The document summarizes challenges faced by rapidly growing firms and how some firms addressed those challenges. It discusses three firms - O'Neal Inc., Great Ecology, and Cobb Fendley. O'Neal focused on redefining processes and training to integrate new employees. Great Ecology emphasized maintaining a unified culture across locations. Cobb Fendley implemented project management processes and hired experienced managers. The document also notes bonuses increased for most management positions in 2014 according to a compensation survey.
The article can be purchased at http://www.businessexpertpress.com/expert-insights-summary?search=bawany
CEE Leadership Masterclass Series in Leading to a #Disrupted, #VUCA World
CEE in collaboration with FGD Academy is pleased to offer a series of Virtual Masterclass.
For further details visit: http://www.cee-global.com/masterclass/
Ten highly practical Leadership Masterclass programmes, dedicated to developing Leadership skills for Board, C-Suite and Senior Level Leaders operating in today’s VUCA world
This Series of Courses will leverage on best-in-class or thought-leadership concepts, tools, and techniques to drive organizational & leadership excellence.
The Courses are designed to provide Business and HR leaders with a platform to develop from being good to great.
They are being offered in response to the market needs to ensure that their senior-level executives possess the right competencies and skills to successfully adapt to new realities when leading in a VUCA World.
Learning Outcomes:
• The context for leadership today’s VUCA business environment
• Understand the elements of Cognitive Readiness Competencies
• What is required to transform to be a ‘High-Performance Organisation’ (HPO)?
• How to transform your NextGen leaders to succeed in the VUCA world?
The CEE Masterclass Series is also available as customized in-company Leadership Development Workshops which are certified by The International Professional Managers Association (IPMA).
The programs incorporate a number of unique features and work on a number of levels. It is specifically aimed at enhancing and developing the skills, knowledge, and behaviors of the participants.
The participants will develop their understanding of Leadership Effectiveness and how it will lead to a creation of a sustainable competitive advantage for their respective organizations through the development of an organizational climate that will contribute towards enhancing employee engagement and productivity.
For further information, contact us at enquiry@cee-global.com or visit our website at http://www.cee-global.com/masterclass/
The Overview of the CEE Executive Coaching Solutions could be found here: http://www.cee-global.com/executive-coaching/
The Centre for Executive Coaching (CEC), a wholly-owned division of CEE, delivers recognized certified professional coach training programme for individuals interested in entering the field of executive coaching, as well as executives seeking to become better managers and leaders as managerial coaches in their respective organizations.
Further information on CEC could be found here: http://www.cee-global.com/about-cec/
For initial 30 min complimentary coaching session for CEOs and C-Suite Leaders, email us at enquiry@cee-global.com
Future of Work: 2015-2020: Unleashing You. Making the Future Work. Now.Bill Jensen
Groundbreaking global study:
Rather than add to all the hype...
We studied what it will take to make the future actually work.
Among top findings:
• Our leaders are holding back the future
• Engagement, as we view it now, is so horribly incomplete that it is dangerous!
• Get ready for super-sized personal accountability!
Study sponsor: The Jensen Group, Search for a Simpler Way
For more: http://www.simplerwork.com
#futureofwork
United Minds’ Forward to Work: Fostering Workplace InclusionWeber Shandwick
United Minds’ Forward to Work: Perspectives to Guide Re-entry webinar series explores different considerations for people, culture, and change leaders managing the return to work.
In our fourth session, “Fostering Workplace Inclusion in Challenging Times,” Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer at CMG Margenett Moore-Roberts, and SVP of Diversity & Inclusion at United Minds Tai Wingfield discussed:
- How recent events have impacted diverse populations
- How workplaces have become more and less inclusive
- Measures to meet the moment
- Redesigning for the long term
Please visit our website for more information: http://unitedmindsglobal.com.
Jack Welch completely restructured GE during his time as CEO from 1981 to 2001. He tore down the existing organizational structure and rebuilt it from the ground up. Welch focused on changing GE's culture to encourage input from employees. After establishing the new structure and culture, Welch pushed GE to grow through acquisitions and expanding globally. The author analyzes how Welch was a transformational leader who listened, learned, and helped GE adapt to opportunities in its environment over two decades.
This document discusses how the modern workplace has evolved due to changes in technology, business structure, and employee needs and expectations. Contemporary offices are more collaborative, flexible, and aim to foster better work-life balance. They feature open floor plans, mobile work options, and emphasis on knowledge sharing between employees. Interior design now plays a key role in creating work environments that support these modern business trends and keep employees productive and satisfied. A company's success depends on understanding how work and employee roles have changed, and designing interior spaces accordingly.
The document discusses challenges faced by family businesses in transitioning from one generation to the next. It summarizes findings from PwC surveys on this topic. There is often a significant "generation gap" between current leadership and the next generation taking over, made worse by today's rapid pace of change. While many next generations have ambitions to change and grow the business, they face credibility gaps in proving themselves. The survey highlights gaps in communication, succession planning, and preparing the next generation for leadership roles.
This document summarizes strategies for building a successful archive for data backup and business continuity. It discusses choosing the right backup method, ensuring the backups can be easily restored, and storing backups offline for security. Regular testing and verification is important to ensure the backups are complete and restorable. Archiving is essential for disaster recovery and to avoid data loss that could threaten business continuity.
The document discusses the 5 dimensions of vision based on President Kennedy's vision to put a man on the moon. The 5 dimensions are: 1) having a clear purpose or "what for", 2) establishing a shared commitment or "compact", 3) clearly defining the company or "venture", 4) outlining the plan or "program", and 5) setting a clear goal or outcome. Following these 5 dimensions can help companies unleash energy and commitment to achieve ambitious goals, just as Kennedy did in achieving the moon landing.
The article can be purchased at http://www.businessexpertpress.com/expert-insights-summary?search=bawany
CEE Leadership Masterclass Series in Leading to a #Disrupted, #VUCA World
CEE in collaboration with FGD Academy is pleased to offer a series of Virtual Masterclass.
For further details visit: http://www.cee-global.com/masterclass/
Ten highly practical Leadership Masterclass programmes, dedicated to developing Leadership skills for Board, C-Suite and Senior Level Leaders operating in today’s VUCA world
This Series of Courses will leverage on best-in-class or thought-leadership concepts, tools, and techniques to drive organizational & leadership excellence.
The Courses are designed to provide Business and HR leaders with a platform to develop from being good to great.
They are being offered in response to the market needs to ensure that their senior-level executives possess the right competencies and skills to successfully adapt to new realities when leading in a VUCA World.
Learning Outcomes:
• The context for leadership today’s VUCA business environment
• Understand the elements of Cognitive Readiness Competencies
• What is required to transform to be a ‘High-Performance Organisation’ (HPO)?
• How to transform your NextGen leaders to succeed in the VUCA world?
The CEE Masterclass Series is also available as customized in-company Leadership Development Workshops which are certified by The International Professional Managers Association (IPMA).
The programs incorporate a number of unique features and work on a number of levels. It is specifically aimed at enhancing and developing the skills, knowledge, and behaviors of the participants.
The participants will develop their understanding of Leadership Effectiveness and how it will lead to a creation of a sustainable competitive advantage for their respective organizations through the development of an organizational climate that will contribute towards enhancing employee engagement and productivity.
