Today's emerging talent wants more than a welcome packet and an awkward free lunch.

This generation wants others to see, hear, and value them. 

They want coaching and wisdom; not onboarding jargon. 

🔷Humans have an innate desire to feel included.

To be part of a group or community. 

And above all, younger generations want training because they want to grow.

When communication is one-way (or nonexistent), newcomers to A/E/C quietly disengage. 

You miss the opportunity to transfer knowledge. 🚩

New employees find the door and leave, depleting your training investment, team stability, and project momentum.

And every time new hires walk out the door, your firm suffers from:

👉Lost productivity

👉Delayed schedules

👉Missed pursuits

Multiply that by a few exits each year, and the revenue impact is real.💰

Ongoing, impactful training with today's communication skills is not a perk. 

It has nothing to do with a freebie pizza lunch. 

🧨It's about having a retention strategy with bottom-line results.

Let's build the...

New project managers are watching you.

What are you showing them?

In every meeting, on every jobsite, and during every project handoff, your emerging leaders are quietly taking notes.

They may not speak up yet.

But they are watching how you...

✅Communicate under pressure

✅Handle mistakes

✅Give direction

✅Treat others

Your actions become their playbook.

🧨Here's the truth about A/E/C: Strong communication and visible ownership are non-negotiable.

It's not only about what you say—it's how you lead through words, tone, clarity, and follow-up.

If experienced leaders model sarcasm, vague directions, or avoid responsibility, younger project managers are likely to do the same—and think it's acceptable when it's not.

Your communication and the leadership culture of your firm come down to this:

🗝️You lead by example, not memos and long meetings.

Train your next-level leaders today so that they don't mirror outdated and bad habits.

There was an engineering webinar yesterday with 225 people online. 

I was one of them.

I was on camera.

As I scrolled through the participants, I noticed 99 percent were off-camera. 

No faces. 

Most didn't even have a headshot or image—just a dark screen with their name.

😮The chat? Silent.

😮The interaction? Nonexistent.

😮The engagement? Almost zero.

There was no technical glitch. It was a communication culture issue.

When busy A/E/C firms invest in webinars, training, or virtual meetings, they often forget the human part:

➡️ People don't engage when they don't feel safe and confident.

➡️ Cameras stay off when participants feel awkward.

Yes, I realize some may have been eating lunch or caring for a child. Zoom fatigue is a real thing. But the entire group??!!

➡️ Silence in the chat is a symptom of disengagement or a lack of confidence to express views or at least say hi to others online. 

I posted in the chat right before the start of the program: "Thank you (organizer's ...

Risk mitigation and workplace silos go hand-in-hand. 

Articulating complex data and information doesn't have to be an ongoing struggle in A/E/C.

From misunderstandings in e-mail threads and texts to confusing slide decks and messaging to stakeholders, there's room to improve communication.

Interpersonal communication is at the root of reworks, lost bids, budget overruns, and the labor shortage. 

In the "Bridging the Gap" podcast episode, I talk with host Todd Weyandt about how A/E/C teams can become confident communicators, with new storytelling and networking skills. 

Grab valuable techniques and strategies from our conversation. Here's the link. https://bit.ly/3T7L97B