and our collaboration with clients and national organizations. Over the past five years we have seen an increase in the number of women and minorities in both managerial and senior technical and professional roles in Atkins.
Corporate Diversity Advisory Council (CDAC)
In North America, our CDAC actively champions Atkins’ diversity objectives through a variety of awareness, support, and training programs and by providing personal and professional growth opportunities for our employees.
Awareness Programs
At Atkins, we use many tools to create diversity awareness. We maintain a dedicated link on our company intranet that focuses on diversity. Some of the materials that can be found there include a monthly diversity calendar, ideas for diversity and inclusion activities, and news of recent diversity awards, as well as contact information for our CDAC members and for the organizations that the CDAC supports.
Affinity Groups
We encourage the formation of affinity groups within the company to provide meaningful forums and resources for women and minorities. One group is Women Inspiring Leadership (WIL) which was created to support, develop, and challenge women within the company both professionally and personally. WIL helps leverage the considerable talent of our professional women as partners and liaisons within the company (internally), as well as in our marketplace, community, and professional organizations (externally).
Sponsorships
Because we are committed to retaining, recruiting, developing, and elevating minority and women professionals, we support professional organizations such as the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), National Organization of Minority Architects, and Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS).
This support has extended to the provision of major scholarship programs, through our company’s foundation, for organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society for Women Engineers, COMTO, and WTS.
Training
In addition to online diversity training modules available to all employees through Atkins University, we also offer a one-day workshop tailored to senior leaders and managers. This highly acclaimed program is designed to help managers lead and work effectively with diverse teams and to recognize how each team member’s unique contribution ultimately improves the product that we deliver to our clients.