build trust trendlines - the zweig letter · website sets the overall tone. ms consultants, inc....

T R E N D L I N E S

A L S O I N S I D EF I R M I N D E X

J u n e 3 , 2 0 1 3 , I s s u e 1 0 1 0

w w w . t h e z w e i g l e t t e r . c o m

Deliver a unified message Page 3

xz bEST pRAcTIcES: Who is your next leader? page 7xz hR: Tips for rapid and effective onboarding. page 9xz FINANcE: Overhead reduction strategies. page 11

Fully connected

ZweigWhite’s 2013 Information Technology Survey finds that A/E firms continue to enable their employees to work from home or while traveling with some form of remote access.

According to the recent study, the median percentage of firms that provide remote access dropped slightly to 60 percent this year, after reaching a five-year high of 62 percent in 2012.

This number climbed from 44 percent in 2011, 43 percent in 2010, and 39 percent in 2009. – Margot Suydam, Survey Manager

T H E V O I C E O F R E A S O N F O R A / E / P & E N V I R O N M E N T A L C O N S U L T I N G F I R M S

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

BSA Life Structures ............................................... 3Guernsey Architects .............................................. 9JQ .......................................................................... 8Larson Design Group ............................................. 3Mackey Mitchell Architects .................................. 5MFRA................................................................... 12ms consultants, inc. .............................................. 3Nadel Architects ................................................. 12Wessler Engineering ............................................. 5See MARk ZWEIg, page 2

Mark Zweig

HR | FINANCES U p p L E M E N T S

Pages 9 - 12

Do you need a vacation?

Page 5

As this economy recovers – and in the construction industry we are

seeing rapid recovery now – it’s going to become crucial once again to really pay attention to what it takes to keep those good people that you have now working for the company. Good people always have options – and they will soon have more than ever.

Building the trust of your people goes a long way; it’s absolutely essential when you have the smart and talented people we have working in our firms. These people just won’t work for any organization that they think is ripping them off or compromises their integrity in some way. They simply don’t need to.

If you want to have a good relationship with your employees (keep them and build trust) here are my suggestions:

1) Ask for input. People want to be asked for their opinions. When you do so, you are showing that you care – plain and simple! Of course, a face-to-face ses-sion is best. But in lieu of that, simple questionnaires can be a lot better than nothing.

Build trustMark Zweig offers seven points on how to enhance your relationship with your team.

building the trust of your people

goes a long way; it’s absolutely

essential when you have the

smart and talented people

we have working in our firms.

ThE ZWEIg LETTER | JUNE 3, 2013, ISSUE 1010

2 © copyright 2013. ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.

A/E bUSINESS NEWSABI slumps: After indicating increasing demand for design services for the better part of a year, the Architecture billings Index has reversed course in April.

“project approval delays are having an adverse effect on the design and construction industry, but again and again we are hearing that it is extremely difficult to obtain financing to move forward on real estate projects,” said kermit baker, AIA chief economist. “There are other challenges that have prevented a broader recovery that we will examine in the coming months if this negative trajectory continues. however, given that inquiries for new projects continue to be strong, we’re hopeful that this is just a short-term dip.”

As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the AbI reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects reported the April AbI score was 48.6, down from a mark of 51.9 in March. This score reflects a decrease in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings) and is the lowest mark since July 2012. The new projects inquiry index was 58.5, down from the reading of 60.1 the previous month.

key April AbI highlights:

z Regional averages: South (52.6), West (50.7), Midwest (49.4), Northeast (48.2)

z Sector index breakdown: multifamily residential (52), institutional (50.1), commercial/industrial (49.2), mixed practice (48.6)

z project inquiries index: 58.5

The regional and sector categories are calculated as a three-month moving average, whereas the index and inquiries are monthly numbers.

CArBon footprInt App: Appuga, a new company that offers environmental technology solutions, has recently released cO2 pro, a tool that seeks to make it easier for any organization to perform the carbon footprint calculation. The mobile application, or app, is available for the iOS and Android operating systems.

Link for Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/es/app/co2-pro/id621974759?mt=8

Link for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.appuga.co2pro&feature=search_result#?t=W251bgwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5hchb1Z2EuY28ychJvIl0.

The application requires the user to

MARk ZWEIg, from page 1

38 West Trenton Blvd., Suite 101 Fayetteville, AR 72701

Mark Zweig | publisher [email protected]

João Ferreira | Managing Editor [email protected]

Christina Zweig | contributing Editor [email protected]

Tel: 800-466-6275 Fax: 508-653-6522 E-mail: [email protected] Online: www.thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigwhite blog: zweigwhite.blogspot.com

published continuously since 1992 by ZweigWhite, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310.

Issued weekly (48 issues/yr.). $475 for one-year membership, $775 for two-year membership.

Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YgS group at 717-399-1900, ext. 139, or e-mail [email protected].

© copyright 2013, ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.

consider seven categories that make up the life cycle of a company’s activities and can have an impact on the environment.

The resulting calculation makes it possible to know the environmental situation of a company, and as such, to set better objectives and establish policies for reducing its emissions with the aim of being more sustainable in carrying out its business activities.

The UN’s Executive Secretary for climate change, christiana Figueres, recently expressed her concern that the increased concentration of cO2 in the atmosphere is soon to reach the symbolic value of 400 ppm (parts per million), something that has never happened before.

The carbon footprint is a simple way of measuring the impact or footprint that a company leaves on the planet due to its activities.

The calculation is performed in accordance with reputable guidelines, such as the ghg protocol and ISO 14064. It is a complex calculation, to which only large organizations have access. Small- and medium-sized companies are forced to hire specialist consultants, which involves a significant cost.

Appuga’s mission is to develop environmental and engineering applications for smartphones and tablets using the existing platforms.

2) Listen to their suggestions. It’s not good enough to ask. You have to act! Obviously, not every suggestion is a good one. Sometimes you need to explain why you cannot act. Build a context.

