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By Jeremy Zick | How nearshoring is helping AEC firms reduce burnout, create capacity, and support retention. 

By Ying Liu | Ownership mindset starts before equity, with the clarity, trust, and responsibility people need to lead like owners.

By Jessica Warren | AEC firms that invest in community impact are not just doing good, they are building more resilient and competitive organizations.

By Rachel Gresham | Culture erodes when organizations ask people to behave one way while systems, incentives, and authority structures reward another.

By Greg Sepeda | Many AEC leadership groups operate like golf teams – strong individuals, but little coordination – leaving collective results far short of potential.

The leading source of business management insights, research, and strategies tailored specifically for leaders of AEC firms.

By Sara Parkman | Rising Stars reveal what today’s young AEC leaders truly value in their firms.

By Ricardo Jesús Maga Rojas | The middle is where emerging talent either grow into leaders or quietly disengage.

By Daryl Simons Jr. | If your retention strategy relies on appreciation events instead of competitive pay, you are already losing talent.

By Srividhya Viswanathan | By prioritizing leadership, trust, and accountability, organizations can build teams that not only achieve their goals but thrive together.

By Ricardo Jesus Maga Rojas | In today’s AEC talent market, belonging may matter more than pay, perks, or policies in keeping young professionals.

By Janki DePalma | A manager’s guide to building a culture where recovery is respected, contribution is sustainable, and being seen doesn’t require shattering.

By Kristi Weierbach | Incentive plans for employees should align unique performance measures with organizational success to drive retention, engagement, and results.

By Mark Zweig | Leaders should set clear expectations around vacation planning, approval, and communication to avoid disruption and disengagement.

By Chad Clinehens | Firms that prioritize employee experience data see higher retention rates, improved collaboration, and greater innovation.

By Kyle Ahern | Recent survey data reveals a surprising dip in satisfaction among mid-career professionals.

By Lynn Bruns | If we want to create workplaces where people thrive, innovate, and stay, we must go beyond managing to metrics.

By Ying Liu | Employee experience plays a crucial role in maximizing strategic outcomes.

By Sarah R. Adams-Slominski | Step back and check in on how your employees are doing, learn what they care about, and discover what helps them stay engaged in their work.

By Mercedez Thompson | How a book club sparked connection and a genuine sense of belonging in a hybrid workplace.

By Kyle Ahern | Managers who build trust empower employees to be more receptive to feedback and more motivated to improve.

By Ying Liu | How do you ensure your firm has both the will and the way to succeed in this increasingly competitive market?

By Katherine Wilczek & Ceclia Martin-Smith | While it can be helpful to use generational trends to inform your management practices, it is most important to get to know your employees as individuals. 

By Mark Zweig | Employees who decide to disengage and shift out completely do so at their own peril.

By Matt Verderamo | The way you handle yourself as an employee directly correlates to the level of success you can reach in your organization.

By Luci Hogue | Whether you love your job and want to get to the next level or if you’re feeling unsatisfied in your current position, these tips may help gain perspective.

By Conrey Guy | A standardized onboarding process is critical for the overall success of any organization, but especially in our industry.

By Robert Speed | If you can make your culture about the employees, you and your firm will reap the rewards over the course of your career.

By Eddie Wade | If you take time to breathe, rally your troops, get team buy-in, and consider your options, you’ll be on your way to making this a positive change.

By Kraig Kern | Identifying and fixing crucial problems is the job of leadership, but sometimes the most debilitating problems are with the leaders themselves.

By Julie Smith | Podcasting is a unique way to share the story of your company, and it should be part of your marketing strategy.

By Tim Spence | With a clear purpose, empowered professionals, and a drive for ongoing development, design firms can motivate all of their employees to row together.

By Peter Atherton | If we can establish trust, clearly communicate what winning looks like, and have a unifying mission and vision, we will never need to limit our success to any location.

By Peter Atherton | A “lack of time” can no longer be an excuse for not doing what needs to be done or not investing in what needs to be invested in.

By Kraig Kern | Your firm’s collective strengths can and should be applied to make your new employees’ onboarding a standout experience.

By Peter Atherton | Playing to win requires a real investment in organizational redesign, and the creation of both a vision and a culture that’s worth the work.

By Peter Atherton | Most leaders haven’t taken the time to reflect on their reasons to grow and, once understood, articulate them to others.

By Mitchell Shope | Leveraging reinforcement theory will connect the action to the reward and bolster your firm’s morale and cultural identity.

Through collaboration, mentoring, and continued professional development, we can continue to grow and support each other, no matter what the pandemic throws at us.

If we want to be in position to effectively respond and even get ahead of the curve, we all need to know what’s likely to come next.

Burnout prevention is the key to healthy, growing, and resilient organizations, especially now.

A well-designed sabbatical program can combat burnout and disengagement, ensuring your organization’s long-term success.

Winning today is about serving others and providing value. Both are good. They always were, and always will be.

Successful leaders have to be able to deliver tough messages. Use these six strategies to navigate difficult conversations.

No one wants just a job, and no one wants to live in “quiet desperation.” As leaders, we can help employees sidestep burnout.

When executives do too much, they might be avoiding a problem, and they can damage the firm in the process.

The World Health Organization just redefined burnout and classified it as an “Occupational Phenomenon.” So, what’s next?

Ask yourself how you can remove constraints and let ideas flow, so they can be shared, shaped, and applied.

Effecting a real-life leadership transition takes years of planning, and the ability to dismiss entrenched perceptions and past assumptions.

Do you want to survive the next year, the next recession, and the ongoing reset of the workplace, the marketplace, and the recruiting space?

Successful people will overcommit where their passion meets a purpose, where service is not a burden but a privilege.

A firm leader must break out of the deadline cycle and make a meaningful connection with employees. If not, performance will (predictably) suffer. Most of what we do today as leaders is not leadership. In...

With more competition, more intensive procurement, higher costs, and increasingly lower fees, firm leaders must leverage the power of mission. We have a mission as an organization. It is why we exist. The best ones...

With the unequivocal success of this year’s Hot Firm & A/E Industry Awards Conference in Dallas, all eyes now turn to Las Vegas in 2019. By Richard Massey Editor Chad Clinehens, Zweig Group’s president and...

President and CEO of Wade Trim (Hot Firm #76 for 2017), a 500-person multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm based in Detroit. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “Organic growth is going to become more difficult as recruiting...

Bringing good people on board is one thing, retaining them is another. Make a concerted effort to keep your personnel engaged. I recently facilitated a roundtable discussion. Never mind that the table wasn’t round. It...

Company leaders play an important role in making sure their people are aligned, capable, and engaged – a recipe for success. Are your employees fulfilled? If not, it may be costing you a bundle. While...

It’s not always the employees’ fault. Improve the quality of your office, celebrate the individual, and watch your staff come alive. Workplaces across the globe are suffering through a zombie apocalypse. These zombies don’t have...