5y
Thank you for taking the time to share your displeasure with WGI. It must have been difficult to work for a firm for almost four years with such apparent conflicts with your values. I shared your opinion with several of the senior leadership team- because we do care. It saddens all of us that what you believe you experienced is not typical at WGI, nor does it represent our efforts to remain a great place. And, while I personally appreciate that this is your perception, your claims are untrue. We do care deeply about our associates but occasionally a WGI professional decides it’s time to head another direction. Each time, this causes us to look at ourselves critically. In your case, we looked in the mirror for an honest evaluation of your claims and I would like to address them directly.
You have a strong and severely incorrect opinion on WGI’s commitment to racial equity. Yes, it would have been relatively easy for us to publish a well-crafted note to our associates, and perhaps we should have, but then what? We believe actions should be supported by listening, comprehending and learning, and only then moving with intelligence and with meaning. We don’t believe in talk; we believe in action. Real change is not about rhetoric and notes, we chose to be deliberate, to hear from our associates, and to create a plan around JEDI that would change us. And, us means both WGI and our professionals. We are committed to understanding the past, respecting all people, and committing to real change. One of our core values is a Passion for People. This embodies a commitment to attracting and retaining a diverse team and an environment where all associates can reach their full potential.
In our most recent internal communication on JEDI we outlined what we have already done:
1. The commitment of a Senior Vice President, passionate about these issues, to lead our efforts around JEDI.
2. We have been researching, reading, listening, and learning.
3. We have been listening to our associates, getting their thoughts, insights, and ideas.
4. We have been building partnerships with external experts to help us on this journey.
5. We also took immediate action to widen our lens and redouble our efforts to identify a more diverse pool of candidates for opportunities.
6. We have asked all associates to tell us what they are most passionate about and what they are doing as individuals to change the current situation. Can WGI help? If so, how? We encourage you to look in the mirror and answer that first question for yourself.
Like most of the world, we know we are just getting started. This is a long journey, but I assure you, WGI is committed.
Regarding our expectations for in-office working during this unfortunate pandemic. The easy answer for us would have been to send everyone home and keep them there. However, what we have found, and what most of our associates continue to affirm, is that we are better together. The health and safety of our staff is our priority, and our commitment to this has not wavered throughout the pandemic. This continues to be confirmed by the positivity rates of staff which, in all cases, remains statistically low, and in all cases lower than the general U.S. population. WGI instituted robust monitoring including automated temperature-taking kiosks for our larger offices, increased sanitizing and cleaning protocols with our janitorial teams, a safety pledge, entry restrictions, appropriate spacing and density, and in-office guidelines to ongoing follow up and communications. Thankfully, it is working! Offices are not considered national hotspots and WGI is proud that our offices, using our systems and controls, are safer than many, many other places that are being regularly visited during the pandemic. We have also established very thorough work from home guidelines to support those who, for various reasons, cannot work in the office. The work-from-home protocols are clear, and no one has been forced to work from a WGI office if they have a legitimate reason to remain at home. Fortunately, most of the team prefers to be in the office, which provides strong support to our field personnel working on jobsites and for whom working from home would mean no work and no paycheck.
The common theme in both chaos and crises, is to be certain the decision makers have the appropriate data for appropriate decision making. As you advance in your professional career, hopefully you will learn much more on this topic.
WGI puts our People before Profit every day. We will continue to rely on our core values of Passion for People, Be the Change You Seek, and a Commitment to Excellence to guide our decisions. You will notice none of our core values includes “more profit.” These are challenging times to be sure. We know we are not perfect. However, we will never do what is easy in place of what is right and what is in the best interests of our associates and clients.
We wish you the best and are hopeful that your four years with WGI will one day result in moments of reflection that serve you, your employer and the world in a positive way.