3) Share your plans. Some business owners like to be coy. They don’t want to let their employees know what their goals are, how or if they want to grow, and so much more. Your employees deserve to know this information! Their futures are tied to your organiza-tion – in some cases as much or even more than your own. Don’t forget that.

4) Share the numbers. Why not let people see how you are really doing? If you can, you will help them by show-ing them how your business operates. And you’ll build trust. They’ll see the company may not be as profitable as they thought it was and you aren’t making the killing they thought you were. One fine point here, however: never share salary data. That will do nothing but make people feel bad.

5) Share the profits. Folks – I’m as capitalist as they come. But it is just plain good business to try to take care of the people who are helping you stay in business and make a profit. I like peanut butter programs where some portion of your cash basis profits is paid out to everyone who was there during the period. It shows you care about everyone. And it gets everyone tuned in to helping the company make money. More than anything it says, “Thanks – we aren’t greedy.”

6) Share your thinking. Your busi-ness plan is one thing. But it may not express your personal philosophies about life and work adequately. Share these! Hopefully when people learn what makes you really tick, they will like you better and trust you more. Be an open person.

7) Be approachable. Certain employ-ees will always be intimidated by you because you are the boss. So you need to go out of your way to show them that you care and are a decent person. Go see them. Call them. Volunteer – sincerely – to help them if you can. And when they do seek you out, try not to react too quickly such that they fear your response to the problem or issue they want help with.

MARk ZWEIg is the chairman and cEO of ZweigWhite. contact him with questions or comments at [email protected].


3

b R A N D I N g

Websites developed around company strategy and messaging are the communications hub at most firms.

by LIISA SULLIvANcorrespondent

How is your firm delivering a unified message about its abilities when

there are so many moving parts?

It seems that a combination of efforts is key.

Website sets the overall tone. ms consultants, inc. (Colum-bus, OH), a 300-person engineering, architecture and planning firm, creates a unified message about its firm’s capa-bilities by enforcing consistency across various types of collateral pieces and communication points, from hard copy brochures and blog posts on its website to face-to-face conversations.

“As a full-service engi-neering, architecture, and planning firm, it can be a challenge at times,” says Moni-ca Mosure, vice presi-dent of global market-ing. “A best practice we have found is to always point to one addition-al source for individu-als to learn more about us. Our corporate web-site often serves as this

source, categorizing and visually dis-playing all of the services we offer along with our message about commitment to client satisfaction. An added bonus is that visitors can read case studies, blog posts, and even our Twitter feed all from one spot, greatly increasing

user engagement and instantly convey-ing our firm’s well-rounded capabilities and professional knowledgebase.”

Shawn Mulholland, managing director of client acquisition at BSA LifeStructures (Indianapolis, IN), a 230-person architec-tural and engineering firm, says the compa-ny’s website also sets the tone for the “BSA LifeStructures brand” and acts as an activity hub for the marketing content the firm pro-duces.

“Our online marketing strategy takes advantage of those moving parts (so-cial media, articles, blogs, videos, white papers, etc.) and makes them work to-gether using a search engine optimiza-tion strategy to drive traffic to our web-site,” Mulholland says. “The website is home base for our online marketing ef-forts and the combination of all those moving parts helps establish our de-signers as experts and thought lead-ers in design. The website showcases our culture, while providing key proj-ects and ‘call-to-action’ white papers that highlight outcomes and benefits derived from the facilities that we de-sign.”

One big idea or numerous com-pelling points? Paul Bleichner, di-rector of marketing, Larson Design Group (Williamsport, PA), a 260-per-son engineering, architecture and sur-veying firm, questions the value of a single, unified message, theme or tag-line for a firm.

“Our goal is a consistent message that expresses our competitive advantage (or highest value to clients) across all our markets. Can a single message de-

fine the firm to all audiences? Our cli-ents are not sitting around waiting for the one big message that solves all their needs. We have a great variety of cli-ents and our messages have to match the audience,” Bleichner says. “We also have to be able to back it up by being confident and authentic. Authentic messages are unified across the firm. They become word-of-mouth. Our staff and clients talk.”

Larson Design Group’s messaging is often guided by the core values of the firm.

“We are client-focused, continuous-ly learning, employee-owners who are stewards of our communities,” Bleich-ner says. “Our community focus is one way we keep the brand alive, relevant, and consistent across our markets in proposals, advertising, meetings and news. We strive to be an integral part of our communities; from executive man-agement to new hires – we are commu-nity connected. This culture has grown over many years, and there are commu-nity expectations of even the newest employee.”

Currently, the firm’s unifying message or tagline is, “Your Vision, Made Real.”

This may be as specific as it can get. The firm strives to meet client’s visions, ac-complishing this through client service excellence.

“It’s marketing speak – but a loose fit

“Our goal is a consistent message that expresses our competitive advantage (or highest value to clients) across all our markets.”

Deliver a unified message

See MESSAgE, page 4

Monica Mosure, VP of Global Marketing, ms consultants, inc.

Shawn Mulholland, Managing Director of Client Acquisition, BSA Life Structures.

practically all firms (83 percent) have a publicly accessible website. Firms that track unique visits receive a median of 338 hits per week.

Source: 2012 Marketing Survey, ZweigWhite: www.zweigwhite.com/ p-1150-marketing-survey-2012.php.



RESOURcESfInAnCIAl performAnCe survey: The 2013 Financial performance Survey of A/E/p & Environmental consulting Firms contains more than 30 different major financial performance statistics so you can find out exactly where your firm stands among your peers. And these statistics are just the beginning of this comprehensive report – go beyond the revenue and profit data to chargeability, revenue factor, overhead rates, average collection period, backlog, staff turnover, and more to see which areas your firm could improve. Data on operating expenses, personnel costs, finance and accounting staff, growth and profit projections, and more are also included.

