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F R O M T H E F O U N D E R
Keeping good people
I f you read any business media at all, you have probably heard of the upcoming “great resignation” we are doomed to go through soon. This is the idea that all the people who worked from home during the first round of COVID-19 have supposedly decided to look for new jobs. Whether or not the AEC industry experiences a ‘great resignation,’ there are some things you should do to keep turnover low.
Mark Zweig
I don’t know for certain whether firms in our business are going to go through that or not, but I do know that keeping good people when facing unprecedented demand from clients is top of mind for most owners of AEC firms. The question is how best to do that? There is no simple answer, nor one panacea that will solve all of your current and future staff turnover problems. I could talk about the importance of having a purpose-driven organization, practicing shared business planning, using open-book management, and investing in training until I am blue in the face. And sure – paying everyone a whole lot more could keep some people there you might otherwise lose, but that’s not always an option. However, there are some other things you can do that will most likely lead to lower turnover than if you don’t do them.
Here are some of those “other things” that I think you really need to think about to help keep turnover down: 1)Who you spend time with shows who you think is important. This may seem obvious to many of you, but some principals and managers still don’t get it. You cannot always interact with your partners, clients, and executive assistants, and ignore just about everyone else in your company. Get up and walk around and talk to some other folks. Invite someone else to lunch. Call someone who is working from home and ask them how they are feeling. Invite someone to a meeting they may not normally be a part of. Ask a lot of questions and actually listen to what people are telling you. 2)Who you promote to the outside world says who you care about. Do you only promote yourself and your fellow partners in your internal and external
See MARK ZWEIG, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 20, 2021, ISSUE 1409
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