© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved.

Firms crafting policieson social media

Some companies see web sites as an unnecessary distraction, others tap into the business

development opportunities.

Almost half (48%) of the firm leaders who answered this month’s survey questions

in The Zweig HR Letter say they are working on policies that spell out how much

time their employees can spend

on social networking sites during

work hours.

The divide among survey respon-

dents to the question about using

social networking during work

hours is substantial, with 26% of

those who answered the question

saying using such tools are impor-

tant pieces of a firms’ marketing

effort, and 17% banning the use

of social networking during work

hours altogether.

At FRCH Worldwide

(Cincinnati, OH), a 270-person

architecture and design firm, there is no policy restricting the amount of time

employees can spend on social networking sites, says Donna Szarwark, senior vice

president of human resources.

December 2009 A ZweigWhite Publication

The Zweig HR Letter

1 By the Numbers: Firms craftingpolicies on social media

1 HR plays special role inmaintaining ethical businessenvironment

4 The Legal Corner: Preservingevidence of electronic theft

5 Beyond Benefits: Focus onprofessional development tokeep all levels of staff satisfied

6 Growing People: Buildingcommunities of practice

7 Guest Speaker: The economywill rebound, but are weprepared?

3 HR Briefs

8 On the Move

8 Resources

Inside:

HR plays special role in maintaining ethical businessenvironmentCreating an employee handbook and maintaining transparent, enforceable standards are essential

steps.

Both the architecture and engineering industries have professional codes of ethics,

but is your firm aware of the special role that a human resources department plays

in reinforcing ethical behavior?

Professional pressuresThe first thing HR professionals in these fields should be thinking about is making sure

their firms have an employee handbook that reflects relevant professional codes.Among

other things, the American Society of Civil Engineers’ code of ethics emphasizes

safety and public responsibility, and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in

Washington, D.C., reflects on the social and environmental impact of architecture.

“Publish an employee handbook that contains all the rules and regulations regarding

the work space in the company, the promotion process, termination, disciplinary

actions, etc.,” recommends Dr. Jamshid Mohammadi, a professor of structural engineer-

ing at the Armour College of Engineering

see By the Numbers on page 3

see Ethical on page 2

ZweigWhite’s customized in-house

training sessions are facilitated by

ZweigWhite principals who have

industry-specific experience and

technical know-how. Schedule them to

work with your staff, right in your office.

To discuss your specific needs, please

contact Principal Christine Brack at

708-289-9099 or by e-mail

at cbrack@zweigwhite.com.

In-house training

By the Numbers

Management ideas for A/E Human Resources professionals

ZWE IGWH ITE

Your participation in this simple

online survey will take only minutes

and improve the overall results of

next month’s By the Numbers data.

1) How many employees left your

firm involuntarily in 2009?

2) How many employees left your

firm voluntarily in 2009?

To participate in the survey, visit

www.zweigwhite.com/go/numbers.

Next month’sBy the Numbers

Does your firm have a policy regarding the time employeescan spend on social networking sites during work hours?

26% No— we don’t allow social

networking during work hours.

17% No— social

networking is a key part

of our strategy to

attract new

clients and

new work.

7% Yes—

less than 1

hour per day

48% No, but we are

working on a policy.

2% Yes—

less than 2

hours per day

at Illinois Institute of Technology in

Chicago.

In the AEC field,“there are a wide vari-

ety of opinions about what it means to

be successful in the business,” says Tim

Mazur, chief operating officer of the

Ethics & Compliance Officer

Association (Waltham, MA).

“When you bring in different groups

with different backgrounds, who have

different opinions about what’s allowed

and what’s not in business, you ve got

problems.”

Mazur points to a “race to the bottom”

at AEC firms when clients make it clear

they are looking for the lowest bids on

RFPs.“An organization is harmed when

it low-balls a bid to get the job, and as

part of its strategy, it will find a way to

add on expenses and mess up the pro-

cess,” he says.“It’s a terrible way to do

business.”

Common ethical issuesOther common ethical issues for AEC

firms include “not following the stan-

dards in preparing technical calculations;

practicing in an engineering area outside

of one’s specialty; accepting a recom-

mendation from a superior without

studying it; and not properly giving

credit to those who have been involved

in a project, especially when there is a

publication produced,” says

Mohammadi, who regularly makes pre-

sentations on ethical issues in the engi-

neering industry for IIT.

