In the 1988 hit movie Young Guns, ranch owner John Tunstall recruits young gunmen from the streets to provide them with an alternative life, teaching them to read and write and offering them civilization. While they might not be Emilio Estevez, Kiefer Sutherland or Charlie Sheen, the Houston, Texas, office of Burns & McDonnell has found its own “Young Guns” right up the road at Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas, U.S.).

A little background is in order. Our industry is really hurting for technical talent. Years of downsizing and treating engineers like a commodity have pushed talent to other industries. And now we are hurting. We are seeing our most talented engineers retiring, while most companies have yet to develop plans to hire and train the next generation.

So, how do we attract and retain “Generation Y” engineers within the power industry? Our industry is certainly not as sexy as computer design or offshore oil platform design. It's time we found out specifically what Gen Y engineers want in an employer.

Most of the basic career needs have not changed. Everyone wants to be fulfilled and challenged. However, the Gen Y engineers do have a few differences than previous generations. They are highly competitive, very self-assured and seek growth at a rapid rate. They seek instant gratification and reward, and they want a high level of personal fulfillment in their job. They won't wait around for promotions and increased responsibility, but they will either actively seek it out or leave if they feel the challenges are insufficient. They have seen entrepreneurs in tech industries achieve high levels of success at a very young age. They don't believe that age should limit your growth.

I work in the Houston office of Burns & McDonnell. The office was established almost six years ago with the main goal to provide local support to the energy industry. However, we found the area had little power industry talent to draw from. While our initial solution was to transfer quality senior talent to our office from our headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., we still needed to attract and develop new talent to ensure our long-term success. Specifically, we needed to grow and develop local engineering talent. We also needed to provide incentives for individuals to put down roots and make a career within the power industry.

I'd like to share what we are doing in hopes that our approach will work in other areas of the country. Fortunately, we found that Houston has several area universities with top engineering programs. We initially concentrated on developing a relationship with Texas A&M. The talent we found was nothing short of phenomenal. Located only an hour from Houston, Texas A&M attracts students who want to work in the Houston area following graduation. Our industry needs practical people who know how to make things work. We discovered that Texas A&M attracts “good old farm boy” engineers, students who spent the majority of their life working with their hands. We find “hands-on” engineers are good at solving problems that crop up in the field. They also have the ability to visualize how a contractor will build a project.

We immediately set out to develop a lasting relationship with both the civil and electrical engineering departments. We decided to sponsor a senior substation design project each semester with a team of three to four students. The response to our project was overwhelming. We now have students request to work on our project. Our engineers meet with the students to review the scope, determine the design criteria and check on progress. One of our designers works with the students to develop a 3-D CAD model of the substation. This attention motivated the team and attracted them to our company. This gave us the opportunity to pick the best and brightest.

They excelled technically and wanted to develop into leaders but weren't sure how to proceed. We decided to take our “Young Guns” and share more about the company while helping them develop their leadership abilities (and maybe civilize them a little).

The “Young Guns” group meets monthly to discuss various topics, including financials, project management, marketing and leadership. We study various books, including John C. Maxwell's Developing the Leader Within You.

I challenge the members to take on more responsibility, whether developing a close relationship with a client, working on project management skills or becoming a technical expert in a certain area. I also charge each of them to develop and mentor new engineers separate from our formal mentorship program.

Our “Young Guns” have become true leaders in a short amount of time. They take ownership of everything they touch and extreme pride in what they produce. They have also provided plenty of frustration. They have to be reigned in more than pushed forward. I find myself continually being challenged to keep growing the office in new areas to open up new opportunities for them to develop their skills.

The Gen Y engineers you hire should be the best, brightest and most highly motivated group ever. Our “Young Guns” feel there are no limits in what they can accomplish. The key to success is keep them challenged, don't limit their growth and get out of their way.

John Lionberger is associate vice president and general manager of Burns & McDonnell's Houston, Texas, office. Prior to joining Burns & McDonnell in 1995, Lionberger worked for Central Illinois Public Service Co. jlion@burnsmcd.com