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Episode Description:
Struggling to retain your building automation talent?
In this episode of the Smart Buildings Academy Podcast, we dive into how building automation companies can create effective career plans to improve retention, grow employee capabilities, and strengthen operational performance.
Your people are your most valuable asset, but how often do you give them a clear, structured path forward? Most companies don’t and the best talent leaves.
This episode explores how you can change that.
Topics Covered
- Building a career architecture that aligns with technical roles
- Creating a measurable competency matrix for skill development
- Structuring 12-24 month individual development plans
- Linking training, mentoring, and shadowing to business KPIs
- Aligning pay bands and promotions with skills, not politics
Tune in to learn how to build a workforce strategy that supports your employees and your bottom line.
Podcast Video
How to Build Career Plans That Grow and Retain Your Building Automation Talent
In building automation, developing your workforce is a business requirement. With rising competition for skilled labor, organizations must focus on keeping their current talent. One of the most effective strategies is structured career planning.
Career plans support employee growth, reduce turnover, and improve operational capacity. This post outlines how to build them with clarity and purpose.
Why Turnover Is Expensive
When a technician leaves, the cost is more than replacement. You lose:
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Knowledge of legacy systems
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Capability for specialized tasks
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Stability with clients and teams
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Morale across the group
Turnover reduces productivity and quality. Career planning gives employees a reason to stay and contribute long-term.
The Career Architecture Model
Career architecture links roles, competencies, and development steps. The structure includes:
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Job Families: Groupings such as field, engineering, delivery, and specialist
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Competencies: Defined skills and knowledge for each level
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Career Ladders: Role progressions from beginner to advanced
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Development Plans: Targeted goals to close skill gaps
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Metrics: Business and learning indicators tied to outcomes
This approach helps managers track workforce skills and gives employees a clear direction for advancement.
Creating a Competency Matrix
A good competency matrix defines skills with measurable, observable behaviors. Two approaches:
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By Role: Skills mapped to job titles such as Technician 1, 2, or 3
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By Topic: Skills grouped by areas like BACnet, HVAC, or networking
For example, BACnet Level 3 may include building BBMDs and resolving device instance conflicts. Networking Level 2 may cover subnetting and switch basics.
The goal is clear expectations. Employees should know what they need to do and how to prove it.
Building Development Plans
With competencies defined, create development plans. Use the 70-20-10 structure:
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70 percent on-the-job experience
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20 percent coaching and mentoring
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10 percent formal training
Each plan should address 3 to 5 skills over 12 to 24 months. Assign real project tasks to support growth. For example, if a technician needs VAV experience, assign them to VAV startup work.
Improving Mentorship
Informal mentorship often lacks structure. Instead, create defined objectives:
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List skills for each mentorship phase
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Use task books to guide learning
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Require demonstration of knowledge and performance
Mentors should be trained and equipped to support others.
Connecting Career Growth to KPIs
Track progress using key indicators:
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Lagging: Revenue per employee, utilization, rework rates
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Leading: Course completion, mentorship hours, skill benchmarks
Build dashboards to visualize progress. Employees report their activity, and managers verify.
Pay and Recognition
Tie pay bands to skills, not opinions. Provide clear promotion paths based on demonstrated ability. Recognition also supports retention:
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Public praise
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Skill competitions
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Achievement gear
Create a culture of performance and growth.
Onboarding and Internal Mobility
A strong onboarding plan sets new hires up for success. A clear 30-60-90 day outline introduces systems, tools, and expectations. Use AI tools to build these plans based on roles and systems in use.
Support internal career movement. Show employees how to move between roles with defined development steps.
Conclusion
The labor market isn’t getting any easier. But companies that invest in structured career planning supported by skill matrices, mentoring, and transparent growth paths will have the edge in retention, performance, and long-term success.
To get started, assess your current roles and training approach. Then, design a career architecture that gives your team a clear path forward. When people know where they’re going, they’re far more likely to stay.
For a deeper discussion and insights from the field, listen to this episode on the Smart Buildings Academy podcast.
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