Acompany will not survive with great leadership alone. It is the winning combination of strong leadership and talented, dedicated employees that yields innovation and leads to success. And in times like these, a strong workforce is everything. So how can leaders in the engineering and architecture firms make sure they have the “best in the business” to keep their companies propelling forward? That’s what the 10th annual Best Firms To Work For Summit will answer.

The 2010 Best Firms To Work For Summit — presented by CE Newsmagazine, Structural Engineering & Design magazine, The Zweig HR Letter, and the Environmental Business Journal— showcases the initiatives companies are taking to retain talented employees, keep them motivated, and run successful businesses in the new economy.

The two-day symposium, held Sept. 28–29 at The Palazzo hotel in Las Vegas, was designed to deliver critical tips, strategies, and tactics to architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firm leaders and human resource professionals. Last year’s event brought more than 100 attendees including presidents, principals, human resource directors, business development managers, and other leaders looking to learn the essential elements for attracting and retaining top talent.

Attendees can customize their agenda with a range of concurrent focus sessions. The first day of the conference will feature sessions such as “Keeping employees engaged in an age of disruption,” “Balancing benefits and your firm’s bottom line,” “Business growth lifecycles: How successful leaders adapt at each stage,” “Generation X/Y and the aging workforce: Optimizing collaboration,” “Improve your firm by improving your value to clients,” “Using 360 feedback as a strategic tool: The dos and don’ts of 360 style performance evaluations,” and “Dollars and sense: The business case for making training a core competency,” among many other sessions. There will even be a session about how the TV show “The Office” is affecting your office.

The keynote session of the day, presented by Mark Young, managing director of Future Considerations, is called “Unleashing bright people’s potential: Building a powerful organizational culture and boosting the bottom line using authentic and democratic principles.” This session calls out the importance of attracting and inspiring quality employees, and introduces key principles and practices for building a high-authenticity, high-engagement organization that can generate superior commitment and performance among employees.

And on the first night of the conference, after much assessment and deliberation by a judging panel, the 2010 Best Firms To Work For ranking will be announced. Based on responses to both corporate and employee surveys, finalists will learn their final rankings on this prestigious list. This honor proves that the winning firms have discovered a successful combination of benefits, compensation, management style, work environment, culture, perks, and professional development that effectively serves clients and wins acclaim from employees. Even in these challenging times for AEC firms, more than 150 sought this accolade and applied. It will be a night of fun and celebration for all attending the summit, but especially for those whose firms made the list!

The second and final day of the conference will feature the following sessions: “Differentiating your business through strategic talent management,” “Leadership development: It’s not just for the senior leaders,” “Not about the money: How creative social responsibility drives recruitment and retention (case study), “Plan, process, and tools: Leading a learning organization to drive performance and engagement,” “Social media and the AEC enterprise,” and “Collaboration: Value change and the AEC organization.”

To be part of this relevant and inspiring event, register online at www.bestfirmssummit.com/registration.html, or call 224-632-8212 (Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:30 CT). Registration fees before Aug. 31 for conference attendees are $895 for the first attendee and $795 for additional attendees from the same firm. After Aug. 31, the fees are $995 for the first attendee and $895 for additional attendees from the same firm. Best Firms entrants will receive a discounted rate of $795 for the first Best Firms entrant and $695 for additional Best Firms entrants. Any questions should be directed to Stagnito Media at 224-632-8212 or bestfirmsummit@stagnitomedia.com.

A limited number of rooms are reserved at The Palazzo hotel at a discounted rate of $159 per night. Attendees should indicate to the hotel that they are with the 2010 Best Firms To Work For Summit and book their rooms before Sept. 3, 2010, to receive the discounted rate. To make a reservation, click the link on www.bestfirmssummit.com/hotel-and-travel.html or call the hotel directly at 866-263-3001.

For more information about the event, visit www.bestfirmssummit.com