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or developing new systems to enhance a managers’ ability to resource share, predict hiring needs and enhance the quality of deliverables. Now think about how many IT system roll-outs or HR training programs have yielded little adoption or no meaningful behavioral changes. That’s where the COO comes in. They can function as the bridge between HR and IT and the client-facing staff (who are already overwhelmed with work, by the way) so that the training and systems that are developed are realistically implementable, given the inherent competition for one’s time. So as in the above example, and as is true with much of what the COO does, he/she must be able to thoroughly understand the firm’s KPIs, diagnose what may be contributing to say a poorer than expected outcome, move upstream, and pull the levers that will positively impact performance, and that KPI. In other words, the COO influences the leading indicators to result in positive lagging indicators. Of course there are a lot of other areas the COO is likely to get involved in, but for any COO to be successful in our industry and in today’s environment, they must embrace the soft side of leadership, focusing on the people and culture as much as (or more than) the numbers. After all, a COO with a great spreadsheet of financial metrics won’t lead a company to financial success, but engaged and supported people in a healthy company will. Eduardo Smith, P.E. is chief operating officer at SCS Engineers. Contact him at esmith@scsengineers.com.
EDUARDO SMITH , from page 3
Now before explaining a bit more of what I mean, I have to say that the COO role may look quite different from firm to firm. I think that’s because the COO is often the person in the C-suite that compliments the other company leaders. If the CEO is an outward (client) facing persona, the COO would likely focus inward – which is probably how most think of their partnership, but the roles can certainly be reversed. Or the C-suite may decide to simply work as a team and divvy responsibilities to meet the strengths of each member, so the COO may need to be somewhat of a chameleon. The COO should be able to flex his/her strengths to compliment the others in the C-suite. But there’s one thing that is typical of the COO’s focus: It is to implement the company’s vision. The COO works with other leaders/managers in the firm (think of your regional or branch managers or market or service area leaders) to develop strategies by which the company’s mission, vision, and values are expressed in day-to-day work. For example, many firms in our space today are likely focusing on employee engagement. Given the tight labor market, recruiting and retaining the best in the industry and maintaining low turnover of desired employees – a good leading indicator – can differentiate a company from its competitors and lead to the profitable growth that most firms desire. So to that end, the HR department may be working on a training program for supervisors, to demonstrate the benefits of coaching, checking in, and helping develop their direct reports. And the IT department may be working on acquiring
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THE ZWEIG LETTER FEBRUARY 19, 2024, ISSUE 1525
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