The 2013 Financial performance Survey of A/E/p & Environmental consulting Firms will help you:

z compare your firm’s financial performance to your competitors’ –find out where you’re ahead and where you’re behind

z Improve financial statements and accounting methods – make sure your documents are in order

z Maximize profitability – Find out what typical bonus, personnel, rent and utilities, and other expenses are for a firm of your size

z get compensation data on financial managers, and make an informed decision as to whether you should make any adjustments

z Develop your strategic business plan and growth strategy based on what similar firms are expecting in growth and profits over the next three, five, and 10 years.

z get a handle on the latest issues and challenges facing the A/E industry.

For more information or to buy a copy, call 800-466-6275 or log on to www.zweigwhite.com/p-2155-financial-performance-survey-2013.

BoD mAnuAl: Most architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms have boards of directors and can benefit from debating what makes a strong board.

Even the smallest design and environmental firms can derive a benefit from the right board of directors; board of Directors Manual for A/E/p and Environmental consulting Firms, Second Edition will give firm leaders, board members, potential outside board advisors, and executive management in A/E firms practical information about

what their boards should be doing and how to create more effective, responsive, and efficient boards.

In this revised, second edition of the A/E board of Directors Manual, we delve into the whys, hows, and whatfors of A/E firm boards of directors.

In addition, the A/E board of Directors Manual offers best practices advice on structuring the board, getting the board to concentrate on the right tasks, and compensating them fairly. With ZweigWhite’s A/E board of Directors Manual, you will learn how a board of directors can benefit a firm, how to find the right talent to staff the board, and what other firms have found works when putting together a board of directors.

The A/E board of Directors Manual is also filled with real-life case studies and descriptions of real boards of directors in the industry today.

Summary of what’s inside:

z Learn about the board’s role and what duties it performs

z Learn how to align your board with the strategic goals of your A/E firm

z Investigate the critical aspects of creating a successful board

z Learn how to appropriately compensate board members at your A/E firm

z hear about common challenges boards face in the A/E industry

z Explore the criterion for choosing the right board members

z Learn about the board’s role and what duties it performs

z Learn how to align your board with the strategic goals of your firm

z Investigate the critical aspects of creating a successful board

z Learn how to compensate board members

z hear about common challenges boards face in the A/E industry

z Explore criterion for choosing the right board members

For more information or to buy a copy, call 800-466-6275 or log on to www.zweigwhite.com/p-2165-board-of-directors-manual.

MESSAgE, from page 3

has a long life,” Bleichner says.

Concise messages integrated across multiple media. “Can you imagine an AEC firm that doesn’t custom-ize its proposals to meet the RFP requirements?,” Bleichner says.

Of course, there are standard elements that don’t vary, like corporate ethics, issues of culture or a mission statement. But customization brings these elements to the client’s needs. Larson Design Group focuses on keeping messages short and sweet and then integrates them across print and digital media. Here are a few ideas about how it maintains a consistent unified message:

z Versatile templates (prototypes that adapt to market niches): Like many firms, Larson Design Group routinely cus-tomizes its statements of qualification for its range of markets and niches. Each begins with the firm-wide theme, prototypi-cal content which morphs to address the specific needs and wants of the audience. It’s important to speak directly to the reader so there’s no such thing as a standard SOQ.

z Leverage technology and new media: Firm-wide technol-ogy connects each employee at Larson Design Group regarding clients, projects, marketing and news. “I think of this as a vir-tual and continuous town hall meeting where we share activi-ties, client and project insight, and a wide range of marketing activities and messages. I don’t know another way a firm of our size can communicate internally to capture, enhance and be consistent with our messaging,” Bleichner says.

z Internet: The Internet is also extremely useful in maintain-ing brand consistency across markets or departments. It’s accessible to everyone – inside and outside the firm. It has its static and relatively permanent content (the unifying mes-sages), but there are conversations, blogs, eNews and minute-to-minute news that are updated nearly continuously. Oversight on content is essential.

z Repurpose content across traditional and new media: Larson’s web and social media presence has been strongly building over the last few years. Topics of “thought leader-ship” are connected from seminars and white papers to blogs, e-news, and social media posts. WordPress is used so they can quickly self-publish.


5

T I M E O F F

While we are not like the Europeans, A/E firm leaders think it’s important to take time off work.

by LIISA SULLIvAN correspondent

Vacations are a necessity. They en-sure that we remain passionate

and motivated. Without vacations, many professionals lose career direc-tion because they do not take the time to focus and recharge. So, start plan-ning a getaway, you’ll be glad you did.

Vacations are not a luxury. John Morrey, general manager at Ex-pedia, says, “Studies consistently show that an ideal work-life balance leads to happier and more productive employ-ees. Your vacation days are not a gift, not a luxury. They’re yours to use.”

Being vacation-deprived creates real, lasting problems at an individual and organizational level. Individuals who are deprived of vacation often experi-ence effects that can be detrimental to their health and career.

Marcia Pennington Shannon, a person-nel management consultant, says that such effects can include “burnout, re-duced productivity, diminished cre-ativity, failed relationships, stress, or stress-related ailments such as depres-sion, heart disease or stomach ulcers.” In addition, Shannon notes that “busi-nesses lose a lot of money each year be-cause of employee illnesses connected to the stress of overwork,” indicating that it is in the best interest of the indi-vidual employee, and the company as a whole, to take routine vacations.

“Taking a vacation is good for us as in-dividual professionals, but also as an effective best management practice.

As leaders at our respective firms, and within the industry as a whole, tak-ing routine vacations allows for other members of our teams to excel as lead-ers and innovators,” Shannon says.

Work to live… not vice ver-sa. A 2011 Expedia survey found that, on the whole, Europeans vacation con-siderably more than Americans. Gen-erally speaking, the average European worker earns 20-25 vacation days per a year and, in most instances, takes all of those days for their personal use. Con-versely, American workers who earn 14 days of vacation per year take only 10 days.

