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By Chris Rideout | Complex projects succeed when design, communication, coordination, and community needs move forward together.

By Scott Butcher | Despite capacity challenges, AEC firms still rely on seller-doers because complex projects reward expertise at the first client interaction.

By Mark Zweig | Leaders shape outcomes through mindset, so choose optimism, act on opportunity, and set expectations that inspire rather than limit your team.

By Duncan Robertson | Being able to turn challenges into lasting opportunities requires sacrifice, strategic risk, and strong teams.

By Mark Zweig | The right attorney with specialized expertise can save AEC firms significant costs, mitigate risks, and protect their business.

By Mark Zweig | Negative employees in AEC firms can undermine management, leading to declining morale, productivity, and company performance.

By Liisa Andreassen | Chief administrative officer at UES (Orlando, FL), a privately held, rapidly growing engineering and consulting firm and No. 1 Hot Firm four years in a row.

By David Doxtad & Andy Brandel | As your firm grows, this person ensures you will maintain your core competencies, values, and environment with your newly added team members.

By Kevin Brown | Five resume red flags to help AEC firm recruiters identify and set apart the best applicants from the rest.

By Mark Zweig | Owning a firm that will be profitable and grow over time requires a longer term view and a willingness to invest in the people who generate the revenue.

By Karne Newburn | Office space allows you to establish your presence with clients and staff by physically being there for them and by providing the tools necessary to stay connected in a virtual environment.

In this enlightening episode of the TZL podcast, Melvalean MacLemore and Zhetique Gunn, dedicated committee members of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and key players in the HBCU Professional Development Program (PDP), sit...

By Mark Zweig | Every entrepreneurial company should have some big, game-changing things it is working on.

Zweig Group announces the release of its 2023 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Report of AEC Firms, which helps AEC leaders benchmark their firms in all areas related to benefits and compensation.

Zweig Group has announced its client ISG has acquired ETHOS Design Group. Will Swearingen, Zweig Group's director of ownership transition, led ISG through the transaction.

By Liisa Andreassen | Senior vice president of AFG Group, Inc., a woman-owned firm with 30 years of experience providing program, project, construction, and relocation management services.

By Liisa Andreassen | Vice president of strategy at Westwood (Minneapolis, MN), an awarding-winning firm that provides multi-disciplined surveying and engineering services.

By Amber Milot | Creating a recruiting culture and focusing on retention are business savvy strategies to help your organization continue to thrive in today’s job market.

By Liisa Andreassen | Partner at Orcutt | Winslow (Phoenix, AZ), a design firm that aspires to positively disrupt architecture through innovation, experimentation, and invention.

Zweig Group, a full-service AEC management advisory firm, is proud to announce that Drake Hamilton and Andrew Chavez, CM&AA, have been promoted to advisors on Zweig Group’s Mergers and Acquisitions team. "Drake and Andrew have...

By Ann M. Rolland | Even a slight shift toward more responsible materials is impactful and can effect change to the manufacturing industries and the products that designers specify.

By Liisa Andreassen | CEO and president of MKN (Arroyo Grande, CA), a firm specializing in water, wastewater, and water reuse engineering for public agencies.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | What’s the same and what’ll never be the same again for AEC firms’ policies, procedures, and benefits?

By Jake Voorhees | Whether it be remote flexibility considerations, how firms make strategic growth decisions, or hiring tactics in general, engineering workplace culture is changed forever.

By Mark Zweig | Remote workers are not going to go away as soon as this pandemic is over. Make sure they still feel connected to your firm.

By Keyan Zandy | The positive changes we’ve made will stay with us long after the days of the pandemic are over.

By Sara Parkman | President of Shive-Hattery (Cedar Rapids, IA), a multi-disciplinary architecture and engineering firm that recognizes the power of design in transforming the human experience.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | While we’re entering 2021 with a renewed sense of purpose and greater clarity, there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

By Christina Zweig Niehues | A good incentive compensation program needs to be carefully matched with the specific goals of your firm.

