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TOM GODIN, from page 1
Projects moved forward in 2021, across the United States and in all sectors. Backlog figures are breaking records. Merger and acquisition activity is brisk. The industry is experiencing full employment. Recruiting and retention of staff remains the top priority and concern of AEC managers. The recent passage of the Infrastructure and Investment Act will push backlog numbers even higher and put more pressure on staff. “You might enjoy some madness for a while,” from “You May Be Right,” 1980 We don’t know how long these good times will roll. Our advice? Keep hustling. Do everything you can to make your firm a best place to work so that you hold on to what you’ve got. Look for innovative ways to make technology work to your benefit. ■ ■ Our society. Social justice, DEI, climate change, and cleaner skies. When we get busy, we stop doing the “important but not urgent” things on our lists. Marketing, training, mentoring, celebrations – these get pushed aside by AEC firms. “I’d love to stay but there’s bills to pay, so I just don’t have the time,” from “The Entertainer,” 1974 Don’t manifest this lyric. Not as it relates to marketing or employee experience. Not as it relates to the two defining movements of our time. There is all the work to be done in our industry as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion. DEI needs to be on every management team’s agenda in 2022. ElevateHER is an initiative – started by Zweig Group – to better the future of the AEC industry. It is a commitment to embrace, promote, and ensure equal opportunities for everyone in the AEC industry, regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. ElevateHER’s website has resources that every firm will find useful. Your energy and effort are necessary. Please engage with this important initiative. Along with DEI, and in fact closely linked with it – our planet and its environment need to be top of mind for our industry too. Worldwide we are hearing intense conversations around net zero. The IIA is full of projects meant to combat climate change. Sustainable design and building techniques are in most firms’ repertoires now and AEC firms need to continue to stay abreast of leading-edge research and engineering developments. At Zweig Group, we intend to make this an area of emphasis in 2022. A year ago, Zweig Group Managing Principal Jamie Claire Kiser urged readers of The Zweig Letter to, “Find your ElevateHER. Respond to your own call to action, whatever it may be, and work on building your own legacy that will leave your profession better than you found it.” I can’t improve on that advice for 2022. The voices aren’t going to pass by. Open the door.
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Chad Clinehens | Publisher cclinehens@zweiggroup.com Sara Parkman | Senior Editor & Designer sparkman@zweiggroup.com Shirley Che | Contributing Editor sche@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent landreassen@zweiggroup.com Tel: 800-466-6275 Fax: 800-842-1560 Email: info@zweiggroup.com Online: zweiggroup.com/blogs/news Twitter: twitter.com/zweigletter Facebook: facebook.com/Zweig- Group-1030428053722402 Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/year). Free electronic subscription at zweiggroup.com © Copyright 2021, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
Tom Godin is a strategic planning advisor at Zweig Group. Contact him at tgodin@ zweiggroup.com .
© Copyright 2021. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 27, 2021, ISSUE 1421
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