Add to those the size of typical projects,

which Mazur points out are huge and

involve so much money.“This increases

the presence of ethical challenges,” he

says.“Then there’s the long-term nature

of the projects.” He says with long-term

projects, firms can t just pick up and

switch contractors easily.“It’s important

to get the standards set at the beginning

of the process,” he adds.

HR’s special roleHR’s role is to make sure “people who

are committed to doing it the right

way” work at the managerial and execu-

tive levels, Mazur says.With competing

project managers at different firms

involved in these big, long projects, it’s

important to set up incentive structures

so they are not designed around short-

term rewards, he explains. Building

longer-term incentives with bonuses

that come over time can help make sure

project managers are working to pre-

serve your firm’s relationship with

clients.Also, HR plays a role in helping

to create a culture where rainmakers are

not tacitly exempt from ethics and com-

pliance requirements.

“Half of the PR professionals I ve met

are only familiar with the old view of

compliance— OSHA,” says Mazur, who

distinguishes between the regulatory

compliance required by occupational

safety laws and criminal compliance reg-

ulations, which stem from the U.S.

Sentencing Commission that helped to

develop a new view of business compli-

ance.The commission produced the

Organizational Guidelines that became a

standard in the compliance field, with

their seven steps or criteria for effective

compliance plans:

(1) Establish effective compliance

standards and procedures.

(2) Assign specific, high-level person(s)

to oversee compliance.

(3) Use due care not to delegate impor-

tant responsibilities to known high-risk

persons.

(4) Communicate your program effec-

tively to all employees and agents.

(5) Monitor and audit program opera-

tion and establish a retribution-free

means for employees to report possible

violations to management.

(6) Consistently discipline employee

violators.

(7) Respond promptly and appropriately

to any offenses and remedy any program

deficiencies.

“The greatest way to make a difference

is to have transparency,” says Mazur.“An

organization should lay out its standards

in writing.” He suggests adapting the

seven steps to your own organization

with specific language that includes

examples and a training process.

“HR is a very important player in the

process of enforcing the standards,” he

says.“The biggest issue is to enforce

them.”And it usually falls to HR to

investigate and terminate employees—

no matter at what level— who violate

the standards.�

The Zweig HR Letter

The Zweig HR LetterManagement ideas for A/E Human Resources

professionals

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cmaccormack@zweigwhite.com

Article reprints: For reprints, contact The YGS Group at:

TheZweigHRLetter@TheYGSGroup.com.

Advisory Board Pam Britton, Principal and Director of Learning,

Design Workshop

Monica Dugan, Vice President and Corporate

Director of Human Resources, SSOE, Inc.

Kimberly Filion, Associate and Director of Finance

and Human Resources, JMZ Architects and

Planners, P.C.

Eli Gould, Employment Attorney, MBV Law LLP

Gerri King, Social Psychologist and Organizational

Consultant, President, Human Dynamics Associates,

Inc.

A.J. Lindemann, Corporate Director of Human

Resources, Wood, Patel & Associates, Inc.

Debbie Norris, Vice President of Human Resources,

Merrick & Company

Melanie Rogers, Director of HR/Principal, DES

Architects + Engineers, Inc.

© 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved

ISSN 1526-4483

Ethical, continued from page 1

December 2009 • Issue 46

2

ZWE IGWH ITE

3

© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved. The Zweig HR Letter

“Social networking is a key part of our

strategy to attract new clients and new

work. I believe it is a valuable business

development tool, particularly LinkedIn,”

Szarwark said.

By contrast, Wood Patel and

Associates (Phoenix,AZ), a 100-person

consulting engineering firm, allows no

social networking at work, said A. J.

Lindemann, human resources director.

“We live and die by billable hours,” wrote

one respondent who answered the survey

anonymously.“I do not foresee that we

would ever promote the idea of allotting

staff hours (for billable folks) for social

networking.We are trying to decide if

there is a benefit for our marketing direc-

tor or other leadership staff to participate

in social networking.”

Other firms attempt to find a middle

ground, allowing, but limiting, time

employees can spend on the Internet, and

restricting access to some sites.

“We allow 80 minutes, total, of personal

Internet time per day, in blocks of 10

minutes at a time,” said Keith Bloomfield,

director of human resources at

DeSimone Consulting Engineers

(New York, NY), a 250-person engineer-

ing services firm.

“Facebook and MySpace access is restrict-

ed, but Twitter and LinkedIn, at this point,

is not,” Bloomfield said.