For further information, contact us at enquiry@cee-global.com or visit our website at http://www.cee-global.com/masterclass/
The Overview of the CEE Executive Coaching Solutions could be found here: http://www.cee-global.com/executive-coaching/
The Centre for Executive Coaching (CEC), a wholly-owned division of CEE, delivers recognized certified professional coach training programme for individuals interested in entering the field of executive coaching, as well as executives seeking to become better managers and leaders as managerial coaches in their respective organizations.
Further information on CEC could be found here: http://www.cee-global.com/about-cec/
For initial 30 min complimentary coaching session for CEOs and C-Suite Leaders, email us at enquiry@cee-global.com
Future of Work: 2015-2020: Unleashing You. Making the Future Work. Now.Bill Jensen
Groundbreaking global study:
Rather than add to all the hype...
We studied what it will take to make the future actually work.
Among top findings:
• Our leaders are holding back the future
• Engagement, as we view it now, is so horribly incomplete that it is dangerous!
• Get ready for super-sized personal accountability!
Study sponsor: The Jensen Group, Search for a Simpler Way
For more: http://www.simplerwork.com
#futureofwork
United Minds’ Forward to Work: Fostering Workplace InclusionWeber Shandwick
United Minds’ Forward to Work: Perspectives to Guide Re-entry webinar series explores different considerations for people, culture, and change leaders managing the return to work.
In our fourth session, “Fostering Workplace Inclusion in Challenging Times,” Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer at CMG Margenett Moore-Roberts, and SVP of Diversity & Inclusion at United Minds Tai Wingfield discussed:
- How recent events have impacted diverse populations
- How workplaces have become more and less inclusive
- Measures to meet the moment
- Redesigning for the long term
Please visit our website for more information: http://unitedmindsglobal.com.
Jack Welch completely restructured GE during his time as CEO from 1981 to 2001. He tore down the existing organizational structure and rebuilt it from the ground up. Welch focused on changing GE's culture to encourage input from employees. After establishing the new structure and culture, Welch pushed GE to grow through acquisitions and expanding globally. The author analyzes how Welch was a transformational leader who listened, learned, and helped GE adapt to opportunities in its environment over two decades.
This document discusses how the modern workplace has evolved due to changes in technology, business structure, and employee needs and expectations. Contemporary offices are more collaborative, flexible, and aim to foster better work-life balance. They feature open floor plans, mobile work options, and emphasis on knowledge sharing between employees. Interior design now plays a key role in creating work environments that support these modern business trends and keep employees productive and satisfied. A company's success depends on understanding how work and employee roles have changed, and designing interior spaces accordingly.
The document discusses challenges faced by family businesses in transitioning from one generation to the next. It summarizes findings from PwC surveys on this topic. There is often a significant "generation gap" between current leadership and the next generation taking over, made worse by today's rapid pace of change. While many next generations have ambitions to change and grow the business, they face credibility gaps in proving themselves. The survey highlights gaps in communication, succession planning, and preparing the next generation for leadership roles.
This document summarizes strategies for building a successful archive for data backup and business continuity. It discusses choosing the right backup method, ensuring the backups can be easily restored, and storing backups offline for security. Regular testing and verification is important to ensure the backups are complete and restorable. Archiving is essential for disaster recovery and to avoid data loss that could threaten business continuity.
The document discusses the 5 dimensions of vision based on President Kennedy's vision to put a man on the moon. The 5 dimensions are: 1) having a clear purpose or "what for", 2) establishing a shared commitment or "compact", 3) clearly defining the company or "venture", 4) outlining the plan or "program", and 5) setting a clear goal or outcome. Following these 5 dimensions can help companies unleash energy and commitment to achieve ambitious goals, just as Kennedy did in achieving the moon landing.
Running head Operational PlanOperational PlanCrystal M .docxcharisellington63520
Running head: Operational Plan
Operational Plan
Crystal M JacksonAshford UniversityThe Functions of Modern Management (MOB1415B)
Instructor: Dr. Alan Swank
Week 6
Operational Plan
Develop an operational plan for an organization of your choice. Create a fictional organization that includes the name, type of business, size of organization, and the product or service that the organization offers. The paper must be between 10-12 pages in length and include five scholarly sources, in addition to the text. Your paper must:
a. Develop an organizational chart for the proposed organization.
a. Include the title of positions and a brief description of the positions’ duties and responsibilities.
b. Figure 7.7 in Chapter 7 of the text provides an example of how to develop the organizational chart.
b. Define the organization’s vision, mission, and values.
c. Outline the basic planning process for the organization, and describes how the three levels of management influence this process.
d. Explain why the quality, productivity, and profitability are important elements in the planning process.
e. Evaluate the relationship between the human resource planning activities and the overall organizational strategy.
f. Discuss the philosophy of management that will be applied to the management of the organization and how the structure of the organization will foster a positive work environment where employees will be motivated and productive.
g. Compose the steps of control and types of controls included in the control process for the organization.
h. David Purdue, Reebox, Dollar General
avid Perdue is a successful business leader with 40 years of real world business experience who helped grow some of America's most recognizable companies including Sara Lee, Haggar, and Reebok. As a Fortune 500 CEO, David led the impressive expansion of Dollar General, creating thousands of quality jobs and adding billions to the value of the company.
While working his way to the top of the business world, he gained a firsthand understanding of the global economy and the impact government policies have on businesses. David has lived and worked in Europe, Asia and throughout the United States, but he always relied on the values he learned from his Middle Georgia upbringing.
Perdue was born in Macon, Georgia and raised in Warner Robins, the son of two educators. His parents were both the first in their families to go to college. From an early age, David was taught the importance of a good education. His father eventually became the well-respected superintendent of Houston County Schools.
David was expected to lead by example, which meant hard work in the classroom during the school year and hard work in the fields of family farms during the summer months. One of his first jobs was in a Head Start program where he saw firsthand how important early learning is to ultimate success in school.
At Georgia Tech, David earned a degree in Industrial Engineering.
SAFEASSIGNCHECKTEST - CSU SAFEASSIGN PLAGIARISM CHECK TOOL
SafeAssign Originality Report Generator I
William Fiedler
on Mon, Aug 27 2018, 9:46 AM
33% highest match
Submission ID: 379b2d26-d065-43d3-b758-c36c7d7e7358
Attachments (1)
· mba 6941 unit VIII reflection Paper.doc 33%
Word Count: 1,397 Attachment ID: 224883277
mba 6941 unit VIII reflection Paper.doc
Running Head: THE PROJECT CLOSURE PHASE 1 THE PROJECT CLOSURE PHASE
2
The Project Closure Phase William Fiedler Columbia Southern University The Project Closure Phase Inside this paperwork, I am going to make a discussion regarding the closing project. I will also extend to discussing the lesson learned towards the end of the project. 1 THE FOURTH AND LAST PROJECT LIFECYCLE STAGE IS THE PROJECT CLOSURE PHASE. IT IS IN THIS STAGE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO YOUR PROJECT FORMALLY CLOSES AFTER THE REPORT SUCCESS LEVEL OF THE SPONSOR YOU HAVE. The exercises that are needed in closing the task in brought in to be by the Project Closure Report and this guarantees the project a conclusion that is embraced productively and comfortably. Once the report is brought into action and acknowledged by the individuals, the reports of the completion of the inside exercises indicated are attempted (Larson, 2014). As a result, the project closure comes into effect formally. 1 AFTER THE CLOSING OF THE TASK IN A PERIOD OF AT LEAST ONE TO THREE MONTHS, THE BUSINESS IS BELIEVED TO START GAINING THE ADVANTAGES GIVEN BY THE PROJECT WHICH MAKE IT MORE ESSENTIAL TO ALLUDE THE POST IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW (PIR) EVALUATION. This provides the business with a wide range of view towards recognizing its achievements level of different tasks as well as offer the education on the future projects that will arise.
