The new graduate employee resource group at Fluor Canada offers professional development and volunteer opportunities.Supplied
In her two and a half years with Fluor Canada Ltd., structural engineer-in-training (EIT) Michaella Chemello has been amazed at the community and the opportunities for career growth.
“We’re encouraged to share our thoughts and set goals,” says Chemello. “I told my supervisor that I wanted to gain site experience and witness the development of a project first-hand. Within weeks I was offered a site assignment and I’ve now been in the role for a few months.”
With its Canadian headquarters in Calgary, Fluor Canada provides professional and technical solutions to deliver engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, and project management services for clients throughout Canada and the world. Its DRIVE program (Developing Reliable, Resilient, Innovative, Valued Engineers), developed for EITs who are working toward becoming a professional engineer, pairs each with a mentor to ensure they accomplish the 22 different competencies needed to apply for their professional designation at the end of their work experience.
“Fluor’s approach to attracting younger employees has completely changed since I started 23 years ago,” says Kim Jennings, director of the multi-projects group and management sponsor for the employee resource group (ERG) that supports new graduates. “These individuals are extremely valuable. We want to be adaptable and appeal to the next generation.”
Fluor created this new graduate ERG for interns and employees in their first five years with the company post-graduation. It offers professional development, social events, volunteer opportunities and an annual conference. As sponsor, Jennings advocates for the time and attention that new employees deserve from management, right up to Mark Brown, vice-president and general manager of Fluor Canada.
“I was impressed that managers come out to our events in an effort to get to know us,” says Chemello. “The management team makes a point to know each of us by name.”
This may be more exceptional given that Chemello was hired during the pandemic. On her first day in the office, there were only five others on her project team there. But Fluor implemented activities to encourage people to connect, including a socially distanced fire pit in the front courtyard every other Friday. Connectivity and community have only increased since the pandemic.
Chemello has found several ways to volunteer through the company. She co-chaired the steering committee for the new-grad ERG and found herself seconded to the United Way of Calgary and Area. Each year, Fluor nominates an employee to support the charity’s giving campaign while still remaining on Fluor’s payroll. She also helped put together a Fluor team of cyclists for an event in support of the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
Fluor Canada also has a talent development program that includes a formal mentoring component. Employees talk to their mentor about being assigned to projects, taking courses or attending conferences. Some do rotational programs to learn different areas or study through Fluor University, the online portal to a catalogue of courses from communication skills to technical engineering and project management.
Chemello notes that Fluor teams provide a supportive environment for an employee of any experience. “Everyone encourages asking questions and being curious. It offers a safe space to learn and grow.”
Fluor’s work on energy transition and sustainability is important to many young employees. Because the company is so varied, employees can explore many different career paths, working on projects with budgets from hundreds of thousands to billions of dollars in different industries and locations.
Jennings says she’s had five or six different roles during her 23 years with the company. “Because we’re a large, diverse company, employees have an opportunity to move their career in a hundred different ways and still stay with Fluor.”
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Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.