The key to attracting and retaining early career talent in Asset Management

The key to attracting and retaining early career talent in Asset Management

As part of the IAM NxtGen committee, it is important for us to use our platform to understand the direction of our sector and help pave the way for future generations.

To support our understanding of retaining early career talent and how to encourage graduates to join our sector, we shared a questionnaire with the IAM early careers community and discussed our perspectives with an experienced professional to ensure alignment of all experience levels.

Early careers contributing factors - Questionnaire results

The types of projects

Unsurprisingly, the top contributing factor to staying in our sector is the type of work and projects, with opportunities for growth and professional development ranking second and third. The real-life application and value realised by asset management are often overlooked and hidden by the media attention of major infrastructure failures.

Early careers are motivated by meaningful work, the chance to grow, and the ability to continuously learn. These are not just perks, they’re essential ingredients for long-term engagement, ensuring that everyone new to the sector is given the opportunity to be involved in the most interesting projects available will definitely help retain talent. For the full results of our contributing factors question see Figure 1 below - 

Figure 1: Results to question 2, that asked respondents to rank the 6 factors in terms of their importance to their decision to stay in the asset management sector.

The importance of work-life balance

Even through work-life balance ranked 5^th in our contributing factors question it was rated positively by most respondents, with 85% of our respondents expressing their work-life balance is ‘Good’ or better.

Figure 2: Q3 - Work life balance rating

A sense of community

The sense of community within our sector was also rated highly, with 78% of respondents expressing that the sense of community was ‘Good’ or better. This reflects a culture of support, collaboration, and shared purpose.

When people feel connected to their peers and the wider industry, they’re more likely to stay, contribute, and grow. Having a strong sense of community could be considered a value add. It is amazing to have, but was considered the least influential factor in our respondents’ decision to stay within asset management.

Figure 3: Q4 - Sense of community rating

Enjoyment and satisfaction

Job satisfaction is strong among respondents, with an average enjoyment score of 84%. This suggests that early career professionals find their roles fulfilling and engaging. Enjoyment at work is a powerful retention tool – it keeps people motivated, inspired, and proud of the work they do. Our early career respondents also highlighted the key contributors that keep them engaged, interested, enjoying and in turn remaining in the asset management sector. We have summarised the key words in a word cloud with an interesting result, showing that our early career professionals are finding asset management careers are meaningful, impactful and full of variety.

The role senior leadership play in supporting retention

 As early career professionals in asset management, we often look to leadership not just for direction, but for inspiration. The tone set by senior leaders can significantly influence how supported, valued, and motivated we feel in our roles.

Retention is strongest where leadership is visible, communicative, and actively engaged in career development. When leaders champion diversity, celebrate innovation, and invest in mentoring, it sends a powerful message: you belong here, and your growth matters. Leadership also plays a key role in shaping the narrative around asset management. When they speak passionately about the purpose and impact of our work, it helps us connect our day-to-day tasks to a bigger picture.

Attracting and retaining talent - Our discussion with Dominika Nowosinska

After analysing the insights of our asset management early career community, it seemed sensible to discuss our perspectives with a more experienced professional. The objective of our discussion – to ensure alignment across all experience levels and understand the roles we all play in attracting and retaining talent.

To develop our understanding and share our perceptions, we sat down with Dominika, a fellow of the Institute of Asset Management and a chartered civil engineer whose career has evolved into a leadership role in asset management, with a strong focus on sustainability, digital transformation, and people development, at Mott MacDonald. We have themed our discussion into three key areas visability, diversity and appeal, to summarise our conversation.

1. Improving visibility

We discussed the importance of raising awareness of the amazing work we do as a sector. As asset management professionals we see the value our projects create for our assets, our clients and their customers. But we often struggle to demonstrate these benefits with data that is engaging for those outside our sector. Too often, our work is hidden behind headlines about potholes or infrastructure failures. But the reality is far more inspiring. Asset management is about resilience, sustainability, and realising value from assets across our country.

To shift this narrative, all asset managers should focus on storytelling. By promoting the positive impact of asset management through social media and other platforms, showcasing its significance and the essential role it plays in society in a fun visual and relatable way, rather than focusing purely on condition and cost. Early career professionals play a crucial role in creating engagement utilising their enthusiasm and digital literacy to lead the way in improving the visibility of the great impacts asset managers have in all walks of life.

National Highways’ free Digital Lab DigData virtual work experience is a great example. Their course helps develop practical and applicable skills for all age groups between year 9 and university. Offering services that demonstrate the key skills required for the sector and what the job involves not only provides visibility but also a valuable opportunity to upskill.

2. Asset management diversity

There has been a noticeable shift toward greater inclusion and diversity across the asset management sector. This has been driven by a variety of factors. One of which is the variety of academic backgrounds joining the sector, rather than solely those 

with an engineering degree. For reference, in our UK NxtGen committee, only 23% of us hold an engineering-related degree, or equivalent. This diversity strengthens the sector by attracting talent from all areas of study, which should be promoted in universities to support the continued growth of the asset management talent pool.

Additionally, support networks are being established to further promote inclusion and encourage participation from underrepresented groups – creating spaces where people feel seen, supported, and empowered to grow. Diverse teams are stronger, more innovative, and better equipped to solve the complex challenges of the future.

3. Asset management appeal

To attract the next generation of talent, there is a need to reframe how asset management is perceived. Rather than associating the field with limited or mundane concepts such as, “potholes are asset management”, we should highlight the breadth and diversity of the work involved. By showcasing the wide range of projects and skills across the industry, we can present asset management as a dynamic, innovative and rewarding career path.

One effective approach would be to provide real-life examples that demonstrate the impactful applications of our work. As asset management professionals our role is to celebrate and share the breadth and depth of our work, so we can inspire others to join the sector.

Our role in attracting and retaining talent

Retaining talent in asset management isn’t just about ticking boxes. We need to continue to create an environment where people feel inspired, supported, and proud of the work they do. From the insights of our early careers community to the wisdom shared by Dominika Nowosinska, one message is clear: we all have a role to play in making asset management a sector people want to join and stay in. As a sector we need: