An analysis of the 2014 award winning firms from the 2014 Hot Firm and A/E Industry Awards Conference in Beverly Hills, CA

1. Interesting data on
award winners
Presented by: Christina Zweig

2. First year to assemble winners
together in one place
#HotFirm #ZAwards

3. Industry Overview
Fast growth firms invest more in employees
Per employee Fast-growth Average Firms
Incentive Compensation ($) $5,667 $3,077
Bonuses ($) $5,153 $3,661
Bonuses (%) 4.3% 3.6%

4. Industry Overview
Fast growth firms invest more in employees
• More likely to provide cell phones to employees
• More likely to pay for personal tax return preparation
• Have lower turnover than average performing firms

5. Fast growth firms do not tolerate dead weight
“Do any of the principals in your firm abuse their
position by failing to pull their weight?”
Yes
Yes
Let’s focus on growth…

6. “Do any of the principals in your firm abuse their
position by failing to pull their weight?”
VOTE NOW
Text 22333
YES
2014yes
NO
2014no
What do you think?
Results are anonymous

7. Industry Overview
• Marketing director participates in the business planning process
• 63% Fast growth vs. 53% in average performing firms
• Use marketing intelligence (such as tracking website visits) far more than
average performing firms
Fast growth firms are marketing smart
“In the past three years, Michaels has grown customer share with major clients and added a large multi-
year project with expanded services to be leveraged with new clients. In late 2012 we rebranded with
great success. We are frequent speakers at regional and national conferences. We publish email
newsletters biweekly and blog weekly, without fail, with over 2000 touches a month.”
~Jill Hulst, human resources manager at Michaels Energy (La Crosse, WI)
#74 Says…

8. Industry Overview
• Successful firms were more likely to send periodic management updates to clients, and also
sent these updates more frequently.
• In the overall sample, 62% of average performing firms reported they sent periodic PM
updates, in comparison to 69% of fast growth firms.
• 39% of all firms sent the updates monthly, while 44% of fast growth firms had this
practice.
• Successful firms also invested in other ways to communicate with clients and other offices. 20%
more fast-growth firms reported having in-house video conferencing capabilities than the
overall sample.
Fast growth firms communicate more

9. Let’s focus on growth…
Overall company performance metrics
Fast growth firms Average performing firms
Net pre-tax, pre-bonus profit 16.2% 10%
Net service revenue per total staff $133,690 $126,840
Overhead rate 127.3% 163.5%
WIP 7 days 13 days
Chargability 59% 66.1%

10. Fast growth firms plan for M&A
“Does your strategic plan involve a merger and/or
acquisition in the next 5 years?”
Yes
Yes
Let’s focus on growth…

11. “Does your strategic plan involve a merger and/or
acquisition in the next 5 years?”
What do you think?
VOTE NOW
Text 22333
YES
2014ma
NO
2014org
Results are anonymous

12. Architecture Billings Index (ABI) is now at its highest level since 2007
Architecture Billings Index (ABI)
• July ABI score was 55.8, up noticeably from a mark of 53.5 in June. This
score reflects an increase in design activity (any score above 50 indicates
an increase in billings).
• Regional averages: Northeast (55.5), South (55.1), Midwest (54.1), West
(53.5)
• Sector index breakdown:
• Mixed practice (61.0)
• Multi-family residential (56.5)
• Institutional (53.3
• Commercial / industrial (51.2)
Source: AIA

13. Hot Firm Winner Headquarters
Hot Firm Winner Data
Hot Firms Profile

14. Hot
Firm
Rank
vs.
Firm
Size
#
of
Employees
10
1258
2505
3753
5000
Hot
Firm
Rank
0 25 50 75 100
Does size of firm impact growth?
• Firm sizes ranged from 14 to
17,000 people (not shown on
graph)
• Median firm size of 175 people.
• Average Firm size 610
Hot Firms Profile

15. 0.0%
15.0%
30.0%
45.0%
60.0%
ConsultingEng
EnvironmentalConsulting
Planning
E/A(primarilyengineering)
LandSurveyor
ConstructionManagement
LandscapeArchitecture
Engineering/Construction
Design/Build
Architecture
Other(pleasedescribe)
Geotechnical
InteriorDesign
Laboratory/Testing
A/E(primarilyarchitecture)
9%
13%13%
16%17%18%20%21%23%
29%31%31%
36%
41%
59%
Who are the 2014 Hot Firms?
Hot Firms Profile

16. How Hot Firms 3-year revenue growth has trended
Hot Firms Profile

17. What Hot Firm leaders are saying…
Hot Firms Profile
“One of the most important strategic decisions we made in 2013 was to reorganize
the Firm and unite all our activities worldwide under the banner WSP….As mentioned
in the 2013-2015 Global Strategic Plan, “the future we have defined is one of
increasing globalisation.” One of the measurements of success for the global strategy
is for our global clients to generate 10% of our global revenues.”
!
~Pierre Shiory, President and CEO, WSP Global, Inc.
#1

18. What Hot Firm leaders are saying…
Hot Firms Profile
“The main item that differentiates GATE from our competition is our focus on being a
best firm to work for in the eyes of our staff and being a best firm to work with in the
eyes of our Clients. This makes for an unbeatable reputation coupling the enthusiasm
and knowledge of our staff with a level of technical and project delivery that is focused
on ensuring Client satisfaction. This results in us winning 9 out of every 10 proposals
that we submit and gives us a strong project pipeline to support our ongoing growth.”
!
~Lee Jordan, operations manager, GATE, Inc.(Houston, TX)
Multidiscipline#3 #8

19. What Hot Firm leaders are saying…
Hot Firms Profile
“Westwood has been successful through our efforts toward achieving this vision by
attracting, retaining, and stimulating the best employees; building client relationships
by exceeding their expectations, and ensuring each employee is profitable. Our
renewed alignment and direction has helped each of our six markets to mature and
grow over the past three years.”
!
~Clare McDonough, Director, Marketing & Communications, Westwood Professional
Services (Eden Prairie, MN)
#6

20. How does firm age affect growth?
Hot Firms Profile
Hot Firm Ranking vs. Year Founded
YearFounded
1892
1922
1951
1981
2010
Ranking on 2014 Hot Firm List
1 26 51 75 100
• 32 years is the median age
of both 2014 Hot Firms and
Best Firms To Work For
• Oldest Hot Firm: Shive-
Hattery, Inc. founded 1892
(Cedar Rapids, IA)
• Oldest BFTWF:
FreemanWhite, Inc. founded
1892 (Charlotte, NC)

21. Organic growth is big for Hot Firms
Firm Rank vs. number of M&A
Hot Firms Profile

22. Best Firms Winner Headquarters
Best Firms To Work For Winner Data
Best Firms To Work For Profile

23. Best Firms To Work For Profile
Employee profile - Tenure
Total employees surveyed
= 6,941

24. Best Firms To Work For Profile
Employee profile - Satisfaction

25. Best Firms To Work For Profile
Employee profile - Satisfaction
• Overall, employees in the under 25 and over 67
age range gave more positive responses than
other age ranges.
• Overall, people in management were more likely to
give positive responses than other job roles.

26. Best Firms To Work For Profile
Words that describe the “personality” of Best Firms To Work For
• Client focused 68%
• Team oriented/
collaborative 50%
• Flexible 32%
• Supportive of
professional goals 31%
• Fun 11%
• Full of pride 10%
• Entrepreneurial 9%
• High-tech 8%
!
• Focused on integrity 31%
• Family atmosphere 25%
• Innovative 14%
• Respectful 13%
• Caring/philanthropic/
compassionate 11%
Each employee listed their top three

27. Best Firms To Work For Profile
Employee profile - Retention

28. Best Firms To Work For Profile
Employee satisfaction - Policies

29. Best Firms To Work For Profile
What flexible work options does your company provide?
Employee profile - Work options

30. Marketing Excellence Profile
Interesting metrics from award winners
Average campaign expense: $ 27,429
Campaign expense range of $0 (in-house marketing staff time only) to $103,000
Average price per impression was $0.99
Campaigns were intended for audiences as small as 250 and as large as 200,000 people.

31. “What are three words that you use to describe
your firm to clients?”
What do you think?
VOTE NOW
Text 22333
In the text type:
2014mktg (your word 1) (your word 2) (your word 3)
Results are anonymous

32. Conclusions
• Market is in a clear recovery but behind from pre-recession numbers
• Organic growth is a very common growth strategy among top growing firms
• Firms are investing heavily in workplace culture to motivate and inspire
employees
• Approaches to creating a great place to work are getting much more
creative
• Firms are getting more creative in marketing campaigns and getting good
results although many firms still describe themselves with similar words