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AEC firms can support employee retention by understanding what their people need, improving the culture employees actually experience, and making that culture visible through a credible employer brand. A 2022 Hinge Marketing poll, described by Building Design + Construction (BD+C) in March 2023, found that more than half of AEC workers who had quit in the prior 12 months cited poor culture or frustration with leadership as reasons for leaving. That is a reported association—not proof that brand investment by itself makes employees stay.
The practical lesson is to make the firm’s promises match its working reality. That means listening to employees at different career stages, addressing the problems they identify, and communicating the firm’s strengths honestly to both current staff and prospective hires.
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An employer brand is the picture people form of what it is like to work at a firm: its culture, leadership, opportunities, expectations, and day-to-day working conditions. In AEC, that picture matters both to current employees deciding whether to stay and to candidates deciding whether to join. But a polished brand cannot substitute for a healthy workplace. If employees’ lived experience contradicts the firm’s message, communicating that message more loudly can make the gap more apparent.
BD+C’s 2023 report summarizes a Hinge Marketing poll conducted from late August through late November 2022. It covered AEC workers at 120 firms whose combined revenue exceeded $8 billion. BD+C reports that nearly half of respondents were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their companies, and that more than half of workers who had quit in the previous 12 months cited poor company culture or frustration with leadership among their reasons for leaving.
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Those results point to a retention issue firms can investigate: people may not be so unhappy that they leave immediately, yet still lack a strong reason to stay. A credible employer brand can help make that reason clear—but only if it reflects real practices, and only alongside changes that address employees’ concerns.
What does the survey say—and what can it not tell firms?
The poll offers a useful set of signals for AEC employers, but it should not be read as a census of the entire industry or as current workforce data. BD+C’s account provides selected findings, not the underlying survey instrument, recruitment method, weighting, confidence intervals, or full report. The findings describe the poll’s respondents; they do not establish that every firm or employee has the same experience.
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BD+C also reports U.S. quit figures attributed to Census Bureau estimates: nearly 57 million people quit their jobs between January 2021 and February 2022; average monthly quits from August through December of the prior year were reported at 4–4.1 million; and construction-sector quits during those five months were reported at 138,000–208,000 per month. These are figures reported in the 2023 article, not current rates, and the article does not identify the specific Census release. They provide historical context, not a forecast for an individual AEC firm.
Most importantly, the survey does not prove that brand spending causes retention. Firms should treat its findings as prompts for internal inquiry: What is pushing people away? Which employees have a reason to grow here? Do the firm’s public promises match what employees experience? The answers need to come from the firm’s own workforce and operating practices, not from assuming the poll’s pattern applies everywhere.
When do employees start considering other jobs?
In BD+C’s account, employees were most likely to start considering other jobs during mid-career, around three to five years into their current roles. That is a pattern reported in the survey, not a fixed departure point or a prediction for every employee.
The timing makes this a useful moment for a deliberate conversation. A firm can ask whether an employee sees a path to develop, whether responsibilities remain manageable, and what would make the next stage of work worthwhile. These questions are more useful than waiting until a resignation notice to ask what went wrong. They also avoid treating tenure alone as a warning sign: the reported finding should prompt listening, not a presumption that every person at three years is preparing to leave.
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Career-stage awareness can also help firms avoid a one-size-fits-all retention message. The report describes different priorities among mid-career respondents and leaders. A firm should find out whether those priorities apply to its own people rather than turning a survey summary into a universal policy.
What do mid-career employees and leaders want?
