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There are also times when meetings and work commitments may overlap with family commitments. When conflicts occur, many times my partners will step up and cover for me and vice versa. B&L has a strong family culture and we feel it’s important to maintain this culture, even as we continue to grow. At the end of the day I have two families and I do my best to manage the obligations for both. TZL: What, if anything, are you doing to protect your firm from a potential economic slowdown in the future? JB: While the industry is currently experiencing a period of prosperity, it’s inevitable that things will slow down in the future. One of B&L’s strengths is its diversity in services which helps greatly in periods of economic recession. Sometimes a particular practice area may be strong due to funding or other economic/ regulatory factors while another might be in a period of transition. B&L’s diversity has certainly been a significant factor in managing this risk during its 58-year history. We continue to expand our service offerings by investing in our people and examining merger and acquisition opportunities where they make sense. Besides growing service offerings, B&L has expanded its geographic footprint, both organically and through mergers and acquisitions. Recessions don’t always hit every geographic area the same way. Because of this, we believe geographic growth will help us be more resilient to an economic slowdown and allow us to provide services in various areas of the country. It’s also important to continue to invest in your people and infrastructure during a time of prosperity. You always need to strive to lead the way with technological advancements and invest in business infrastructure upgrades. When a downturn hits, you can focus your resources into your clients and projects instead of worrying about the expense of upgrades when cashflow may be constricted. TZL: It is often said that people leave managers, not companies. What are you doing to ensure that your line leadership are great people managers? JB: For some managers, effectively managing people comes naturally. For others, not so much. Leadership is something that can be learned and B&L has made significant investments in various leadership training programs
for our staff to manage people more effectively. Some training programs have been internal, while others have been multi-month external trainings offered by industry organizations. The core of these trainings comes down to emotional intelligence which we feel is critical in any organization, but especially in a firm with our size and diversity. B&L also has strong family core values: teamwork, trust and integrity, inspiration and motivation. We look to invest in managers who embrace and implement these core values in their day-to-day work. People will want to follow these managers, not leave them. TZL: What novel approaches are you bringing to recruitment, and how are your brand and differentiators performing in the talent wars? JB: Recruiting continues to be a strong focus. With steady growth in project backlog, we need to continue to add staff to support our overall expansion as well as to provide for transition. This can be increasingly difficult as the baby boomers are retiring from practice in both the public and private sectors, creating a wealth of opportunities for talented design professionals. Recognizing this trend, B&L has put various recruiting initiatives in place including an enhanced employee referral bonus program and investing in our HR and talent acquisition staff. Our brand, core values, and our diverse family of practice areas has been key not only to filling open positions but in retaining staff. In addition, our technical and professional reputation, coupled with our growth, draw people to us. Growth shows prospective employees that the company is active and is doing things right. Growth provides opportunity, and opportunity is what people are looking for. TZL: Is change management a topic regularly addressed by the leadership at your firm? If so, elaborate. JB: Change management is definitely a topic we address at B&L – especially in today’s dynamic business environment. It’s also something we explore in great depth in our leadership trainings. Positive change is important to an organization and, when done properly, can inspire and motivate. To properly manage and implement change, you need to roll out the change in stages starting with a small group, then to a larger group and eventually to the See SET THE TEMPO, page 8
HEADQUARTERS: Syracuse, NY NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 282 YEAR FOUNDED: 1961 OFFICE LOCATIONS: ❚ ❚ Albany, NY
❚ ❚ Baltimore, MD ❚ ❚ Annapolis, MD ❚ ❚ Binghamton, NY ❚ ❚ Buffalo, NY ❚ ❚ Camp Hill, PA ❚ ❚ Fairfield, NJ ❚ ❚ Newburgh, NY ❚ ❚ New Paltz, NY ❚ ❚ Plattsburgh, NY ❚ ❚ Rochester, NY ❚ ❚ Somers, NY
❚ ❚ Syracuse, NY ❚ ❚ Watertown, NY SERVICES: ❚ ❚ Asset management ❚ ❚ Building systems ❚ ❚ Community planning ❚ ❚ Construction ❚ ❚ Energy and power systems ❚ ❚ Environmental ❚ ❚ Industrial ❚ ❚ Landscape architecture ❚ ❚ Municipal services ❚ ❚ Site design ❚ ❚ Solid waste ❚ ❚ Stormwater management ❚ ❚ Transportation ❚ ❚ Wastewater and water
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ober 14, 2019, ISSUE 1316
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