A lot can go wrong while establishing an office in a new market, but if you find a niche and hire strategically, you can succeed.

By John Bray | With a low unemployment rate, more firms are relying on a national approach for recruiting.

Honoring your clients’ business success above all else will enhance your firm’s reputation and bottom line – without compromising design. This is the third installment of a three-part discussion on the topic of job success,...

This week, Randy Wilburn spoke with Peter C. Atherton, PE, president and founder of Actions Prove, LLC. Peter is a successful professional engineer with more than 25 years of experience in public infrastructure projects. Peter...

Zweig Group just released its 2018 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms. The report covers many of the questions that firm leaders are faced with when they look...

Be honest. Don’t puff up yourself or your credentials. Explore the nature of the job and, more importantly, the idea behind the company. You can read many stories about how to get a job and...

You go to so much trouble to find the right person for your critical job opening. Sometimes, the process takes months. The higher level the job, the longer it takes to fill. Everyone is busy....

Smaller housing within walking distance to essentials and amenities is appealing to both the young and the old. We’re listening closely to the market desires for our West 2nd District Project here in Reno. We’re...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (July 24, 2017) – Zweig Group’s 2017 Policies, Procedures and Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms released earlier this year, surveyed industry firms on a wide variety of topics...

Sell your firm to recruits, don’t overburden them with a marathon interview process, and cover yourself if a candidate pulls a fast one. I recently finished a webinar series called Becoming a Better Recruiter. It...

President of LJA Engineering (Hot Firm #2 for 2016), the largest employee-owned civil engineering firm in Houston (600-plus employees). By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Ladner has more than 35 years’ experience in civil engineering serving both...

CEO of Wantman Group, Inc. (#5 Hot Firm and #19 Best Firm Multidiscipline for 2016), a 310-person engineering consulting firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “The easiest work is repeat...

New Jersey firm has a nice book of business thanks to a willingness to both study and influence the industry it serves. By Richard Massey Managing Editor DMR Architects of New Jersey has been retained...

Building a relocation program to recruit and retain talent in the design industry should be a primary focus of any sound HR program. You’ve been there before. You’ve spent time sourcing, researching, and recruiting the...

Over the years, we have developed work styles that are not good for our physical, mental, or emotional health, but that can be changed. Taking these tips to heart can really change the health of...

If you want to achieve great things and have fun in the process, it’s best to foster a collaborative attitude. Review and approval processes vary greatly around our country, and two extremes are California and...

Recruiting top talent to small markets is an adventure, but with persistence, you can ride the horse all the way to the summit. As I was discussing the need for a lead architect with a...

With a focus on renewable energy and environmental conservation, and a need to improve a vast and aging infrastructure, opportunity abounds. Things are going pretty well for nearly all these days. Those downturn doldrums are...

The act of priming your business for market increases its value, and helps you embrace an assortment of challenges and opportunities. I know what you’re thinking because I hear it all the time. “I’m not...

Being a great architect or engineer is not enough. To truly flourish, you have to have an intimate knowledge of what makes your clients tick. Your knowledge of architecture, design, engineering, and building codes, your...

The market in lighthouses is limited, but due to the history of the structures, the challenges of renovation, and the romantic locations, there’s plenty of takers. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The market in historic...

Zweig Group’s 2016 Policies, Procedures and Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning and Environmental Consulting Firms was just released on July 22, 2016. This legacy publication was updated in 2016 with the addition of data...

“I’m not ready to sell my business,” “I am not ready to retire,” or “business is too good right now for me to sell” are all statements you might be thinking right now, but there...

No two M&As are alike, and the more you know about them, the better prepared you are for the unknowns. Westwood’s long-term plan includes organic growth and the strategic procurement of companies and people that...

Here are a few tips on ensuring that potential employees accept your job offer, and have a back-up in case they don’t. It’s a big problem today. You go through a long search process, interviewing...

