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ON THE MOVE BLACK & VEATCH NAMES CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER ANDREA BERNICA TO COMPANY’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS Andrea Bernica, Black & Veatch’s chief people officer, has been named to the board of directors of the global leader in sustainable infrastructure solutions, the entirely employee-owned company announced. Bernica, who joined Black & Veatch in 2011, was appointed chief people officer in 2023 – a year in which the company expanded its broad portfolio of services with record numbers of construction hours completed (24.5 million in 2023, up nearly 8 million from the previous year) and increased its diverse employee- owners workforce by 17 percent (12,494 as of Jan. 1, 2024, up from 10,691 the previous year) to meet historical levels of project backlog and growth across its global regions. “Andrea exemplifies the qualities of a strong and effective leader and is a role model and mentor to our many talented
women professionals and leaders,” Black & Veatch Chairman and CEO Mario Azar said. “She has shown an unwavering commitment to keeping our employee- owners at the core of everything we do to deliver solutions to our clients.” Bernica’s accomplishments include advancing innovative, culture-boosting programs, reimagining the company’s performance management approach to better support a client-focused business and culture, and aligning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives with business priorities. In her 13 years with Black & Veatch, Bernica has served as chief of staff, lead employment and corporate counsel, as well as operated as the board of directors secretary designee. She has more than 20 years of industry and legal experience, including serving as a commercial and employment litigator with a focus on construction and engineering clients at major law firms. Bernica received her juris doctor degree
from the University of Notre Dame, and a bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University. She also earned a certificate in executive education from the Columbia Business School. “In my time with the company, I have been motivated and inspired by the dedication, talent and integrity our employee-owners bring to the clients we serve, and I am excited to work with my fellow directors in advocating for our people and advancing our position as the engineering and construction industry’s top talent destination,” Bernica said. Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, Black & Veatch has helped its clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of its most important infrastructure assets.
are interested in people. In order to know people, you have to be interested enough in them to want to learn all about them as individuals. And that understanding is critical to your ability to motivate (or avoid demotivating) them. 3. Effective managers are good at predicting how people will behave in any given situation. This is a crucial skill because the manager decides who will fill each specific role that needs to be filled. The ability to predict individual behavior in a specific situation is a critical management skill. It takes empathy and a real understanding of the individuals involved to be able to do that. A big part of management is understanding probabilities of success or failure. And those probabilities are tied to the individuals involved. 4. Effective managers build their team. They make the decisions on who goes on the team and who stays on the team. Those can be difficult decisions to make for many reasons. People could get their feelings hurt. Not everyone will agree with those decisions. But that doesn’t mean those decisions don’t have to be made! There have to be performance and behavior standards that are met to remain on the team. Weak managers are not good at this. They want everyone to have a place on the team, so they keep trying to make people “work out” who aren’t going to. That drags down performance and hurts morale for everyone if the manager can’t make the tough calls. 5. Effective managers resolve conflicts. Not everyone will get along even when they are good people and on the same team. So the manager has to confront these
situations. You cannot ignore them and hope things work out on their own. That probably won’t happen and the damage these conflicts cause can spread like a cancer. So just like cancer, it’s best to treat it sooner rather than later. 6. Effective managers learn to work within the constraints of the system. There will always be constraints in our business. Time constraints. Monetary restraints. Resource constraints. These constraints cannot be an excuse for not accomplishing the goals of the organization. And the larger the organization – be that the client organization, or the AEC firm itself – the greater the likelihood of bureaucratic obstacles that need to be negotiated. Effective managers know what they can change and what they cannot change, and work accordingly. 7. Effective managers believe they can be effective and get results. Accomplishing anything first requires the belief that you can do it. There is no place for doubt or cynicism on the team. Belief that success IS possible has to start with the manager. My last point is this. There is a body of knowledge on management just like the body of knowledge that exists on your design or technical discipline. Get into it, and you might be surprised that you can actually learn how to be a better manager! Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
THE ZWEIG LETTER AUGUST 26, 2024, ISSUE 1551
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