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Bennett & Pless company picnic.

CONFERENCE CALL, from page 7

EG: We have annual career development sessions that are tailored to each individual’s long-term career objectives and then have actionable plans to advance them toward those career goals. (We’ve only had one employee voluntarily leave in five years.) The two key retention vehicles are: 1) Monthly learning sessions where our senior engineers share their knowledge. 2) A head of ‘Team Experience’ who is focused on ensuring our team members enjoy their experience here. “The tax cuts will be positive. We have not adjusted salaries and bonuses as a result of tax cuts as of yet, but expect to as they have impact.” TZL: How are the tariffs impacting your business and that of your clients? EG: They do not appear to be impacting our business. That said, we had a manufacturer we work for that sources their steel from China and they said they’re looking to leave the U.S. and sell into Canada and South America. We suspect that we’ll see an uptick in business from other clients who source locally so expect it will have a neutral impact on us. TZL: How are the tax cuts impacting your business? Have salaries and bonuses increased? EG: The tax cuts will be positive. We have not adjusted sala- ries and bonuses as a result of tax cuts as of yet, but expect to as they have impact. We all also benefit at the personal tax level. We share profits with staff, shareholders, and re- tain earnings as needed to ensure the business is successful in the long-term, so as profits increase it is shared amongst these categories.

what are you doing to instill a business culture in your firm? EG: We’re open about the firm’s financial performance and the key metrics that drive our business; they’re shared and discussed with everyone. We also share information on top clients from a volume as well as from a profitability perspec- tive. At the project level, we create heightened awareness of budget and business impact. At the proposal and “add ser- vice” level, we use it as an opportunity to explain the need to price appropriately and highlight its impact on business. At the manager level, we’ve created personal P&L statements, so it’s like they’re running their own small business within a business. This also serves to enhance their financial savvy. TZL: The seller-doer model is very successful, but with growth you need to adapt to new models. What is your program? EG: We have some seller-doers, but mainly rely on dedicated BD staff who are not engineers, but skilled at sales. Clients like to meet the CEO; I’m active. We provide some coaching to our PMs to allow them to be effective at enhancing ex- isting relationships. We’ve also developed account plans for our top 15 clients and have categorized our clients into ap- propriate categories so our effort is properly allocated. “We have a very strong management team that can run the business without me, so I have the freedom to be strategic and focus on the areas having the most impact on the success of the business.”

TZL: A firm’s longevity is valuable. What are you doing to encourage your staff to stick around?

THE ZWEIG LETTER December 31, 2018, ISSUE 1277

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