TZL 1409 (web)

BUSINESS NEWS WARE MALCOMB NAMED ONE OF THE BEST PLACES TO WORK AND HOT FIRM IN INDUSTRY AWARDS Ware Malcomb , an award-winning international design firm, announced it has been recognized with two national industry awards. Zweig Group named Ware Malcomb one of the 2021 Best Firms to Work For and named the firm to its 2021 Hot Firm List. The Best Firms to Work For Awards annually recognize the top firms in the U.S. and Canada based on workplace practices, employee benefits, employee retention rates and more, and the Hot Firm List annually ranks the fastest growing firms in the industry. This is the third and ninth year Ware Malcomb has been named to the lists, respectively. “Our firm continues to grow, thanks to the innovation and hard work of the entire Ware Malcomb team,” said Ken Wink, Chief Executive Officer of Ware Malcomb. “We continue to expand in North America and experience great momentum with new and existing clients. Many thanks to our clients and to the dedicated Ware Malcomb team members who make this firm a success.” “Being named a Best Firm is a testament to Ware Malcomb’s culture,” added Ruth Brajevich, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives. “We are extremely proud of our teammembers,

who are highly collaborative and integrated across offices. Each of them contributes substantial talent and enthusiasm to this firm and, together, they make Ware Malcomb an extraordinary place to work.” Ware Malcomb prides itself on team members who are involved, active and engaged. The firm prioritizes creating a positive, dynamic and collaborative environment for employees, with a focus on career growth and learning. Significant internal programs with strong participation include WM Active, which promotes health, fitness and wellness, and WM Community, which encourages team members to become involved in their local communities and charitable organizations, as well as the design and real estate industries. Community outreach includes fundraising events, building homes for the underserved, and mentoring young people. Zweig Group’s 2021 Best Firms To Work For Awards involve the largest employee experience survey in the architecture, engineering, environmental, planning, and construction (AEC) industry. The program honors outstanding workplaces at AEC firms and evaluates them in several categories including culture, workplace practices, employee benefits, employee retention rates,

and professional development. Their 2021 Hot Firm List honors the fastest growing firms in the AEC industry, and firms are ranked based on three-year growth in revenue, by both percentage and dollar growth. The Best Firms and Hot Firm awards will be presented at Zweig Group’s annual ElevateAEC Conference & Awards Gala. Established in 1972, Ware Malcomb is a contemporary and expanding full service design firm providing professional architecture, planning, interior design, civil engineering, branding and building measurement services to corporate, commercial/residential developer and public/institutional clients throughout the world. With office locations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, the firm specializes in the design of commercial office, corporate, industrial, science & technology, healthcare, retail, auto, public/ institutional facilities and renovation projects. Ware Malcomb is recognized as an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company and a Hot Firm by Zweig Group. The firm is also ranked among the top 15 architecture/engineering firms in Engineering News-Record’s Top 500 Design Firms and the top 25 interior design firms in Interior Design magazine’s Top 100 Giants.

MIKE NUNLEY, from page 9

remotely, but most of our team wanted to be together. The social aspects, even for those with busy home lives or hobbies, were critical during the workday. 4)Web based meetings will continue – and should. I think many clients prefer web meetings over face-to-face meetings, particularly for talking to consultants about upcoming projects or opportunities. It puts the client in more control. For example, if the meeting is running long for them, it is easier to end a web meeting. It is much less physically awkward than “cold” business development meetings or first- time introductions. In my opinion, this trend will continue after the pandemic is over. “Looking back it’s easy to identify what we learned and how it should change our business, and maybe others, moving forward.” We were very fortunate to be in an industry that is essential to public health, and we were fortunate to be able to continue executing work remotely. Our team did an outstanding job staying focused throughout this period. The pandemic helped us prioritize mentoring junior staff, and reminded us of the importance of workday social interaction, protecting our key technical staff from burnout, and using technology to engage with clients. I look forward to taking what we have learned to improve our processes and prepare us for future success. MIKE NUNLEY is CEO and president at MKN. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

and maybe others, moving forward. I see the following lessons: 1)Mentorship can suffer in a remote environment. In- person mentorship and collaboration are irreplaceable in the growth of junior staff. You cannot improve upon field visits, impromptu discussions about project work, or getting pulled into a discussion with senior staff about one of their own projects or something exciting or strange that came up. It’s hard to share and nurture enthusiasm and passion for work remotely. 2)Implement processes to avoid burnout. We relied too much on a handful of key technical staff and risked burning them out. It wasn’t as noticeable when we were in offices together because each office tended to solve technical issues locally, then reach out to our top experts after local resources had been exhausted. Now it was just as easy for staff to reach those top experts first. While we always encouraged an open- door policy, and work across offices, it really highlighted the importance of processes that balance the delivery of quality work, training of junior staff, and protection of work-life balance for our top experts. Project managers and local office managers need a firmer grip on their projects and need to provide more technical oversight to address the day-to-day questions and minor problems. 3)Yes, engineers crave social interaction too. Most engineers are social and need to see each other, eat lunch together, and enjoy each other’s company. Few really want to work remotely full-time. If given the opportunity, and when they felt safe, most of our staff wanted to come back to the office. We learned that we could operate as a firm with staff working

THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 20, 2021, ISSUE 1409

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