TZL 1238

6

Andre

P R O F I L E

Conference call: L. Andrew White President and CEO of HRP Associates, Inc. (Hot Firm #76 for 2016), a 120-person engineering consulting firm based in Farmington, Connecticut.

By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent

“B ig, bold, rapid changes are exciting and sometimes needed, but well planned, steady change can often be more effective and sustain- able,” says White, referring to lessons learned. A CONVERSATION WITH L. ANDREW WHITE. 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? L. Andrew White: We’ve taken a few. We’ve hired a full-time recruiter to bring in top talent and de- veloped an Emerging Leaders development group coached by an outside business consultant. We benchmark compensation with Zweig Group sur- veys on an annual basis and provide extreme

flexibility (work at home, non-routine hours, etc.) We also hold employee meetings and do internal surveys to obtain feedback, and then act on that feedback. TZL: As you look for talent, what position do you most need to fill in the coming year and why? LAW: It’s difficult to select one position. I would ar- gue another sales person, as the seller/doer model seems less successful as time goes on. 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?

L. Andrew White, Presi- dent & CEO, HRP Associ- ates, Inc.

THE ZWEIG LETTER Ma

Made with FlippingBook Annual report