TZL 1571 (web)

February 3, 2025, Issue 1571 WWW.ZWEIGGROUP.COM

TRENDLINES

Benefits of growth

2% 4% 6% 8% 10%

These common leadership mistakes hinder the growth and success of your business. Owner follies

FIRM INDEX AECOM ...............................................................6 Bowman Consulting Group Ltd....... 2 Corgan ............................................................. 10 Cumming Group.......................................... 8 Cushing Terrell.............................................. 8 Lafferty................................................................ 8 SCS Engineers ........................................... 10 MORE ARTICLES n LINDSAY YOUNG: Boost success with marketing and BD Page 3 n MARK ZWEIG: Some things we need to get straight on Page 5 n ASHLEIGH POWELL: Sustainability as a new business line Page 7 n CARLO LEBRON: Culture as a catalyst for success Page 9 According to Zweig Group’s 2025 Salary Report of AEC Firms , fast- growth firms’ salaries increased by an average of 8.2 percent compared to 4.9 percent for stable firms (firms with unchanged revenue growth for three years) and 3.17 percent for slow growth (firms with 1 percent to 19 percent annual revenue growth rate). Participate in a survey and save 50 percent on the final or pre- publication price of any Zweig Group research publication.

A s an owner, you set the stage for your firm – the brand, the environment, and, most importantly, the culture. No matter if you own all of the firm, 33 percent, 10 percent, or even just 1.967 percent. Once you become an owner there is a higher expectation of performance and ability to endure pain, because we all know that running a business, however big or small, is a tough endeavor. Despite our best intentions in wanting to improve our business, sometimes we mess up some crucial things that are necessary for its growth and continued success. Here are some follies I have observed: ■ Not knowing your employees. Having a keen interest in the success of your employees starts by engaging with them on a human level. Simple things like remembering their birthday or asking them if their kid’s baseball team won allows you to build trust with them and show you care beyond the work they do for you. After you establish this type of relationship, you’ll be better able to understand your people’s motivations, fears, and future aspirations. You may think this sounds silly, but it’s true. We worked with an architecture firm owner who admitted that some of his fellow partners didn’t even know the names of their employees! They had 40 employees and were a well- respected, established firm. So please owners, don’t kid yourselves. Walk around and get to know your people. If you create intentional, genuine conversations, you’ll have their ear and they will have yours. This allows them to voice concerns about the business that will help you, and will help you avoid superficial, plastic relationships! ■ Creating a divide. This is especially common when a firm has more than one discipline. The engineers and the planners don’t communicate with one another. The architects blame the engineers for not bringing in work. When principals participate in this type of us versus them mentality, it further drives the stake into the heart of the culture. What are you trying to create? Do you really think your firm will grow to its full potential with an environment like this? Whether it be egos in a purely architecture firm, or discipline heads in an A/E firm, the result is the same – this type of divide results in individuals undermining each other, cementing disfunction. ■ Lack of clear communication to key talent. If AEC firms are having such a hard time keeping and hiring people, why not be direct and clear with your people that you want them there and build a case

Ezequiel Tovar

See EZEQUIEL TOVAR, page 2

THE VOICE OF REASON FOR THE AEC INDUSTRY

BUSINESS NEWS BOWMAN CONTRACTED

roadway and bridge design, land surveys, stormwater management, right-of-way planning, environmental compliance and public involvement initiatives. Bowman’s efforts are anticipated to support projects such as bridge replacements, state recreation roads, safety enhancements, transportation alternatives and emergency relief efforts. “This continued partnership underscores NDOT’s confidence in Bowman’s extensive transportation engineering capabilities and technical expertise,” said Gary Bowman, chairman and CEO of Bowman. Additional tasks within the contract may include erosion control, ADA design and compliance, utility coordination and traffic control design.

Interested in learning more

PROVIDE SERVICES TO THE NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Bowman Consulting Group Ltd., a national engineering services firm delivering infrastructure solutions and program management services to customers who own, develop and maintain the built environment, announced it has been contracted by the Nebraska Department of Transportation to provide on-call preliminary engineering services for State Recreation Roads and Local Public Agencies federal-aid projects. This award marks the eighth such PE award to the firm by NDOT. ENGINEERING The scope of services outlined in the two- year, up to $1.5 million contract includes

about the projects and ideas driving the AEC industry forward? Learn more with Civil+Structural Engineer Media.