Expedia Worldwide CEO Scott Durchslag says, “Europeans work to live, feeling vacation is a right rath-er than a privilege. Americans can of-ten live to work, viewing vacations as a guilty privilege to be downplayed around the workplace, especially if they are worried about their jobs.”

Make the time. Many working professionals are plagued by the idea that they cannot take the time in their schedules to get away and recharge. It’s important to make time for personal downtime and vacations. The trip does not necessarily have to be long, what is important is that the time is taken to mentally get away from the office, fo-cus on personal growth and recharge.

Health professional Steven Levy stress-es the importance of building time away into your schedule.

“Even if you can’t get a week or two away, long weekends or shorter trips can be just as beneficial,” Dr. Levy says. “The worst thing that you can do for your health is not to take any down-time at all. This only fosters the stress and burnout that leads to all types of sickness – sickness that affects your job performance, your close relation-

ships, your spiritual centeredness and, ultimately, your mental and physical health. So when it comes to taking a va-cation? Just do it!”

What are your colleagues do-ing? Brent Sibenthal, president of Wessler Engineering (India-napolis, IN), a 60-per-son civil and environ-mental engineering firm, makes vacations a priority, noting that a typical vacation for his family means spending six to seven days at the beach in Florida.

“Any less time than that isn’t enough to ‘get away’,” he says.

Now, while Sibenthal does make vaca-tions a priority, he does not completely leave the office behind.

“I limit myself to going through emails just a couple of times while on vaca-tion,” he says. “However, I do leave my cellphone on for pressing issues/client calls. Unless a critical deadline is loom-ing, I will not bring project-related work with me. By following these prac-tices, my family usually doesn’t have to remind me to put the work away.”

John Burse, principal at Mackey Mitchell Architects (St. Louis, MO), a 38-person firm, notes that he and his family usually embark on one extended sum-mer vacation annual-ly – usually to a cooler climate, like the moun-tains. On bringing work with him on this vacation, Burse says,

Relax, recharge and reboot

See vAcATION, page 10

Brent Sibenthal, President, Wessler Engineering.

John Burse, Principal, Mackey Mitchell Architects.

For firms that determine vacation time by years of service, the median amount of vacation they give employees is 10 days for up to 4 years of service, 15 days for 5 to 9 years of service, and 20 days for 10 or more years of service.

Source: 2013 policies, procedures & benefits Survey, ZweigWhite: www.zweigwhite.com/p-2150-policies-procedures-benefits-survey-2013.



Cornelius Fichtner

PM exam contact hours primerSix ways to earn 35 hours through formal project management training or course work.

Approved project management-related topics include project quality, project budget, project risks, project scope, project communications, project procurement, and project integration management.

See cORNELIUS FIchTNER, page 8

Obtaining your Project Management Processional (or PMP) certification is a lot more than reading

the “PMBOK Guide.” It is also involves completing the PMP exam application, which can be a time-consuming sometimes confusing process. In completing the education requirements section, you see that you need at least 35 contact hours. So, what exactly are contact hours, why do you need them, and what do you need to do to obtain them? Contact hours are not the same as a professional developmental units (PDUs), you need to have at least 35 contact hours of prior to the completion of your application be eligible to take the PMP exam, whereas once you obtain our PMP certification, you will need 60 PDUs every three years to maintain the certification.

All of the hours you want to use toward contact hours must be in the form of a formal project management training or course work. Approved project management-related topics include project quality, project budget, project risks, project scope, project communications, project procurement, and project integration management. This training or course work also must require that you demonstrate successful understanding and completion. If you have taken training or course work in the past that would count toward the contact hours you need – even if it was 10, 15, or 20 years ago, it still counts as long as you have the documentation confirming your attendance.

There are six categories of providers available from which you can obtain training or course work to meet the 35 contact-hour educational requirement to submit an application to take the PMP Exam.

Category A – PMI registered education providers (R.E.P.s). Take some training through a PMI registered education provider (R.E.P.). These courses can be easily located on the Project Management Institute (PMI) website under the “Professional Development” section where you can search for a specific activity or provider based on such requirements as your location, the type of training you are looking for, keywords, and language. Training taken from one of PMIs R.E.P. is usually pre-approved to meet PMIs education requirements for contact hours.

Category B – PMI chapters or communities of practice. Participate in a training activity provided by one of PMIs many chapters or communities of practice (CoP). Check out the schedule of your local PMI chapter; many offer low cost training opportunities that you can count

toward your 35 contact hours. Attending a PMI chapter does not qualify for contact hours unless at least one hour of that meeting is dedicated to a training activity. There are also many PMI communities of practice that offer training opportunities. CoPs are industry-specific groups such as aerospace and defense, international development, and the utility industry that focus on project management as it is applied in their specific industry. CoP information can be found on the PMI website under the “Get Involved” section. Any training provided by a PMI chapter or CoP is pre-approved to meet education requirements for contact hours.

Category C – Employer/company-sponsored programs. If your employer is providing project management-related training where you are required to demonstrate you have learned the material and there is a quiz at the end, you can claim each hour spent toward project quality, budget, risks, scope, communications, procurement, and integration management as a contact hour. Keep all of the related material just in case PMI has any questions about this training while reviewing your application.


7

See STEphEN LUcY, page 8

contrary to popular myth, great business leaders do not just spring forth and assume control. Effective leaders are developed through a process that takes time, effort and input from others.

STEPHENLUCY

If your answer to the question of leadership is that you are the only leader of the firm, you should stop reading now

as your firm will probably not survive beyond your term. Successful leaders know that leadership succession is an essential component of their business planning and work diligently to identify, nurture and promote future firm leadership.

Contrary to popular myth, great business leaders do not just spring forth and assume control. Effective leaders are developed through a process that takes time, effort and input from others.

Identify the skills needed for firm success. Most firms have job descriptions for each position that clearly identify the tasks that are expected to be performed and provide parameters for evaluation of technical abilities. However, few firms identify the skills necessary to be an ef-fective leader. This is probably because the leadership with-in the firm does not know what skills are required.

