President of Pierce Engineers, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI), a structural engineering firm based in the Midwest, working with clients across the nation.
By Liisa Andreassen
Correspondent
He’s been working in the structural engineering field since 1997 and as president of Pierce Engineers, Inc., Randy Elliott shows no signs of slowing down. He thrives on providing guidance to clients and building on those relationships – which he says takes a team approach.
Keep it fresh. “Every staff member is in the business of business development,” he says.
That’s why it’s so important to Elliott to ensure staff get what they need. In addition to the usual benefits such as healthcare and investment programs, the executive team makes sure their people get proper training so they are set up to excel.
“Everyone has different personal and career goals and it can be a challenge to ensure all people are being heard,” he says. “People management – inside the firm and outside the firm – is a daily to-do list item.”
To meet that end, the company has programs in place to help achieve satisfaction among staff. Everyone has a personal career roadmap, so to speak, and there’s a model to follow and expectations to be met. Training is implemented at every stage of a person’s career, so there are no surprises.
Staff also enjoy a flexible work schedule. The company encourages four days in the office and one day work-at-home, but that’s not written in stone.
“As we all learned during COVID, we can continue to work without being in the office. In fact, many people find that they’re even more efficient or productive. There’s no sense being in the office and riding out the clock,” he says. “As long as the work gets done and gets done well, everyone is happy.”
Elliott shares that communication is a very important part of the puzzle and emphasizes that it has to be a two-way street.
As a company, they are always open to hearing new ideas for ways of doing things.
“We can always improve,” he says.
The executive team is in constant communication with staff, and PMs meet every two weeks. There’s also a peer group set up for the rest of the staff and for those not comfortable bringing up concerns or ideas directly to management. It’s an open forum that happens each month and one person is the designated representative to report back thoughts and concerns.
“We don’t want to become stagnant and hearing new ideas is all part of that goal,” he says.
For example, when it comes to technology, there’s a small group of people who are part of a technical group. Once the company has zeroed in on a new technology they would like to try, it’s purchased and this group of three to five people test it out on current projects alongside the old technology for 90 days. After that point, if the technical group gives it the go-ahead, it’s opened up to the whole company to try for another 90 days.
“We started this process about five years ago and it’s worked well,” he says. “On average, we implement a new technology every two years.”
He admits that keeping up with new tech is a top challenge and finds that this process is a good way to handle it.
“Some of this new tech is just amazing when it comes to design and creating 3D models,” he says. “When I started out in the industry, technology was at its infancy, so it’s exciting to see how far we’ve come.”
As a growth-driven firm, Elliott says programs like this one help them to stay fresh.
Building the business. In addition to testing new tech, client management, organic growth, and adding new locations are all top of mind.
Currently, Pierce works mostly in the Midwest, but they’re looking to expand to a few larger cities around the country.
“And, we start new offices with people we know,” he says.
Elliott knows something about starting things too. He started his first business when he was 31 and grew it to a 12-person firm. That firm merged with another which he took over and grew too.
“My greatest driver is to build something,” he says. “To build a business where people can work and feel proud of working means everything to me. I always take time to reflect on where we were, where we are, how we got here and where we’re going. It’s just a cool process.”
