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Across architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), talent shortages remain one of the biggest challenges organizations face today.
In a 2025 workforce survey, 92% of AEC firms reported difficulty filling both salaried and craft positions, highlighting the ongoing competition for skilled talent. As experienced professionals retire and demand for specialized skills continues to grow, many organizations are finding that they cannot simply hire their way out of the talent shortage.
As a talent leader in the architecture and engineering industry, I’ve seen employee development become one of the most important investments an organization can make. In a competitive labor market, companies cannot rely on recruiting alone to meet future workforce needs.
At Barge, we’ve addressed this by developing our talent from within, investing heavily in employee learning and development. In doing so, we’re strengthening our talent pipeline while also creating meaningful paths for career growth.
Here’s why that investment matters and how organizations can unlock the potential of the talent they already have.
Developing critical skills from within
In my experience, leadership development is more than awarding promotions or funding certification programs. It’s about creating opportunities for employees to build technical skills, better understand their strengths, and continue growing throughout their careers.
Some of the most valuable learning happens through conversations, shared experiences, and learning from someone who has faced similar challenges
Effective development uses a balanced mix of technical training, hands-on project work, mentorship, and leadership development. It is equally important to ensure these opportunities are available at every stage of an employee’s career as their skills and professional goals evolve.
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At Barge, we do this with our LEAD program – designed for employees who aspire to become managers and leaders at our firm. Built on our leadership framework, the program is grounded in a simple philosophy: you must first lead yourself before you can lead others, and you must lead others before you can lead the business. Through this year-long cohort experience, participants complete seven in-person learning sessions and a team-based capstone project, each introducing a core leadership principle and offering exposure to different parts of the business. As a result, participants strengthen their leadership skills, gain a broader understanding of how the business operates, and build confidence in taking on new challenges. They also develop meaningful relationships across the organization that help prepare them for future leadership opportunities.
Another important component of our employee development strategy is our mentorship program. Some of the most valuable learning happens through conversations, shared experiences, and learning from someone who has faced similar challenges. Given the depth of expertise and roles at Barge, we created a mentorship program that connects employees across disciplines, allowing them to learn from colleagues they might not otherwise work with. Our employees can apply to participate as either a mentor or mentee, and HR thoughtfully matches participants based on their experience, interests, and career goals. Before the program begins, both mentors and mentees participate in orientation sessions to help establish clear expectations and set the relationship up for success. By creating value for both participants, the program helps employees learn from one another while building the knowledge, relationships, and confidence needed to take on new opportunities and responsibilities.
Succession planning is about development
When people hear the term succession planning, they often think about replacing senior leaders. While that is certainly part of the process, effective succession planning is much broader than identifying replacements for key positions. It’s also an opportunity to understand the talent across your organization, anticipate future needs, and develop employees for the leadership opportunities that will emerge over time. We do this at Barge through our Talent Talks program. Like a talent review process, Talent Talks give our leaders a way to look closely at their teams and where individuals may be ready for new challenges. Those conversations help us think ahead and identify where additional support or development may be needed.
Unique to our approach is that these conversations aren't just looking to fulfill senior leadership positions. They look at potential across every level of the organization because succession planning should not begin when a vacancy occurs. For example, we’re currently experiencing a shortage of project managers in the architecture and engineering space. In addition to searching externally for project managers, we’re using our Talent Talks framework to develop our project manager talent from within. We identified employees who show potential and created development plans to prepare them for future project management opportunities at our firm. This process not only safeguards our talent pool but also gives our employees the opportunity to grow through cohort-based learning experiences, certification programs, and cross-functional project work.
Building the workforce of the future
Building effective development programs requires commitment from the entire organization.
First, employees must have a desire and willingness to pursue new learning and development opportunities. When employees consistently engage and participate, it offers valuable insight into their needs, allowing organizations to tailor and scale programs that deliver meaningful value.
Organizations also need support from leaders at every level. Managers, directors, and executive leadership must be willing to dedicate time, attention, and resources to developing their teams. From an operations standpoint, learning and development should not be viewed as time away from work, but as an investment in the future strength of the business. Just as important, development efforts should align with organizational priorities. Whether the goal is strengthening leadership capabilities or addressing anticipated skill gaps, programs should have clear objectives and measurable outcomes that demonstrate their value.
Managers, directors, and executive leadership must be willing to dedicate time, attention, and resources to developing their teams
Finally, sustainable development requires an investment in the systems and people that support it. Effective talent programs require dedicated processes, resources, and ongoing commitment to ensure employees have meaningful opportunities to grow and contribute over the long term.
Organizations today face no shortage of workforce challenges. Recruiting remains competitive, employee expectations continue to evolve, and technical skillsets are harder to find. While hiring will always be important, sustained success hinges on cultivating and advancing talent from within. In the architecture and engineering industry, organizations that align employee growth with business goals build stronger teams and position themselves for long-term success. When done well, employees benefit from clear opportunities to grow, and organizations gain a stronger, more resilient talent pipeline.
Karen Cosentino, SPHR, is the Chief People Officer at Barge Design Solutions. With more than 20 years of experience in human resources, Cosentino is a collaborative leader focused on delivering results through effective people programs. She develops talent strategies and employee initiatives that strengthen engagement, enhance employee experience, and reduce turnover.
Prior to joining Barge in 2023, Cosentino served as the Regional Vice President and Vice President of Human Resources & Talent Management for healthcare provider Wellpath. She previously served in leadership capacities at HCA, ServiceMaster and Wright Medical.