2 PROCESS FOR CLOSING THE PROJECT THE PROJECT TRANSITION TASK CONTROL DOCUMENT WILL RECORD THE VICTORIES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE TASK. It gives a chronicled record of the orchestrated and unique spending plan and schedule, proposals for future endeavors of practically identical size and unpredictability, information on staffing and aptitudes used to meet errand targets and destinations, how the client wants were managed, exercises learned, and an official undertaking close down. One reason for the conclusion understanding system is to offer the sellers a formal warning to the structures that may have been created which has a high expectation that is elegant and commendable or that may have been rejected as a result. If the business does not meet its goals, it ought to make the amendment that hinders them from this achievement, and the individual or the dealer responsible for this should try to fix or eradicate any errors that may have caused it with a formal affirmation (Larson, 2014).
Before the closure of the agreement, all the minor things are fixed, and the competed expectation is to strike the depressed. Over rages of errands, the world has audited quality performance, and the vendor was allowed to influence chan.
7 Top Corporate Trends for Learning & Development in 2014EpiphanyEdu
Change is the only constant of the 21st century. With fast-growing technologies, work has evolved so much in the last 20 years. Employees and workers are expected to keep up to date and be constantly trained and retrained to keep up with the business expectations of the company. How has an increasingly globalised workforce and technology shifts affected the way corporations learn? We present to you 7 top trends to look out for in the Learning and Development Sector.
Dec 1 2014 Zweig Newsletter - What do you recruit forBethany Evans
This document summarizes marketing director salaries from the 2015 Salary Survey of Engineering Firms conducted by Zweig Group. It finds:
1) Marketing directors in the Central region saw a small increase in median base salary from $95,600 last year to $96,000 this year.
2) Marketing directors in the Northeast and South Atlantic region saw a small decrease from $94,848 last year to $94,000 this year.
3) Marketing directors' salary in the Mountain & Pacific region remained steady at $95,000.
The document discusses the mindset of a successful program manager. It describes the program manager's role in operating between the external stakeholder environment and internal team environment. The program manager must translate between these two worlds which have different perspectives - stakeholders focus on the journey and outcomes, while teams focus on work and deliverables. Adopting this mindset helps the program manager address common problems like connecting vision to work, aligning stakeholders, ensuring commitment to needed changes, and structuring organization and processes to support both environments. Understanding and managing the dynamics between the external and internal environments is key to effective program management.
Shaping the Future: Product Strategy in the Age of UncertaintyAggregage
In this webinar, we'll explore product strategy obstacles and present practices to overcome them while driving clarity and alignment across your executive team.
Moving from ESG Intention to
Environmental & Social Impact:
How Can Businesses
Successfully Navigate
This Journey?
A takeaway from Daggerwing Group’s panel discussion
at Anthropy 2022
The latest volume of ideas@work explores critical issues and best practices in talent management.
Two of our papers focus on today’s volatile and constantly changing business environment. Developing Leaders in a VUCA Environment provides talent managers with ideas, guidance, and examples on how to address the shift needed in leadership development to adapt to the new normal, while Building a Resilient Organizational Culture focuses on how to cultivate and nurture a culture of resilience at all levels of the organization.
This volume also features a chapter from what’s been called the “talent management bible” - Marc Effron’s and Miriam Ort’s “One Page Talent Management”. This practical, science based guide to accelerating talent growth has become a best seller in talent management circles, and the chapter we’ve included outlines the barriers to building talent and the philosophy for successful talent development based on simplicity, accountability, and transparency.
The other two white papers included in this volume examine new trends in talent development. Got Game? The Use of Gaming in Learning and Development takes a serious look at how gaming technology can be used to develop organizational talent. The Big Data Talent Gap explores the talent implications of the big data revolution.
8 Steps to Successful Brand Reputation MeasurementLuca Sanfelici
Report detailing the key challenges, threats and solutions to brand reputation management as part of a successful business strategy. This is first of the Hard to Measure reports created with the help of attendees to the roundtable event from Adobe, Salesforce, Deutsche Börse, Rippleseed, Monotype, Nativeye and Brand Perfect.
Social Business CookBook - Ingredients, Recipes, and Cases - Easy GuideThomas & Christian
Social Business in the enterprise, How to work with social technology internally and externally, Ingredients, Recipes, and case examples. It's part of a bigger handbook used for acceleration of the social business journey with Grundfos.
More stories and background can be found at http://socialbusinessjourney.com/
Responsible Project Management is a concept that is overdue. Projects are the engines of change across the globe and project management has been at their heart for decades. Against the backdrop of a growing world population competing for increasingly scarce resources, projects consume, and frequently waste, environmental reserves and destroy social infrastructure on a vast scale. When projects fail, resources are wasted.
Sustainable development is a global priority, recognised by organisations such as the United Nations. Although a rising tide of nationalism around the world threatens international accords, perhaps the latest forecasts for a 1.5 degree rise in temperatures within 12 years will provide impetus for action.
Project strategy, objectives and success criteria may be defined by others but Project Managers must accept some responsibility for the impacts of a project. Project Managers already work across functions and have many of the skills needed to facilitate a dialogue about how a project might nurture communities and restore the natural environment.
Talking points agenda:
Why Project Management rules the world?
Why the demand for project professionals is extremely high?
Change through innovation in the form of project
The evident Question: Why managing projects is so Hard?
Learning objectives:
Through this session you will understand and learn the importance of soft skills rather than methodologies as well as “Balancing Project Management Hard Skills and Soft Skills.”
Ross discussionI attended Southern New Hampshire University (SN.docxhealdkathaleen
Ross discussion:
I attended Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) for my undergraduate program. My program was a bachelor’s in liberal arts: General Studies. The program outcomes are located at https://www.snhu.edu/online-degrees/bachelors/ba-in-general-studies.
A general studies degree allowed me to bring over credits that I had earned earlier in life, while allowing me to focus on my area of concentration. The program outcomes included learning how to apply critical thinking into the areas of study that were of interest. It provided a broad base of courses that I was able to customize to my needs ("General Degree," 2019).
Southern New Hampshire University’s mission, vision and goals are as follows “SNHU transforms the lives of learners. Our success is defined by our learners’ success. By relentlessly challenging the status quo and providing the best support in higher education, SNHU expands access to education by creating high-quality, affordable, and innovative pathways to meet the unique needs of each and every learner” ("About Us," 2019, para. 2). The SNHU vision states, “Make the world a better and more just place through our work, one learner at a time” ("SNHU Strategic Plan," n.d., p. 9, para.2). Core values are key to the university, exude passion, challenge the status quo, do the right thing every time, exhibit grit and embrace diversity.
The mission and vision and core values can be found at: https://snhu-externalaffairs.app.box.com/s/7k526w442reszti50fdtceyrre2f1il8.