The best place to start is by evaluating your current staff. Identify those individuals who are the best leaders in a specific area because rarely will you have an individual with strengths in every aspect of leadership or firm operations. Who is your best project manager, and how does he or she motivate the team and maximize their output? Who is the best mediator, and how does he or she discern the contentious issues and reach resolution? Who successfully blends the needs of administration teams with technical teams? In many cases these leadership skills have been developed organically over time through the school of hard knocks. You don’t want to lose that knowledge or repeat the path.

You should also look outside your firm to other industry leaders. You need to determine why they are successful and ascertain if you can bring those skills within your firm if they are a proper fit. Benchmarking with peer firms in areas of leadership skills is as important as more traditional comparative parameters, such as benefits and compensation.

Provide training and support. Just as we are re-quired to have continuing education to maintain our pro-fessional licenses, we should require our leaders to have continued training in leadership. Leadership is not a skill that is learned and retained without practice and ongoing evaluation. And our leadership styles must change in re-sponse to generational differences in order to remain

Who is your next leader? If asked the question, do you know the answer?

a relevant and effective for those we lead. How many of us can think back to leaders we had to work with early in our careers only to shudder to think how ineffectual they would be in today’s work environment? Do you want your staff to have the same perspective of your leadership or of those who you have selected to lead?

Most firms can establish strong technical training internally through existing staff, but training for “soft” skills like leadership normally necessitates engaging some external training through seminars or individual coaches. This requires an investment of time and money. Given that most performance failures of a firm are created by failures of firm leadership, how can you not invest in this training?

Internally, mentor/protégé programs can provide an effective internal platform for leadership training. This is especially true of cross-generational training as older leaders are paired with younger staff. I know that



cORNELIUS FIchTNER, from page 6

STEphEN LUcY, from page 7

Category D – Training companies or consultants (e.g., training schools). Attending training provided by a training company, school, or consultant that is project management specific can be counted toward the contact hours you need. These are generally organized training events or classes where you are tested both during the training and upon completion. As with other non-pre-approved PMI training, make sure you keep the materials and any test scores just in case PMI has any questions while reviewing your application.

Category E – Distance-learning companies, including an end-of-course assessment. Taking a distance learning course is another method for earning your contact hours. These training courses can typically be conveniently completed from anywhere based on your schedule. It is important that the training is project management-specific around the topics of project quality, budget, risks, scope, communications, procurement, and integration management, and there is an end-of-course assessment. Make sure you keep a hold of any assessments showing you completed the course successfully just in case PMI has any questions while reviewing your application.

Category F – University/college academic and continuing education programs. Academic and continuing education programs provided by a college or university are another good opportunity to obtain

contact hours. These courses will typically have an end-of-course assessment that you can use to prove you have completed the course successfully. You can only claim the amount of time you spent in the course on project management topics such as project quality, budget, risks, scope, communications, procurement, and integration management. Keep in mind for courses provided by a college or university that each hour you spend in class counts as long as it is spent on the appropriate topics. For example if you take a 10-week course where you meet three hours a week, that equates to 30 contact hours. Retain the course syllabus and any assessments for the hours you claim just in case PMI has any questions while reviewing your application.

If you have discovered you need a few more contact hours or even all 35, a good place to start would by checking out the PM PrepCast. PM PrepCast is a PMI registered education provider that provides a distance learning course where you can obtain all 35 contact hours by simply watching videos, and these will also help in your PMP exam prep. The PM PrepCast course falls in both category A and F and is offered by OSP International LLC, a PMI R.E.P. cORNELIUS FIchTNER is a noted pMp expert. he has helped over 13,000 students prepare for the pMp Exam with The project Management prepcast at www.pm-prepcast.com and The pM Exam Simulator at www.pm-exam-simulator.com.

I have become a more effective leader by listening and incorporating suggestions from our young developing leaders.

Social promotion never works. Social promo-tion should have no place in the office. Placing someone in a leadership role strictly because they have “put in their time” or because “it creates the right demographic” is not leader-ship on your part and sends the wrong message to all those who rightly deserve to be promoted. This is not to say that you should maintain the status quo, but you need to prop-erly prepare those for leadership before you thrust them into the position. Absent strong exhibited leadership skills to their peers, staff advanced for social reasons are doomed to fail.

Firm culture. Firm leadership is the caretaker of firm culture. Therefore, any changes in leadership can have an impact on firm culture and that must be recognized during the identification and development of firm leaders as an im-portant component of the training. After all, much of your existing staff probably stays with the firm because they like the current culture.

This understanding of the importance of firm culture is most critical if you decide to bring in leaders from outside, instead of promoting staff from within. Without having “grown up” within the firm culture, it can be difficult for an outsider to value and nurture the culture as opposed to an insider.

Create opportunities for others. This is prob-ably the hardest step as it requires you to trust another to do your job and accept that they may make errors in judg-ment or at least make decisions that vary from yours. How-ever, the most effective way to learn is to learn by doing. This does not mean that you are not there to provide guid-ance and input, but you must be careful not to immediately step in to second guess those decisions that you question. Constant correction will destroy the confidence of your de-veloping leader and, if done in front of their peers or subor-dinates, will erode their ability to lead others effectively.

You have to ask yourself if you always want to work as hard as you do now. This seems like a question with an obvious answer, yet so many firm leaders do not want to step back and hand over the reins of control. And as you do hand over the reins, don’t you want to know how the new leader will perform before you release all control?

Prepare for the future. The development of future leaders requires time and effort, but the failure to begin the process predisposes your firm to stagnation or decline. Do you want to be known as the firm that was successful, or the firm that is highly successful and continues to be an in-dustry leader? Identify your future leaders, coach and train them well, and let them move forward in supporting and elevating your firm’s future success.

STEphEN LUcY is managing principal at JQ in Dallas. contact him at [email protected].

