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work until early afternoon and then go for a swim with my son in the pool. I’m flexible and know when to cut off, but still need to get things done. My kids are now 18 and 16, but when they were younger I signed contracts with them that if they ever wanted me to leave work early or not take a business trip because they had a personal reason – they could override my work. My daughter put this to the test one day for a music recital and I honored the contract and postponed the work trip. They know they take priority. “We identify where people’s roles should reside based on their strengths – business development, operations, or technical. We also have some seller-doers who straddle more than one of these roles.” TZL: What, if anything, are you doing to protect your firm from a potential economic slowdown in the future? EA: Seventy-five percent of our work is public. It’s a bit more stable than private and not as cyclical. I believe that when the next recession comes (and it will), dollars will flow into infrastructure projects to boost economic output. TZL: It is often said that people leave managers, not companies. What are you doing to ensure that your line leadership are great people managers? EA: I never realized this statement was true until it happened to me. I do believe that people follow people. Ardurra is comprised of eight different companies. Some of the companies are made up of employees who followed their managers. These are people who have built companies and by nature are just good. We focus a great deal on human resources and have an Employee Council that helps to establish and maintain culture. It also meets on a quarterly basis to review how to improve leadership styles. TZL: What novel approaches are you bringing to recruitment, and how are your brand and differentiators performing in the talent wars? EA: We’ve been very fortunate that many staff members have come to us via word of mouth. We’ve started project management and leadership programs and people want to know that we have their best interests
at heart. For example, Ardurra Leadership is a program that takes 10 staff members through a year-long educational and networking experience that will help them develop their careers. We’ve established a culture where people do not want to leave. We’re very proud of being a Best Firm To Work For, and that’s attracted people too. We have an aggressive recruitment bonus program that ranges from $1,000 for a lower-level position to anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 for a higher-level position. We also have an internal recruiter. We’re very on top of our culture and when someone leaves, the board is made aware of it and the reason for leaving is closely examined. We have not lost a key principal from the acquired companies. TZL: When you identify a part of your business that is not pulling its weight in terms of profitability or alignment with the firm’s mission, what steps do you take, and what’s the timeline, to address the issue while minimizing impacts to the rest of the company? EA: We try to focus more on the positive. If part of the business is not doing well, we address it quickly. Don’t drag it out. So far, it hasn’t been an issue. TZL: How often do you valuate your firm and what key metrics do you use in the process? Do you valuate using in-house staff or is it outsourced? EA: Once a year we hire an outside valuator. We use comparables, revenue, growth, and profits. “Seventy-five percent of our work is public. It’s a bit more stable than private and not as cyclical. I believe that when the next recession comes (and it will), dollars will flow into infrastructure projects to boost economic output.” TZL: What financial metrics do you monitor to gauge the health of your firm? EA: Cash flow, accounts receivable, and backlog. I examine cash flow daily, and the other two monthly.
HEADQUARTERS: Tampa, FL
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 375
YEAR FOUNDED: Originally founded
in 1977 as King Engineering,
the company was renamed and
rebranded in 2017 to Ardurra.
NUMBER OF OFFICE LOCATIONS: 16
WHAT’S IN A NAME? In the Basque
language, Ardurra means diligent
and responsible; in Gaelic
är-’DUR-e means superior. The
company embodies all of these
qualities.
SERVICES:
❚ ❚ Water
❚ ❚ Land development
❚ ❚ Public works
❚ ❚ Disaster management
❚ ❚ Structural
❚ ❚ Surveying
❚ ❚ Aquatics
See CULTURE SETTER, page 8
❚ ❚ Environmental
© Copyright 2019. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.
mber 11, 2019, ISSUE 1320
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