Women in Construction Summit 2019 | KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY LARA POLONI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE – EMEA AT AECOM

Good morning everyone, it's great to be here and what a fabulous turnout we have. It was only in September that I joined many of you, but really the precursor to this was the industry drinks that Jason and the team organized. It was such a vibrant evening and there were so many great conversations that we started. So to see everyone here today to continue the conversation, that's what it's all about. As Morgan said, it's great to see some men here. It's always interesting to chat to some of the men who say they don't know what it feels like to be a minority in terms of attending some events or in the workplace generally. So let's keep encouraging the men to come along to some of these conversations. The beauty of us all coming together as an industry, obviously there's so much happening in our own individual workplaces. We all have our own plans, strategies, and aspirations, but the power comes when we band together and we actually hear some different perspectives. Maybe we reflect on some of that and bring it back to our own workplace. So the importance of these events for me is huge. I don't have a lot of time, but I could talk all day about this stuff. I really love doing it. When I reflected last night on what are some of the key messages I wanted to share with you as I look back on my career and some of the things that are very front of mind for us at AECOM at the moment, and when I get asked one-on-one, particularly by young women coming up in our industry, what are some of the tips I would offer them, I think it really comes down to a few key points. Some of this is very much focused on experience and confidence, but I think it is about a few key points. Number one, we all work in this sort of construction and development industry. I think most of us in the room, whether we come at it from a design, planning, marketing, or legal perspective, we're very familiar with the term project management. I think we all need to look at our own careers, regardless of which stage we're at, whether we're starting out in the first couple of years or whether we're into the second, third, or fourth decade. Sometimes you've got to be a bit selfish and think about your career as a project. Just like you would manage a project at work, you have to sit down sometimes and plan out and say, what are the things that are going to be really important for me this year that I want to achieve? Sometimes that involves some difficult conversations, just like it does at work with clients. So that tip about managing your career like a project is an important one. Being bold is the second point. This is a hard one and it does come sometimes with confidence. I think if you all think about it, and I know this was certainly my experience as I progressed year on year, sometimes I used to leave a meeting early on in my career where I would be, for example, the only woman in the room and there would be ten other men on our side or the client side who were much more experienced, who had 10 or 20 years more experience. I remember thinking I actually had a really important point to say, I had a better answer or a better idea, and I would kick myself afterwards and say, why didn't I say that? Contrast that with an example that's very personal to me. I had a woman manager back in Australia where I started working who used to be the opposite of that. She would say, you've got to say something all the time, you've got to be like a man, you've got to bang the table a bit, you've got to use a few swear words. I've got to say that completely turned me off. When I started to reflect, I thought, no, what's wrong with just being yourself but actually backing yourself to be bold and have a point of view? I think that was another key point for me. Even today, regardless of how daunting the environment or a different setting might be, I think trusting your instinct is a really important tip that I would share as well. Being yourself is what makes us unique, it provides that individuality, that diversity of thought, that diversity of perspective. So when you really distill it down, those are the three sort of headlines for me. Let's continue some of these conversations. It's a great program today and I just wanted to thank Jason and the Middle East Consultant magazine team for putting on a summit like today. I'm based in London but I spend a lot of my time in the Middle East. I spend a lot of time in places like Saudi Arabia at the moment in particular. There is a lot of pent-up demand in our industry to have many more conversations like this. So I really commend Jason and the team. Hopefully this is the first of many ongoing conversations. Maybe there are some specific topics or focus areas that we feel are unique to this market that warrant some further exploration that we can take away after today. That would be great to see and I'll be following up with many of you. So, on to some other specific points for myself. A few personal reflections and then maybe some more practical tips and a bit more about myself. I've spent close to the last 30 years working in engineering and construction. My role the last few years has been the Chief Executive of the MEA region for AECOM. We're a Fortune 500 design, engineering, and project management consultant firm, mainly in the infrastructure sector, but obviously we interface a lot with the construction professionals which many of you represent. As was noted earlier, we're not the best sector in terms of the visibility of senior women rising through the ranks in terms of senior leadership roles. We are certainly not the standout performer in terms of some other indices that are receiving important attention at the moment, such as concepts like pay equity. Where I came from in Australia in the last few years, that has received a lot of prominence. Companies are now required to report on what they're doing around pay