HR A SUppLEMENT OF ThE ZWEIg LETTER JUNE 3, 2013, ISSUE 1010

9

h I R I N g

Time is money so the quicker and more effectively you can get a new hire up to speed is a win-win for all.

by LIISA SULLIvANcorrespondent

Getting new hires quickly up to speed is important to ensure that

your clients continue to get the high quality services that they have come to expect. And “onboarding” is the pro-cess of acquiring, accommodating, as-similating and accelerating new team members, whether they come from outside or inside the organization. So, how can you do it quickly, yet effective-ly? How soon would you be confident assigning a new employee to work with your most valued customer? When do you know a new employee is likely to stay and be a productive member of your team? When do you know a new employee can be trusted to work with-out constant supervision?

New employees are always a gamble. Even with the best hiring process, there’s no guarantee of success. There-fore, the goal of any successful on-boarding process or program should be to get new employees up to speed and working with their team as quickly as possible. Often, when companies start to build onboarding programs, they start by asking the questions: “What does the employee need to know?” and “Who does the employee need to meet?”

Provide support and encour-agement. Carol Williams, human re-source manager at Guernsey Archi-

tects (Oklahoma City, OK), an employee-owned, engineering, architecture and con-sulting firm of 150 em-ployees, says that as an employee-owned firm, it is client-centered and family oriented.

“We encourage our employees to com-mit to their projects

with a persisting attitude of integri-ty and a focus on our client,” she says. “Every employee who starts their ca-reer at Guernsey begins with a mentor who will guide them in the right direc-tion. They are involved in project meet-ings, client presentations, and corpo-rate events in order to gain a better un-derstanding of Guernsey’s culture and of our client’s expectations. We want to ensure that they feel comfortable, and a part of our team, from day one.” New hires at Guernsey have the op-portunity to build their career in a col-laborative environment, learning from skilled leaders and industry veterans who will help them to develop their abilities and achieve their personal goals.

“We want our employees to succeed,” Williams says.

That’s why Guernsey hires recent grad-uates, as well as seasoned profession-als, who are willing and able to demon-strate the following:

z The ability to work collaboratively

z An attitude conducive to helping others

z Integrity in professional relationships

z Willingness to grow and develop as part of the company

Professional growth and development are important at Guernsey as well.

“We are committed to providing on-site training and educational opportunities to further our employees’ careers,” Wil-liams says. “We also provide financial incentives and reimbursement to em-ployees who are required to take pro-fessional licensing and accreditation examinations.”

Tips from an executive search firm. Executive Search International is a full-service, full life cycle recruit-ing firm. Its focus is on cultural fit and delivering best practice search and re-cruiting services – outstanding talent for client organizations, ranging from multinational corporations to small en-trepreneurial businesses.

It provides the following tips for rapid employee onboarding:

1) Do a little job preview. As early as possible, even pre-hire, let the new employee see what actually happens on the job. A day of job shadowing is not a bad idea.

2) Instill confidence. This is instilled by success. Try to find a part of the job for the employee that can be quickly mastered. For example, with a new manager, this might be holding a well-structured meeting with their team.

“Every employee who starts their career at guernsey begins with a mentor who will guide them in the right direction.”

Tips for rapid and effective onboarding

See ONbOARDINg, page 10

Carol Williams, HR Manager, Guernsey Architects.

Source: 2013 policies, procedures & benefits Survey, ZweigWhite: www.zweigwhite.com/p-2150-policies-procedures-benefits-survey-2013.

The majority of firms (58 percent) have probationary periods for new employees. Among firms with a probationary period, the median length is three months.



ON ThE MOvE

ONbOARDINg, from page 9

GeI hIres: GEI Consultants, Inc. (Woburn, MA), a geotechnical, environmental, water resources, and ecological science and engineering firm, announced that Bernhardt (Bernie) Hertlein has joined the firm in its Libertyville, Ill. office.

A non-destructive testing (NDT) expert with global experience, hertlein will contribute to the company’s national growth in in-situ instrumentation and non-destructive testing and evaluation of construction materials.

prior to joining gEI, hertlein served as the head of the NDT group at STS and AECOM from 1998 to 2013. he was responsible for NDT and geophysical measurement technology used for construction quality control, structural integrity, and condition assessment, and monitoring of remedial and rehabilitation works.

he specializes in developing new applications for NDT methods, designing or building required hardware, and writing appropriate software. An active member of several professional societies, he is currently serving as secretary of the American concrete Institute committee 228 and chairman of committee 336, immediate past-chairman of ASTM c9-64, a director of the ADSc-IAFD, and a trustee of the Deep Foundations Institute. he is also past chairman of the DFI Testing and Evaluation committee.

hertlein has written and/or contributed to more than 40 presentations and publications on NDT of concrete structures and foundations, including the book “Nondestructive Testing of Deep Foundations,” for which he was principal author, co-written with Allen Davis. In addition, he has presented more than 50 short courses and invited lectures on NDT of concrete structures and foundations for Departments of Transportation, universities, construction industry professionals and building owners groups throughout the country.

AerometrIC hIres: AeroMetric (Sheboygan, WI), a full-service geospatial solutions company, has hired Felicia Retiz as an account manager based out of Austin, Texas. In this role, she will be responsible for managing client relations and networking under Steve Ellis for AeroMetric’s Texas-based Enterprise geospatial Information System (EgIS) endeavors. Retiz is highly skilled in managing complex geospatial projects in the public sector at the local, state, and federal level, having managed such projects in Texas for nearly 15 years.

Ellis, AeroMetric’s vice president for EgIS said, “because the demand for our EgIS service offerings are at an all-time high with our recent award of a Texas DIR contract, we decided to grow our team to provide the best possible service to our Texas based clientele. Retiz’s previous experience within Texas state government, her gIS knowledge, and her proven track record of success make her a valuable asset to our Texas clients as well as the AeroMetric EgIS team.”

prior to joining AeroMetric, Retiz worked as the Strategic Mapping program Team Lead for the Texas Natural Resources Information System, where she developed a strong network of contacts while seeking opportunities with federal, state, and local entities to procure geospatial data. Retiz’s extensive experience in geospatial projects and client relationships make her a valuable addition to AeroMetric.

