Construction World August 2019

MARKETPLACE

Ranked AMONG TOP

Employer branding firm Universum SA recently published the findings of its annual rankings survey to reveal the country’s ‘Most Attractive Employers 2019’. Global engineering and infrastructure advisory company Aurecon ranked sixth for professionals in the Engineering/ Technology category and in the Top 20 for students.

Dean Naidoo, Aurecon People Leader Africa.

D ean Naidoo, Aurecon People Leader Africa, comments: “Aurecon is honoured to rank among companies such as Google, Transnet, Sasol, Microsoft and BMW in this list. Many of our employees started at Aurecon as graduates and have gone on to form illustrious, fulfilling careers. Being ranked in Universum’s Most Attractive Employers 2019 list is testament to what can be achieved when you focus on maintaining a strong employee brand.” Close to 23 000 working professionals and over 45 000 students participated in the survey to share their views on the employers they resonate with, their career goals, and what they expect from a place of work. According to Universum, the tough economic, political and social landscape has had a major impact on both students and working professionals. The two target groups prioritise security and stability from employers, with the nearly 70 000 respondents asking themselves if their company has what it takes to survive the current tough economic conditions. “Aurecon is a global company and has a strong presence in Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. It remains a leader in the consulting engineering space in Africa through its unconventional and innovative approaches. Our business is about achieving a differentiated service offering that aims to have a societal impact and make a difference to the end user,” says Naidoo. Attracting and retaining top talent The survey results also highlighted that there is a greater need for employers to engage with talent. Over half of young South African professionals surveyed reported that they were unhappy in their jobs and looking to change employers within the next 12 months. On average, employees change jobs in the first two years of employment leading to employers carrying the training and development costs to the benefit of other companies.

Naidoo says that Aurecon invests heavily in graduates and supports them throughout the important milestones in their careers. “Aurecon offers an Emerging Professionals Programme, which is a three-year development pathway for employees with four or less years of experience in their respective fields. The programme serves as a guideline about the kind of training that all graduates must undergo within the first three years of employment. This covers a range of training, including soft skills and other Aurecon internal training, which is aligned to the ECSA (Engineering Council of South Africa) requirements for professional registration,” he says. Millennials want to be supported in their development Other Universum survey results revealed that while Generation Z (people born between 1995–2010) are more focused on remuneration, millennials have a higher focus on leaders that will support their development. At Aurecon, all emerging professionals and graduates are allocated a mentor and provided with road to registration support. To help them broaden their experience, graduates participate in rotations within and across units and locations. In addition, there is an option to apply for financial assistance through its postgraduate bursary fund. “Being innovative, creative and entrepreneurial are key attributes of students who join Aurecon. They are encouraged to create innovative solutions to clients’ complex problems by applying innovation and digital technology such as BIM and blockchain. Young professionals have an opportunity to explore challenges and create unique solutions through unconventional thinking. We also have significant representation at CESA’s (Consulting Engineers of South Africa) Young Professionals Forum, which is supported by Aurecon’s People Team,” concludes Naidoo. 

A COMPONENT IN SA’S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY CRASH

The issue of delayed or non-payment of subcontractors by main contractors within the South African construction industry is occurring at a more frequent rate. As such, subcontractors are currently faced with the dilemma of either accepting work frommain contractors on onerous terms and risking late or non-payment or closing their doors, and subcontractors are finding that trading under these conditions is no longer viable.

W hilst unpacking some of the issues behind late or non-payment at a recent workshop held by the Master Builders’ Association Western Cape, regarding the challenges and risks that this is posing to subcontractors, it was noted that some main contractors are making changes to the standard contract agreements used. These included, amongst others, the 2018 6.2 JBCC Nominated/Selected Sub-Contract Agreement and the current Master Builders South Africa, (MBSA), Domestic Sub-Contract Agreement. These changes serve to unfairly shift the balance of contracting risk and adversely affect the subcontractors’ contractual rights. Subcontractors are

accepting this practice simply because they are desperate to ensure continuity of work for their employees. In warning the different participants who sign these altered agreements, Executive Director of the MBAWC, Allen Bodill, reminded those present at the workshop, that it is ultimately up to every main and subcontracting entity to carefully assess their own commercial and enterprise risks and weigh these against the possible rewards, when deciding whether accepting work in terms of these altered contract conditions is acceptable or not. A subcontractor at the workshop shared that one of the reasons

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2019