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SC: Firm longevity. Shareholder value. Employee happiness. TZL: Benefits are evolving. Are you offering new ones due to the changing demographic? SC: We are offering new benefits such as increased life in- surance, enhanced paternity and maternity leave, pet in- surance, identity theft protection, and gymmembership re- imbursement. We’ve also enhanced our tuition reimburse- ment program. We offer a flexible work schedule and en- courage telecommuting. TZL: Tell us about the last time you named a new princi- pal from outside the firm. SC: The last one was within the month, but it’s a recurring event. We look to keep principals at about 20 percent of the firm, so that naturally means a percentage of our new hires come in as principals. If they’re coming from the outside and they’re unproven, they really have to be rock stars to come in as principals. Regardless, whenever we bring on a new hire and name them a principal, they see the benefits of that distinction, but they also have to get their performance under them to become firm owners. “We are offering new benefits such as increased life insurance, enhanced paternity and maternity leave, pet insurance, identity theft protection, and gym membership reimbursement. We’ve also enhanced our tuition reimbursement program.”
A REVOLUTION, from page 7
couldn’t adapt to the culture, or strategy, and we have de- moted (or removed) those who could not support the com- pany director and/or the greater good. We’ve all been each other’s bosses at times, and we’ve handled that with a great deal of humility, grace and support. This versatility also has made our succession planning that much more appropriate and impactful. TZL: How do you promote young and new leaders as the firm grows? SC: We have a bottom-up process that ensures that team leaders and project managers are able to nominate the per- son they feel is best suited for the job – technologically and in management. We then apply top-down scrutiny to eval- uate those nominated. Principal promotions also factor in here, via a scalable, transparent process. We’ve demystified the principal process by clearly communicating the four key areas that each employee needs to excel in to become a prin- cipal in the firm. When someone is made a principal, that criteria supports that selection. TZL: In one word or phrase, what do you describe as your No. 1 job responsibility as CEO? “In addition to training, and commitment to investing in innovation, we also offer individual development plans for anyone and everyone in the firm who wants to grow and develop.”
© Copyright 2019. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
THE ZWEIG LETTER February 11, 2019, ISSUE 1283
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