Manpower vs. Tech Power

Another year begins, and for many the promise of new directions in careers and professional lives are beginning as well. Some professionals have started to look at fine tuning their resumes, returning to school, and learning new software and processes. BIM (building information modeling) as a technology is providing a means of increasing an individual’s marketability that they would bring to a potential employer. This strategy is proving useful to both those currently employed and those making a career move. One of the more interesting facets of using BIM is finding the right ratio of manpower to “tech power” or for all intents and purposes measuring the proficiency and focus of associates and developing strategies that enables staff to grow against a technological ‘measuring stick.’

Based on my experience, I have found team members all have certain core aptitudes and strengths. I am one of those who believe that you should do one thing and do it well. In the case of a BIM manager however, this professional must have a basic working knowledge of not only the construction industry and processes, but a large array of programs and be incredibly proficient at how a handful of those tools work in order to best do his or her job. As the number of projects grows and responsibilities increase, the need to hire becomes a necessity. For many BIM managers and executive teams the decision of knowing who to hire when, and what can be learned, and integrated by existing staff are almost always a point of constant discussion. As Blaise Pascal, the famous scientist, cited, “We must learn our limits. We are all something, but none of us are everything.”

So how do we measure both an existing employees and potential new hires proficiency? Let’s begin by quantifying existing employee’s proficiency. Use of the term proficiency instead of productivity is intentional because we are trying to valuate an associate’s ability to use technology to improve overall productivity. That said, we begin with a simple two-part proficiency test. I issue these tests annually in tandem with performance reviews and participate in them as well based on questions the team puts together, so I can gauge my own knowledge of the programs.

 

 Routine Proficiency Test
The first part of the test should be to have an associate perform one familiar task, measure the time spent and accuracy and then after a period of time have the associate perform a similar task again. This is called a routine test and the delta in performance is either the increase or decrease in that users’ proficiency. While this test works for the manufacturing and production industries, technology is different in the fact that an associate needs to learn flexibility and adaptability as no two construction projects are ever the same, thus the needs are never the same.

Software Proficiency Test
The second test is to add depth to a proficiency test and measure the associates ability to perform a task they have not performed before by finding the associates ability to “learn on the fly” by using their working knowledge of a system to perform the task. What I have found is that this test is often a better indicator of a professional’s working knowledge of a program as it uses the associate’s knowledge of processes and commands to figure out the result. While this test is impossible to measure against the users previous abilities, by applying the mean of the time spent by all employees to perform this task you can chart that users time spent on the mean average. 

 

New Hire Best Practices
An associate who has been part of a team and has experience with a company’s standards has the unique advantage of having already passed the initial “bump” of learning how to work within a company. Usually companies begin by looking internally to existing staff when they are looking at adopting new software or technologies to increase efficiencies. Sometimes team members can “pick up” additional software and tools, but often the need for new staff in the growing BIM market is a necessity. The proficiency tests can be used not only for existing employees but possible new hires as well. When interviewing new staff, I recommend looking for some of the following traits and using the above-mentioned tests when evaluating a potential candidate.

1. Let them “show off.” Software proficiencies listed on a resume pale in comparison to having the candidate show their abilities to utilize the program. Use test one here and let potential hires demonstrate their working knowledge. 

2. Attitude. Attitude is everything when working in a problem-solving environment. 

3. Creativity and problem solving. The ability to coordinate systems, sequence structures, analyze costs, and achieve sustainability requirements all factor in to a candidates worth. Use test two here and gauge how well a candidate can handle complicated tasks using various tools. 

Staying the Course
Ultimately, what we are driving at through the research and the proficiency tests is to find where and if we are improving and to hire the right people. Managing technology, its use, and quantifying proficiency can be challenging. However, aptitudes, strengths, and abilities all need to be assessed when creating and sustaining a BIM department. The reality is that a great department consists of a team of players who are each very good at different technologies. While there is always room for improvement, I encourage technology and BIM managers to create a rounded group of professionals, each with unique and specific strengths, which can continue to strengthen the core as a whole.

Brad Hardin is corporate BIM manager at Barnhart Inc., www.barnhart-heery.com, San Diego, Calif. He can be reached at bhardin@barnhart-heery.com.