When asked why she chose to join AeroMetric, Retiz said, “I knew from experience that AeroMetric was a quality driven company. As a client, AeroMetric was attentive and delivered as promised. The kind of company that cares about their client is the kind of company I want to work for.”

lJA promotes: LJA (houston, TX), a 300-person full-service consulting engineering firm, announced that Jack Shick has been promoted to senior project manager in the firm’s houston Transportation Division.

Shick’s role at LJA is to develop solutions for traffic/transportation congestion issues for clients. These projects include traffic signal timing studies, traffic signal design, traffic simulation and travel demand modeling.

Shick has managed traffic engineering projects for both public and private sector clients with projects located throughout Texas and the gulf coast area, including the cities of houston, Stafford, Sugar Land, pearland, Missouri city, and League city, as well as for harris county, Montgomery county, brazoria county, Fort bend county, and galveston county.

In his new position, Shick will be responsible for managing the growing Traffic Engineering group within the Transportation Division along with continuing to manage LJA’s traffic engineering projects for public and private sector clients.

vAcATION, from page 5

“During vacations, and through concert-ed planning, delegation, and manage-ment of obligations, I work very hard to disconnect as much as possible from my professional duties during those family times. For all the time I spend away from home in service of clients and colleagues, the support my family gives me in those endeavors, I feel I owe them my complete attention and having a strong, capable team back at the office allows such oc-casions to be meaningfully spent as rest and relaxation should be spent.”

So, take a vacation already! It’s clear that vacations provide the space for us to relax and recharge. They allow us to gain a renewed clarity and passion for our respective professions. It’s time to make your personal lives a priority; start planning your next vacation today.

3) Design training as needed: Don’t overload new employees with a lot of training, especially if they won’t need it immediately. Try to schedule train-ing as close to the time it will be used as possible. When new employees go through weeks of initial training, a lot of it doesn’t stick because it isn’t immediately used. It becomes over-whelming and creates a loss of confidence and morale

4) Establish a daily routine. If pos-sible, get the new employee into the routine of the job on the first day.

5) Make early introductions. Make sure new employees meet and spend time with their managers and team members in the first few days.

6) Establish a home base. Give new employees their phones, desks,

emails or other start-up essentials of their job immediately.

7) Structure early interactions. Don’t leave it to chance. Create ac-tivities that make the new person valuable to the team members and alleviate any doubts they have about the new person.

Successful onboarding requires a lot of structure for the first 30 to 90 days. And, doing a better job of on-boarding dramatically reduces turn-over and helps to build a more pro-ductive work environment. Getting down to real work and the routine of the job early can make a big differ-ence.

FINANCE A SUppLEMENT OF ThE ZWEIg LETTER MAY 3, 2013, ISSUE 1010

11

E F F I c I E N c Y

cpA offers three ways to increase profitability by reducing so-called ‘fixed costs.’

Editor’s note: First of a two-part series.

by bRYAN SULLIvAN correspondent

Overhead is unavoidable and costs will likely continue to rise wheth-

er your business revenues do or not. So, controlling how you combat ris-ing overhead costs is important to the overall health of your firm.

Three strategies enhance profitability. Mark Goodson, a certified public accountant with Ac-counting Professionals in Asheville, N.C., a family owned and operated ac-counting firm that specializes in com-plete financial services, says that over-head can be defined as the human and physical infrastructure costs covering basic functions essential to operating your business. Although overhead is of-ten referred to as “fixed costs” that ex-ist whether business is good or lousy, the amount of overhead per dollar of revenue can be influenced negatively by factors such as inefficiencies or poor work quality.

Below, Goodson shares three strategies that can help A/E firms enhance profit-ability by reducing overhead:

Strategy 1 – Control project costs through efficiency and avoiding un-necessary work. Reducing overhead is not just about cutting costs. Low over-head comes from working smart, plan-ning well, and doing quality work. Fail-ing to do these on every project can

lead to ever expanding scopes, missed dead-lines and unnecessary rework. Accountabil-ity and feedback are also important. Some-one should be made responsible for moni-toring project progress and providing regu-lar feedback to partic-ipants regarding work quality and upcoming deadlines.

z Establish price review for all outgoing proposals; never discount or lowball.

z Control scope; manage expectations by defining and meeting task completion targets.

z Don’t agree to deadlines that are depen-dent on the performance of uncontrollable outside parties.

z Streamline work processes and leverage technology by automating wherever possible.

z Manage schedules by continually track-ing actual progress against the baseline schedule.

z Benchmark progress and get owner sign-off while getting paid for requested changes.

z Tighten timeframes wherever feasible.

z Control quality by building on and reus-ing past effort, knowledge, and experience.

z Instill accountability by assigning spe-cific responsibility for all tasks, includ-ing the overall profitability of a project.

Strategy 2 – Hire workers who can fill multiple roles and outsource non-core administrative and technolo-gy functions. A/E firms, large and

small, can benefit from hiring workers that can fill multiple roles while out-sourcing administrative and technol-ogy functions. Using skilled employ-ees who serve in multiple roles can re-duce the need for additional staff and allow them to remain productive dur-ing downtime between tasks.

Smaller firms outsource functions such as payroll, bookkeeping and informa-tion technology out of necessity. These firms generally do not have sufficient revenues to hire full-time employees to do support functions and it is difficult to hire competent accountants or tech-nology staff on a part-time basis.

