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Conference call: Michael Carragher, part 1 President and CEO of VHB, (Best Firm Civil #23 and Hot Firm #46 for 2017), a 1,400-person firm based in Boston, Massachusetts.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent “L istening, of course, is incredibly important,” Carragher says. A CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL CARRAGHER. The Zweig Letter: In the event of failure, how does your firm react? Michael Carragher: VHB is a generational compa- ny which means that we act as company stewards. It’s our responsibility to leave the company in bet- ter condition than we found it. The second impor- tant tenet of being a generational company is to keep balance between delivering outstanding per- formance for our clients and a focus on the needs of our own people. When faced with challenges, tough decisions – even failures – the generational company philosophy guides us as we think about the right thing to do for the company, our people, and clients.
If you’re thoughtful in how you plan and what you do, then you should be prepared to react to an un- anticipated occurrence. Our leadership team takes the time to think things through, thoughtfully com- municate and work through potential outcomes. I think this encourages, by example, all of our em- ployees to do the same, which helps when things don’t go as planned. And, when there is a challenge or problem, we face it head on. We listen and un- derstand all the issues – often in formal debriefs – and then prepare the repair plan or the approach to making the outcome more successful next time. TZL: Monthly happy hours and dog friendly of- fices. What do today’s CEOs need to know about today’s workforce? MC: I think it goes beyond perks like monthly hap- py hours or casual Fridays. Employees want to be engaged and be connected – they’re invested in making a difference and in succeeding. Communi- cating with employees openly and honestly and be-
Michael Carra- gher, President & CEO, VHB
THE ZWEIG LETTER Nove
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