Questions remain among survey respon-

dents about the effectiveness of social net-

working in drumming up new business

for the firm or leading to anything that

would affect the bottom line.

“This would work for products and

maybe services such as entertainment and

hospitality, but I don t foresee the AEC

industry using this,” one respondent said.

“Maybe (it could be used) for recruiting

when the economy rebounds, but not for

clients.”

Among the firms that do have policies in

place, three-quarters say employees can

use social networking for up to an hour a

day, with the other quarter saying it’s OK

as long as the time is restricted to two

hours a day or less.

For its part, ZweigWhite has taken a few

steps in to the social networking realm,

launching a Facebook page and a Twitter

account in the spring, and more recently,

starting a blog called The Board Room

(zweigwhite.blogspot.com) as a hub for news

and opinions on the industry from com-

pany staff and firm leaders across the AEC

space.

A new approachOne respondent sees no doubt in the

value of social networking and encourages

employees to utilize it whenever they feel

it could boost the firm’s profile and

backlog.

“Social networking will become, if it’s not

already, a key factor in how we brand

ourselves as a firm.The question is not

Will we use social networks?, but how. It

is also important to note that face-to-face

interaction will continue to be the best

way to build client relationships and social

networks will be a way to open the

door.”

Another respondent agreed that social

networking will not be the only way to

develop new business, but will play a key

role in the industry going forward.

“I think it will increasingly become more

important in the future to be able to suc-

cessful implement social networking into

the whole business development strategy

as a whole,” the respondent wrote.

Others wonder how quickly the social

networking craze will catch on, although

they acknowledge its merits.

“We support the use of LinkedIn for a

limited number of employees, not includ-

ing Facebook,Twitter or others that are

specifically blocked on our business sys-

tems,” one wrote.“For our company,

social networking is not likely to be pop-

ular; it’s too difficult to control the mes-

sage and can be an ineffective use of

time.We will, however, continue to eval-

uate the potential opportunity.The

highest potential is likely to be in the

area of recruiting.” �

EMPLOYEES DOING MORE: Government data

earlier this month showed U.S. employee

productivity rose at its fastest pace in six

years in the third quarter of this year,

according to Reuters.

The 9.5% jump at an annual rate in the

amount of output per employee came at a

time when many American employers are

slashing jobs in an effort to cut costs. The

U.S. unemployment rate was at 10% in

November. Rising worker productivity comes

as the U.S. economy continues to shed jobs.

As of November, U.S. employers payrolls had

declined for 23 months and 7.4 million

people had lost their jobs since December

2007.

A wide gauge of labor-market slack that

includes unemployed Americans who have

given up looking for work hit a record 17.5%

in October, the government said. While

employers are requiring more output from the

same or even fewer number of people, some

economists say the jump in productivity may

have used up much of the productivity slack

in the existing workforce.

DOCTOR MOM ON THE JOB: Big businesses

are spending serious time and money trying

to limit the swine flu pandemic’s impact on

operations, from bankrolling video on good

hygiene to training employees to cover for

co-workers with critical jobs, according to The

Associated Press.

Companies are arranging for employees with

flu symptoms or sick family members to work

from home where possible, holding fewer

in-person meetings, even discouraging

handshakes. Hand sanitizers, disinfectant

wipes and tissues are at the ready everywhere

as employers make keeping workers healthy

their first line of defense.

Employers are playing Dr. Mom, teaching

about hygiene, distributing information about

the pandemic, telling folks to stay home if

they get sick— generally with pay— and

scrapping the required doctor s note.

Many companies have provided seasonal flu

vaccines free to employees or even employees

families and stepped up cleaning schedules.

Just about every company has done staff

presentations on swine flu or set up an

information site on its intranet.

Besides promoting healthy behavior and

arranging to temporarily get by without some

workers, many employers are making backup

plans for distributing their products and

asking key suppliers what they ve done to

ensure they can keep delivering.

HR Briefs

By the Numbers, continued from page 1

December 2009 • Issue 46

ZWE IGWH ITE

The Zweig HR Letter

December 2009 • Issue 46

4

Preserving evidenceof electronic theftComputers keep all the records you need—

but take care to preserve them.

Remember the “bad old days” when

your best shot at proving that a former

employee had stolen your proprietary or

confidential information was if someone

saw her standing at the copier for hours

at a time, or watched him cart off boxes

of documents?