equity. It's happening now in places like the UK as well. It's only a matter of time before that conversation will become more prominent here in the Middle East. So I think we have a great opportunity in this sector to put some of the issues out there, have frank conversations, but more importantly come together and have some practical steps that we're going to focus on. That power, as I said earlier, comes in terms of taking a broader industry view and understanding the practicalities. For example, there are definitely some physical constraints about radically increasing the proportion of women out on some work sites in some parts of the world, but let's have a discussion about that. The team that I look after is about 20,000 professionals and we generate several billion dollars of revenue. When I came into this role a couple of years ago, being very candid with you, I noticed that a lot of the discussions around the progression of women and gender diversity had fallen off the agenda. Coming again from Australia, I think Australia and New Zealand have been very progressive in the last few years with respect to making sure it's back on the agenda. It receives a lot of government backing and industry backing, whether through the Property Council or through key infrastructure bodies. There was a groundswell of support to make that happen. Even in companies like our own, we had things like diversity inclusion panels, we had quite a lot of momentum historically, but it had just, as happens, with a lot of other competing pressures, we allowed it to fall off the agenda. It didn't have the same prominence on the business agenda like the financial performance or the safety performance. I think safety is a really important parallel to talk about. We know in our industry just how prominent the safety culture is, and particularly here in the Middle East, there has been so much improvement and conversation and marked increase in terms of seeing the safety culture. We could approach the discussion on the progression of women and gender diversity in the same way. It's a cultural issue, it's a leadership issue. There's an interesting train of thought that says it's purely a men's issue. I don't think it is. Obviously men continue to occupy most of the leadership roles in business, but I actually do believe it's a leadership issue because leaders are the ones, people like myself, we have a platform, we have the power to drive change within our own organizations. When you think down within your own organizations, it's not just the most senior leaders. A lot of the traction, momentum, and change will happen from the leaders, men and women, who actually have the influence to drive that change, who have the power to make decisions around which people will work on which projects. They also have the power to decide who gets recruited and who doesn't, who receives interview progression, who receives a certain pay rise, who receives some sort of recognition. So I think it's absolutely the leaders. Sometimes we have to, when we look at our own organizations, there seems to be good understanding around the business conversation around the importance of gender diversity, but sometimes it's that next level down that we have to empower and maybe give some more practical tools and tactics to, and get them to understand just some of the ongoing biases that can creep into work. Not intentionally. I think we've got to appreciate most people, most managers, don't say, I have an agenda not to promote the progression of women. Sometimes they don't know how to do it. I think that's certainly a lesson for me. I remember one conversation that I had with a boss of mine many years ago. I had just had my twins, so I was returning to work part time and I had a sort of director level role in the organization. I remember I received a phone call from him at home on one of the days that I wasn't working. He said to me, we're doing a lot of restructuring at work, we have a big MD role coming up, and it involves the new MD bringing together three new acquired companies. He went on and on and said it requires a lot of travel, it's a very demanding role, there's a lot of complexity in terms of how we bring these three organizations together. He went on and on for about ten minutes almost explaining to me already why I couldn't do the job. Then he said to me at the end, so I guess I just wanted to let you know that I think you would have been great for it, but I can understand 100% why you probably wouldn't want to do it. I remember saying to him at the time, well actually, that sounds amazing. I'm not currently set up in terms of how my husband and I or my family's support system would make that work, but how about I think about it tonight and give you a call back tomorrow? The moral of the story was that I did think about it, I talked to my husband about it, and I took that job. My boss at the time and I reflected on that very pivotal conversation. He just apologized over and over again. He didn't have bad intention when he rang me that day. He was coming at it from his own personal reference point. He said to me, I was used to my wife not working and staying at home and looking after our two children, so I was trying to support you in terms of not wanting you to feel pressure. But inadvertently, what happened was he was effectively making me feel like I was discounted from that opportunity. We often talked about that example for many years afterwards. The poor guy, he was the example for that. But it just shows you the importance of leaders and people who hold the power for some of those critical career decisions to not come in with any bias around a person's gender, current circumstances, or how they might apply themselves to a future challenge. So many interesting examples. Coming to work in a place like the Middle East, I have been blown away. Looking at our own organization, we've got a great table here today, but there are so many talented young women who are ready for that next career challenge. I think the more we can share some