The survey account describes distinct needs: mid-career workers were not keen on wearing too many job hats, while leaders wanted the option and tools to work efficiently from remote locations. Both groups wanted confidence that their voices were heard.
| Group described in the report | Reported concern or preference | Question a firm can ask |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-career employees | Reluctance to take on too many different job hats; the report says consideration of other jobs was most likely around three to five years in a role. | Are responsibilities clear and sustainable, and what would support the employee’s growth? |
| Leadership-level employees | Interest in having the option and tools to work efficiently from remote locations. | What location flexibility and practical support are needed to do the work effectively? |
| Both groups | Want confidence that their voices are heard. | How will the firm show that employee input led to a response, even when a requested change is not possible? |
The questions in the table are practical applications, not additional survey findings. Their purpose is to help employers turn broad themes into specific conversations. “We listen” is not credible if feedback disappears without acknowledgment. Closing the loop means explaining what the firm heard, what it will change, and—where it cannot make a requested change—why.
How can an AEC firm turn the findings into retention work?
BD+C summarizes six practices: understand mid-career employees better, assess the firm’s brand, tune and communicate its culture, showcase employee expertise, introduce candidates to potential teammates, and secure what the firm needs to retain and grow talent. Together, these practices connect employee experience with recruiting and reputation. They work best as a cycle: learn what is happening, act on what matters, and then communicate what is genuinely different.
1. Understand what employees need, especially at mid-career
Start with questions about work, not slogans about loyalty. Ask employees what makes their roles rewarding, where responsibilities have become unclear or overly broad, what growth they want, and what is making work harder than it needs to be. Include people who are thriving as well as those who may be dissatisfied; listening only to employees already at risk can leave the firm with an incomplete picture.
Pay attention to the reported three-to-five-year point without treating it as a rule. A conversation at that stage can surface mismatches between an employee’s ambitions and the work available, or reveal that expectations need clarification. The aim is not to promise a promotion or a particular assignment. It is to understand what the person wants and whether the firm can offer a credible next step.
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2. Assess the brand against employees’ real experience
Review what the firm says about working there alongside what employees say happens. If the firm promotes collaboration, for example, leaders need to understand whether employees experience it as useful collaboration or as too many people carrying too many roles. If the firm highlights flexibility, it should clarify who can access it and what tools or practices make it workable.
This comparison is a diagnostic, not a marketing exercise. A gap between message and experience suggests that the firm should either address the working conditions or revise the claim. A brand is more credible when employees can recognize their own experience in it. As Karl Feldman, a Hinge Marketing partner quoted by BD+C, put it: “That’s the question that talent is asking about companies,” and the answers better be “genuine.”
3. Tune the culture before promoting it
Culture is reflected in how work is assigned, how leaders communicate, whether employees can raise concerns, and how the firm responds when it hears them. The survey summary connects departures with poor culture and frustration with leadership, so firms should treat leadership behavior and workplace conditions as part of retention—not as separate from the employer brand.
Choose a limited set of specific issues employees identify and make responsibility for responding clear. The source does not prescribe a particular culture-change program, and the right response will depend on what employees at a given firm report. Whatever the action, explain it plainly and follow up. A sincere account of what is changing is more convincing than a broad claim that the firm has a “great culture.”
4. Make employee expertise visible
BD+C includes showcasing employee expertise among its six practices. Doing so can help the firm demonstrate the work and knowledge of its people rather than relying only on abstract statements about its values. It can also make employees’ contributions more visible to colleagues and prospective candidates.
Showcase expertise accurately and with the employee’s participation. Give context about the work and the person’s contribution; avoid implying that one employee’s experience represents everyone’s. The point is to make the firm’s people and work legible, not to turn employees into props for a promise the organization has not earned.
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5. Let candidates meet potential teammates
Introducing candidates to potential teammates gives them another way to understand the workplace they are considering. It can make the culture more tangible than a general recruiting statement and give candidates a chance to ask practical questions about collaboration and expectations.
Those conversations should be candid. If the firm’s actual work includes demanding periods or varied responsibilities, candidates should not be led to expect otherwise. A realistic picture helps prospective employees make an informed decision and reduces the risk of a mismatch between recruiting language and the job they encounter.