In my experience the university met not only the program outcomes, but it also met it’s mission, vision and core values in my undergraduate program. I was supported by the university, challenged and was offered educational opportunities that were greater than the status quo found at other institutions. The staff and instructors were passionate about the material being taught and always treated me with the utmost respect and when I had concerns or issues with grading or materials they always sought to offer me options that were right for me and my learning disabilities.
Program assessment begins with a clear explanation of the mission, vision, gals and desired learning outcomes of the program. Statements should include what the graduates of the program should know, do and value by the time they complete their studies. The assessment of learning outcomes will help to identify if the program is accomplishing what has benn set to provide and allow for continuous improvement of the program (Banta & Palomba, 2015).
Mark Discussion:
I attended Granite State College for my undergraduate degree in Human Resources Management. The program has since changed the title to Human Resource Administration. As can be seen in many individual program’s outcomes, there is a general failure to tie back to the overall organization’s mission, vision and goals.
Granite State College’s mission and vision can be found at https://www.granite.edu/about/mission/ . From there follow the li ...
The document discusses how the economic downturn of 2008 exposed weaknesses in organizations and required new skills and approaches from functions like HR. It notes that HR over-relied on standardized models that impaired flexibility. The new economic environment demands pragmatism, strategic "organization-level solutions", and narrower metrics to assess impact. HR must help organizations adapt continuously to constant internal and external change through a focus on commercialism and outcome-driven thinking rather than processes.
Thinking differently – Introducing the concept of the energised projects orga...Donnie MacNicol
Given the stream of bad news on public and private sectors projects, we suggest that it is time for the project community to think differently. The recent shift in emphasis from failure to success paradigm is a step in the right direction but we still need to know how to create a sustainable, high-‐performing organisation that is capable of meeting APM's vision that 'all projects succeed'. We began our ' thinking differently' project by looking beyond the conventional project management literature. The notion of energy in organisations as an important and renewable resource attracted our attention. Previous research has shown that successful organisations are those that can channel the collective energy to create an organisational ' can-‐do ' climate. We have designed an energy diagnostic that will help us identify energy ' hot spots ' within organisations. These can be significant positive or negative energy states. The idea is that, with understanding, we can do more to promote positive energies and do even more to address the sources and causes of negative energies.
Highlights, experience and learnings from an agile transformation in a previous company and how they can be applied to the agency model. Sharing great insights and tips for managers and leaders on how to approach an agile implementation in agencies.
More Related Content
Similar to September-15-2014-Zweig-Newsletter - Recruiting is Integral Part of Client Satisfaction
Running head Operational PlanOperational PlanCrystal M .docxcharisellington63520
Running head: Operational Plan
Operational Plan
Crystal M JacksonAshford UniversityThe Functions of Modern Management (MOB1415B)
Instructor: Dr. Alan Swank
Week 6
Operational Plan
Develop an operational plan for an organization of your choice. Create a fictional organization that includes the name, type of business, size of organization, and the product or service that the organization offers. The paper must be between 10-12 pages in length and include five scholarly sources, in addition to the text. Your paper must:
a. Develop an organizational chart for the proposed organization.
a. Include the title of positions and a brief description of the positions’ duties and responsibilities.
b. Figure 7.7 in Chapter 7 of the text provides an example of how to develop the organizational chart.
b. Define the organization’s vision, mission, and values.
c. Outline the basic planning process for the organization, and describes how the three levels of management influence this process.
d. Explain why the quality, productivity, and profitability are important elements in the planning process.
e. Evaluate the relationship between the human resource planning activities and the overall organizational strategy.
f. Discuss the philosophy of management that will be applied to the management of the organization and how the structure of the organization will foster a positive work environment where employees will be motivated and productive.
g. Compose the steps of control and types of controls included in the control process for the organization.
h. David Purdue, Reebox, Dollar General
avid Perdue is a successful business leader with 40 years of real world business experience who helped grow some of America's most recognizable companies including Sara Lee, Haggar, and Reebok. As a Fortune 500 CEO, David led the impressive expansion of Dollar General, creating thousands of quality jobs and adding billions to the value of the company.
While working his way to the top of the business world, he gained a firsthand understanding of the global economy and the impact government policies have on businesses. David has lived and worked in Europe, Asia and throughout the United States, but he always relied on the values he learned from his Middle Georgia upbringing.
Perdue was born in Macon, Georgia and raised in Warner Robins, the son of two educators. His parents were both the first in their families to go to college. From an early age, David was taught the importance of a good education. His father eventually became the well-respected superintendent of Houston County Schools.
David was expected to lead by example, which meant hard work in the classroom during the school year and hard work in the fields of family farms during the summer months. One of his first jobs was in a Head Start program where he saw firsthand how important early learning is to ultimate success in school.
At Georgia Tech, David earned a degree in Industrial Engineering.
SAFEASSIGNCHECKTEST - CSU SAFEASSIGN PLAGIARISM CHECK TOOL
SafeAssign Originality Report Generator I
William Fiedler
on Mon, Aug 27 2018, 9:46 AM
33% highest match
Submission ID: 379b2d26-d065-43d3-b758-c36c7d7e7358
Attachments (1)
· mba 6941 unit VIII reflection Paper.doc 33%
Word Count: 1,397 Attachment ID: 224883277
mba 6941 unit VIII reflection Paper.doc
Running Head: THE PROJECT CLOSURE PHASE 1 THE PROJECT CLOSURE PHASE
2
The Project Closure Phase William Fiedler Columbia Southern University The Project Closure Phase Inside this paperwork, I am going to make a discussion regarding the closing project. I will also extend to discussing the lesson learned towards the end of the project. 1 THE FOURTH AND LAST PROJECT LIFECYCLE STAGE IS THE PROJECT CLOSURE PHASE. IT IS IN THIS STAGE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO YOUR PROJECT FORMALLY CLOSES AFTER THE REPORT SUCCESS LEVEL OF THE SPONSOR YOU HAVE. The exercises that are needed in closing the task in brought in to be by the Project Closure Report and this guarantees the project a conclusion that is embraced productively and comfortably. Once the report is brought into action and acknowledged by the individuals, the reports of the completion of the inside exercises indicated are attempted (Larson, 2014). As a result, the project closure comes into effect formally. 1 AFTER THE CLOSING OF THE TASK IN A PERIOD OF AT LEAST ONE TO THREE MONTHS, THE BUSINESS IS BELIEVED TO START GAINING THE ADVANTAGES GIVEN BY THE PROJECT WHICH MAKE IT MORE ESSENTIAL TO ALLUDE THE POST IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW (PIR) EVALUATION. This provides the business with a wide range of view towards recognizing its achievements level of different tasks as well as offer the education on the future projects that will arise.
2 PROCESS FOR CLOSING THE PROJECT THE PROJECT TRANSITION TASK CONTROL DOCUMENT WILL RECORD THE VICTORIES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE TASK. It gives a chronicled record of the orchestrated and unique spending plan and schedule, proposals for future endeavors of practically identical size and unpredictability, information on staffing and aptitudes used to meet errand targets and destinations, how the client wants were managed, exercises learned, and an official undertaking close down. One reason for the conclusion understanding system is to offer the sellers a formal warning to the structures that may have been created which has a high expectation that is elegant and commendable or that may have been rejected as a result. If the business does not meet its goals, it ought to make the amendment that hinders them from this achievement, and the individual or the dealer responsible for this should try to fix or eradicate any errors that may have caused it with a formal affirmation (Larson, 2014).
