Ok who's next? Our role in developing and mentoring the next generation of Public Works engineers

Dan Stevens and Josiah Simmonds had a presentation of this subject the 8th of June under the IFME World Congress on Municipal Engineering & IPWEA International Public Works Conferenceis. Dan is a  a Chartered Environmentalist and Chartered Water and Environmental manager with over 30 years international experience in the water industry. Josiah graduated from the University of Canterbury with a BE(Hons) and has been with Opus International Consultants as an Environmental Engineer for two years. He has been involved in a number of key earthquake recovery projects in Christchurch and has experience in stormwater treatment design, hydraulic modelling, water and wastewater pipeline design, and contract management,

As we focus our minds on sustainaility and effectively managing and developing our public assets for future generations, it is important that we don't forget perhaps our most important assets, our staff. We all have a role to play in succession planning by mentoring and encouraging the proffesional development of the next generation of Public Works proffesionals; those that will take over responsibility for managing public assets as we retire from the workforce and to whom we will "pass on the baton".

This paper will discuss the challenges involved in mentoring younger staff, in recognising their different needs and ways of doing things and in helping to prepare them for the challenges ahead. Different ways to mentor and encourage the staff, and also how to challenge ourselves to "let go" and to freely share our knowledge with new employees. The paper also look at the importance of supporting the professional development of staff by investing in membership of appropriate organisations.

I will encourage you to read the full paper, as linked in PDF, by quoting Josiah Simmonds on whats the most important thing an employer can do: "show them they're a piece in the puzzle"

Full paper: Stevens Dan.pdf