Ian joined AECOM three years ago and during this time, he’s led the company through a significant growth period, by partnering with key government entities to drive their transformation programs under KSA’s Vision 2030. AECOM is focused on PIF as a strategic client and has secured several multi-year contracts, which are currently under execution. In this three- year period, AECOM’s bottom line has doubled, and the top line grew by 80%.
During the pandemic AECOM implemented a robust digital infrastructure to enable a smooth transition to remote work with minimal interruption to client deliverables. AECOM encouraged managers to have daily meetings with their teams to make sure individuals continue to feel connected to their colleagues. “In addition to resources provided by AECOM’s global ecosystem, we company developed local wellbeing tools and resources including digital forums, groups and remote teambuilding events. We distributed remote working guidance including health awareness and home workspace ergonomics and reminded everyone of the free and confidential counseling provided by a third party. We promoted an open and transparent culture, openly speaking about the importance of caring for mental health during the pandemic and prioritizing the wellbeing of staff,” Ian told CBNME.
To stabilize AECOM’s business in 2020 and into 2021, they implemented a combination of savings and investments. In terms of savings, we started with the leadership pay reductions and optimized our office space by transitioning a large part of our workforce into digital communities. Digital transformation has been a key focus for AECOM before the pandemic and linking their various operations in the digital space allowed us to optimize our real estate footprint and offer better value to our clients and shareholders. In the past 12 months AECOM has also focused more social responsibility, community outreach, and being more environmentally friendly.
For example, their presence in NEOM brings one of the biggest opportunities for social responsibility and community outreach.
“As we build the world-class development amid small fishing towns in the Tabuk region, we have a responsibility to preserve the region’s natural habitat and the rights of its residents. A key community engagement initiative was our partnership with the Saudi Human Resources Development Fund to source candidates from Tabuk region for roles in NEOM. This creates shared value for us and for the locals as it ensures they are active participants in the region’s economic development,” Ian explained.
In April 2021, AECOM launched several environments, social and governance (ESG) initiatives across the company. These include achieving net zero emissions by 2030, embedding sustainable development and resilience across our work, improving social outcomes with greater focus on equity, diversity and inclusion and enhancing governance by assessing ESG risk and reporting on ESG performance. “We are proud that social impact is a core and integral part of our business offerings, designed for real and long- lasting benefits to our clients and society. In addition to building schools, hospitals and fast-track healthcare projects during the pandemic, we’ve integrated comprehensive learning and development and knowledge transfer programs into our transformative PMOs with Saudi Customs and MoMRA. A core part of our offerings to the clients is recruiting, training and developing Saudi talent who work in parallel with AECOM experts across disciplines, following methodic career development plans tailored for each individual. This paves the way for fully self-sufficient organizations post-AECOM,” said Ian.