Before the closure of the agreement, all the minor things are fixed, and the competed expectation is to strike the depressed. Over rages of errands, the world has audited quality performance, and the vendor was allowed to influence chan.
7 Top Corporate Trends for Learning & Development in 2014EpiphanyEdu
Change is the only constant of the 21st century. With fast-growing technologies, work has evolved so much in the last 20 years. Employees and workers are expected to keep up to date and be constantly trained and retrained to keep up with the business expectations of the company. How has an increasingly globalised workforce and technology shifts affected the way corporations learn? We present to you 7 top trends to look out for in the Learning and Development Sector.
Dec 1 2014 Zweig Newsletter - What do you recruit forBethany Evans
This document summarizes marketing director salaries from the 2015 Salary Survey of Engineering Firms conducted by Zweig Group. It finds:
1) Marketing directors in the Central region saw a small increase in median base salary from $95,600 last year to $96,000 this year.
2) Marketing directors in the Northeast and South Atlantic region saw a small decrease from $94,848 last year to $94,000 this year.
3) Marketing directors' salary in the Mountain & Pacific region remained steady at $95,000.
The document discusses the mindset of a successful program manager. It describes the program manager's role in operating between the external stakeholder environment and internal team environment. The program manager must translate between these two worlds which have different perspectives - stakeholders focus on the journey and outcomes, while teams focus on work and deliverables. Adopting this mindset helps the program manager address common problems like connecting vision to work, aligning stakeholders, ensuring commitment to needed changes, and structuring organization and processes to support both environments. Understanding and managing the dynamics between the external and internal environments is key to effective program management.
Shaping the Future: Product Strategy in the Age of UncertaintyAggregage
In this webinar, we'll explore product strategy obstacles and present practices to overcome them while driving clarity and alignment across your executive team.
Moving from ESG Intention to
Environmental & Social Impact:
How Can Businesses
Successfully Navigate
This Journey?
A takeaway from Daggerwing Group’s panel discussion
at Anthropy 2022
The latest volume of ideas@work explores critical issues and best practices in talent management.
Two of our papers focus on today’s volatile and constantly changing business environment. Developing Leaders in a VUCA Environment provides talent managers with ideas, guidance, and examples on how to address the shift needed in leadership development to adapt to the new normal, while Building a Resilient Organizational Culture focuses on how to cultivate and nurture a culture of resilience at all levels of the organization.
This volume also features a chapter from what’s been called the “talent management bible” - Marc Effron’s and Miriam Ort’s “One Page Talent Management”. This practical, science based guide to accelerating talent growth has become a best seller in talent management circles, and the chapter we’ve included outlines the barriers to building talent and the philosophy for successful talent development based on simplicity, accountability, and transparency.
The other two white papers included in this volume examine new trends in talent development. Got Game? The Use of Gaming in Learning and Development takes a serious look at how gaming technology can be used to develop organizational talent. The Big Data Talent Gap explores the talent implications of the big data revolution.
8 Steps to Successful Brand Reputation MeasurementLuca Sanfelici
Report detailing the key challenges, threats and solutions to brand reputation management as part of a successful business strategy. This is first of the Hard to Measure reports created with the help of attendees to the roundtable event from Adobe, Salesforce, Deutsche Börse, Rippleseed, Monotype, Nativeye and Brand Perfect.
Social Business CookBook - Ingredients, Recipes, and Cases - Easy GuideThomas & Christian
Social Business in the enterprise, How to work with social technology internally and externally, Ingredients, Recipes, and case examples. It's part of a bigger handbook used for acceleration of the social business journey with Grundfos.
More stories and background can be found at http://socialbusinessjourney.com/
Responsible Project Management is a concept that is overdue. Projects are the engines of change across the globe and project management has been at their heart for decades. Against the backdrop of a growing world population competing for increasingly scarce resources, projects consume, and frequently waste, environmental reserves and destroy social infrastructure on a vast scale. When projects fail, resources are wasted.
Sustainable development is a global priority, recognised by organisations such as the United Nations. Although a rising tide of nationalism around the world threatens international accords, perhaps the latest forecasts for a 1.5 degree rise in temperatures within 12 years will provide impetus for action.
Project strategy, objectives and success criteria may be defined by others but Project Managers must accept some responsibility for the impacts of a project. Project Managers already work across functions and have many of the skills needed to facilitate a dialogue about how a project might nurture communities and restore the natural environment.
Talking points agenda:
Why Project Management rules the world?
Why the demand for project professionals is extremely high?
Change through innovation in the form of project
The evident Question: Why managing projects is so Hard?
Learning objectives:
Through this session you will understand and learn the importance of soft skills rather than methodologies as well as “Balancing Project Management Hard Skills and Soft Skills.”
Ross discussionI attended Southern New Hampshire University (SN.docxhealdkathaleen
Ross discussion:
I attended Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) for my undergraduate program. My program was a bachelor’s in liberal arts: General Studies. The program outcomes are located at https://www.snhu.edu/online-degrees/bachelors/ba-in-general-studies.
A general studies degree allowed me to bring over credits that I had earned earlier in life, while allowing me to focus on my area of concentration. The program outcomes included learning how to apply critical thinking into the areas of study that were of interest. It provided a broad base of courses that I was able to customize to my needs ("General Degree," 2019).
Southern New Hampshire University’s mission, vision and goals are as follows “SNHU transforms the lives of learners. Our success is defined by our learners’ success. By relentlessly challenging the status quo and providing the best support in higher education, SNHU expands access to education by creating high-quality, affordable, and innovative pathways to meet the unique needs of each and every learner” ("About Us," 2019, para. 2). The SNHU vision states, “Make the world a better and more just place through our work, one learner at a time” ("SNHU Strategic Plan," n.d., p. 9, para.2). Core values are key to the university, exude passion, challenge the status quo, do the right thing every time, exhibit grit and embrace diversity.
The mission and vision and core values can be found at: https://snhu-externalaffairs.app.box.com/s/7k526w442reszti50fdtceyrre2f1il8.
In my experience the university met not only the program outcomes, but it also met it’s mission, vision and core values in my undergraduate program. I was supported by the university, challenged and was offered educational opportunities that were greater than the status quo found at other institutions. The staff and instructors were passionate about the material being taught and always treated me with the utmost respect and when I had concerns or issues with grading or materials they always sought to offer me options that were right for me and my learning disabilities.
Program assessment begins with a clear explanation of the mission, vision, gals and desired learning outcomes of the program. Statements should include what the graduates of the program should know, do and value by the time they complete their studies. The assessment of learning outcomes will help to identify if the program is accomplishing what has benn set to provide and allow for continuous improvement of the program (Banta & Palomba, 2015).
Mark Discussion:
I attended Granite State College for my undergraduate degree in Human Resources Management. The program has since changed the title to Human Resource Administration. As can be seen in many individual program’s outcomes, there is a general failure to tie back to the overall organization’s mission, vision and goals.
Granite State College’s mission and vision can be found at https://www.granite.edu/about/mission/ . From there follow the li ...
The document discusses how the economic downturn of 2008 exposed weaknesses in organizations and required new skills and approaches from functions like HR. It notes that HR over-relied on standardized models that impaired flexibility. The new economic environment demands pragmatism, strategic "organization-level solutions", and narrower metrics to assess impact. HR must help organizations adapt continuously to constant internal and external change through a focus on commercialism and outcome-driven thinking rather than processes.
