engineering our future
Becoming a best firm to work for A great place to work starts with the people.
It is a great and wonderful thing to work at the firm at which everyone wants to work. It is the cool place, the desirable place to be, the hip place. Those are just some of the attributes that the firms that make the annual list of Best Firms To Work For possess. Creating a great workplace starts with you, however, not with management. Giving firm leaders feedback on what would enhance your experience and improve the workplace is a great way to start the conversation. Best Firms To Work For tend to have strong management-staff alignment that translates into programs and opportunities. The most desired attributes and benefits of the most recent survey of more than 11,000 AEC professionals included professional development, career growth opportunities, training quality, and frequency of training. Other things that drive employee satisfaction include publicizing financial information, grooming future leaders though formal ownership and leadership training programs, compensation and recognition for extraordinary effort, and increased frequency of raises and bonuses. Communication is always one of the biggest and most important issues in firms. It’s a two-way street, though. Communication must go from the top down and from the bottom up. Let your leadership know that clarity of direction and confidence of leadership is important to you. Knowledge of the business plan through the entire org chart is important. It can also be one of your best recruitment tools. So what are you doing right now to become a Best Firm To Work For? Are you waiting for management to roll out programs or are you ready to take the initiative and lead the effort? Now is the time to work on these things while the market is good and firms have more cash to invest in new programs and initiatives. A great place to work starts with the people!
CHAD CLINEHENS, P.E., is Zweig Group’s president and CEO. Contact him at cclinehens@zweiggroup.com.
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csengineermag.com
February 2018
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