Today, when virtually every document

or piece of information is stored and

transmitted electronically, it is much eas-

ier to prove that an employee moved,

copied or destroyed documents or files

belonging to the employer.Virtually

every time an electronic document is

created, accessed, changed or moved, an

electronic record of that action is creat-

ed. In essence, a set of electronic finger-

prints are left, from which a computer

forensics expert can determine when a

document was last accessed, by whom

and what was done with the document.

Even electronic documents that have

been “deleted” often leave a trail that

leads the computer forensics expert to

where the document still exists so it can

be recovered. (The bad news is the elec-

tronic storage of documents makes it

even easier to spirit them off the

employer s premises.Thousands of pages

of documents can be downloaded onto

a single CD-ROM or e-mailed to an

outside address.)

The “fingerprints” and trails left when

electronic documents are copied, moved

or destroyed can be conclusive evidence

of theft or destruction of valuable com-

pany property by an employee, especial-

ly if explained to a judge or jury by a

computer forensics expert. However,

such evidence may be lost or compro-

mised if you do not proceed cautiously

and expeditiously to identify and pre-

serve it.

One of the most common ways that the

electronic evidence is compromised,

often fatally, is when someone with no

expert technical knowledge searches the

suspected employee s computer to

determine if any theft or destruction has

occurred. Electronically stored docu-

ments and files typically are “stamped”

with three pertinent dates and times; (1)

the date the document was created, (2)

the date it was last modified, and (3) the

date it was last accessed.This last date is

often crucial in establishing that the sus-

pected employee accessed the stolen or

destroyed document immediately prior

to the time of loss or destruction, or

shortly before or after the end of

employment. However, the very act of

accessing the document by an internal

investigator trying to determine if theft

or destruction has occurred will alter

the last access date, thereby compromis-

ing what is possibly the best evidence

against the suspect employee.

In addition, delay in searching for and

retrieving destroyed or deleted docu-

ments can result in their irretrievable

loss.When an electronic document or

file is “deleted,” the document/file con-

tinues to exist somewhere in the com-

puter, usually in its “unallocated space,”

along with the time markers associated

with the document. However, if the

computer remains operating and con-

nected to the firm’s servers, the unallo-

cated space may be overwritten, or doc-

uments in it “cleaned” by the regular

clean up and space allocation processes

of the computer and/or servers.

Moving swiftly and cautiously, is the key

to securing and preserving the evidence

you may need to establish theft or

destruction of your property.You should

have a clear plan of action for dealing

with suspected theft or destruction.That

plan should include, at the very least, a

provision for a knowledgeable IT person

to disconnect the computer or storage

device from your system and secure the

device where it cannot be accessed by

others.The plan may, and probably

should, provide that every computer or

device used by a departing employee be

disconnected and held for a period of

time after the employee has left, to

determine whether there is any reason

to believe that documents or files were

stolen or destroyed.Wiping a computer’s

hard drive and giving it to another

employee to use will almost certainly

result in the loss or compromise of the

evidence you could have used to estab-

lish theft or destruction.

Today, when virtually everydocument or piece ofinformation is stored andtransmitted electronically, it ismuch easier to prove that anemployee moved, copied ordestroyed documents or filesbelonging to the employer.

Once you have determined that theft or

destruction may have occurred, your

plan of action should also include deter-

mining who should access the computer

or device to find out whether there was

theft or destruction of documents.That

person should be an expert with the

technology involved.At a very mini-

mum, that should be someone from

your IT staff.

I routinely recommend to my clients

that they retain a professional computer

forensics expert to conduct both the

search and the retrieval of the docu-

ments/files or date/time information.

The forensics expert should be conver-

sant with legal chain of custody issues, as

well as with technology traps to be

avoided.There are many self-described

forensics experts out in the market, but

the firm should take the time and

effort— ideally, in advance of the need

for his or her services— to be certain

the expert selected is truly expert.�

The Legal Corner

ZWE IGWH ITE

Eli Gould is an employment

attorney with MBV Law LLP(San Francisco, CA). Contact

him at eligould@mbvlaw.com.

5

© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved. The Zweig HR Letter

Beyond Benefits: Lessons from Inside the A/E Industry

Focus on professionaldevelopment to keep alllevels of staff satisfiedOne A/E firm gets it right by training early and

linking professional development to incentives

and performance.

Architecture and engineering firms know

how important training is. But does your

HR department know that providing

opportunities for professional develop-

ment can make your firm a top draw for

the best in the field?