Thinking differently – Introducing the concept of the energised projects orga...Donnie MacNicol
Given the stream of bad news on public and private sectors projects, we suggest that it is time for the project community to think differently. The recent shift in emphasis from failure to success paradigm is a step in the right direction but we still need to know how to create a sustainable, high-‐performing organisation that is capable of meeting APM's vision that 'all projects succeed'. We began our ' thinking differently' project by looking beyond the conventional project management literature. The notion of energy in organisations as an important and renewable resource attracted our attention. Previous research has shown that successful organisations are those that can channel the collective energy to create an organisational ' can-‐do ' climate. We have designed an energy diagnostic that will help us identify energy ' hot spots ' within organisations. These can be significant positive or negative energy states. The idea is that, with understanding, we can do more to promote positive energies and do even more to address the sources and causes of negative energies.
Highlights, experience and learnings from an agile transformation in a previous company and how they can be applied to the agency model. Sharing great insights and tips for managers and leaders on how to approach an agile implementation in agencies.
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September-15-2014-Zweig-Newsletter - Recruiting is Integral Part of Client Satisfaction
1. T R E N D L I N E S
MORE COLUMNS
F I R M I N D E X
September 15, 2014, Issue 1071
w w w . t h e z w e i g l e t t e r . c o m
GROWTH
The lessons from
the 2014 Hot Firms Pages 3, 9 and 11
xz GUEST SPEAKER: ‘Me too’
vision and strategy. Page 6
xz GUEST SPEAKER: Recruiting
integral part of client satisfaction.
Page 7
Bonus time
Almost all firm management
positions saw an increase in median
bonus payout from 2013 to 2014,
according to ZweigWhite’s 2014-2015
Management Compensation Survey.
Principals saw the biggest increase,
from $6,000 last year to $9,000 this
year. In addition, financial directors
saw a bonus increase from $4,000
to $6,000; HR directors from $2,000
to $5,000, and marketing directors
from $1,500 to $3,000. Meanwhile,
IT directors’ median bonus remained
steady at $5,000, and project
managers’ median bonus dropped
from $2,000 to $1,600.
– Margot Suydam, Director, Research
T H E V O I C E O F R E A S O N F O R A / E / P & E N V I R O N M E N T A L C O N S U LT I N G F I R M S
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
$7,000
$8,000
$9,000
$10,000
Financial
director
IT
director
Marketing
director
HR
director
Project
manager
Principal
2013 2014
Advantage Engineers.............................................9
A. Morton Thomas & Associates, Inc..................10
ARCADIS..............................................................12
Callison................................................................12
Cobb Fendley..........................................................4
Dunham Associates...............................................8
Great Ecology.........................................................3
Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd.......................................9
Little Diversified Architectural Consulting.............8
O’Neal, Inc.............................................................3
Slater Hanifan Group, Inc....................................11
SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.........................................12
TerraTherm...........................................................12
Wight & Company..................................................9
WOODARD & CURRAN........................................11See MARK ZWEIG, page 2
Mark
Zweig
HR | FINANCE
S U P P L E M E N T S
Pages 9 - 12
Build a high performance team
Mark Zweig lays out the steps you must take to create
a successful organization. Also, be a real leader.
One of the most important jobs any
leader has is that of building their
team. Yet too often, in the typical A/E/P
or environmental firm, the team is
largely viewed as static. “It is what it is,”
as some people like to say (too often).
Our industry has a culture made up of
firms that operate as if “full employment
for all” – no matter how bad you are – is
the norm. It’s almost akin to a university
environment where professors are
granted tenure. We seem to aspire to
the lowest staff turnover rate possible.
We just don’t move out the people who
aren’t cutting it.
While A/E firms may be nice places to
work and bastions of civility in a hostile
world, I don’t think this type of culture
breeds business success. We need much
more emphasis on performance and a
greater willingness to change our team
members to attain it. Here are some
thoughts for you on building a higher
performing team:
1) Define the goals. Everyone needs to
know what they are aiming for. No matter
how obvious this may seem to you, odds
are it isn’t to everyone who works for you.
2) Measure results against goals. Share
this information with the entire company.
It reinforces those who are doing well and
it puts the spotlight on everyone who
While A/E firms
may be nice places
to work and
bastions of civility
in a hostile world,
I don’t think this
type of culture
breeds business
success. We need
much more
emphasis on
performance and a
greater willingness
to change our team
members to
attain it.
Growing pains: The management challenge
Rapid growth: The HR challenge
It’s a fact: Growth costs money
3. THE ZWEIG LETTER | SEPTEMBER 15, 2014, ISSUE 1071
3
By LIISA SULLIVAN
Correspondent
While your firm is kicking it into high gear, you
want to ensure that it continues to focus on
its core mission. So, what types of management
challenges do rapid growth firms experience and,
better yet, how do they deal with them?
Define and pursue. Brian Gallagher, director of
marketing, O’Neal, Inc. (Greenville, SC), a 283-per-
son industrial engineering and construction compa-
ny and No. 27 on the ZweigWhite 2014 Hot Firm
List, says that the company’s core markets have
been growing and investing in capital projects. As a
result, O’Neal has focused on bringing in additional
design, procurement and construction profession-
als. Recently, the firm placed even greater empha-
sis on redefining its business process and training,
which allows the introduction of new employees to
“The O’Neal Way” and gets them engaged in projects
quickly.
O’Neal has been quite disciplined in focusing on its
core markets, target project size, and project type.
In fact, the firm developed a strategic business unit
structure that allows it to focus on key market seg-
ments.
“We have defined filters and models for the types of
clients and projects we want to pursue,” Gallagher
says.
In addition, O’Neal has a proposal review board that
examines new opportunities to make sure that proj-
ects fit strategic objectives. “This forces us to review
opportunities to ensure they fit our mission and
business plan,” Gallagher says.
Every five years, O’Neal embarks on a strategic plan-
ning process. The last strategic plan dates to 2010
and Gallagher reports that they are on target to ex-
ceed the goals set then.
“We restarted the strategic planning process earli-
er this year,” he says. “We have participation in the
process from different parts of the organization so
that we are able to gather input, perspectives and
get buy-in to the plan. We also hold monthly meet-
ings where we update all of our employee-owners
with financials, business development, project and
other information. Being an employee-owned firm
helps enable a greater sense of engagement and fo-
cus on our mission as well.”
Multiple location management. Mark Las-
ka, president and CEO, Great Ecology (New York,
NY), a 27-person integrated science and design firm
and No. 67 on the ZweigWhite 2014 Hot Firm List,
says that since 2008 this company has grown ex-
tremely rapidly and managed to sustain the growth.
“Managing a rapidly growing firm has its challenges,
but managing one across multi-geographies pres-
ents additional challenges,” he says. “The greatest
challenge has been to maintain the culture of one
unified company across multiple time zones and lo-
cations. This has been crucial to the firm’s success
and senior leaders have worked to ensure we don’t
create office silos.”
As Great Ecology developed technical teams, lead-
ers had to carefully select the team leaders internal-
ly and externally to mentor junior staff and support
the firm’s business development goals. Through ex-
perience, the company found that opening a new of-
fice in a new geography is the most successful when
the office managers are internal staff who already
know and understand the company culture.
