Recruiting & Retaining Talent Archives

Unicorns & Survey Monkeys, Councils & Summits: Outside-the-Box Employee Engagement

In an era defined by persistent labor shortages, generational change and heightened employee expectations, employee engagement has quietly become one of the most powerful drivers of retention, recruitment and long-term firm stability. In this edition of The Friedman File, we explore how some AEC firms are moving beyond generic engagement strategies and instead building distinctive, firm-specific programs that give employees a voice, reinforce shared values and create real emotional connection to the organization. Recognition as Culture: Bergmeyer’s Unicorn Awards At Bergmeyer, employee engagement is centered on the idea that everyone has something special to contribute and that [...]

By Rich Friedman|2026-07-27T10:12:34-04:00February 2026|Case Studies, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Beyond the Perks: How One Midwestern Firm Turns Culture into Strategy

In a time when workplace culture can be underappreciated or overlooked, Kaskaskia Engineering Group, LLC (KEG) reminds us that genuine connection and trust are still the foundation of AEC firm success. The firm’s people-first policies, like banking time after 40 hours per week or its festive “4-3-2-1 Policy” (more on that later), illustrate how culture can drive both morale and margins. In this issue of The Friedman File, we explore how this firm of “KEG-ers” is winning at work and in life. Culture in the Open Spend a little time with the folks at Kaskaskia Engineering Group [...]

By Rich Friedman|2025-11-03T09:42:38-05:00November 2025|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Personality Assessment Tests: Infusing Objectivity & Insight Into A/E/C Firm Team Building

Deloitte reports that 80% of Fortune 500 companies use personality tests for a variety of reasons, including recruiting, career planning, leadership development and team building. The global consulting group adds that there are approximately 2,500 such tests on the market. In this issue of The Friedman File, we examine the experiences of two firms to consider how assessment tests can help A/E/C leaders more effectively hire, manage resources and promote employee success. Seth Wilkinson, president of 140-person Wilkinson Ecological Design/Ecotone, says that his firm began using the Winslow Personality Test in 2014. “We were introduced to [...]

By Rich Friedman|2024-08-06T13:04:19-04:00August 2024|Case Studies, Leadership, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Living the Dream: PAE Engineers’ HQ Embodies an Aspirational Vision

PAE Engineers enjoys a unique symbol of its brand identity – the company’s Portland headquarters office, which is the world’s first developer-driven Living Building. In this edition of The Friedman File, we look at how 375-person PAE Engineers achieved the multiple benefits of creating a sustainable, resilient and cost-effective speculative mixed-use building that serves as its main office, as well as an investment property, marketing jewel and beacon of the firm’s vision, mission, principles and values. PAE’s Living Building Challenge The PAE Living Building is a five-story, 58,000-square-foot mixed-use building located in a historic neighborhood in [...]

By Rich Friedman|2024-02-05T20:01:23-05:00February 2024|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Marketing & Branding, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Your Secret BD Weapon: The Introvert

Can an introvert become comfortable with, contribute to and find happiness in business development? That’s the question we’re going to answer in this edition of The Friedman File. Let me kill the suspense: the answer is yes, introverts can play an effective, satisfying part in your firm’s business development culture. This is a topic I address often in my work, including a recent webinar – “Business Development for Introverts” – that I presented last month as part of a series for ERP and CRM solutions provider Unanet. Why Bother? While business development may not come as naturally [...]

By Rich Friedman|2022-09-09T14:21:07-04:00September 2022|Business Development, Leadership, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

What’s Your Special Sauce?

In this issue of “The Friedman File”, I’ve asked Brand Strategist Nancy Jenner of D&CO (Carlisle, Massachusetts) (www.designandco.net) to discuss the importance of understanding and communicating your firm’s value and differentiators. Each year, I conduct hundreds of third-party interviews with my clients’ clients. In these interviews, I’m often told that my client looks/sounds/feels a lot like other AEC firms. Knowing your firm’s “special sauce” is more important now than ever—not just in business development, but also recruitment and retention. I look forward to your comments and questions at rich@friedmanpartners.com or 508-276-1101. Understanding and leveraging your company’s unique [...]

By Rich Friedman|2024-06-21T13:10:39-04:00June 2022|Business Development, Marketing & Branding, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Recruiting and Retaining Staff in a Candidates’ Market: One Firm’s Story

With nearly every A/E firm in existence desperate to add technical staff, a strategic approach to recruitment and retention can be the difference between winning and losing in the battle for talent. In this issue of The Friedman File, we examine how the Foth Companies, a 675-person, multidiscipline science and engineering company, has been able to keep its turnover percentage low and its hiring success rate high across its 28 locations. Can an Interview Be “Enjoyable”? Jobseekers will tell you that the interview process can be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences that a human can endure. [...]

By Rich Friedman|2022-04-12T13:15:34-04:00April 2022|Case Studies, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Lessons in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: stories from the front lines

Even before much of the nation erupted into protest at the brutal death of George Floyd last May, social justice was on the minds and tongues of Americans to a degree unseen since the turbulent Sixties. For much of the past decade, in corporate boardrooms and small firms across the United States, leaders assessed and addressed their organization’s commitment to DEI – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In this issue of The Friedman File, we examine how socially conscious AEC firms are creating DEI initiatives that contribute to improvements in employee morale and overall financial and operational performance. [...]

By Rich Friedman|2024-06-21T13:10:44-04:00February 2021|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Leadership, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

Surprising truths about building a learning culture (one firm’s story)

The rate of change is moving at an increasing speed. Technology continues to change the way we design, build and run projects and our firms. In this issue of The Friedman File, we’re telling a story that we hope will inspire you to decide what kind of culture you want to build and be bold about going after it. It’s the story of how one firm has gone all-in on creating a culture of learning and innovation. They’re doing it in a way that is sometimes at odds with conventional wisdom— and growing a profitable business at [...]

By Rich Friedman|2024-06-21T13:10:51-04:00June 2019|Business Strategy, Case Studies, Leadership, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|

The one social media tool you must master

We’re switching gears with this issue of The Friedman File to address a question that often comes up during our training workshops and client engagements: What should we be doing with social media? Many A/E/C and environmental firms remain skeptical about social media—and that skepticism can be well-founded. While some firms have jumped in with both feet and even mastered this area, too many are overwhelmed or simply not sure where, or even IF, to focus their efforts. For most firms, creating a sustainable, realistic and effective social media strategy means starting small and mastering what we [...]

By Rich Friedman|2026-03-19T10:17:22-04:00October 2018|Business Development, Business Strategy, Marketing & Branding, Recruiting & Retaining Talent|