Just ask GATE (Gibson Applied

Technology & Engineering)

(Houston,TX), a 27-person firm that is

one of the top three best multidisciplinary

firms to work for, according to

ZweigWhite and Stagnito Media’s 2009

Best Firms survey. GATE provides techni-

cal consultancy and project management

to the upstream oil and gas industry.

“The opportunity for professional devel-

opment is consistently cited by our staff as

an area that framed their decision to join

GATE and that makes them want to stay

with us in the long term,” says Lee

Jordan, an engineering manager at GATE.

Jordan points to low staff turnover and

the overall success of the firm as results of

GATE s continual professional develop-

ment program, or CPD, which was recog-

nized with a case study presentation at

the Best Firms to Work For Summit in

September in Chicago.

Training begins immediatelyGATE s CPD process begins when a new

hire joins the firm. For the next six

months, they are provided with presenta-

tions and access to “GATE University,”

which provides regular introductory

courses to the technical side of the busi-

ness.Then, both in-house and external

technical courses are provided in a full

curriculum within the first two years of

employment.

“This formalized training program is aug-

mented by monthly lunch and learns,

one-on-one mentoring, and half-yearly

career progression reviews where every-

one from the company— president to

our administrative staff— develops a

career progression action plan,” explains

Jordan.

“For junior staff, this may be focused on

training courses and work experience, but

for more experienced staff, this also

addresses business development and pro-

ject and personnel management skills,” he

says.

Real incentives But GATE doesn’t stop there.The firm

links incentives and its performance

review program to its CPD program.

According to its presentation at the

Summit, participation in the program is a

defined part of performance bonuses.

“Management staff are rated against met-

rics including the quality and timeliness of

the CPD reviews that they have under-

taken, the level of action item close-outs

on the CPD reviews of their staff, their

provision of training courses and docu-

ments through the year, and the quality of

work generated by their teams,” says

Jordan.

Results are hard to beatIn addition to very low attrition rates, says

Jordan, other results of the firm’s profes-

sional development program include high

utilization of junior staff, as well as the

ability to effectively promote from within,

“which minimizes the risks associated

with bringing in external hires who are

unfamiliar with GATE’s visions and goals,

and our philosophy of implementing

these.”

Staff response has been overwhelmingly

positive, according to GATE’s case study.

In both job satisfaction surveys and sur-

veys about performance review, GATE

employees responded with 100% positive

answers (“satisfied” or “very satisfied”),

compared to ranges from 58% to 96% for

other top firms, and even lower numbers

for all firms.

With numbers comes challenge Of course such a rigorous program comes

with challenges. GATE plans to triple the

size of its technical staff in the next five

years— an aggressive growth strategy that

Jordan says “places an increased strain on

our ability to attract suitably qualified and

motivated individuals.”

“This anticipated influx of new staff gen-

erates a challenge in terms of how we

ensure that we continue to challenge,

motivate and develop all of our employ-

ees at all levels,” he explains. But that

won’t change the firm’s focus.“Only by

continuing to focus on professional devel-

opment can we provide the career

advancement opportunities demanded by

our current staff and by our future hires,”

he says.

Advice for other firmsDuring the case study, Jordan offered

advice to other firms that want to build

similar programs. He suggested examining

your firm’s vision and first determining if

you can get there without an investment

in a brand-new program like CPD.

“Recognize that it requires continuous

effort and unbillable time,” he cautioned.

Another thing to keep in mind is that

having “a wider view of potential results”

is better than narrowly defining how suc-

cess will be measured. He said to expect

an impact on your bottom line, and that

breaking even and payback periods are to

be expected. �

December 2009 • Issue 46

ZWE IGWH ITE

GATE focuses on professional development

6

The Zweig HR Letter

Find new ways to bring together people with

a common passion to explore, expand, share,

and implement new ideas.

IntroductionCommunity and collaboration are fun-

damental components of a successful

design firm.The power of multiple

minds rigorously exploring, sharing,

probing, and debating issues creates an

excellence that can be achieved in no

other way.This type of environment

provides the foundation for creating

vibrant communities of practice.

A growing number of peopleand organizations in varioussectors are now focusing oncommunities of practice as akey to improving theirperformance.

What is a community of practice?The term “community of practice” was

coined relatively recently by Etienne

Wenger, a learning theorist most known

for his work on knowledge, groups, and

shared learning.This concept is provid-

ing a useful perspective on knowing and

learning.A growing number of people

and organizations in various sectors are

now focusing on communities of prac-

tice as a key to improving their

performance.

