The value of stakeholder engagement in building successful projects

Graham Pavlik chose to become an engineer because he wanted “to have a positive impact on the public.” Just over three years into his role as a Project Manager with Lauren Services, Graham says the satisfaction of seeing the impact from his work in real life never gets old. In fact, every time he’s travelling down the Coquihalla Highway, he drives past a project he worked on and takes great pride in the achievement.

“Every time I drive by, I can see that’s the work I did, it’s right there, and my fiancé says ‘oh, there’s your valve (sarcastically)’ because I point it out so often,” he says with a smile. “It’s cool to see the stuff you can have an impact on.”

The same intentions that drove him to become an engineer now fuel his desire to learn more about the pillars of meaningful stakeholder engagement when it comes to responsible project development. Graham completed training recently in Indigenous relations hosted by Engineers  & Geoscientists British Columbia (EGBC), conducted by Rupert Richardson, and the education has helped inform his approach to a project in northwest British Columbia that involves five Indigenous nations.

“Being open and honest with different stakeholders is really important to the success of projects and is important to Lauren Services in general,” says Graham, who is based out of the company’s Vancouver office. “It’s important to be engaging early and understanding any issues and concerns (stakeholders) have and making sure that gets included in your project scope.”

The training provided Graham with valuable insight into the history of treaties and the unique cultural traditions and histories of First Nations, Inuit and Métis. He says the commitment to continually learn and grow as engineers comes straight from the top at Lauren Services.

“I’ve always felt the partners at Lauren and the senior people [within the company] are definitely interested in fostering a culture where people grow,” he says. “That just develops a cohesive group and allows us to establish better working relationships with our clients and deliver better results in the end.”

Graham says he’s excited to play a growing role as Lauren continues to diversify into renewables and sustainable technologies, providing even more opportunities for him to see the positive impacts from his work.

With offices in Calgary and Vancouver, Lauren Services delivers dynamic performance and intelligent design across the entire suite of engineering services.