Larger firms should consider outsourc-ing these functions as well. For exam-ple, new advances in telecommunica-tions make it not only possible, but at-tractive, to outsource large chunks of your IT systems through data ware-housing, vendor management and many other areas. The primary reason to do this is to allow A/E firm manage-ment to concentrate on its core compe-tencies, while minimizing time spent on administrative or technology mat-ters. This of course reduces non-billable activities but can also help reduce over-all administrative costs.

z Define job descriptions that facilitate hiring workers that can serve in multiple roles.

z Deploy a “managed services” approach with an outside vendor to maintain computer networks and peripherals.

z Eliminate the need for additional equipment and support staff by utiliz-ing Internet “cloud” technology to link multiple locations and workers based out of their homes.

z Consider using “software as a service”

Overhead reduction strategies

See OvERhEAD, page 12

Mark Goodson, CPA, Accounting Professionals.

Firms’ rent and utility costs are a median of 10.2 percent of total labor. A median of 5.9 percent of firms’ gross revenue goes toward rent and utility costs.

Source: 2012-2013 Operating Expenses Survey, ZweigWhite: www.zweigwhite.com/p-1166-operating-expenses-survey-2012-2013.php.



TRANSAcTIONS

OvERhEAD, from page 11

nADel ArChIteCts ADDs shAreholDers: Forty years after founding Nadel Architects in Los Angeles in 1973, president and Founder herb Nadel has put a new ownership transition in motion to help drive his company forward into a new chapter. current Nadel executives Joan Frei, greg Lyon, Mark Mikelson, greg palaski, Tina Tayag and patrick Winters have been selected to build on the firm’s legacy, and will comprise a new Nadel ownership group to guide the firm into its next phase, which officially began May 17, 2013.

Nadel Architects provides comprehensive services, ranging from architectural design, master planning and feasibility studies to complete interior design, planning and programming. Nadel is ranked among the largest architectural firms in the world.

“I am very excited to have such an exceptional team of talented and committed individuals help usher Nadel Architects into a new era,” said herb Nadel, who will remain the company’s president. “Each new shareholder is a senior member of our firm and represents a different set of skills that will facilitate the company’s continued success.”

herb Nadel has been practicing architecture since 1960. he and his firm are known for exceeding clients’ expectations by delivering award-winning work that is also financially successful. After serving in the U.S. coast guard, Nadel worked full time while studying architecture at L.A. Trade-Technical college and later architecture at the University of Southern california. he founded Nadel Architects in 1973 and has grown it into an international practice with offices in Los Angeles; San Diego; and costa Mesa, calif., and Las vegas.

“The new ownership team will continue to build upon the legacy that Mr. Nadel carefully created by fostering a culture of teamwork as well as cultivating innovative ideas,” said greg Lyon. “We look forward to continuing to work with herb to ensure his vision is met and that Nadel Architects continues to be a leader in architecture.”

mfrA AnnounCes pArtnershIp: MFRA (plymouth, MN), a professional services firm that specializes in engineering, planning, surveying, and energy services announced a partnership with Doug Differt of Differt consulting Firm. Differt will assist with transportation-related business development activities to further expand MFRA’s role in the transportation industry.

With a career that spans over 50 years and includes experience in both the public and private sectors, Differt is well known throughout the transportation industry. his prominent roles have included serving as deputy commissioner and chief engineer at Minnesota Department of Transportation and as vice president of engineering development for URS Corporation.

For Differt, partnering with MFRA is an opportunity to continue his legacy of delivering projects that enhance Minnesota’s transportation infrastructure.

“Their culture is very creative and energetic, which makes the firm a good fit for me,” said Differt of his choice to partner with MFRA. “Together, we’ll be able to explore opportunities and bring a great deal of value to clients.”

especially to reduce both the cost of basic business software and the technology staff needed to support the applications.

z Outsource payroll functions.

z Outsource bookkeeping, accounts payable and accounts receiv-able functions; this is especially important for smaller firms to consider.

Strategy 3 – Explore new ways to provide employee ben-efits. The cost of providing employee benefits, especially health benefits, continues to rise at a pace far in excess of in-flation and firms’ ability to increase billable rates. For most firms, it has not been possible to raise rates on billable hours so the only alternative to meeting increased benefit cost is to increase billable hours. Increasing billable hours often means hiring more staff, which also increases employee ben-efit costs. This can be a vicious cycle of ever increasing costs.

z Switch to a high-deductible health care plan combined with an employee HSA (Health Savings Account) to reduce overall cost to employees and employers.

z Create an HRA (Health Reimbursement Account) to reimburse some of the increased cost of high deductible plans if necessary (no pre-funding required).

z If paying 100 percent of healthcare premiums, it is now pos-sible to shift part of the cost to employees without fear of losing competiveness with other employers.

z Consider implementing a workplace wellness program to im-prove morale, reduce absenteeism, and improve productivity at work, while also reducing healthcare costs.

z Work with a third-party administrator to analyze your employee benefit program expenses.

z Expand the use of technology to streamline the benefits pro-cess and to allow employees and benefits administrators to connect directly with insurers.

z Enhance the benefit program with no additional employer cost (employees pay 100 percent of the cost) by adding voluntary insurance coverage such as disability, cancer and critical ill-ness, hospital confinement indemnity, and legal assistance.

FIRMS ON ThE MOvECr ArChIteCture + DesIGn opens offICes: cR architecture + design (cincinnati, Oh), an architecture firm specialized in commercial, hospitality, housing, retail, education and government design, opened regional offices in Seattle and Dallas.

In keeping with cR’s plan for geographic growth and expansion, the Dallas and Seattle office are cR’s third and fourth locations. The other regional office is in Denver.

cR decided to extend its capabilities into the Dallas and Seattle markets in order to better serve the firm’s current national clients. The new offices also provide greater visibility for the firm to new and prospective clients, allowing cR to better serve the southern region of the U.S.

Founded in 1982, cR delivers architectural, engineering, branding and interior design services nationwide to transform ordinary spaces into extraordinary places.

“This new office is in keeping with our program for growth and profitability and it is all made possible by the team that executes our plan,” says David Arends, president and cEO of cR.

build trust trendlines - the zweig letter · website sets the overall tone. ms consultants, inc....

Documents