Employee ownership is the foundation of our culture at Burns & McDonnell. It shapes how we work together, how we serve our clients and how we care for our people. As Chief People Officer, I see its impact in something that matters deeply to me: people want to be here. They join talented teams, build meaningful careers and choose to grow with us.
We have been 100% employee-owned since 1986. Through our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), eligible employee-owners receive shares in the company. The financial stake is meaningful, but ownership is also something you can feel in the way people show up for one another every day.
I see it when an experienced colleague takes time to mentor someone new, when a teammate offers help during a demanding week or when people from different disciplines come together around a challenge. There is a generosity in those moments. People want to do great work, and they want the people beside them to succeed.
Being a people-first organization takes intention. We are invested in the employee experience, from helping someone feel welcome when they join us to creating opportunities to learn, contribute and grow throughout their career. We hire talented people, and we want this to be a place where they can build a future.
Ownership also gives our people a reason to keep imagining what’s possible. When you have a stake in the future of the company, you care about making it better and embrace innovation. Our employee-owners bring forward ideas, challenge familiar ways of working and look for new approaches that can help our clients succeed.
That spirit carries into our client relationships. Our employee-owners look beyond their individual roles to understand what a client needs and bring the right people together to help. They care about the outcome because they know the work matters to the people counting on us. We want clients to feel that we are on their team, bringing the full strength of Burns & McDonnell to the work we do together.
Our sense of ownership extends to the places we call home. Giving back to the communities where we live and work is part of our culture. Through the Burns & McDonnell Foundation and our employee-owners’ efforts, we support STEM education, volunteer with local organizations and contribute to causes our people care about. It’s another way we take responsibility for the future we share.
Our vision is to improve the quality of life, and it drives what we do. We see it in the infrastructure we help create, the relationships we build and the communities we work to strengthen. When we invest in our people and give them room to grow, create and give back, the impact reaches far beyond our company.