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ON THE MOVE BURNS & MCDONNELL HIRES RAFAEL PAGAN TO EXPAND TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SERVICES IN MID-ATLANTIC REGION With a growing need to improve reliability of the electrical grid serving the Mid-Atlantic region, Burns & McDonnell hires Rafael Pagan as a project manager on its regional transmission and distribution team in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Pagan will oversee a team of power delivery engineers focused on design and execution of substation and transmission projects. Burns & McDonnell is currently ranked No. 1 in electrical power and transmission and distribution by Engineering News-Record magazine. “The Mid-Atlantic region continues to upgrade aging infrastructure and at the same time, has a growing demand for power,” says John Olander, Burns & McDonnell president and Transmission and Distribution general

manager. “Adding to the local presence in the Washington, D.C. area increases our ability to better serve our clients. Rafael has the strong technical knowledge and project management experience to grow our local team and help provide solutions from concept to completion.” Pagan has more than 10 years of experience in high-voltage transmission, substations, and distribution systems. He’s managed, developed, and engineered projects across the U.S. ranging from 13-kV to 500-kV, with individual values exceeding $25 million. “Rafael has worked for and with major utility companies throughout the Mid-Atlantic, giving him a deep understanding of the region’s infrastructure needs, challenges, and regulations,” says Jeff Ganthner, general manager of Burns & McDonnell Mid-Atlantic offices. “His consulting, project management,

and design abilities make him a strong addition to our expanding team.” Pagan is a licensed professional engineer in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware and Puerto Rico. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Maryland. Burns & McDonnell opened its first Mid- Atlantic office in 2010. Since then, the team has grown from two employee-owners to more than 70, located in Roanoke, Virginia, Chesapeake, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 5,700 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants, and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world.

emotionally attached will make the best reviewer. In some cases, it is desirable to bring in some outside help using an industry experienced person to get the most objectivity in the process. Whether inside or out, an individual or a group of individuals who can bring market, strategic, financial, and operational experience to the table have the needed traits. ❚ ❚ What questions do you ask? The rationalization process is all about determining what is working and what is not – es- pecially with an eye to the future. So the very first question to ask is how does this fit in our current and future strategy of the company? Many ignore this question and you find over time that a company continues doing things that were never included in their strategy. The remaining questions vary, de- pending on what aspect of the business you are rationalizing. For example, in evaluating business units, regional offices, or similar operations, you should evaluate the historical profit- ability, market potential, and strategic significance. The drain of your leadership talent as part of this evaluation cannot be ignored as that same time could be spent on other efforts that will drive the company. Hopefully this gives you the picture on the missing part of strategy through a rationalization process. It is all about ensuring the best use of your financial, talent, and leadership resources to build value for the shareholders and all employees. The best firms focus on the “critical few” things that make a company successful. So whatever you do in planning for the future – don’t forget to look at what you are currently doing and whether you should continue on that course. This is all about doing less and doing what you do well. GERRY SALONTAI is the founder of Salontai Consulting Group, LLC. Contact him at gerry@salontai.com. “Whatever you do in planning for the future – don’t forget to look at what you are currently doing and whether you should continue on that course. This is all about doing less and doing what you do well.”

GERRY SALONTAI, from page 9

business unit within the firm. These functional units can include client market sectors, larger groups or departments, offices, regions, entire divisions, and even subsidiaries. ❚ ❚ When should you do this? The key is to perform this process often enough to identify and then change, reduce funding or exit those aspects of the business that are not meeting expectations. It is equally important not do this too frequently, thus causing disruption or giving up on the area being evaluated too quickly. Rationalization is best performed annually and no more than every few years. One approach is to perform this along with the strategy/strategic planning process. This timing gives you the opportunity to determine how what you are doing now relates to how it may fit into the business of your future. Care should be taken to avoid directly performing the rationalization in your strategy planning, because it could take away from the creative thinking needed for the future. The results of this effort may be an input to the planning process to help decide where the company will place its investments, including reinvesting in existing initiatives, exiting what is not working or does not fit in the future. “Many leaders don’t account for all that is not going well and instead focus almost entirely on where the company can go in the future. The reality is that all companies have parts of their business that are not performing well, have been marginalized, or are not a good fit for the firm’s future.” ❚ ❚ Who would do this? You need to have your most objective thinker(s) perform the rationalization process. One key to make this a success is to choose an individual who is not directly attached to the topical area as independence is very important. Generally forming a small task group with specific areas to evaluate is an acceptable approach if a firm does not have one person that is well rounded enough to cover all the areas to be rationalized. An individual who is not invested or

THE ZWEIG LETTER August 14, 2017, ISSUE 1212

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