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social media are also key components used to attract the right talent to fit your company culture. More proactive marketing is a key topic for our 2018 work plan. “Continuous growth is critical to building a leadership path for young engineers and designers. At DVO we promote from within first and work hard to create opportunities for all of our top performers. We recruit the best talent regardless of point of origin.” TZL: If there was one program, course, or degree pro- gram you could take or recommend before becoming a principal or owner, what would it be? JE: Understanding business is an underrated part of being a principal and owner. Most A/E firms’ principals come up through the engineering ranks and often start their own small firm. Any company that intends to grow to more than 20 staff should get outside training or coaching before they reach that point. TZL: In the event of failure, how does your firm react? JE: There is no such thing as failure at DVO, only oppor- tunities to learn and adapt so we don’t make the same mistakes again. We look at how we handle mistakes and problems as a way to execute our customer service mission. TZL: Monthly happy hours and dog friendly offices. What do today’s CEOs need to know about today’s workforce? JE: A/E firms are facing a shortage of production staff in the coming years. Hiring, along with keeping staff happy, will be key factors to success. DVO is a believer in “work hard, play hard,” and we strive to integrate that mantra into our company’s culture. For example, this past June we took part in the AIA SandCastle Competition – a fun- draising event for AIA Houston and the ArCH Foun- dation as well as one of the top five revenue generat- ing events for the city of Galveston. On the day of the event, we sculpted piles of sand and had an unforgettable time. TZL: The talent war in the A/E industry is here. What steps do you take to create the leadership pipeline need- ed to retain your top people and not lose them to other firms? JE: Continuous growth is critical to building a leadership path for young engineers and designers. At DVO we pro- mote from within first and work hard to create opportuni- ties for all of our top performers. We recruit the best tal- ent regardless of point of origin. Team members at DVO represent 18 different universities ranging from local
individuals to as far away as Russia. It’s also important for people to feel connected to their communities and our com- pany vision includes “positively changing the industries where we work and live.” We strongly believe that donat- ing to local charities is a valuable step in trying to fulfill our company’s vision. TZL: The A/E market is great right now. What are you do- ing to cushion your firm in the event of a downturn? JE: DVO is constantly working to diversify across markets and locations so we are not too dependent on any one area. Using focused business development and forecasting, we workshare between teams to balance growth to offset any localized downturns. TZL: How do you deal with underperforming employees? What are your steps for removal after they have prov- en to be ineffective, or even counterproductive, to your firm? JE: DVO believes in setting up a high-level process and then allowing staff to help manage themselves. Set- ting individual and team performance metrics allows the managers to coach improvement. Low performers will have every opportunity to improve before change is required.
TZL: What’s the greatest challenge presented by growth?
JE: Cashflow. Period.
“DVO is constantly working to diversify across markets and locations so we are not too dependent on any one area. Using focused business development and forecasting, we workshare between teams to balance growth to offset any localized downturns.”
TZL: What is the role of entrepreneurship in your firm?
JE: Entrepreneurship is a key piece of each of our engineer- ing divisions and even more so in our expansion offices. We lean heavily on each of our DVO leaders to drive continuous improvement.
TZL: What’s your prediction for the next five years?
JE: A/E firms will need to adapt and balance compa- ny culture with producing client-focused work. The firms that do well will succeed and the ones that don’t will struggle.
© Copyright 2018. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
uary 15, 2018, ISSUE 1231
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