A community of practice (COP) is a

group of individuals who share a com-

mon interest and passion and choose to

collaboratively explore, expand, share,

and apply a pool of knowledge to create

greater value for themselves, the firm,

the clients and communities they serve.

Not everything called a community is a

community of practice.A neighborhood

for instance, is often called a community,

but is usually not a community of

practice. Communities of practice often

engage in the following types of

interactions:

Problem solving— “Can we work on

this design and brainstorm some ideas?

I’m stuck.”

Requests for information— “Where

can I find the code to connect to the

server?”

Seeking experience— “Has anyone

dealt with a client in this situation?”

Reusing assets— “I have a proposal I

wrote for a client last year. I can send it

to you as a template for your new

proposal.”

Coordination and synergy— “Can

we combine our purchases to achieve

bulk discounts?”

Discussing developments— “What

do you think of the new CADD

system?”

Document projects— “We have faced

this problem five times now. Let s write

it down once and for all.”

Mapping knowledge— “Who knows

what, and what are we missing? What

other groups should we connect with?”

Characteristics of communitiesof practiceCommunities often appear and function

somewhat differently than a work

group. First of all, COPs self-manage

through the shared leadership of mem-

bers.They are not managed by the

organization.

However, they do generate knowledge

that supports the practice. Communities

seek, share, and create new knowledge

to enrich the members of the commu-

nity and the firm at large.

Communities create and pursue their

own “action agenda” by identifying

opportunities to advance their areas of

interest. Some of the contributions they

make include identifying and promoting

best practices related to their areas of

interest and introducing new knowledge

into the firm.They monitor the value

they produce and share it enthusiastical-

ly with others.

In many cases, COPs receive some types

of support from the organization.This

can include simply acknowledging the

COP s value and embracing their con-

tributions, or providing guidance and

support to nurture their success, and/or

supplying resources as needed.

Nurturing communities of practice Communities of Practice are often best

when they develop independently, rather

than being structured and created by the

firm. Some things you can do to help

budding COPs develop include:

1. Identify/support the community

leader(s)— These are folks with a pas-

sionate interest in a focus area who are

willing to devote some time and effort

to starting and maintaining the commu-

nity. Meet with them and encourage

their efforts.

2. Provide resources that support

the COP— These resources might

include meeting space, communication

options such as a blog or wiki on the

firm’s intranet site, and/or a small

amount of funding for materials or

events (such as a conference) that could

advance the community’s understanding

of their area of interest.

3. Provide venues for the commu-

nity to share their knowledge with

others— This could include informal

presentations of the areas they are

exploring, or space in the company

newsletter or on the firm’s intranet site.

Firms that recognize the social nature of

learning and the role communities of

practice can play in advancing knowl-

edge in the firm as well as fulfilling

individual interests can add a unique and

valuable approach to organizational

excellence. �

December 2009 • Issue 46

ZWE IGWH ITE

Growing People

Buildingcommunitiesof practice

Pamela Britton is a learning

and organizational development

consultant at The KnowledgeEnvironment, LLC (Aspen, CO).

Contact her at

pam@theknowledge

environment.com.

7

© Copyright 2009 ZweigWhite. All rights reserved. The Zweig HR Letter

Guest Speaker:The economy willrebound, but arewe prepared?Recruiting the best talent is even more critical

as the AEC industry turns around.

As the focus for many firms over the

past 18 months has been on layoffs, fur-

loughs, and reduced work days, it is

important to note that, as in down

cycles in the past, the economy can

rebound very rapidly.

When the dust settles, our organizations

will still be facing a shortage of talent in

the A/E industry. Here are some neces-

sary steps in recruiting top talent:

� Set up a tracking system. An

internal recordkeeping tool is critical to

the recruitment process. Not only does

it make it easy to keep track of appli-

cants, it also provides a better record for

what needs to happen next. From start

(receipt acknowledgement) to finish

(offer letter), there is a great deal of

coordination along the way and com-

munication is key.There is nothing

more frustrating to an interviewee than

to meet and then not hear anything for

weeks on end.The way you are treated

as an applicant is generally a good indi-

cation of the way you will be treated as

an employee. Databases allow firms to

set schedules and keep the process

moving.

� Build a recruitment team.

Identify who the key personnel are that

will serve as an interview team.

Generally it is always good to have a

team comprised of the immediate

supervisor and a human resources repre-

sentative for the initial interview. In our

firm, project delivery and HR are always

a constant, with the supervisor being the

variable, depending on the position.

