To grow your AEC firm, identify and reinforce those who understand the company’s vision, and work to convert or replace those who don’t.
It just comes up time and time again in AEC firms (and other types of companies) – the owner(s) of the business understand what has to be done to build the company to the next level but they cannot bring enough of their people along to move the needle fast enough.
What can you do?
The first thing you have to understand is not everyone will get it. Some people just don’t have the upbringing, life experience, and friend and family circle that gives them the perspective they need to understand how their individual success is tied to the success of the company. So they will just want more for themselves in spite of whatever is happening with the company and have a hard time understanding why they don’t get it if their efforts and output remain the same.
The second thing you have to accept is that a business is like a scientific experiment involving liquids. Sometimes you need to add so much of something to change the color of your mixture. Until enough of that is there, it just looks the same. People in an organization are the same way. Either you have more of them who believe they can impact the organization’s success and why that is important than those who don’t, or the opposite condition exists where more DON’T believe they can impact the company’s success than those who do. Until you get to the former condition you are stuck in the latter. That makes it very hard to make progress. Critical mass must be achieved. That happens one person at a time – either by making them believers or replacing them with someone who is.
If you accept these two facts, the next thing you as the business owner need to do is identify those who get it and those who don’t, and then work consistently to reinforce the idea that those who get it have the right mindset and to “convert” those who don’t. That means you have to keep sharing the vision of what the promised land looks like and how you will get everyone there. You need role models inside the organization for everyone else. And you need lots of education on business, why growth is necessary, how to sell, marketing, billing and collection, recruiting, project management, people management, and how to manage the firm.
You won’t convert everyone. Maybe 20 percent to 40 percent of those who are fighting change that will lead to more growth and profitability will get it. But that may be enough to turn the tide. And once you get enough converts, you can add people and the culture of the organization will tend to make them believers versus skeptics. Then life is going to get a lot easier for you as the owner(s) of the business because your financial performance will likely get better and better.
None of this stuff is easy and success doesn’t come overnight. You have to be patient but not so patient that you miss out on the opportunity to grow your business. Better start today with a plan because it won’t happen on its own!
Mark Zweig is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.
