Joining us for the latest edition of MD Culture Club is design, engineering and project management consultancy AtkinsRéalis.
We spoke to three members of their team to find out exactly what it's like to work there.
The talent lead...
Ellie Harte, Head of Recruitment
Can you tell us a little bit about the company, before describing the culture at the organisation?
AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading design, engineering and project management organisation. Using data-rich, virtual and collaborative technologies, we help clients make better decisions for complex infrastructure projects across the globe. To us, digital is fundamental to our way of working, when combined with every element of the engineering process – our people, our data insights and our technology.
Our purpose, ‘Engineering a better future for our planet and its people’ is really what informs the culture here. We create spaces and places that matter; to people, to society and to the environment. They’re designed to be more sensitive to human differences – in ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of diversity – that drives a commitment to diversifying hiring amongst under-represented groups and creating an inclusive workspace from the top down.
How does the company go above and beyond to attract and retain tech talent?
Firstly, we invest in creating opportunities that match the aspirations of the best tech talent out there. The scope of our client base, sector coverage and projects mean that whatever your career aspirations, you’ll find opportunities here, with clear digital career paths and development opportunities. We’re committed to developing our people skills and build Communities of Practice to share knowledge.
Our flexible and hybrid working policies are, of course, crucial, and many are impressed by the ability to buy an extra 15 days’ holiday every year as standard. We’ve also enhanced our suite of family-friendly policies which support parents; with generous maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave policies, as well as return to work bonuses designed to encourage a healthy balance between work and family life. We’re pleased that electric car leasing opportunities are available for all staff too.
We run a Returners programme which includes opportunities in the tech sector and our apprenticeships, placements and graduate schemes continue to drive equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) into the sector by design.
Our teams run regular virtual careers fairs which allow tech candidates to speak directly to our hiring managers and get an honest and valuable insight into what life is like here.
What does the future look like for the company and its employees?
Our future will see us continuing to move forward, pushing the boundaries of engineering and design. Staying true to our values of collaboration, innovation, safety and integrity, our people will work together – embracing each other’s unique contribution – to deliver amazing results for our clients and wider society.
The new starter...
Rohit Kumar, Management Consultant
Can you describe your role at the company?
I’m a Graduate Consultant on the Management Consultancy Graduate Programme. My role is fast paced, involving a blend of client and internal projects as well as development and training activities.
Currently, I am working within an agile innovation team with a mission to utilise technology to spearhead digital transformation and challenge the status quo. The team achieves this by solving business problems, and enhancing AtkinsRéalis’ digital capabilities through a series of disruptive and innovative experiments. My day-to-day activities involve working closely with our stakeholders, using technology to rapidly produce business-ready prototypes, and researching emerging technology to identify potential applications.
What was it about the organisation that attracted you to the role?
I am passionate about pursuing a career combining data, technology and management consulting. AtkinsRéalis was a natural fit for me as my career goals were aligned with the organisation’s focus on driving technology-enabled transformation projects bringing significant social impact. Plus, the prospect of supporting business change and digital transformation for AtkinsRéalis’ vast clientele within the public and private space was rewarding from a personal development perspective.
I was particularly intrigued by the numerous opportunities to develop core and specialist consultancy skills through both on-the-job learning and training. Opportunities include technical and non-technical upskilling through workshops, official training courses and AtkinsRéalis own online learning zone. There is ample scope and support to pave your career path and transform yourself into a well-rounded professional.
More importantly, AtkinsRéalis is a people-centric organisation. This can be attributed to its significant investment towards employee development, emphasis on work-life balance, employee benefits and assistance programmes, and deep-rooted diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Can you describe the onboarding process you’ve experienced?
AtkinsRéalis’ recruitment and onboarding process has been very efficient and precise right from the outset. Prior to my official joining date, there was pro-active communication from the recruitment team, line manager, buddy, and the onboarding team to ensure I had everything I needed.
AtkinsRéalis also took the initiative to organise a pre-joining networking session for the new graduates in their respective home offices. This gave me invaluable insights into the day-to day of an AtkinsRéalis consultant, and helped calm any nerves I had as a new starter.
The induction was a two-week process, enabling new joiners to network with colleagues from different home offices and practices. There were several in-person briefings on the organisation’s structure, culture and ways of working. AtkinsRéalis’ leadership team also took time to engage with us, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of the organisation's strategies and objectives. Apart from this, the induction also featured fun team building activities to break the ice and build strong networks/business relationships.
After induction, AtkinsRéalis also organises regular refresher sessions for new starters to get them acquainted with the organisation’s culture and code of conduct. A supportive and relaxed culture is embedded within the organisation, where colleagues are more than happy to have casual conversations and impart useful information to help new starters settle down into their roles.
So far, I have had a great start to my time at AtkinsRéalis and I’m looking forward to the rest of the journey!
The long term employee...
Joanna Page, Principal Consultant
Can you describe your role at the company?
I am currently a Principal Consultant in our Strategy & Business Design team. My primary focus is working with our clients to deliver transformational change projects. The projects I work on are varied, but might include helping our clients to define their strategy and to work out how to organise themselves so that they will achieve it. I recently worked with one of our Confidential Clients to define a two-year strategic roadmap to optimise the use of one of its internal tools. Through collaborative workshops, we defined how the tool could be developed and its use increased throughout the organisation. This was turned into a deliverables plan, which had structured governance underpinning it to maximise the chance of the tool’s usage increasing. I am also actively involved in our business growth in the North West, including recruitment activities.
You’ve been at the company for a number of years, can you tell me what has kept you at the company for so long?
I started on our graduate programme over ten years ago and from day one I was given real responsibility in client projects. Being trusted and empowered to make decisions is something I have valued throughout my tenure at AtkinsRéalis.
There is such a wide variety of projects to get involved in, and I have particularly enjoyed being able to take leading roles in shaping the future of our business, as well as being involved in client projects that make tangible improvements to the world around us. Not only have I worked on client projects which benefit society – such as implementing new childcare policies – I have also been able to develop our own organisation through previously managing our Young Professionals’ practice. The ability to drive things that matter to me, like the development of future talent in the organisation, has kept me motivated and excited to be part of the AtkinsRéalis’ family.
AtkinsRéalis nurtures talent and diversity of thought, which means that individuals are empowered and supported to develop their career in the direction they want. Our best asset are our people, so I have been able to work with wonderful people with a wide range of skillsets who come together to deliver brilliant things. Being part of diverse teams like this has always kept me motivated.
What would you say to a person considering joining the company?
There is something for everyone in AtkinsRéalis. The breadth of skills and opportunities is vast and we are always looking for new, exciting talent who can bring fresh ideas and experience to our organisation.
We are particularly focussed on growth in the North West so it’s a very exciting time to join the company as there are opportunities to get involved in with this too.
The culture of the organisation is supportive and collaborative, but we stretch our people in the right way to ensure continuous development. If you are looking for an organisation which values its people, and has the flexible policies to back this up, then AtkinsRéalis is for you.
To find out more about careers at AtkinsRéalis, click here.
If you’re a member and would like to take part in a future edition of our Culture Club series, please contact thom@manchesterdigital.com.