Continuity is also important, so that

each candidate has the opportunity to

answer the same set of questions and

you can compare apples to apples.Your

interview team needs to be able to

effectively communicate your corporate

culture, or what makes your company

special.

� Update job descriptions. Job

descriptions identifying responsibilities,

required skills, abilities, knowledge and

experience are extremely important in

the interviewing process. It should be

noted in the interview that descriptions

do not encompass all aspects of the

position, but are considered to be a gen-

eral overview.

The first thing that an applicantdoes is log on to your web site.Use these lean times to makesure that you are sending theright message.

� Evaluate your web site. The first

thing that an applicant does is log on to

your website. Use these lean times to

make sure that you are sending the right

message. If you say you are a great place

to work, does your web site reflect that?

� Use networking web sites.

Whether or not we agree with the

premise of business/social networking

sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook,

they will play a major role in the future.

New members are being added to these

sites at a rate of one per second, and

experts are now saying that social media

skills are considered basic job require-

ments, on a level with Word, Excel, etc.

Get in the game!

� Connect with your recruiters.

Make sure you maintain good relation-

ships with your external recruiters and

make them aware of hard-to-fill posi-

tions, even during slow periods.

Recruiters are only as good as the

information you provide, so expose

them to the culture of your

organization.

� Identify strategic hires. Now is a

good time to target individuals that

would improve your competitive edge.

Even though your focus may be on

reducing payrolls, the benefits generated

from filling a key position can outweigh

the additional cost.

� Involve your employees.

Generally, employee referrals are great

opportunities for finding talent. It can

often account for 60%, or more, of the

overall recruitment effort. Generally,

your employees only recommend indi-

viduals that they want to work with. Let

your employees know that you are

always interested in talking to good

candidates.

� Conduct a staffing assessment.

Are there new markets that you will be

pursuing in the future? Have your mar-

keting efforts identified areas where

your talent pool is weak? Don t just

assume its business as usual.

� Determine skills requirement of

new talent. Should all new hires in the

A/E field already be BIM trained

and/or LEED certified? Remember

when CAD was an optional skill?

� Don t forget your laid-off alum-

ni. Often when reductions occur, you

have to terminate employees that you

really didn t want to lose. Keep in touch

with those employees and assist them in

any way you can. Maintaining a positive

relationship makes it easier to bring

them back when things improve.

� Attend campus job fairs. If you

generally recruit junior talent on cam-

pus, show up for job fairs even if you

are not currently recruiting.Your pres-

ence is importance and sends a positive

message to the university that they will

remember in the heavy recruitment

years. It also helps to build relationships

with faculty, which can result in excel-

lent referrals.

A new year brings renewed hope.

Let’s be ready.�

December 2009 • Issue 46

ZWE IGWH ITE

Melanie Rogers is director of

human resources/principal at

DES Architects + Engineers(Redwood City, CA). Contact

her at mrogers@des-ae.com.

LEARNING PROGRAM FOUR-PARTWEBINAR: People are a key asset in any

organization. They represent not only the

labor force, but far more importantly the

intellectual capital of a firm. To sustain a

competitive advantage in our industry’s

knowledge-based economy, especially now

when the competition for all projects is

extreme, organizations must use creative,

cost-effective ways to continue to nurture

this important asset. Neglecting the key

product that we in this industry sell—

knowledge— represents a tremendous risk

in these already risky times.

In ZweigWhite’s four-part webinar series The

Nuts and Bolts of Building a Learning

Program in Your AEC Firm, Pamela Britton,

principal and director of learning for DesignWorkshop (Aspen, CO), will show you how to

establish effective and economical learning

activities in your firm that safeguard your

intellectual capital resulting in economic

benefits, a competitive advantage, and staff

satisfaction.

For more information or to order a copy, call

1-800-466-6275 or log on to

www.zweigwhite.com/zw-847.aspx. If you

are interested in personalized in-house

consulting with Pamela Britton, please

contact ZweigWhite Webinar and Sales

Manager Lucas Walsh at 508-651-1559,

extension 240.

The Zweig HR Letter

FRCH Worldwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

DES Architects + Engineers . . . . . . . . . . 7

DeSimone Consulting Engineers . . . . . . . 3

Emtec Consulting Engineers . . . . . . . . . . 8

Everton Oglesby Askew (EOA) Architects . 8

GATE (Gibson Applied Technology &

Engineering) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

GRAEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Kleinfelder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Leo A Daly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

MBV Law LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

RETTEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Royal Haskoning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The Knowledge Environment, LLC . . . . . 6

Wiser Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Wood Patel and Associates . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Some firm names were omitted due

to space constraints.

