TZL 1235

facebook.com/ ZweigGroup nSullivan TZL: While plenty of firms have an ownership transition plan in place, many do not. What’s your advice for firms that have not taken steps to identify and empower the next generation of owners?

Zweig Group is social and posting every day! C O N N E C T W I T H U S

twitter.com/ ZweigGroup

linkedin.com/company/ ZweigWhite

blog. ZweigGroup .com vimeo.com/ ZweigGroup

years we’ve made a concentrated effort to expand into the commercial as well as institutional/educational sectors. Throughout 2018, we’ll likely add complementary areas of practice to support our core focus, like non-destructive test- ing and structural engineering support services. “The type of team members who we recruit are those driven by more than just compensation. They want to genuinely enjoy being on our team; they want to connect on non-professional levels; and they want to serve a greater purpose than just the day-to-day tasks of incremental growth.” TZL: The list of responsibilities for project managers is seemingly endless. How do you keep your PMs from burning out? And if they crash, how do you get them back out on the road, so to speak? BS: We try to emphasize the relative short duration of spikes that result from the somewhat seasonal nature of our business. We discuss the rewards that come at the end of the spike like our Christmas shutdown and Winter Fri- days. We remind each other to intentionally plan additional time with our loved ones, especially during the slower sea- son. At the start of our weekly teammeetings – to help keep a positive mindset – we identify one personal best and one professional best that occurred for each individual. We also encourage team members to use all of their vacation and personal days to recharge. TZL: What is the role of entrepreneurship in your firm? BS: An entrepreneurial mindset is a very strong focus with- in our team. We recently started monthly mini-assignments for all team members that help develop/foster an entrepre- neurial way of thinking. We strongly reward autonomy and encourage each other to make our supervisors feel useless. At the end of 2015, we began incorporating the Entrepre- neurial Operating System into our business and have seen tremendous success from the results in how we lead, the processes we have in place and the ability to analyze and as- sess goals and results. TZL: In the next couple of years, what A/E segments will heat up, and which ones will cool down? BS: We anticipate an increased focus on renovations and adaptive reuse that provide more affordable/sustainable housing. TZL: With overhead rates declining over the last five years and utilization rates slowly climbing back up to See CONFERENCE CALL, page 8

BS: There is a strong sense of security that comes from knowing a transition plan exists. A/E firms with a sole own- ership structure could be susceptible to large risk should anything happen to the owner. While it may not be dis- cussed openly, many team members likely consider this an issue – lack of a plan in place leads to uncertainty through- out the team. From the start, we established and regularly discuss a transition plan. TZL: Monthly happy hours and dog friendly offices. What do today’s CEOs need to know about today’s workforce? BS: The type of team members who we recruit are those driven by more than just compensation. They want to genu- inely enjoy being on our team; they want to connect on non- professional levels; and they want to serve a greater pur- pose than just the day-to-day tasks of incremental growth. If they connect with their fellow team members, are in sync with the core values of the firm, and believe in the vision, they will do everything in their power to ensure success. TZL: Zweig Group research shows there has been a shift in business development strategies. More and more, technical staff, not marketing staff, are responsible for BD. What’s the BD formula in your firm? BS: We recently hired a non-technical business develop- ment associate. Prior to that it was all handled by the tech- nical team. As a result, we didn’t have a consistent backlog of work. We fell into the trap of being more aggressive in BD as workloads began to slow down and less aggressive when we were busy with active projects. Our new BD associate, al- though never having worked in the AEC industry, has come up to speed much faster than we had envisioned and is do- ing a great job opening doors, generating proposals, and es- tablishing processes to ensure a steadier backlog. This also allows our technical staff to focus more on providing a bet- ter experience for our clients which leads to more recurring work. “We recognize that goals are often not missed because of lack of effort, but more commonly due to an increase in non- billable assignments that are focused on improving our processes.” TZL: Diversifying the portfolio is never a bad thing. What are the most recent steps you’ve taken to broaden your revenue streams? BS: We are committed to remaining in our core focus of exterior restoration services; however, over the past two

uary 12, 2018, ISSUE 1235

Made with FlippingBook Annual report