Multitasking Engineers Vs Specialized Engineers

Companies’ strategy when recruiting fresh engineers was always about getting the engineer to cover one position without clear vision if they want her/him to circulate within the different departments to be multi tasks and important asset for the company future.

Although, the lucky ones who have strong connection within the company (especially relatives to company seniors and owners), have such chance. This was only because they know that these relatives are most likely will be loyal to the company and will continue within the company for long years.

Therefore, the issue here is not that the companies doesn’t want to have multitask engineers, but the issue is this career plan will encourage the engineers to move on to a different company or request for better salary. However, if you cant keep them, they will move on.

Hence the decision whether to develop engineers with a broad range of skills or to maintain specialization is a critical strategic choice for any company to be designed very well.

Building engineers with diverse expertise in areas like some design experience, planning and scheduling, estimation, cost control, tendering, project coordinating, design management, business development and Business analysis within five years offers several advantages and help the companies to survive the markets changes and cost escalation.

Such multifaceted engineers can handle various responsibilities, reducing the need for multiple hires in the future when the market is slow. They can streamline the operations, and enhance adaptability to changing project requirements. This approach fosters innovation, improves financial oversight, and bridges the gap between technical design and business strategy, ultimately driving the company forward in a competitive market.

However, maintaining specialization also has its merits. Specialists possess deep expertise in their specific fields, ensuring high-quality work and in-depth knowledge. This can be crucial for complex projects that require advanced technical skills and precision. Specialization allows for focused professional development and can lead to higher job satisfaction and retention among employees who prefer to excel in a particular domain.

Moreover, multitasking which is suggested in slow market cycles, is not recommended during busy market. Busy market means the need to get new engineers who are specialized and on the same time, develop some of them to replace the retired experts. It is part of the employment cycle allow them to be promoted.

I need to highlight here, that multi-tasking, is not always the SME. Subject Matter Expert, developed within 15 years which most of it is in the subject needed. Also, the multi-tasking is for the first five years to understand the different works streams to be able to understand how everyone is working to be able to coordinate with them.

In conclusion, companies should carefully evaluate their long-term goals, project needs, and resource availability. A balanced approach might be the most effective strategy, where some roles require specialization, while others benefit from a broader skill set. By doing so, companies can leverage the strengths of both approaches and build a versatile and highly capable engineering team over next five years cycle.