of the practical examples that each of us are promoting at our own workplace and giving some prominence and a voice to the opportunity that exists in this sector to really take a lead, that's what we should focus on. Some other practical tips from me. Building your networks. I know this is a really hard one. I remember sometimes when I was working on projects and working very long hours, there was the opportunity to join some colleagues for industry networking drinks or something at 7 o'clock and you have to go into town and get the train home. Some days, we know what it's like, you can think of nothing worse. I can imagine here in the summertime, in particular, you can't think of anything worse. You've had a busy day and there's an opportunity to attend some industry networking events. Push yourself to go to some of those because you might surprise yourself by finding such a great source of support. It's different than the support that exists at work. It's relatively easy to talk about some of these things sometimes and to hear what's happening. Sometimes it's reassuring to know that we're not the only ones or we might not be the only organization. For example, it's very empowering also to hear what other companies might be doing to really take a leadership role with respect to maternity leave, workplace flexibility, or mentoring schemes. You can be armed with some of that real information and bring it back to your own workplace. Not only that, sometimes you can make great friends and catch up informally for a coffee with some other friends that you make in the industry and have a very independent conversation and seek some advice differently to what you might be able to do at work where you might feel that you can't. So I think those industry networks are key. Even for me, there are a number of forums where we come together with other industry CEOs and I always learn something in terms of what's happening in other organizations. So it's really important. A practical example of what we talk about in our own workplace, very simple but very powerful. Over the last few years, particularly in the AMEA region and in the Australia New Zealand region, we started these what we call EM circles, which are really built on the Sheryl Sandberg concept of leaning in and having someone else to share and talk to about a lot of the workplace issues that are most important to you. Our aspiration has been that there would be an EM circle operating in every single one of our offices in AECOM. There would be a leader in that particular office, men or women, who would be the moderator. The local group would come up with the two or three key things that were very important for the women in that location. It's interesting to see sometimes there are some very similar topics that are coming up, whether it's in Australia, London, or Abu Dhabi. One that comes up consistently is, how do I get support with having some difficult conversations about myself and my own career progression? We were able to bring in some external speakers, other leaders, a whole range of people who were then able to facilitate a very candid conversation around how you get organized for some of these conversations. So I think it's some very simple things. Things like that don't cost a lot of money. It's just the commitment to make sure that a few times a year you're coming together. So that was one very practical example that I've shared with a lot of colleagues in other businesses. Mentoring and sponsorship obviously is a lot of discussion around that. Many of you would have quite structured mentoring schemes. I cannot overemphasize how important I think informal and formal mentoring networks are. There's an interesting discussion going on around the importance of sponsorship. Certainly in my workplace, we have had a program for the last 18 months of active sponsorship. Everyone in my executive team has been assigned to high potential women. We are accountable to each other to make sure that we are talking about and being accountable for what we are personally doing to assist these women with their own career progression. That's the difference between sponsoring and mentoring. Mentoring you generally talk, sponsors have to have a commitment to talk about and promote and make themselves accountable for the progression of these women. So I think mentoring and sponsoring, the importance of those two concepts is very important. Another key tip, staying agile. This is all about being open to taking on some different career opportunities. Sometimes it involves taking on a role in a different location. Global mobility happened for me quite late in my career, moving to the UK after working for the rest of my career in Australia. That was a big move, it's complicated, it's not as easy as everyone thinks, but it really put me outside of my comfort zone. I am so pleased that I did it. Moving from Australia to London is relatively culturally easy, I would say. Obviously it's a much bigger market, there's complexity in terms of the work that we do in Europe, but I have absolutely loved working in the Middle East because as many of you know, there is such a difference in terms of how business is done. It's been fascinating for me. The biggest cultural learning for me has been the last two years working in Saudi Arabia where there is such a huge rate of social change and transformation going on. Being part of that, all these types of conversations, there's a real hunger for that. There's a real commitment to developing that next generation of men and women. Partnerships with universities to talk about the importance of STEM careers and careers in construction, given the very ambitious development agenda, is absolutely critical. Being open to some of those moves. Sometimes those moves can be lateral ones. I know I've certainly taken on opportunities to work for a year or two in a very different business unit. It might not seem like a vertical progression, but it's more of that lattice style of horizontal and lateral progression which then gave me the