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TRANSACT IONS BELCAN TO ACQUIRE SCHAFER CORPORATION Belcan, LLC , a global supplier of engineering, technical recruiting, and information technology services to the aerospace, defense, industrial, and government services markets, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Schafer Corporation from Metalmark Capital Partners. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017. Belcan is a portfolio company of A/E Industrial Partners, LLC, a private investor in aerospace, power generation, and specialty industrial companies. Since 1972, Schafer Corporation has been a leading provider of scientific, engineering, and technical services to numerous military and civil

government agencies. Schafer employs more than 400 experts worldwide in areas such as CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense), space systems, air and missile defense, micro materials, and cybersecurity. “Belcan is building an unrivaled array of engineering and IT capabilities, and Schafer is the latest acquisition to support this global initiative,” said Lance Kwasniewski, CEO of Belcan. “Schafer represents a tremendous addition to our government services business, which helps governments and institutions worldwide support mission-critical tasks.” “Schafer is excited to join the Belcan family, we

believe the combination brings exciting growth opportunities as our expertise and services are a perfect fit,” said Michael Griffin, chairman and CEO of Schafer Corporation. “With Belcan’s support and capabilities, we will be able to further expand our services and reach, which is critical to meet the growing demand of our customers across the globe.” “With five acquisitions in less than 18 months, Belcan has demonstrated an unrelenting commitment to expanding its capabilities and footprint,” said David H. Rowe, managing partner of AEI. “We are proud to have helped Belcan grow to become an undisputed leader in the markets it serves.”

BILL MURPHEY, from page 3

mentoring process is about developing the next generation of your company. “A simple but continuous mentoring process will pay dividends for your company through increased professional competence and higher employee career satisfaction.” A good mentoring program will also have attractive benefits for your company. ❚ ❚ Increased talent retention. The best firms in the industry invest in their people through professional development. When employees feel they are valued by the company, they want to remain with the company, and that will keep your attrition costs down. ❚ ❚ Improved professional competency. By introducing your employees to advanced concepts and processes, you’re creat- ing a deep pool from which to support your clients. In mili- tary parlance, we call that a force-multiplier. Lots of people with lots of great ideas will usually win over a small group of people with fewer ideas. ❚ ❚ Gap identifier. Through the mentoring process, a company can identify gaps it might have in its technical skills, training, or on-boarding process. Mentoring does not have to be a company-endorsed program. Anyone can mentor anyone anytime. The easiest way to begin is by seeking out someone who you respect and start asking questions. If you’re interested in mentoring others, offer to meet with a small group over lunch to talk through some of the more difficult issues you’re facing. Invest in your people by helping them grow professionally. A simple but continuous mentoring process will pay dividends for your company through increased professional competence and higher employee career satisfaction. BILL MURPHEY is Zweig Group’s director of education. Contact him at bmurphey@zweiggroup.com.

growing the next generation of leaders to perform better than you. A good mentoring process should contain several elements. ❚ ❚ Professional assessment. Use the mentoring process to understand where your employees are on their professional growth chart. I recommend using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learn- ing Domains as a baseline tool for understanding where a mentee is and where you’d like for them to be. ❚ ❚ Enhanced professional development. When we’re exposed to higher level thinking, we tend to seek more of it. When a mentor is responsible for the professional development of others, they will typically spend more time in their own learn- ing, so they’ll be better prepared to share that information. This is similar to a teacher having a lesson plan for each day in the classroom. ❚ ❚ Lasting effects. A good mentoring process will have posi- tive residual effects for years. The experiences and knowledge gained by the passing of knowledge will propel mentees ahead of their peers and keep them there. ❚ ❚ Age is not important. Don’t limit mentoring to junior pro- fessionals. Even CEOs and principals can benefit from being mentored by those with comparable but different experiences. I have several friends I consider to be my mentors, and vice versa. I learn from them and they from me. “Mentoring should not be about cloning oneself. It’s not about helping others solely because they have the same background, attended the same college, or are a member of the same country club. It’s also not about picking favorites and only mentoring your high-potential employees.” Mentoring should not be about cloning oneself. It’s not about helping others solely because they have the same background, attended the same college, or are a member of the same country club. It’s also not about picking favorites and only mentoring your high-potential employees. A good

THE ZWEIG LETTER June 19, 2017, ISSUE 1205

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