How do the opinions of technical practitioners compare with the general population?

CROSSROADS has been a fascinating project to realise. Exploring generational perspectives – and importantly, the choices we make every day as both individuals and as a business – has generated some lively and insightful discussions among the GHD team.

Often, we have found ourselves exploring ‘what would a graduate starting in our business today’ think on an issue raised in the study, compared to ‘an experienced industry leader?’ Perhaps this is because we recognise that many of the infrastructure projects both our young professionals and seasoned practitioners are delivering today will still be around in at least 30 years. And what will our people hand over to the next generation – will it be a world better or worse than what we inherited?

Curious to explore the views of our GHD people in more depth, we extended the CROSSROADS survey to colleagues across our global business, to compare and contrast internal perspectives with those of the general population. Would our responses be the same – or different to the communities we all live in and serve? And based on the close to 1,000 responses we received, we were delighted to find that our people:

• Prioritise building a sustainable economy, improving public transport and proactive community planning, reflecting a forward-thinking approach to infrastructure development
• Are committed to making sustainable choices and are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, setting an example for the wider population
• Recognise the progress being made in clean energy and safe water supply – but also acknowledge the need for improvement in affordable housing and proactive community planning
• Demonstrate a pragmatic approach to technology adoption, recognising the potential of smart devices to improve traffic flow, congestion and resource management.

Perhaps most importantly, our people recognise the positive legacy they are creating for future communities. This is what excites them most. And this is what they bring to our projects every day – curiosity, confidence, collaboration and commitment. They prioritise sharing global insights, industry expertise and local knowledge to inform decision making, delivering smart solutions and ultimately creating ‘intergenerational value’ and lasting community benefit.

There is so much to explore in this rich data – both from a GHD and wider community perspective. So many insights to glean, so many learnings to share. So many opportunities to incorporate community insights into the infrastructure we are creating today, to create better outcomes tomorrow.