Engineering Leaders went global in April 2024 with Timothy Miles as Managing Director of the newly formed European arm of the business.

There are clearly similarities between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres that are applicable across most, if not all, businesses. This, in itself, is not surprising given one thing all businesses have in common – human beings.

Engineering Leader’s focus has been on businesses involved in the energy transition. We know there are a raft of technical problems to be solved in heading towards net zero carbon, and these can only be solved through attracting, training and retaining highly skilled people with the right attitude and ability to interact with other humans. The same challenge is faced by many other industries globally and attractive remuneration packages are not enough. Culture is important. Development is important. Ignore these at your peril if you want to sustain and grow your business in an environment of global uncertainty.

Creating your culture is one thing, maintaining it as you grow is another. We have met with clients who openly state they don’t want a “corporate culture”, but what does that mean? To one, it beautifully means family first – they feel a level of responsibility towards their employees’ families, recognising they have broader needs.

How do you retain a “non-corporate” culture, as growth drives elements of corporatisation with more humans that may not be as closely aligned as when you started? It certainly relies upon strong leaders who truly live and demonstrate their values, with a high degree of vulnerability, trust and productive conflict.

In a resource constrained environment where we still need to grow, we have to find ways of doing more with what we already have available to us. Engineering Leaders and energyARK are pleased to be collaborating, as businesses are wise to remember we don’t need to try to be everything to everybody. Networks, partnerships and collaborations help us grow whilst allowing us to focus on our area of specialty, without duplication and inefficiency. This, in itself, is better for sustainability, but it does involve building strong and open relationships with other humans.

As engineering and technical businesses transform and expand to meet the needs of the energy transition, Engineering Leaders and energARK look forward to playing their part in providing leadership and cultural development, to help businesses attract and retain employees to support high performance delivery.