6. Secure what the firm needs to retain and grow talent
The final practice in BD+C’s summary is to secure what the firm needs to retain and grow talent. In practice, that means connecting what employees ask for with the resources and decisions the firm can support. Some concerns may call for clearer responsibilities or better communication; others may require tools, work arrangements, or opportunities for development. The survey summary does not specify a budget or prescribe a package of benefits, so firms should not assume that one investment will solve every retention problem.
Make decisions explicit: what will be provided, who can use it, and how employees can raise a problem if the arrangement is not working. For leaders who want remote-work options, for example, the reported preference is for both the option and tools to work efficiently from remote locations. A policy statement alone may not address the practical support employees say they need. For mid-career staff, adding more responsibilities may not be the answer to a desire for growth; ask what kind of growth the person actually values.
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How should firms communicate culture without overpromising?
Describe what employees can expect, support claims with examples, and be candid about variation across roles. A strong employer brand is not a claim that every person will have the same experience; it is a clear account of the firm’s culture and the practices that uphold it.
Feldman also told BD+C: “Folks who stand out from the ‘beige’ are going to have an edge.” Differentiation is useful when it reflects something real about the firm, not merely a more distinctive tagline. Another observation in the report is that “Mid-level leadership is looking for a good home, but also wants to grow,” as Feldman put it. For a firm speaking to experienced candidates, that points toward explaining both the quality of the working environment and the opportunities available—without promising advancement that cannot be supported.
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Before publishing a recruiting message, ask whether current employees would consider it fair and recognizable. If not, the priority is to address the gap or narrow the claim. That discipline protects credibility with existing staff as well as with candidates.
How can firms tell whether their approach is credible?
The poll does not provide a retention scorecard or prove a causal link between branding and staying. A firm can still check whether its actions follow from what it heard and whether its communication matches those actions.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- Can employees describe what they heard back? If people share concerns but cannot tell whether anyone responded, the listening process may not feel credible.
- Are role expectations clear? This is particularly relevant when employees are concerned about wearing too many job hats.
- Do leaders explain the options and tools available for remote work? A broad statement about flexibility is less useful than a clear description of what employees can actually access.
- Do candidates get a realistic view of the work and culture? Introductions to potential teammates can help make the picture concrete.
- Do public claims match employees’ experience? If not, fix the experience or change the claim before investing further in promotion.
These are practical checks derived from the issues and recommendations BD+C reports, not measures validated by the survey. Firms should use evidence from their own employees and decisions to understand whether their approach is working. The aim is not to attribute every departure or retention decision to branding, but to make the relationship between the firm’s promises and its employment practices more credible.
What is the most useful takeaway for an AEC employer?
Begin with employee experience, not a campaign. The 2022 Hinge poll as reported by BD+C suggests that culture, leadership, career stage, role breadth, and practical work arrangements all matter to how employees view their firms. Its evidence is limited and historical, but the questions it raises are actionable: What do people need? What does the firm need to change? And can the firm communicate its culture in a way employees would recognize as genuine?
BD+C frames the challenge as whether a firm “will we be more visible and credible” to retain the employees it wants to keep. Visibility can help people understand what makes a firm distinctive. Credibility depends on whether the working experience supports the story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is employer branding the same as company culture?
No. Culture is the workplace employees experience; employer branding is how the firm is understood as a place to work. The brand is most credible when it accurately reflects the culture rather than trying to replace or disguise it.
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Does the Hinge poll prove that branding makes AEC employees stay?
No. BD+C’s account reports survey findings and recommendations, but the supplied information does not establish that brand investment caused employees to remain. Treat it as a reason to investigate employee experience, not as a guaranteed retention formula.
Why might an AEC firm introduce candidates to potential teammates?
It gives candidates a chance to hear about the work and workplace from people they may work alongside. The conversation is useful only if it is candid and consistent with the conditions the candidate would actually encounter.
What should an AEC firm do if it cannot meet an employee request?
Acknowledge the request, explain the decision and its constraints, and clarify whether another option is available. The response should close the loop rather than leave employees uncertain about whether their input was heard.
