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Overhead staff
Generational differences can be a powerful source of innovation and adaptability. Diversity of age
Using Zweig Group’s newest product, the Operating Expenses Benchmarking Tool, firms can compare their organizational structure in overhead departments to thousands of other firms in the AEC industry. Furthermore, firms can select certain attributes to compare themselves to companies similar to them. For example, the chart above shows overhead staffing for four separate departments as a percentage of total firm size for multidiscipline engineering firms. Typically, marketing and finance/accounting employees make up more of the total staff in these firms relative to HR and IT workers.. Participate in a survey and save 50 percent on the final or pre- publication price of any Zweig Group research publication. F I R M I N D E X Brown and Caldwell..............................10 Dewberry................................................4 GCI General Contractors.........................2 Neel-Schaffer, Inc....................................4 RJN Group..............................................6 SCS Engineers......................................12 Urban Engineers. ..................................12 Ware Malcomb....................................2, 8 MO R E A R T I C L E S xz JULIE BENEZET: Mastering business development Page 3 xz Clear vision: Jeff Plymale Page 6 xz EDUARDO SMITH: Client success initiative Page 9 xz MARK ZWEIG: A/E firms are doing surprisingly well Page 11
T he ability for leaders to understand and guide those they lead is essential. And, with baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and now Gen Z in the workforce, there is an opportunity for firms to capitalize on generational differences in perspective and values. Diversity of age in a leadership team is a powerful strategy for AEC firms and AEC firms would be well-served to see age as a number, not a credential. When principals and firm leaders have younger voices to stimulate innovation and challenge the status quo coupled with more experienced colleagues with deep expertise and the steadiness needed to prevent self-destruction, the results can be powerful. Why, then, is it that Zweig Group’s 2020 Principals, Partners, & Owners Survey Report found that only 2 percent of AEC firm principals are 39 years of age or younger? A principal with a couple of decades ahead of them to live with the consequences of their decisions is going to see things very differently than someone whose retirement – and liquidation event – is a year or two away. Risk tolerance changes over time, and healthy discussions about the tension between short-term profitability and longer-term investments is one to encourage. In one firm we work with, I sat in on a spirited discussion between two principals – a boomer and a millennial – in which the boomer expressed frustration that the incoming principals lack commitment to the company by not “just going down to the bank and getting a loan” to pay for their ownership interest (in full). The discussion that followed didn’t just lead to a better understanding of the student loan burden that the incoming principal generation had taken on, but also a significant softening in age-related frustration about younger staff in general. After the discussion, we modeled out the ownership transition financing options – both incoming and outgoing – to find solutions that kept the entire ownership pool enthusiastic to invest in the company they were all so important in building. A surprising contrast in our >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12
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