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Conference call: Rhett Crocker President of LandDesign (Best Firm Multi-discipline #30 for 2017), a 165-person landscape architecture, civil engineering, and planning firm based in Charlotte, NC.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
“F rom the day LandDesign was founded, it was intend- ed to be a firm that transcended generations; one that was about ideas and inspired by ideals,” Crocker says. “The talent, expertise, and ability we have in our offices today is the best I’ve ever seen. That’s exciting.” A CONVERSATION WITH RHETT CROCKER. The Zweig Letter: The talent war in the A/E industry 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? Rhett Crocker: We do well retaining; it’s the finding that’s a challenge. The talent war is really crazy. You have to be cre- ative and do whatever it takes. We’re doing things like in- vesting in new technology, offering great benefits, educa- tion, research and development, and opportunities for com- munity involvement. We give people more time to volunteer (outside of vacation and holidays) and make sure, culture wise, that we’re always learning and having fun, too. It’s key to provide opportunities for great work to keep staff ener- gized. We spend a lot of time on growth and career paths.
TZL: They say failure is a great teacher. What’s the big- gest lesson you’ve had to learn the hard way? RC: A little bit of humility goes a long, long way. You have to focus and be confident in core values and expertise. Don’t get out of your lane. Just because you see a shiny object, doesn’t mean you should chase it. “You can’t look at transition as a retirement cash out. The value is in the people. Get in early and go deep. We have third- and fourth-generation small owners now who are locked into the system.” TZL: There are A/E leaders who say profit centers create corrosive internal competition for firm resources. What’s your opinion on profit centers? RC: Even though we have six offices, we are one firm. We measure each office and market to understand where we
THE ZWEIG LETTER Novem
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