Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 48
48
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CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (2025)
Young professionals connect and collaborate at GHD
I
n only two years working
with GHD, Catherine Dang
has already spent two
months on a project in the
United Arab Emirates and
has transferred from her core engineering team to work in digital
strategy.
“I was drawn to the global
aspect of GHD as I want to have
the opportunity to work in other
countries,” says Dang, digital
strategy and transformation consultant. “It was just as important
for me to join a company that
offers a variety of services. I’m still
exploring what I might want to do
with my career.”
Our young professionals
are engaged in a
variety of exciting
projects across our
business, collaborating
with diverse
multidisciplinary teams
to drive innovation
and growth.
— Malcolm Dixon
General Manager - Western
Canada
GHD is a leading professional
services company operating
in the global markets of water,
energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and
transportation. Nearly a quarter
of employees are offered shares in
the business, which is 100 per cent
employee-owned.
Across the world, GHD is a large
employer of young professionals.
Employees at GHD participate in the Young Professionals Employee Resource Group to collaborate and build
relationships with their colleagues.
The company hires scientists,
engineers, project managers, planners and more. In North America,
they enter into a graduate
development program that offers
structured learning over the first
two years of their careers.
“Our young professionals are
engaged in a variety of exciting
projects across our business, collaborating with diverse multidisciplinary teams to drive innovation
and growth,” says Malcolm
Dixon, general manager - Western
Canada and executive sponsor of
the Young Professionals Employee
Resource Group (ERG).
Dixon maintains that the Young
Professionals ERG, which creates
opportunities for new employees to collaborate and build
relationships with each other, is
just as important. The members of
this group come together for structured meetings where they discuss
activities and plan events. “They
start to exercise their leadership
muscle by learning how to plan,
advance ideas and influence peers
and colleagues,” he says.
Dang joined the Young
Professionals ERG almost immediately. “I’m passionate about
making my own opportunities,”
she says. The group is allotted
finances and coaching support
from leaders, but the rest is up to
them.
“The leaders invite us to do
what we think would be valuable,”
says Dang. In her case, the Young
Professionals ERG developed an
idea to invite other young professionals from GHD’s key clients to
join with them at a conference.
The GHD leadership supported
the idea, and the planning
committee organized a conference
with professional development
modules and workshops on
energy, water and communities.
“We wanted to foster lasting
relationships with our partners
for the long term, and we made a
good start!” says Dang.
Dang has also met new
people and taken advantage of
learning opportunities in the
two-year graduate development
program. She and her cohort
worked through a module on
a topic critical to professional
success each month. The large,
international group included
young professionals from the
United Kingdom. She was also
connected to a small group of
three employees from across
Canada.