Some insights for those planning to relocate or revamp their digs, because we just went through the process. We just moved into a new office space a couple weeks ago. It’s a big step up...

Three ideas to help you implement a successful HR recruiting program. I sit here writing this article the day after Super Bowl 49. I’m neither a Patriots nor Seahawks fan but it was an exciting...

Avoid dropping the ball with that perfect out-of-town candidate. I recently left a fairly comfortable existence in New England to relocate here to Fayetteville, Ark. the home office of the Zweig Group. I spent a...

As hiring picks up in 2015, make sure you are taking all factors into consideration, Mark Zweig writes. Some years ago, I got a call from a good client and friend of mine. He ran...

By Jeremy Clarke Getting top talent is still a critical priority… even in this economic environment. How so? Well, because business needs are still evolving, and employee turnover is still an unavoidable reality. All of...

Press Release: December 30, 2010 The down economy presents many real estate options for the small business owner; but the tight A/E/P and banking climate might prove too difficult for many businesses to grasp the...

Although it doesn’t happen to everyone who becomes a principal in an architecture, engineering, or planning firm, it happens to many of us. What I am speaking of is the dilemma one faces when you...

Just about anything you read nowadays for our business mentions the top concern of firm owners everywhere is finding and keeping good people. Finding good people is never easy. Nor is it the topic of...

You’ll hear it at any gathering of A/E/P and environmental consulting firm owners— hiring is at the top of the list of challenges they’re facing as we head into 2006. That said, there’s still too...

When it comes to predicting the future of a successful A/E or environmental enterprise of any sort, what’s more important— the market conditions, the passion of the individuals leading it, or the unity of those...

Years ago, I coined a term called “supply-side human resources management.” The basic theory of supply-side human resources management goes something like this: If an A/E or environmental firm invests heavily in its recruitment function,...

Terry Mitchell, senior vice president and transportation division head for MonsterFirm, Inc., knew one thing: If the firm was going to make any real money, it was going to take a new level of top...

September 11, 2001— I was talking on the phone when I looked through the glass interior wall of my office out into the rest of our space and noticed people standing around a TV monitor....

With all of the employment-related pressures that firms face today, it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what you really need to pay somebody to do a given job. There are so many ways...

I’m bullish on this business. As a group of firms, we are doing better than ever. Revenue is up. Profits are up. And the projects are gratifying. It’s an ethical business. There are a lot...

Having a hard time keeping your staff? Are your new graduates working a year or two and then moving on? Are your mid-level folks, just below principal, moving on before you move them up? If...

Every single firm we deal with at Zweig White & Associates, Inc. could benefit from working on their hiring process. Everyone in the A/E/P and environmental business agrees that it’s hard to hire. Well here...

In my travels around the country working with A/E/P and environmental firms large and small I have come to the awareness of just how important it is to have a positive employee culture. It may...

Believe it or not, some people don’t like the term “human resources management.” They think it diminishes individuals in some way, and by referring to “human resources” we might as well be talking about “natural...

Although I don’t consider myself a member (honorary or otherwise) of the morality police, the latest presidential scandal got me thinking about morality and ethics. I’ll limit my political commentary to one statement: I think...

These are the good old days for the A/E/P and environmental consulting business. Times are good. Firms are growing. Employment offers are going out weekly, daily, and in some cases, hourly. But did you ever...

Let’s face it, readers— the A/E/P and environmental business just isn’t what it used to be. The old assumptions just don’t hold true. The old ways of doing things aren’t working. The people who can’t...

Quickie Conference Review— This year’s PSMA National Convention held at the Red Lion LaPosada Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, was the association’s best ever. It also marked the 20th anniversary of PSMA, which stands for Professional...

Although I’ve been trying to preach the gospel for years now, most principals of A/E/P and environmental consulting firms still do not understand what human resources management is all about. First, there’s the way so...