Blog

Thought Leadership: A Key to Stellar Service

September 26, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Joseph Viscuso, P.E., PLS, ENV SP

Every year, our business units prepare “Business Development” plans. This year, one of the major takeaways from our plans was the importance of thought leadership. A deep dive into the plans identified more than 120 “thought leaders” within Pennoni.

As a firm with 56 years of history and experience, it is not just about WHAT we do, but HOW we market our services and deliver the final product to our clients. We find that this helps our firm provide stellar service and subsequently develop more business. While we have a stack of resumes of projects and services from across the U.S., it is not enough given the increased competition within our industry. Developing thought leaders is key to establishing your firm as the expert and the go-to professional for satisfying your clients’ needs.

There are a variety of channels that can be used to display their expertise. Websites, social media, blogs, presentations, and articles are critical. You should rely heavily on your firm’s thought leaders to share their knowledge and play an active role with things like speaking events, webinars, guest writers for industry publications, external leadership roles, and mentoring.

Great Managers Communicate Differently With Different People by Doing This

September 20, 2022 By EMI

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” ~ Tony Robbins

I pulled the quote above because I am reading a book entitled “Principles: Life and Work” by Ray Dalio that has made me consider this topic in our coaching and training work. Dalio is an American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. One of the biggest takeaways for me from the book is Dalio’s thoughts on how his firm successfully uses an array of assessments to ensure that they have the right people in the right seats, and that they are communicating effectively.

Dalio suggests that every individual is wired differently, and if we don’t try to understand each of our employees’ strengths, tendencies, and thought patterns, how do we know if we are putting them in a position to succeed or fail?

What if we took the time to gather some data that would help our employees work much more productively together? Isn’t that what engineers do? Use data to improve systems? Isn’t your company one big machine? Yes, it’s made up of talented individuals, but the machine needs to operate efficiently as a whole.

Here Are a Few Examples of What an Assessment Might Tell You:

How Engineering Firms Can Prevent Client Churn

September 19, 2022 By EMI

Clients are arguably the most important aspect of running a successful and healthy engineering firm. What’s even more important is retaining them. Did you know it can be anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one? So, how are you preventing client churn at your firm? On the surface, it can feel like there’s little control a firm can have over what its clients do, but in reality, improving retention starts internally.

Keep on reading to learn our tips for improving your internal operations to boost client retention at your firm.
[Read more…] about How Engineering Firms Can Prevent Client Churn

8 Tips to Getting the Most Out of Your Engineering Career and Life

September 12, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Pamela A. Scott

Is this you? Do you feel like the hamster going round and round on the wheel and getting nowhere in your engineering career and life?

What are you doing to make the most out of what you have in front of you right now? Can you afford to wait until the world gets nice again, whenever that’s going to be?

I can’t.

Engineers, NOW is the time to DO something — get off the hamster wheel and act. Make something happen.

Here Are 8 Tips That You Can Use to Help You Get off That Wheel:

1. Do a Reality Check on Your Strategic Plan

Pull out your strategic plan for 2022. What projects are in limbo? Maybe they got put on hold because the key players were swamped and didn’t have time to work on those earlier. Which ones could or should be handled now because the key players have more flexibility?

2. Reach Out to Clients

Like All Professionals, Engineers Quit Managers Not Companies

September 7, 2022 By EMI

This article was originally posted on LinkedIn here.

There is an infamous saying that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately:

People Quit Managers, Not Companies

I’ve spent the last 10 years traveling to over 30 U.S. states speaking and training thousands of engineering professionals, and I can attest to the truth of this statement — that engineers do quit managers, not companies.

In fact, a study by Gallup concluded that one in two people admitted to having left a job to get away from a bad manager, and 70% of the factors that contribute to your happiness at work are directly related to your manager.

Why Does This Matter to Your Firm?

3 Ways Engineers Can Provide Stellar Client Service

September 5, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest post by Tiffani Teachey

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou

As an engineer, providing excellent client service is essential for your career. When clients are happy, they are more likely to recommend your services to others and continue working with you. But what does it mean to provide stellar client service? Delivering stellar client service is essential for all professionals, especially engineers. Engineers have the technical expertise and knowledge to solve complex problems and provide valuable solutions for their clients. By following these three tips, engineers can deliver outstanding client service that will exceed client expectations. Keep reading to learn more!