EZEQUIEL TOVAR, from page 1

of why they will be successful at your firm? This applies to interns and senior PMs. Owners need to participate in this activity. Before the time comes that they graduate or become licensed, they need to know that you want them there. The amount of time you go through interviewing, looking at resumes, etc., you better make sure the individuals you let in stay and flourish. This requires intentionality from the owners themselves. Distinguish your firm and be different! ■ Being so damn busy. I know, I know. You can’t help it. But what you can help is seeing what is occupying your time. Have you learned to delegate? If so, have you learned to be a mentor? If so, why isn’t the transition completed yet? It’s all about priorities. The things on the horizon that don’t seem important now will be one day. It is better to be proactive before you spend unnecessary time putting out fires that resulted from your failure to prioritize. ■ Hypocrisy. I can bet you there are certain things you do for your clients that you do not do for yourself or your employees. You have a process for clients that is spelled out clearly, but internally your own firm is disorganized. Or even better, your client does it better than you do! Our own practices often fail to meet the same high standards. How can you expect others to believe in your expertise if you’re not willing to live by it yourself? Time to practice what you preach! I am certain there are countless other follies, but these have stood out to me the most. Firm owners, you have started your business or bought it and are now a second, third, or fourth generation owner. You are running an entity that employs individuals, and all those people depend on you. The work you do benefits society because we need good design everywhere. You have been entrusted with a great responsibility – create opportunities for younger people and do good work. The payoff will come once we fix our follies! Ezequiel Tovar is a senior transition analyst at Zweig Group’s. Contact him at etovar@ zweiggroup.com.

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Chad Clinehens | Publisher cclinehens@zweiggroup.com Sara Parkman | Senior Editor & Designer sparkman@zweiggroup.com Tel: 800.466.6275 Email: info@zweiggroup.com Online: zweiggroup.com/blogs/news LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/22522 Instagram: instagram.com/zweiggroup Twitter: twitter.com/ZweigGroup Facebook: facebook.com/p/Zweig- Group-100064113750086 Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/year). © Copyright 2025, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.

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THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

OPINION

AEC firms that invest in marketing and business development enjoy higher profitability, attract aligned clients, and foster top talent. Boost success with marketing and BD

M arketing, business development, and sales aren’t usually the top priorities for an AEC firm. Most firms simply don’t have the expertise or know where to start. Many principals don’t even think they need to market themselves, because clients and prospects will just call for their exceptional design, right? In reality, this type of scenario is few and far between. Think about how many firms are out there to choose from – if you aren’t reaching out to prospects in multiple ways, someone else is!

Lindsay Young, MBA, FSMPS, CPSM

With the current market conditions, it’s difficult for people to understand why they need to invest in marketing and business development right now. They are so busy that they don’t think they need it. I often hear, “I’m so swamped right now, I can’t keep my head above water.” I understand their pain. But as a principal, you must have the foresight to realize the fire hydrant is going to close – and probably sooner than you think. By investing in marketing and business development now, you can select the clients you want to work with and the ones that align with your company’s core values. It gives you the ability to work with the clients you want, request higher fees, and design projects your team wants to work on. By the time the market does slow down, you have already set up your pipeline and your company for success. Principals are also challenged with knowing what

works and what doesn’t work as it pertains to marketing and business development, so as a result they do nothing. Putting together a marketing and business development plan helps firms see where and what is getting them results. By implementing a plan, they can see where their time and money is being spent. Once it’s determined where your investments are seeing results, then you can invest more in those things and eliminate the things that aren’t producing results. The plan doesn’t need to be 30 pages either. It can be a one page document to help you obtain and retain clients and projects. Success in marketing and business development is almost always due to a combination of things occurring over time. It’s sponsoring a chamber event,

See LINDSAY YOUNG, page 4

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

social media, marketing collateral, advertising, and sponsorships.

LINDSAY YOUNG, from page 3

attending networking events with your prospects, following up with an email requesting a one-on-one meeting, building that relationship, seeing them at a community event, submitting a project proposal, interviewing for the project, and then getting the signed contract. It takes months, and many times years, for these investments to create a return, but it’s always worth it. There are so many touch points and all of them make a positive (hopefully) impact on your prospect. It’s hard to decide which one to cut because they all helped you land that project! That’s what marketing and business development is all about – building a relationship. “Firms that invest in marketing and business development are more profitable, get to work with clients who align with their company values, and recruit and retain great talent.” It’s also about education. AEC firms often struggle to understand the difference between marketing, business development, and sales. Most principals just lump them all together, but that’s a mistake. Let’s clear up the confusion: ■ Marketing is everything that happens before you have a personal connection with someone. This includes your branding, website, word of mouth, content marketing,

■ Business development is when you start to build that relationship, face-to-face, with a prospect. This includes trade shows, association involvement, community and civic organizations, networking events, and presenting at conferences and workshops. ■ Sales is when you get you and your team interview for that project, and the prospect signs your contract to work with your firm on their project. These three areas each require a unique set of skills to achieve success. If you can find someone who possesses knowledge of all three, they are a rare gem! Understanding these pieces of the puzzle is instrumental in identifying where and how to invest time and money into marketing and business development. Once you understand the difference between the three, your life will become much easier. Firms that invest in marketing and business development are more profitable, get to work with clients who align with their company values, and recruit and retain great talent. Every firm desires these things, so investing in marketing and business development just makes sense for your firm. If you struggle with the first step to putting together a marketing plan, contact us today. Lindsay Young, MBA, FSMPS, CPSM is a marketing services advisor with Zweig Group and president and founder of nu marketing. She can be reached at lyoung@zweiggroup.com.

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

FROM THE FOUNDER

These misleading statements often stem from naivety and perpetuate harmful conventional wisdom. Some things we need to get straight on

I ’m sure I spend too much time on LinkedIn and reading AEC business-related stuff. I can’t help it. It’s the industry I have spent my last 45 years working in. Let’s just say I have a lot invested in it!

That said, I sometimes see things written that I think mislead people and perpetuate “bad” conventional wisdom. Many of these are just borne out of naivety. Here are a few examples of that: ■ You should always have X percent utilization rate or higher. Wrong. It completely depends on the services you are providing and the market sector you are serving. The single most profitable company I ever worked with in this business did $60 million in revenue and made a 40 percent profit three years running. Their company-wide utilization rate was 50 percent. But their effective labor multiplier was 4.6, with some people working at a 6.0 or higher. They also had highly billable principals including a CEO who was about 75 percent billable. ■ You should always have an X or higher effective multiplier. Not true. Once again, it depends on the services provided and markets served. If you

are providing construction administration services to a state DOT you might be doing it at a 2.3 multiple and it’s still a good project because your people are 90 percent billable. CRS corporation – they used to be one of the big firms in our business years ago until they were broken up and sold in pieces – had a Spanish-style inquisition committee that line managers had to appear in front of if their units fell below that number. It didn’t work. They would work on jobs and not charge time to them so they looked profitable. Then the utilization rate declined. ■ You can’t make money on hourly work. I love it when I hear this. It’s just not true at all. You have to be naive to think all work can be done on a fixed fee. There is absolutely no way to tell how long some things will take, and hourly is fine if your billing rates are high enough. If my billing

Mark Zweig

See MARK ZWEIG, page 6

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

BUSINESS NEWS AECOM SECURES POSITIONS ON AMP8 UK WATER INFRASTRUCTURE FRAMEWORKS EXCEEDING TWICE THE VALUE OF PRIOR AMP7 FRAMEWORKS AECOM, the trusted global infrastructure leader, announced it has achieved record success on major Water sector wins associated with the UK’s new Asset Management Period 8. In total, the Company has sustained a 100 percent- win rate on recompete contracts whose expected framework value is more than double the value of the respective frameworks under the prior AMP7 period. In addition, the Company has been awarded several new positions on additional AMP8 frameworks that are expected to further contribute to growth across its U.K. Water business. “Our industry-leading expertise has established AECOM as the world’s number one Water design firm, and our recent track record of success on AMP8 frameworks positions us well as we progress against our goal of more than doubling our Water practice over the next five years,” said Beverley Stinson, chief executive of AECOM’s global Water business. “We look forward to partnering with the UK’s water utilities to meet their

ambitious infrastructure objectives, applying our global, enterprise capabilities to deliver safe, reliable and sustainable water to millions of Britons.” Administered by Ofwat, the U.K.’s water services regulation authority, the AMP8 regulatory framework runs from 2025 to 2030 and will include approximately £104 billion, which is 77 percent greater than the prior AMP7 program period. The program will primarily cover reliability, sustainability and digitalization improvements for water infrastructure in England and Wales. Recent wins include appointments to major professional service frameworks for Thames Water and Southern Water, and an additional appointment to support Southern Water’s $4.8 billion capital delivery program. This success is underpinned by the trusted technical expertise of the Company’s professionals, who have repeatedly scored maximum marks for quality in tender submissions, and the Company leadership’s direct involvement in the bidding process. “For decades, AECOM has served as a trusted advisor and delivery partner for

the UK’s major water utilities, allowing our experts to support generations of critical water infrastructure upgrades across the nation,” said Colin Wood, chief executive of AECOM’s Europe and India region. “We’re proud to continue this legacy and strengthen relationships with our Water clients as we realize Ofwat’s guidance for world-class water infrastructure that meets the needs of customers for years to come.” Ranked as the No. 1 Water design firm by Engineering News-Record, AECOM ensures that its water clients have access to globally sustainable technologies, locally delivered. The Company’s professionals work in and across the major markets to deliver comprehensive solutions that safeguard human health and the environment, from flood protection and water treatment to nutrient control to desalination. Learn more about the Company’s Water capabilities here. AECOM is a trusted professional services firm powered by deep technical abilities, we solve our clients’ complex challenges in water, environment, energy, transportation and buildings.

value usually requires forgoing personal extractions to reinvest in the firm. The long-term result of having a growing firm may be more valuable than the sum of excess extractions from a smaller firm over the same time period. ■ Book value is the best way to value stock internally. It’s one way and it’s easy. But the best way? Not hardly. One problem with book value is that it rarely reflects the real value of the business. That means management is not necessarily going to be doing what is best for the business in the long-term. It also encourages management to strip all profits from the firm because why leave a dollar in there now to get paid a dollar 20 years from now when you retire or leave? Makes no sense. ■ Internal transition is always better for your people than an external sale. No it isn’t. The reason is the buying firm could be better managed and have more resources and opportunities for its employees than the selling firm has. Working for an undercapitalized, no-growth or slow- growth company with little to no ownership opportunities is not necessarily the best way to maximize one’s career. I could probably come up with 10 or 20 more of these, but am out of real estate here and have to get on my lengthy “do” list for the day! Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

MARK ZWEIG, from page 5

rate is $500 an hour no one can tell me hourly work isn’t profitable. ■ Every project has to be profitable for the firm to be profitable. Again, wrong. Not true. There are times you have to do favors for clients out of a desire to provide real service to them. Not every project will be profitable. View it as a marketing cost. Don’t do too many of them and everything will be OK! ■ Management’s goal should be to minimize overhead. Not necessarily the case. There is good overhead and bad overhead. Good overhead gives you a competitive advantage. It could be better IT, or better marketing, or better employee benefits that give you a lower staff turnover rate. Bad overhead is the boss who spends a half million dollars annually at his favorite bar and charges it all to the company. I will never forget when I was at a birthday dinner for a friend, sitting next to the late Jerry Sincoff who was chairman of HOK at the time, when Jerry told me that the two most profitable revenue-generating units of their firm – sports and healthcare – had the highest overhead of any of their other line units. What does that tell you? ■ An AEC business is only worth what you can extract from it annually. Not true. That is what the old accountants used to tell their clients. These companies – if designed properly – are becoming increasingly valuable. Maximizing

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

OPINION

Building sustainability into an AEC firm requires passion, patience, collaboration, and a focus on business value and long-term impact. Sustainability as a new business line

W hen I joined Cushing Terrell in 2006, I was excited that sustainability was already part of the company’s values. Since then, the firm has expanded its commitments in this area. We’re part of an industry-wide movement pushing for all new buildings and major renovations to be carbon neutral by 2030. Along the way, I’ve expanded my knowledge as well. In 2012, I earned a master’s degree in sustainable design from the University of Texas, School of Architecture.

Ashleigh Powell LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP

Our firm’s sustainable design initiative, aligned with the AIA Design Excellence Framework, provides our teams with baseline best practices for application to our projects. It includes 10 measures that cover integration, community, ecology, water, economy, energy, wellness, resources, change, and discovery. We also expanded our commitment with a new sustainability business line, which I’m proud to have helped develop and launch in 2022. Here’s some of what I’ve learned in the past few years about the challenges and opportunities that this path poses: 1. It helps to spend time establishing a firm-wide team and buy-in for sustainability. At my firm,

much of this concentrated effort began when a grassroots group of multidisciplinary designers got together several years ago and formed a Green Advocacy Council. This really set us up to engage with leadership and point to the ways we were making a difference and how our teams were engaged in moving the needle forward on sustainability. In the last few years with so much growth and change, it was really important to research and present on the industry imperatives and business opportunities for sustainable and carbon-neutral building design. 2. There is no clear roadmap for building sustainability into your firm’s structure. The AEC industry is not alone in that we will need to be

See ASHLEIGH POWELL, page 8

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

TRANSACTIONS CUMMING GROUP ACQUIRES DUBLIN- BASED LAFFERTY, STRENGTHENING THE TEAM’S PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE ACROSS IRELAND Cumming Group, an international project management and cost consultancy, announced that Lafferty, a leading Irish project management company with offices in Dublin, Cork, and Galway, has joined the organization’s growing team. This strategic acquisition strengthens Cumming Group’s position in Ireland’s construction market, particularly in the life sciences, multi-family residential, mixed-use, and commercial sectors. Established in 1997, Lafferty has built a reputation as a trusted advisory firm guiding major developers and multi- national institutional investors in Ireland. Combined with the former Scollard Doyle team that joined Cumming Group in July 2021, the merger creates one of the country’s largest pure-play owner’s representative firms supported by more than 90 local team members and circa 700 across Europe. The integration of

Lafferty creates a market-leading full- service project and cost management business, significantly enhancing the company’s project management capabilities throughout the region and complementing its established quantity surveying business. ‌John Rattigan, managing director at Lafferty, commented, “By combining our operations, we are creating a best- in-class integrated service offering that aligns Lafferty’s expertise in managing large-scale and complex projects with Cumming Group’s industry-wide capability in providing a complete client- side end-to-end service. This partnership will provide us with access to Cumming Group’s international resources and expertise, enabling us to better serve our clients while creating new opportunities for our team.” Craig Maunder, CEO U.K. & Europe of Cumming Group, said, “The addition of Lafferty to Cumming Group represents a significant milestone in our strategic growth within Ireland. This partnership not

only reinforces our existing cost-focused offering in the region but also brings specialised expertise in key sectors and complements our continued growth in target markets, including life sciences, infrastructure, hospitality and residential, and data centres. By doubling our size, we are also able to further penetrate these markets throughout the region.” “I’m particularly excited to combine Lafferty’s local presence and service expertise with our capabilities,” added Barry Doyle, Managing Director, Ireland, Cumming Group. “This merger leaves us uniquely positioned to deliver exceptional value to clients across Ireland and beyond.” Cumming is an industry-leading, multi- faceted project management and cost consulting firm. Lafferty is an independent project delivery consultancy, set up to achieve highly effective process and construction delivery, focused on key stakeholder objectives and optimal investment return.

our team is in a beta testing phase on a new internal sustainable design excellence framework tool. Two of our team members presented their findings of this analysis to a project team, and it was a beautiful thing to witness. This is something we’ve aspired to have for so long and my team members are killing it. It gives us motivation and hope for the future of these efforts and provides case studies demonstrating success for our leadership, project leads, and clients. 5. Bring passion, because you’ll need it. I’ll be very honest that this business model is still in an early phase, and it takes patience to see things through! I won’t deny that plenty of challenges are ahead as we try to continue to find ways to measure our success and drive progress forward. If you don’t believe in this work at a bigger picture and larger scale, you’re not going to last as a changemaker. But I can tell you, it has been worth it for me and for our team, and we are excited to see just how impactful we can be. I’ve learned a lot since we launched this business line in 2022, and I hope these lessons I’ve learned in that time are helpful for any other architecture or engineering professionals who are interested in promoting sustainability-focused operations and design solutions at their company. Ashleigh Powell is an associate, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, and director of sustainability at Cushing Terrell. Her academic emphasis was energy-efficient building design, construction and operations. She is based in Austin, Texas. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

ASHLEIGH POWELL, from page 7

inventive and creative to transform our practices into a long-term carbon-neutral approach centered on holistic sustainability. At my multidisciplinary firm, our Green Advocacy Council essentially became a community of practice, and we accomplished tremendous things in that space. But at a certain point, it felt like we needed to formalize it to be more directly responsive to industry demands and client needs. We considered several models, including working groups and studios. After investigation and research, we landed on forming a sustainability “service sector.” This enables us to operate as a firm-wide internal consulting group with the capabilities to do direct consulting for clients who are strictly seeking sustainable design services. 3. Get comfortable talking business and finance. As director of sustainability, I’m still learning about the business side of AEC as we’ve sought to promote this work and embed it into our design process. My advice is to invite some skeptics onto your team so they can bring up questions you might not have thought of. Get with the CFO of your company. Find out what information you’ll need to collect and analyze. Learn how to be responsive to questions at a business level. Most likely, you’re not only going to need to show how sustainability fits in with your company’s mission, vision, and values, but also show ROI and how it makes business sense. 4. Progress can be slow – but it’s so powerful to see the work in action. We’ve just recently celebrated our first full year operating our sustainability service sector. Currently,

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

OPINION

Culture as a catalyst for success

Take the time to define your culture, engage your team, and make this a central part of your operational strategy – the rewards are well worth the effort.

A ccording to ASCE’s 2023 Salary Report , 86.7 percent of civil engineers are satisfied or very satisfied with their job, 66.3 percent are satisfied or very satisfied with their financial compensation, and they report having opportunities for career growth. Although these numbers are optimistic, it’s important to focus on retaining employees throughout the year. Culture is key and firms can build on that by creating avenues that help foster relationships for employees with their peers and encourage people-centered change by providing adequate support and genuine communication to help employees feel seen and valued.

Carlo Lebron, PE

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This famous quote from management consultant Peter Drucker resonates with many business leaders, including me. As a business unit director at SCS Engineers, I have always prioritized maintaining a strong organizational culture, yet I recently noticed something was amiss. Despite solid financial performance, our high turnover rates indicated a disconnect that needed to be addressed. In search of solutions, I turned to Matt Mayberry’s insightful book Culture is the Way . What struck me was not the need for change but the necessity of clearly defining our culture. We needed a framework to guide our efforts and enhance our environment. We accomplished this by:

■ Empowering our team. To start this journey, we empowered our team to help define our culture. We conducted a survey across our business unit, asking employees to describe what they believed our culture to be. The responses were compiled into a word cloud, highlighting common themes: the larger the word, the more frequently it was mentioned. While many of the words reflected a healthy, high-performing culture, we also noticed inconsistencies among different groups. This disparity highlighted a need for clarity. My leadership team and I carefully reviewed the survey results, distilling the feedback into

See CARLO LEBRON, page 10

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

ON THE MOVE CORGAN EXPANDS LONDON PRACTICE, HIRES INTERIORS STUDIO LEADER Global architecture and design firm Corgan announced that Doua’a Abdulhadi has joined the firm as the London Interiors studio leader and an associate principal. With more than 13 years of international experience across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and the United States, Abdulhadi brings a wealth of expertise in architecture and interior design that will bolster the firm’s growth in the United Kingdom. “For years, clients have asked us to lead design projects in London, so we are responding to that need by expanding our design services in the U.K. Doua’a’s rich, globally informed design perspective makes her a perfect fit for our growing firm,” said Lindsay Wilson, Corgan’s president and Interiors sector leader. “Designing as a collaborative team is her philosophy, and her approach to design excellence is grounded in building strong relationships with clients, ensuring a deep understanding of their needs and consistently delivering authentic, innovative spaces. She is a great fit for Corgan’s culture – how we work as a design team and how we work with our clients.”

Abdulhadi’s design portfolio includes residential, hospitality, and workplace design projects. After helping to lead landmark design projects across the Middle East and North Africa, Abdulhadi moved to London where she has provided expertise to blue-chip clients in the U.K. and Europe with a focus on human-centric and sustainable design, leaning into her degree in architecture and WELL AP accreditation. “Corgan’s London office is thriving, and I couldn’t be more excited to join such a firm that is so committed to high design and innovation,” said Abdulhadi. “The workplace is always evolving, and Corgan’s agility allows us to proactively adapt and provide service that exceeds client expectations.” extraordinary Ranked the fourth-largest architecture firm in the United States, Corgan also ranks No. 6 overall in Interior Design Magazine’s giants of design and No. 7 for office design. Corgan’s workplace and interiors portfolio includes the headquarters for Keurig Dr Pepper, PMG, Toyota North America, State Farm, State Street, and more. The firm has also worked with Autodesk, Citi, Common Desk, Indeed, JPMorganChase, Peloton,

Stream Realty, Transwestern, Wells Fargo, and Zillow. Founded 86 years ago, Corgan provides full architectural design services and is known for its research and data-driven insights that inform designs. Corgan is consistently ranked in the top five architecture firms and was recently named the 2024 “Firm of the Year” by the American Society of Interior Designers. Corgan is an employee-owned architecture and design firm with 18 locations and more than 1,000 team members globally. The firm, ranked as the No. 4 architecture firm by Building Design + Construction, works with clients in a variety of sectors including aviation and mobility, data centers, education, health, mixed-use, multifamily, office, and workplace. Founded in 1938, Corgan has developed a strong reputation for agility in design by anticipating marketplace changes and leading clients to thoughtful, data-driven design solutions. Its research insights and design expertise empower the organization to foresee emerging changes and develop solutions that minimize risk, create flexibility, and maximize longevity.

showcasing a direct correlation between our defined culture and employee satisfaction. We recognized the importance of not keeping our culture statement to ourselves. It has become a key element in our recruiting efforts, client meetings, and proposals, serving as a source of pride and a testament to our shared values. ■ Maintaining momentum. As we reflect on this journey, it’s clear that defining and actively promoting a culture isn’t a one-time effort. It requires consistent engagement and commitment. We’ve learned that open communication and camaraderie among team members are crucial for fostering a supportive environment. Defining and nurturing a strong culture can transform an organization. By involving our team in the process and continuously reinforcing our values, we have seen tangible results: reduced turnover, increased revenues, and enhanced profitability. If you want to elevate your organization, take the time to define your culture, engage your team, and make it a central part of your operational strategy. The rewards are well worth the effort. Carlo Lebron, PE, is a senior vice president and the business unit director of the Southeast Business Unit for SCS Engineers. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

CARLO LEBRON, from page 9

its purest form. From this process emerged our culture statement: “Trust, Care, Grow.” This statement was simple, memorable, and resonated with the sentiments expressed in the survey. ■ Validating our culture statement. To ensure this message truly captured our essence, we conducted a follow-up survey. The feedback confirmed that “Trust, Care, Grow” encapsulated our culture perfectly. This statement became our guiding principle, a tangible goal for all employees to strive toward. We officially launched our culture statement during an all-business unit meeting, integrating it into our internal communications. Now, at the beginning of each meeting, we dedicate a “culture minute” where team members share stories that exemplify our values in action. This practice reinforces our commitment to living out our culture daily. ■ Recognizing the impact of our cultural shift. The results of this cultural recalibration have been striking. Since implementing the “Trust, Care, Grow” framework, our financial performance has reached record levels, employee retention has improved significantly, and morale is at an all-time high. In fact, our turnover rate has decreased by more than 5 percent year-over-year,

THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 3, 2025, ISSUE 1571

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