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ON THE MOVE ATI ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS OF NEWPRINCIPALS AND SENIOR ASSOCIATES ATI Architects and Engineers announced the promotion of the following individuals to managing principals, principals, and senior associates.

Principals: ❚ ❚ Daniel Schweickert

❚ ❚ Rachel Hamilton, AIA In pursuit of developing the next leadership team of the company, ATI’s board of directors named several key employees to join the ranks of managing principals, principals, and senior associates. The new leadership team will strengthen the focus of producing quality work, providing outstanding service, and creating innovative solutions for its clients.

❚ ❚ Anna Win, AIA, LEED AP ❚ ❚ Deborah Lesnefska, R.A. Senior associates: ❚ ❚ Jim Pan, AIA, LEED AP ❚ ❚ Kate Lyle

Managing principals: ❚ ❚ Bruce Gillings, AIA ❚ ❚ G. Michael Goldsworthy, R.A.

PAUL GREENHAGEN, from page 11

rounded feedback. This also provides the candidate with a wider perspective of our company and culture. At Westwood, someone with great experience but different values won’t last long. Our employees are encouraged to pay close attention to how candidates align with our culture and trust their instincts about how well they fit. ❚ ❚ Retaining good people. Keeping good people is a big chal- lenge. Young professionals are more likely to jump companies. Once hired, we work hard to make sure our new staff knows their needs are important. Managers are encouraged to be attentive and available to those they manage and work to cul- tivate strong, trusting relationships. Employee feedback plays a vital role in continually improving Westwood’s workplace and the opportunities for staff. Many of the enhancements we’ve made to technology, communica- tions, and workplace environment are the result of recom- mendations brought forward by employees. When bringing on a highly-experienced hire, it can require extra effort to align our mutual experience and expectations. Being open to their needs and staying aware of the challenges that this type of new employee faces is a good first step in ac- tively retaining them. Being realistic in the recruiting process and attentive and available after the hiring is complete will help keep the top talent we hire. We all know that the best people to hire are those who align with our values, are passionate about their work, and apply themselves to the best of their abilities to serve and satisfy clients. We seek leaders, doers, networkers, and people who are comfortable communicating and eager to make a difference in the company, in our industries, and their professions. New hires must fit well into a company’s culture in order to be most successful. “We can’t afford to pass by the perfect new candidate who is just down the hall from HR. As always, employees are our greatest asset – in many ways.” With plenty of opportunities and a steady workflow across multiple markets, this is a good time for AEC firms. Having the right people onboard to do the job is a challenge many of us face – and a challenge that requires extra effort if we want to ensure our clients get the best service and products. We can’t afford to pass by the perfect new candidate who is just down the hall from HR. As always, employees are our greatest asset – in many ways. PAUL GREENHAGEN is president and CEO of Westwood Professional Services. Contact him at paul.greenhagen@westwoodps.com.

high study effort and qualifications, since they rarely have the opportunity to gain experience in practice and their knowledge gradually becomes obsolete.” “With AEC firms competing for the same people, finding good talent becomes even more challenging. We cannot afford to overlook the people we have in-house for opportunities.” With AEC firms competing for the same people, finding good talent becomes even more challenging. We cannot afford to overlook the people we have in-house for opportunities. Their industry connections are bigger than ever before! In order to be most effective at attracting, recruiting, and retaining good, skilled professionals, I think we need to focus hard on each effort and pull in resources outside of recruiting to help. HR and recruiting teams still do the bulk of the work, but employees can contribute throughout the process. ❚ ❚ Attracting the right people. Go the extra mile to be highly visible in your hiring efforts. Networking and word-of-mouth is, by far, the best way to find the people we seek. Online and social engagement helps get the word out about who we are, so that we attract who we want, and get our name in the right places. Employees can help by sharing information and influencing their network of professionals to consider our company for advancing in their career. AEC firms are competing for AEC students and college grads. The good ones are getting multiple opportunities, so we have to find unique ways to differentiate and make those students take notice. We spend more time at career fairs and online than we ever have, so that we can be more visible to the next generation of professionals. As alumni, employees have an opportunity to contribute in a variety of ways that can make college career fairs more effective. ❚ ❚ Recruiting people effectively. Balancing our immediate and long-term needs while recruiting is important. When workload demands are strong and candidates are scarce, we feel the pressure to hire fast. Hiring fast increases the odds of making poor choices, and bringing in the wrong people costs a company a lot of time and money. It is worth taking the time to interview multiple people. Employees from various functions in a company can help interview candidates in different environments to get well-

THE ZWEIG LETTER July 24, 2017, ISSUE 1209

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