In terms of support, it had to focus on upgrading
various infrastructure components to support the
firm’s growth.
“Our earlier information systems and IT systems
were not scalable as the firm expanded. For exam-
ple, we had to understand and implement HR reg-
ulations which differed by state. Great Ecology was
able to grow continuously and rapidly because firm
leaders understood the vitality of investing in in-
frastructure as a tool for managing scalability and
growth,” Laska says.
G R OW T H
Brian Gallagher,
Director of
Marketing,
O’Neal, Inc.
Mark Laska,
President and
CEO, Great
Ecology.
Dale Conger,
President,
Cobb Fendley.
See MANAGEMENT, page 4
“Managing a rapidly
growing firm has its challenges,
but managing one across
multi-geographies presents
additional challenges. The
greatest challenge has been to
maintain the culture of one unified
company across multiple time zones
and locations.”
Growing pains: The management challenge
How some of the 2014 Hot Firms are
managing to create processes, maintain
the culture and keep the focus amidst
rapid growth.
5. THE ZWEIG LETTER | SEPTEMBER 15, 2014, ISSUE 1071
5
T E C H N O L O G Y
By LIISA SULLIVAN
Correspondent
The better you show a client that a building will
do what it’s meant to, the better the chance of
swaying and keeping that client.
Performance-based design is an example of how
technology is helping maximize the bottom line by
helping designers create better buildings.
This article focuses on tools that are helping build-
ings attain better energy efficiency.
Optimizing performance. Autodesk BIM
tools support both whole building energy analysis and
more targeted design studies (e.g., daylighting and so-
lar radiation analysis) to help optimize performance
before a stone is set.
A closer look at each of these abilities follows:
1) Whole building energy simulation. Measures
expected energy use (fuel and electricity) based on
the building’s geometry, climate, building type, enve-
lope properties, and active systems (HVAC and light-
ing). It takes into account the interdependencies of
the building as a whole system, so the simulation is a
particularly useful way to “keep score” as you work to
reduce building energy use.
Green Building Studio is Autodesk’s core whole build-
ing energy simulation engine and powers the analysis
in both Revit and Vasari. Green Building Studio is a
flexible cloud-based service that uses the DOE2 simu-
lation engine and allows you to run building perfor-
mance simulations to optimize energy efficiency and
to work toward carbon neutrality earlier in the design
process. GBS will help extend your ability to design
high performance buildings at a fraction of the time
and cost of conventional methods.
Revit supports energy analysis for both conceptual
forms and detailed architectural models. Vasari sup-
ports energy analysis only for conceptual forms, but
the “autozoning” features of Vasari make it a better
tool for conceptual energy analysis because it follows
industry conventions more closely.
2) Performance-based design studies. Revit and
Vasari have some additional built-in capabilities that
help conduct performance-based design studies. For
example, design studies such as climate analysis, sun
and shadow studies, and solar radiation studies can
be done with whole building energy analysis to help
analyze and optimize more targeted aspects of the de-
sign. In some cases, they pull from the same back-end
data (e.g., climate data) that is used for Autodesk’s
GBS-based whole building energy analysis.
Software helps you see the light. Sefai-
ra, a software for high-performance building design,
now delivers real time daylighting analysis and visu-
alization within Autodesk Revit. (Now, keep in mind
that Sefaira for Revit is not just a daylighting tool,
but this is an exciting new benefit.)
Achitects can now see key daylighting metrics as well
as a visual interpretation of that data right in Revit.
Powerful daylighting visualizations help architects
make performance-based design decisions through
visual interpretation and analysis of daylight in
multiple ways. This information can help architects
to clearly and effectively communicate design deci-
sions to their clients.
Early adopters of the new feature are already bene-
fiting from daylighting visualization and analysis in
Revit.
“We prioritize quality daylight and minimized glare
“Real time daylight and glare
analysis within Revit enables us to
optimize these variables while the
design is still at its most malleable.”
The performance-based design advantage
Several tools enable architects and
engineers to gather information up front,
thus increasing design quality and delivering
a competitive edge.
See PERFORMANCE page 8
A screenshot
of Sefaira’s
design
software.
7. THE ZWEIG LETTER | SEPTEMBER 15, 2014, ISSUE 1071
7
Bethany
Evans
Katie
Stern
Recruiting integral part of client satisfaction
Aim to build lasting client relationships by focusing on a positive work environment
and encouraging your team to provide unparalleled client service.
The secret to EHS Support’s success? Our people. We
place as much emphasis on hiring the right people
as we do on delivering a quality service to our clients, on
time and on budget. We are committed to building a high
performance team that can drive a more engaging and
gratifying client experience.
At EHS Support we offer careers, not jobs. From the
employee’s date of hire, they are given the opportunity to
take a look at their personal and professional goals for as
far out as they are comfortable with – one year, three years,
five years, 10 years – and align their career aspirations
with company goals. They are encouraged to discuss these
plans with their families to ensure their paths are aligning
at work and at home. Why is this process so significant? It
gives our employees the opportunity to create a satisfying
career journey specific to their talents and objectives. It
also gives our organization the opportunity to be diverse in
ways that other consulting firms may not be as agile.
Research indicates that staff members whose values align
with those of their company are more satisfied, motivated,
and committed than those whose values fail to match up.
EHS Support focuses on culture, delivering innovative and
cost effective EH&S solutions for our clients, and recruiting
the best in the business to be a part of our team. We place
our recruiting focus on hiring people who have the key
attributes that we value in each of our current EHS Support
team members:
❚❚ Self-motivation
❚❚ Strong sense of ownership
❚❚ Ambitious nature
❚❚ Focus on customer service
❚❚ Confidence in their abilities
❚❚ Resolve to follow through on their commitments
Our recruiting approach is tied directly to our success in
client satisfaction and has also proven to be a valuable
marketing tool as we continue to brand ourselves in
new industries and growing markets around the globe.
Our team offers us a competitive advantage over other
consulting firms in the industries where we do business.
A recent study from Hinge Research Institute (Finding
Experts: Why & How Clients Seek Visible Experts:
www.hingemarketing.com/library/article/finding-experts-
why-and-how-clients-seek-visible-experts) asked a
question aimed at understanding how buyers find “visible
experts” – 30.6 percent of clients said online,
19.1 percent said by recommendation, and
18.8 percent said by way of publications.
These statistics alone should make
companies think about how they are building
their teams and how they are applying the
talents of the technical (visible) experts
they’ve brought on board. By showcasing
the capabilities of the firm in their industry,
organizations can gain a competitive
advantage.
EHS Support has partnered with industry
associations to speak at conferences, offered
poster presentations, written articles for
regional business publications and started a
blog – all to utilize the extensive knowledge
and industry expertise our team embodies.
These are all tactics that companies within
the industry are utilizing, but our proactive
approach and flexibility to offer our advice,
expertise, and our passion for what we’re
working on has turned into the perfect
opportunity to brand EHS Support as a go-to
environmental consultant.
Our recruiting approach is tied
directly to our success in client
satisfaction and has also proven
to be a valuable marketing tool
as we continue to brand
ourselves in new industries
and growing markets around
the globe.
See EVANS & STERN, page 8
9. By LIISA SULLIVAN
Correspondent
Growth is always good, right? Yes, as long as
firms can keep pace. We talked to a few of
ZweigWhite’s Hot Firm leaders to find out if their
growth is posing any HR challenges. The answer is
yes, but companies are meeting the challenges head
on.