opportunity to have some different perspectives in another part of the business. Secondments to client organizations, I've done a number of long-term secondments. I think they're really important for you to understand the customer perspective and again just see how amazingly different it can be working in a client organization. So I would really encourage people to do that. Back to being bold, as I said, having your own style and bringing that to work is the most important thing for me. A couple of other areas that I think we need to continue to push ourselves on. Asking for feedback is hard. Sometimes you want to do that initially with people who you trust and value, and you have to encourage them to be very candid with that feedback. Sometimes it's easier to say, okay, what are some of my strengths and some of the areas for improvement? There's different ways of framing that conversation, but I think being open to feedback is really important. When it comes to our careers, it's critically important. I've seen so many times over the years people come and see me after their performance appraisals and they say, I'm really just so disappointed because I thought this year I was going to be promoted to director level or I thought I was going to be the top pick for being considered for this role. When you peel that conversation back, the most practical tip that I have is you've got to get out in front of those conversations. I say this to men as well. Nothing is too late when you're disappointed at the end of the year. It's really important to set those goals and have alignment between you and your manager so everyone is clear on what are the practical things that the manager and the employee are going to do to get there at the end of the year. I think that absolutely works so that there's no surprises on either side. That's an example of managing your career like a project. Just like you have deliverables and milestones, same with your career. Make your aspirations known. Sometimes as women, I can tell you, I never used to be as bold as some of the men in our organization who would say, in three years I want to be the CEO, I think I should be getting paid this much. I think many of us feel the same way, we don't sort of talk about it like that. But sometimes when you're having those career planning conversations, back yourself and say, this is my aspiration. Don't give it a fixed time, but I see myself progressing to this or I'd like to, what do you think are some of the skills, attributes, or experiences that I might need to round out on that path to get towards that aspiration? Finally, on this topic, pay progression. Really hard to have a conversation around pay. I know, speaking from example, I have been in the past a really bad example. I think I got to probably the first 20 years of working in AECOM and I never once spoke about my salary expectations. That's bad, that's really bad. Yet there were lots of senior men who I was their manager coming to me well-prepared, well-armed, and saying, I've got some of the latest industry benchmarking information, I know what competitor X is paying. They would come to me well-prepared for a conversation, and I'm thinking I'm not even having that own conversation with my own manager. I remember I had a conversation with my boss and he said to me, why aren't you talking to me about this? Why aren't you jumping over the couch and leaping out and saying, yeah, I'm ready to do that job and let's have a conversation around salary? It's a really hard one. I've got to generalize and say I think women are not as good as men in having that conversation. But I've learned to be organized and to make sure that I am putting that on the agenda too. So I would encourage you to get some practical advice. Be well-prepared though. Don't pluck numbers out of the sky. There's plenty of industry information out there around what the market is paying. If you've done that homework around ticking the boxes with your progression at the same time, I think that's the sort of level of planning that would be good. Then just back yourself to have that conversation. So I think there's some food for thought in terms of inspiring the next generation of professionals. I'm an optimist. Conversations like what we're going to have today are a good start. Our own organizations, we're on a journey. That's what I say about our own organization. I'm pleased to say that here in the Middle East, we're pretty much 50/50 now in terms of our graduate intake. It starts with graduate intake. If you can't get that balance in the early years, we know how hard it is to maintain that pipeline. Sometimes we've certainly recognized that we need to supplement the pipeline with lateral hires and to keep that diversity going. Some other things we have also recognized, particularly from the strong engineering base that our firm has, the engagement with universities is good. We have to start a lot earlier though to continue to promote the benefits of a great career in STEM, getting back into schools. As a sector, that certainly is something that we can do. For International Women's Day this year, we had female students from two international schools in Abu Dhabi who came into our offices and learned about what engineers really do, to dispel some of those myths. I'm really pleased to say that we have a cooperation agreement now with Princess Nourah University, back to the comment around Saudi where I think there's dramatic opportunity for the progression of women. So I hope my short story has provided at least some ideas for you or some conversation starters. Remember, as I said earlier, let's back ourselves, let's trust our instinct, and give ourselves the confidence for next time. I hope you have a great day. Another practical tip, make yourself introduce yourself to at least three other people that you've not met before. Take yourself outside of that comfort zone, which as I said I used to struggle with, but I think it's a little tip. So thank you for listening and have a great day. Thank you again.