You can't buy loyalty, says Stephen Jones of Woods Bagot. He feels young professionals will develop loyalty towards their employers if they have an inspiring and welcoming environment to work in. 'As a professional working on designing workplaces, I find it amazing that many businesses fail to use their offices as a strategic resource to keep a new generation of professionals by creating a unique and engaging workplace,' said the regional managing principal at Woods Bagot, a multinational studio of architecture, design and consultancy. This engaging environment makes employees feel good about their work and feel 'included'. 'The workplace is an inexpensive way of attracting and retaining the best professionals,' he said. To build such a workplace, Mr Jones recommends management and staff share and communicate ideas in an open fashion. 'For instance Woods Bagot has a fairly 'equal opportunity' management structure that emphasises including everyone's points of view through discussion among all members.' An employer who can effectively retain top young professionals is the one that recognises the distinct differences in needs of the Generation Y-ers (those born between 1978 and 1994) and the Gen X-ers (born in the late 60s and early 70s). The Gen X-ers grew up before the internet revolutionised access to information so they had completely different media and products from the Gen Y-ers. Now everyone has access to the same media, messages and products. 'We should be sensitive to the differences among individuals and adapt our ways of communicating with them accordingly,' Mr Jones said. Young professionals are also attracted by the prospect of continuous career development and advancement. In the dynamic architecture sector, professionals often benchmark their employers against other companies. When a company was able to consistently win innovative and inspiring projects, talent would be drawn to it, he said. 'A company can motivate existing staff by acknowledging their contribution and encouraging them to share the success.' Opportunities for international exposure are highly valued by young professionals. 'We make sure that we identify the bright young talents who may feel they have learned all that they can from a particular role,' Mr Jones said. 'We will create further opportunities for them, like exploring the possibility of moving them to one of our 15 studios worldwide or expanding their roles to include more responsibility.' As the regional managing principal of Asia, Mr Jones manages more than 100 staff in Hong Kong and 30 in Beijing. His primary objective is to expand Woods Bagot's business in Asia and to ensure that the company offers a diversified portfolio of services from interior design to architecture and urban design. The development of the multidisciplinary studio is in part spurred on by its appointment by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to design the School of Business Management and the Institute of Advanced Study. Specialising in the architecture, design and consulting in projects of education and science, lifestyle and workplace, Woods Bagot employs more than 1,000 professionals around the world. Keys to effective staff retention Create an 'inclusive' workplace Be sensitive to the differences of individual members and adopt different ways of communication accordingly Share and communicate ideas without boundaries Establish common values with input from team members Provide staff with exposure to international practice and expertise