A balancing act. John McGrath, COO, Advan-
tage Engineers (Columbia, MD), a 170-person
firm, No. 60 on the ZweigWhite 2014 Hot Firm List,
says that managing staff expansion is the greatest
rapid growth challenge.
“We must balance opportunities and client expecta-
tions while staying true to our driving principle of
responsible growth,” he says.
In order to do so, Advantage focuses on three key
tasks to ensure that it can add staff appropriately.
They are:
1) Frequent and detailed forecasting of current projects
and known opportunities.
2) Constant talent identification, both internally and
externally, in order to generate a candidate pool.
3) Constant evaluation and improvement of hiring and
onboarding process.
“If we don’t hire well, we should not hire at all,” Mc-
Grath says. “Hiring candidates who are extremely
qualified and who understand our objectives on a
project and company level is critical to our growth
success. It’s not easy and takes a lot of effort, but it’s
worth every bit when done right.”
Year-round recruiting. Kathy Prock, vice
president, director of HR, Wight & Compa-
ny (Darien, IL), a 177-person integrated design and
construction firm and No. 51 on the ZweigWhite
2014 Hot Firm List, explains that they always try
to stay ahead of the game with appropriate levels of
staffing. Nevertheless, staffing really does ebb and
flow with the amount of work in the pipeline.
The firm tackles the challenge in two ways:
1) “We recruit top talent all the time. Even when we do
not have specific needs, we hire top talent. And, while
there are some candidates who are not ready to make
a move at the time we are talking to them, we main-
tain constant communication with those individuals.
If circumstances change, we can then capitalize on
that,” Prock says.
2) “Because we have two office locations in fairly close
proximity, there are times that we have employees
work in one office or the other, depending on need
and project volume,” Prock says.
Sharon Batchelor, director, human resources, Klohn
Crippen Berger Ltd. (Vancouver, BC), an engineer-
ing services firm, No. 49 firm on the ZweigWhite
2014 Hot Firm List, says that the firm has grown
from 197 employees to more than 500 in the last
10 years. The firm’s HR team was initially very small
so one of the first challenges was bandwidth (e.g.,
how to create new people programs and initiatives
while responding to an influx of daily queries and
requests).
As the company grew – so did the HR challenges.
Some examples include:
❚❚ The acquisition of a number of smaller companies,
leading to assimilation, geographic and communica-
tion challenges.
❚❚ Developing consistency in company-wide programs
and policies.
❚❚ Balancing internal compensation and rewards equity
among offices.
❚❚ Creating a corporate culture that attracts the best em-
ployees to the organization.
❚❚ Attracting and retaining qualified talent in a very
competitive marketplace.
❚❚ Hiring outside the country (adding logistical activities
like international relocation, immigration applica-
tions and work visas).
HR A SUPPLEMENT OF THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 15, 2014, ISSUE 1071
9
G R OW T H
John McGrath,
COO, Advantage
Engineers.
Sharon Batchelor,
HR Director,
Klohn Crippen
Berger Ltd.
Janice Gary,
Director of HR
and Senior
Associate,
A. Morton
Thomas &
Associates, Inc.
See HR CHALLENGE, page 10
“If we don’t hire well, we should
not hire at all. Hiring candidates
who are extremely qualified and
who understand our objectives on
a project and company level is
critical to our growth success.”
Rapid growth: The HR challenge
Finding people who can deliver, keeping
current employees happy and making sure
everybody is on the same page cited
by Hot Firms.
11. FINANCE A SUPPLEMENT OF THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTEMBER 15, 2014, ISSUE 1071
11
G R OW T H
Douglas
McKeown, CEO,
WOODARD &
CURRAN.
Ken Hanifan,
President, Slater
Hanifan Group,
Inc.
John Bierschenk,
CEO and
President,
TerraTherm.
By LIISA SULLIVAN
Correspondent
The old saying, “You’ve got to spend money to
make money” rings true for rapid-growth firms.
Whether it’s buying new equipment or hiring more
staff, finances play a key role.
Focus on long-term. Douglas McKeown,
CEO, WOODARD & CURRAN (Portland, ME), an
850-person integrated engineering, science and op-
erations company and No. 29 on the ZweigWhite
2014 Hot Firm List, says that growth, particularly
sustained growth, costs money because you tend
to prioritize those actions/investments that lead to
opportunity. And in this market, with the challenge
to attract and retain the best talent, opportunity is
the key.
“Without opportunity comes stagnation, which
can lead to disengagement of your staff. Business
can’t thrive by running in place – you need to move
ahead,” McKeown says. “So, whether it’s part of the
annual plan, or something more opportunistic that
emerges mid-year which fits the strategic objectives
we have, we will tend to make the investment if we
believe it will lead to growth. We are willing to look
at those investments with a balance between strat-
egy, opportunity and discipline, knowing that it re-
sults in some dilution of net income in the short
term.”
McKeown says that investments often come in the
form of senior hires who may be market leaders,
junior talent to fuel the leadership pipeline, office
openings to support new regions of specific clients,
or thinner margins on new opportunities where the
firm wants to gain entry into a new market. Addi-
tionally, growth requires investments in the busi-
ness systems to support a larger more complex and
diverse firm.
“In the past few years, knowing the growth plans
in front of us, we invested in Workday as an HRIS
(HR information system), to enable managers and
employees better access to personnel information
in an automated way. Short-term investment, but
long-term thinking allows us to grow without cor-
responding head count demand in the HR team,”
McKeown says.
Further investments in knowledge management
tools today will allow Woodard & Curran continued
communication and collaboration across the firm
in spite of the expansion to 50 people in 14 offices
across the country.
The firm has grown every year in its 35-year histo-
ry, and has always been profitable. But, to meet the
long-term strategy of developing a national foot-
print, while providing exciting opportunities for its
employees, it has embraced a slightly lower overall
margin to support that growth.
Bouncing back. While Slater Hanifan Group,
Inc. (Las Vegas, NV), a 105-person, multi-disci-
plined civil engineering/consulting firm and No. 33
on the ZweigWhite 2014 Hot Firm List, has grown,
it was not immune to the impact of the recession
from 2007 to 2011. After shrinking staff, work-
space, and reducing benefits to the bare minimum
during the recession, SHG had to find innovative
ways to retain customers and stay afloat, says Ken
Hanifan, president.
Due to a loyal client-base and an innovative culture
where employees pride themselves on taking owner-
ship in their company and their work, SHG leaders
believe that growth, even during difficult economic
times, was a direct result of their commitment to cli-
ents and the firm’s ability to take a vision and turn
it into reality.
“We have a close-knit relationship with all of our cli-
ents, working to provide them customized service,”
Hanifan says. “Our main goal during the recession
was to stay visible and offer our clients the same lev-
el of service we did prior to the recession. Being visi-
ble let our customers know that we were able to pro-
vide services when so many of the other larger firms
had to cut services due to the economic downturn.”
SHG embarked on several major growth initiatives
during the recession, including tripling their exist-
“Without opportunity comes
stagnation, which can lead to
disengagement of your staff.
Business can’t thrive by running in
place – you need to move ahead.”
It’s a fact: Growth costs money
Hot Firms know that without investment
now, the long-term is compromised.
See GROWTH, page 12