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P R O F I L E
Members of Woodard & Curran’s San Jose office set aside an afternoon to take a cooking class and enjoy each other’s company.
Conference call: Doug McKeown CEO of Woodard & Curran (Hot Firm #69 for 2018), a 1,000-person integrated engineering, science, and operations company based in Portland, ME.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
“G ive them that opportunity and watch them soar,” McKeown says. “Help them see that they can have multiple careers without having to leave the firm. Sometimes they want change and assume that the only way to do that is to leave. That’s not the case.” A CONVERSATION WITH DOUG MCKEOWN. The Zweig Letter: The talent war in the A/E in- dustry is here. What steps do you take to create the leadership pipeline needed to retain your top people and not lose them to other firms? Doug McKeown: The first thing is to make sure it’s not a secret. Make sure your top performers in the leadership ranks know that you feel that way and are making investments in them. Work with them
to create individual development plans that lay out a path to leadership. Lastly, hire for leadership depth. Don’t just hire people to fill specific manage- ment or technical roles. Hire and engage leadership talent to add depth to the firm. TZL: As you look for talent, what position do you most need to fill in the coming year and why? DM: Project managers and strong seller/doers are crucial. 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?
Doug McKe- own, CEO, Woodard & Curran
THE ZWEIG LETTER Ju
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