"The young professionals in the PGN form a powerful catalyst for creating opportunities for technical research, professional advancement and community service. They're given license to excel."
Tom O'Neill
Chairman

What It Is
Our Professional Growth Network (PGN) unites hundreds of the firm's Emerging Professionals (EPs)—defined as having up to roughly 10 years of professional experience—to develop programs and activities designed to focus on their career needs and highlight and promote the contributions of the firm's next generation of leaders.

How It Started
The PGN evolved in 1999 from a lunchtime meeting of young professionals with the firm's leaders and was formally established under the joint auspices of the Chairman's office, PB Human Resources and the Office of Professional Practice Initially established in the US, the PGN has since expanded with continued corporate backing to include the firm's EPs in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. Expansion to connect and benefit the firm's Emerging Professionals in Asia is planned for the near future.

What It Does
The firm's annual Emerging Professionals Paper Competition is one of several exciting and innovative initiatives that the PGN has developed and implemented globally. The EP Technical Paper promotes research by encouraging Emerging Professionals to explore complex technical topics and publish their findings among PB colleagues worldwide. The EP World Paper encourages essays on a key issue of importance to the firm and its future.

Aiming to promote the active involvement of PB employees in social, charitable and recreational activities in the communities in which the company works, the PGN conceived and—in cooperation with Human Resources—has implemented the Community Involvement Challenge. Pitching PB offices against each other, employees are encouraged to participate in and report on their community activities and gain points for a multitude of voluntary activities including volunteering time, making monetary donations and donating blood. While several local PB offices are presented various awards at the conclusion of the Challenge, the real winners are the local communities where PB employees have made a difference.

Members of the PGN communicate globally and keep PB employees up to date through the PGN newsletter, Expanding Horizons, which elevates awareness of the network's activities and examines issues of interest to Emerging Professionals and the wider PB.

What It Means
Believed to be the first program of its kind in an engineering organization, the PGN provides a highly visible opportunity for PB's Emerging Professionals to enhance their employment experience while directly shaping the future of the company.