Engineers can provide stellar client service through the following tips:

Respond quickly to client inquiries
Clearly communicate project updates and timelines
Offer suggestions for how clients can improve their product or service

1. Respond Quickly to Client Inquiries

The Five-Day Week Is a Construct, so Why Not a Four-Day Week?

August 29, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest post by Dr. Rae Taylor

Maybe I should start by saying that I am all for the four-day workweek/three-day weekend. If that makes it sound like I’m trying to get out of work, I’d like to point out that I have been called a workaholic by three different bosses. In fact, one of those bosses refused my request to go part time because “part time would mean I start working 40 hours a week. And that’s still not right.”

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Isn’t this the person who just reminded us about the shortage of engineers? And now she wants to let them work less?” Yes, I did just do that, and thank you for reading and remembering, but maybe this new topic could be one step in helping solve that problem. If engineers are retiring early, leaving to change careers, or not entering the workforce at all, then maybe we need to rethink fundamental things like the standard workload.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and it’s a real concern that I think keeps getting overlooked. And frankly, this highlights the relatively shortsighted nature of business. Engineering, no matter the subdiscipline, requires a lengthy training process. I remember sitting through talks at university on how to gain chartership and being a little crushed to think that after all these years of school and exams, I would finally get to go out into the world of work, but would still have to do school and exams for yet another three to … infinity years. If we can’t get engineers trained faster (which we can’t), then we have to try our best to keep the ones we have. We need ways to keep people motivated and productive, and ways to reduce the burnout rate.

So from the woman who brought you “Networking Is Hard, but Chatting Is Easy”, we now get “The five-day week is a construct, so why not a four-day week?”

Engineer Your Own Success: 7 Key Elements to Creating an Extraordinary Career

August 23, 2022 By EMI

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The information in this article pertains to engineers and other STEM professionals, but can be useful to anyone classifying themselves as “a professional.” I believe that if these seven steps are followed by a professional, they will be successful. By successful, I mean, they will achieve all their professional goals. This article was originally posted on LinkedIn here.

First of all, let me say that you must take your career into your own hands. Too many professionals wait for their employers to give them a raise or promotion. Don’t wait for anyone. Follow these seven steps and you will be able to engineer your own success:

1: Set Clear Goals

Most engineers don’t set goals, and even if they do, they are not clear and aligned with their values. You must take the time as early as possible in your career to consider your values and set clear goals. Strive to understand WHY these goals are important. For example, if you say your long-term goal is to be a principal in an engineering firm, you better know WHY — and the answer shouldn’t be “to make a lot of money.” You need to have a deep reason for wanting something, or else you won’t sustain the motivation to pursue it.

2: Obtain the Right Credentials

Communicating Process Is a Powerful Differentiator

August 22, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest post by Gabe Lett, FSMPS, CPSM, LPC

I wonder where Sue is in completing that draft? Does Frank know his quality check is due this afternoon? Does Lynn remember our grant application is due this Friday? If others are having to ask these questions about your responsibilities, you are not communicating process.

Communicating process is about letting others know where you are in the process of delivering requested information or in completing a task. Most never think about communicating process because they do not see the value in it. Yet, when you communicate the process, it lets others know that you are working on what they need and whether you are on target or running behind. This is true for both external clients and internal colleagues.

What Makes Communicating Process a Differentiator?

Because most people do not think to communicate process, when someone does and makes a habit of it, it sets them apart. Think about colleagues in your professional role who are good at letting you know where they are in their process. Put yourself in the client’s shoes. How would you feel as a client if the consultant you hired kept you informed of their process? You would feel important and well-informed. You would feel that there was a partnership in the completion of your project.

Embrace the Power of Networking to Unlock Opportunities and Insights

August 15, 2022 By EMI

This is a guest post by Jeff Perry, MBA

“Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.” ~ Michele Jennae

Networking and its validity or importance is written and talked about extensively — but what do you actually do about it?

While I am a proponent of networking both inside and outside your organization, this article will be mostly focused on networking with those you don’t work with currently. You need to look outside and learn from people who are in different companies, roles, and environments from you.

Doing so will expand your insights, understanding, and opportunities beyond what you can do if you are only creating connections inside your current organization.

Networking on the Outside

Let’s look at a few reasons why establishing your network outside of your organization can be helpful. Reasons include, but are not limited to: