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PROFILE
Energized growth: Russ Hazzard President of MG2 (Seattle, WA), a global architecture, design, strategy, construction, and branding studio.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
H azzard first joined MG2 in 1993. He says that they’re always looking to grow their shareholder base and to bring younger contributors into the fold – people who want to grow the company and take over when the old guard retires. “It will be exciting to watch as the next generation leads the firm and the industry into the future,” he says. ASSEMBLING TEAMS. Like many other AEC firms, MG2 is seeing a workforce shortage, not necessarily in the younger generation, but certainly among those with 12 to 15 years of experience. Hiring an in-house recruiter, whose full-time job is to identify good candidates, has helped the company to meet this challenge. “Our internal recruiter understands the company roles, responsibilities, and skills needed and has taken the burden of screening people and setting interviews off our principals’ plates,” Hazzard shares. At MG2, leaders work to ensure they’re putting the right people in the right jobs. “When we’re assembling teams, we’re looking for three distinct skill sets: leadership, project management, and technical acumen,” he says.
For example, the project lead works directly with the client, so it’s essential to be a good communicator. The project lead also works with the project manager and keeps track of the big picture to ensure the project moves in the right direction. Project managers are involved in the details and the project architect, who is on the technical side, makes sure the team delivers quality documents and deliverables that communicate design intent, including the sets of drawings that go out to the contractor. “So, to be sure we have the right people for the job, training is important,” he says. MG2 has internal training for project management and the technical side of their work and for up-and-coming leaders, there’s a very specific one-year program – CORE 4. Individuals must apply and be accepted into this training program, the bulk of which incidentally, centers around communication. A FOCUS ON DEI. Hazzard believes that if companies aren’t addressing the fact that they must grow with diversity, equity, and inclusion in mind, then they’re not helping to build the industry.
See ENERGIZED GROWTH, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 23, 2024, ISSUE 1554
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