Considered by some to be a classic "chicken and egg" scenario, do improvements lead to growth or does growth demand improvements? Whether referring to a company or a recognition program, improvement and growth are both imperative for long-term success and dependant upon each other, regardless of which comes first.

Data collected from firms that rank on the Best Structural Engineering Firms To Work For list confirm this. In last year’s ranking, 93 percent of the 30 firms that made the list reported implementing at least one improvement over the previous 12 months; 100 percent of the top 10 firms reported this.

Focusing on the types of improvements made is also telling. While 73 percent of the ranked firms responded that they had improved employee benefits—the category with the highest percentage of improvements, only 43 percent of those same firms reported improving compensation. Contrastingly, 70 percent of the top 10 firms reported improving compensation. Furthermore, of the 30 ranked firms, 67 percent reported improvements to their professional development efforts and 57 percent have improved recruiting and retention practices. Again, setting themselves apart, an impressive 90 percent of firms that placed in the top 10 reported improving their professional development offerings and 80 percent improved their recruiting and retention efforts.

There is also a strong correlation to growth: Thirty-five percent of the ranked firms reported average annual gross growth revenue between 21 percent and 40 percent over the past three fiscal years, with another 33 percent reporting growth between 10 percent and 20 percent.

To this end, we are constantly improving the Best Firms To Work For program and are pleased that it has grown considerably since its inception in 2000. Last year, 34 architectural firms and 30 structural engineering firms were recognized alongside 55 civil engineering firms. This year, the program will acknowledge firms that provide environmental services. In this new category, environmental services are broadly defined to include environmental consulting and engineering, remediation/industrial services, testing and analytical services, and hazardous waste management services, and will be considered separately from the category of civil engineering. Additionally, if a firm meets the criteria for both environmental service firms and civil engineering firms, it may apply for both.

Moreover, as the awareness of sustainable design and "green" practices permeate the mainstream conscience, we have added several questions to both the corporate survey and the employee satisfaction survey to evaluate if and how a firm is responding to this trend responsibly.

If your firm has participated in the past, I encourage you to participate again. If your firm is new to the process, I urge you to become involved in the program. After all, there is no better way to evaluate your firm’s practices against the best in the business. An inevitable byproduct of participation is improvement, which leads to growth … or is it the other way around?
The applications to be considered as one of the Best Firms To Work For are due by April 4, 2008. Visit www.gostructural.com/bestfirm to download and complete the application today!

The 2008 Best Firm To Work For Summit will be held at the Hyatt Fisherman’s Warf on Sept. 18-19 in San Francisco. Make plans now for an event you won’t want to miss. Visit www.BestFirmSummit.com for more information.