8

Firm Index

December 2009 • Issue 46

Resources

ZWE IGWH ITE

On the Move

NEW MARKETING TEAM AT KCCT: KarnCharuhas Chapman and Twohey (KCCT)(Washington, DC), a 100-person architecture

firm has formed a new marketing team that

includes Amy Meininger, marketing

coordinator at KCCT, and Marilynn Mendell,president at WinSpinCIC, Inc. (Fredericksburg,

VA), a 200-person branding and PR firm.

LEMARTEC NAMES MARKETING DIRECTOR:Felipe Aguiar has been named director of

marketing and communications for LemartecEngineering and Construction Corporation(Miami, FL), a 18-person design-build

engineering and construction firm.

AMA NAMES CEO: Todd Woerner has been

appointed president and chief executive

officer of Aerosol Monitoring & Analysis, Inc.(AMA) (Hanover, MD),a 42-person specialized

industrial hygiene, and health and safety

consulting firm that provides services to

government agencies, institutions, building

owners, property managers, architects and

engineers.

SPAWGLASS PROMOTES TWO: SpawGlassContractors, Inc. (Austin, TX), a commercial

general contracting, construction

management, design-build, and civil

contracting firm, has promoted Casey Cowmanto marketing manager, and Melissa Totten to

manager of business relations.

GRAEF NAMES MARKETING MANAGER:GRAEF (Milwaukee, WI), a 325-person

consulting engineering firm, recently promoted

Jennifer Kraft to corporate marketing manager.

KLEINFELDER NAMES BD VP: GeneMatthews has been named vice president of

business development of the energy division at

Kleinfelder (San Diego, CA), a 2,000-person

science and engineering consulting firm.

WISER COMPANY HIRES NEW EXECS: WiserCompany (Murfreesboro, TN), a 171-person

engineering, construction and geospatial

mapping services firm, recently hired RobertOglesby as executive vice president of AEC

services. Oglesby was with Everton OglesbyAskew (EOA) Architects (Nashville, TN), for 18

years before joining Wiser. He will oversee

Wiser’s expansion and integration of

building-related AEC services with its existing

geospatial, civil and transportation engineering

services.

Wiser also named Tom Reed risk management

director and general counsel. In the role, he

will be responsible for overseeing and

coordinating all legal affairs of Wiser and will

function as a key member of the executive

management team. Reed previously served for

30 years as city attorney of Murfreesboro.

He provided legal services for the construction

and development of more than $150 million

of new building construction in the city and

administered a self-insured risk fund that is

credited with saving the city more than $1

million annually.

RETTEW PROMOTES, ADDS OFFICE:RETTEW (Lancaster, PA), a 250-person

multidiscipline engineering, planning, land

development, environmental consulting and

surveying firm, has promoted Clayton Bubeckto vice president for northeastern

Pennsylvania, and named Ronald Madison

senior project manager, environmental

engineering. RETTEW also opened a new

office in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

In their roles, Bubeck is responsible for

overseeing the firm’s Schuylkill Haven,

Pennsylvania, office and new Bethlehem

office, as well as leading overall business

development efforts in northeastern

Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Madison will be

responsible for, among other things,

developing the firm’s business with

municipalities.

ROYAL HASKONING APPOINTS TWO: RoyalHaskoning (Nijmegen, NL), a 4,000-person

independent consultancy firm appointed AukePiek division director of industrial concepts,

and named Anton van der Sanden division

director of industrial engineering.

SKANSKA NAMES MARKETING DIRECTOR:Skanska USA Building Inc. (Parsippany, NJ),

an international project development and

construction company, has named DorothyVerdon marketing director for its offices in

Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and Rockville,

Maryland.

EMTEC NAMES BD MANAGER: Jodi Wladykahas been named business development and

marketing manager for Emtec ConsultingEngineers (Long Island, NY), a consulting

engineering firm specializing in the design of

mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire

protection systems for commercial,

educational and institutional buildings.

PEACE JOINS LEO A DALY: Charles Peace has

joined Leo A Daly (Omaha, NE),

a 1,100-person architecture, planning,

engineering, interior design and program

management firm as regional director for Asia.

He will be based in Beijing.�

Send your employee news

to Senior Writer Craig MacCormack

at cmaccormack@zweigwhite.com