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emeyer

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TZL: Is there a secret to effective ownership transition? EF: I acquired our firm as a sole proprietor from my dad. He had chosen a principal who worked with him for many years and was set to take the reins. That person died at a very young age before he was able to take over the firm’s man- agement. This drastically changed the firm’s direction and I was thrust into leading/buying the firm. I learned quite a bit about what can go wrong during ownership transition. Now we have three shareholders with a robust leadership pipe- line that is intended to increase the number of shareholders to diversify and solidify our ownership position. “I acquired our firm as a sole proprietor from my dad. He had chosen a principal who worked with him for many years and was set to take the reins. That person died at a very young age before he was able to take over the firm’s management.” TZL: How do you go about winning work? EF: Our reputation and word-of-mouth from our long-term clients. We recently changed our structure and have a far stronger business development system. This is continu- ally evolving and we are in the process of rolling out our “Thought Leadership” program to boost these efforts. Ev- eryone from project engineer to principal will contribute in some way. TZL: What’s the greatest problem to overcome in the pro- posal process? EF: We use an ERP system to generate our proposals. We had the ERP customized to help streamline and standardize proposal generation. It’s good in theory, but the software is very clunky. However, the standardization aspect alone is well worth the effort. TZL: Once you’ve won a contract, what are the “marching orders” for your PMs? EF: We require a signed contract or letter of intent prior to issuing a project number and charging time to the project. Once the project number is assigned, the project manager has a project team kick-off meeting to get everyone on the same page to execute the project. On small projects or re- ports, we use a short form for project kickoff. TZL: How does marketing contribute to your success rate? Are you content with your marketing efforts, or do you think you should increase/decrease marketing? EF: Marketing has traditionally taken a back seat at our firm. We did monthly email newsletters, local client orga- nization presentations, and the occasional article in a trade

publication. We are ramping up our systems to include blogs, white papers, guides, and increase publications and industry presence. TZL: What has your firm done recently to upgrade its IT system? EF: We rely heavily on technology and consider this to be one of our top investments. Each person has a two-year or newer laptop. PMs have Microsoft Surface tablets. We have a robust server with remote backup and redundancies. We have the latest versions of our Deltek ERP system, Office 365, our Newforma PIMS system, and Autodesk design products. We are investigating virtual desktop infrastruc- ture for our next upgrade to improve working remotely. In our experience, VPN is not ideal for working remotely with Autodesk products. TZL: What’s the best way to recruit and retain top talent in a tight labor market? EF: Since 2012 we have had a full-time recruiter/HR man- ager. This has been a great addition to our team. They are continually sourcing candidates to help fill positions quick- ly with the right talents. They keep us focused on employee brand and attend the right career fairs, etc. We now spend much less on outsourced recruiting fees. Prior to this po- sition our processes were not good and hiring was a chal- lenge. As a testament to our commitment to our employ- ees and our brand, for the past two years, we won a Zweig Group Best Firm to Work For award. “We are continuously working on building a flexible, results driven environment with working remote options for every employee and software that works from anywhere. It’s important that our employees feel comfortable taking care of their personal lives while also having a successful career.” TZL: What’s the key benefit you give to your employees? Flex schedule, incentive compensation, 401(k), etc.? EF: We don’t want employees to worry about healthcare. We ensure our benefits package works as well for our staff as our staff works for our clients. We evaluate our health plans every year to ensure we offer the best possible plan with the most comprehensive coverage and pay 95 percent of the benefit. We offer four options that are all covered at the same contribution rate because we recognize that not everyone’s needs are the same, but we want to be sure ev- eryone is taken care of regardless of family dynamic. We are continuously working on building a flexible, results driven See CONFERENCE CALL, page 8

pril 10, 2017, ISSUE 1195

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