Armed with Business Acumen

InTech, Jun 2006 by Policastro, Ellen Fussell

Today's engineer needs more than technical savvy-it takes financial, marketing, and business know-how to make it through the trenches

Jarmo Salminen doesn't have an MBA, but as senior manager of IT and process automation at Georgia-Pacific in Atlanta, Ga., he's fought through the jungle of technical knowledge and established his career in management.

"Job security is a myth," he said. "Therefore an engineer, and every other professional out there, has to keep his skills marketable and résumé up to date."

Throughout his career, Salminen noticed a transition in engineering, whereby they need to know more about business in general and all the economics of the operations. "Business pays for us, so we have to make sure all the decisions and recommendations we make add value to the bottom line," he said.

GE Transportation's human resources leader Tomesah Harrison agrees. Being an engineer today takes more than technical skills and aptitude, she said. Coming from a medical device industry, Harrison said the big push was around innovation and creativity. The qualities managers value are transforming ideas and bringing teams together. "Do you facilitate change processes well?" At her last job, "there was almost this expectation you would collaborate well with others and build teams," she said. There was also the push for communication and presentation skills, and it hasn't changed that much in aviation.

At GE, the focus is on growth. "It permeates everything we talk about from senior leadership to shop-floor discussions," Harrison said. "How do you ensure you're prepared for growth? There's even a growth playbook. It determines if you're an inclusive leader, asking questions such as, is inclusion a way of life? Do you know how to engage people? Are you decisive? Can you include people in your ideas? Can you put everyday tactical moves into a strategic plan? Do people find you credible around your technical aptitude? After you bring all those core competencies together, you've got what it takes to drive growth in the company."

Harrison said her last position focused on innovation; here it's growth. But either way, it all boils down to good interpersonal skills. As you become more global, your ability to work well with people who aren't necessarily in the next cube becomes more critical," she said.

The same is true with Salminen, who needs to bring creativity to the table on an ongoing basis. "Every day there's something new coming down the pike," he said. "I'm dealing with capital projects, and therefore I need to understand business dynamics and ROI issues, such as how we can make this project financially viable or what our alternatives are," he said. One alternative to always consider is whether to close a particular manufacturing site altogether.

Salminen is constantly learning about business issues and technology advancements that might help implement something that previously was economically impossible. "If you don't keep your knowledge up to date, business leaders are going to find someone else who does to fill your job," he said. "Keeping your job is the main incentive to keep learning and to stay abreast."

Engineers these days are not only keeping their jobs, but learning the entire business, gaining the skills to move up the ranks to CFOs and CEOs. "In the past, those positions have been taken by people with finance and business backgrounds," said Kent Baker, program improvement leader at GE Transportation in Durham, N.C. "Engineers are now directly linked to customers and vendors, which enhances their ability to drive quick decisions."

At DuPont, it's important even for new graduates entering the workforce to be well rounded, said Yolanda Chiles, DuPont's U.S. region staffing manager in the talent acquisition group in Wilmington, Del. "Although we're looking for exposure to different facets of work, engineers still need to have that focused technical acumen because at the end of the day, we're still hiring them to be engineers, to enable our processes and systems to make products," she said.

However, there are other qualities and work habits needed for someone to get a technical job done, she said. "Leadership skills are still important. And even entry-level engineers can demonstrate those skills by being involved with organizations and activities in their local communities and schools," she said. Outside work or work onsite or on campus counts as activities that would allow them to use different skill sets, such as teamwork, defining processes, writing procedures, having to deal with customers, or some managerial techniques, such as managing money," she said.

In fact, DuPont requires previous work experience from engineers. "They can't just come out of school with good grades," Chiles said. They should have demonstrated technical skills as well as having been exposed to solid work habits."

Know your audience

Moving up the ranks also requires today's engineer to be sensitive and adaptable to certain audiences. "Soft skills (people skills) are one of the most essential components," Baker said. "But it also requires them to adapt one speech and diction to complement that audience. If in the past I sat in a cube and designed a part, I might have had to interact with fellow engineers; I can talk in engineering talk. But if I have a customer coming in, I might have to change the way I present myself, both physically and verbally. The change is about reading your audience and interacting. Customers don't necessarily want you to be completely technical and talk about dynamics behind the design. They want to know what's in it for them. Say with a jet engine, they want to know about fuel efficiency and savings and financial impacts, not the gizmos, although you might want to bring those out to distinguish yourself from your competitor."