2011-2012 Fast Growth Firm Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms
Zweigwhite, January 2012, Pages: 300
Even during the recent economic downturn, there are firms in the A/E industry that still report continued growth. How do fast-growing architecture, engineering, and environmental consulting firms do business? What are they doing that you're not? Find out with the 2011-2012 Fast Growth Firm Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms. This new publication covers every area of management for leaders of design and environmental firms. Whether you want answers to questions on financial performance, marketing, information technology, project management, compensation, billing practices, or other issues, you'll find it all in this one report. Statistics are shown for the fastest-growing firms separately from the overall sample so you can benchmark your firm against the most successful firms in the design and environmental consulting industry.
The 2011-2012 Fast Growth Firm Survey will help you:
- Find out how fast-growth firms operate in every area of firm management—from project management to ownership to compensation
- Make sure your firm is aiming for higher than the industry averages when setting goals for growth in 2012 and beyond
- Find out how much the fastest-growing firms are spending on marketing, information technology, compensation, and more
- Get the secrets on how the fastest-growing firms handle billing, personnel policies & procedures, branch offices, and other areas of management
- Make sure your firm is setting high standards and not settling to be just "average!"
How do the most successful architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms do business? What are they doing that you're not? Find out with the 2011-2012 Fast Growth Firm Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms. This new publication will tell you everything you need to know about how firms just like yours are growing.
The Fast Growth Firm Survey is a compilation of all the major management topics covered in ten of ZweigWhite's survey reports conducted throughout 2011. In addition to compiling survey data from other reports, we also broke data down by the overall sample compared to the fastest-growing firms. Whether you're a firm president, CEO, vice president, principal, or division or department director or manager, you're going to want to see these survey results!
Topics covered include:
Financial performance: How does your firm stand up to your competition? Get hard data on revenue per employee, profit margins, multipliers, average collection period, and more for the top firms in the industry. You'll find out where you're ahead, and where you're behind.
Marketing: How much do fast-growth firms spend on marketing? What kind of hit rates do they get on their proposals? How do they use web sites, newsletters, press releases, and other marketing tools? Find out how the top firms in the industry handle these issues and make sure your firm is on track for marketing success!
Billing practices: How much should you be charging for your employees' time? Compare fast-growth firms' billing rates for every level of employee—from clerks and design/technical staff to project managers, associates, and principals—to your firm's rates. Should you be charging more?
Information technology: IT can be a costly expense for many firms. But how much is really necessary to invest? Where's the boundary between investments that will improve productivity down the line and those that just break the bank? Find out if fast-growth firms typically spend more or less on IT than average firms. Data on hardware and software systems, project web sites, and IT staff are also included.
Compensation: Are you paying your top managers enough? Too much? Find out how much financial managers, HR directors, IT managers, marketing directors, project managers, branch office managers, and principals are earning in the most successful design and environmental firms. Make sure you're paying enough to attract the best people—people that will help your firm achieve success!
Also included are data on mergers & acquisitions; project management; principals and owners; personnel policies, procedures and benefits; and incentive compensation.
If you want to set your firm up for success in 2012 and beyond, don't miss out on this comprehensive report! You won't find another book that covers every area of design and environmental firm management AND shows how fast-growth firms handle business!
Chapter 1 - About the Survey
Introduction
Data collection
Definitions
Data sources
Chapter 2 - Financial Performance
Profit/loss
EBITDA margins
Net service revenue per employee
Returns on equity and assets
Debt to equity ratios
Contribution rate (gross profit margin)
Overhead rates
Current and quick ratios
Average collection period and average payment period
Multipliers, chargeability, revenue factor
Staff ratio and turnover rates
Bonus costs
Chapter 3 - Billing Practices
Hourly billing rates
Updating billing rates
Policies on subconsultants
Reimbursable expenses
Setting fees
Contracts and retainers
Invoices
Collection procedures
Chapter 4 - Project Management
Project team organization
Principal-in-charge
Project budgets and schedules
Job numbers
Out-of-scope requests
Project management updates
Project performance appraisals
Soliciting client feedback
Scheduling systems
Project management software
Project manager training
Quality assurance
Project manager work habits
Chapter 5 - Marketing
Marketing staff
Marketing director responsibilities
New versus repeat clients
Web sites
CRM databases
Marketing material distribution
Press releases
Marketing newsletters
Proposals
Marketing budgets and spending
Chapter 6 - Information Technology
Operating systems
Wide area networks (WANs)
Internet connections and web sites
Project web sites
E-mail
Videoconferencing
Remote network access
IT management and training
Disaster recovery
Software licensing
IT staff
Opinions about IT
IT spending
Chapter 7 - Mergers & Acquisitions
Recent M&A activity
Merger & acquisition details
Overall merger & acquisition success
Future M&A plans
Projected firm sale prices
Chapter 8 - Principals, Partners & Owners
Ownership
Company cars and auto allowances
Perks
Work habits
Personal digital assistants (PDAs)
Background
Age, race & gender
Attitudes toward fellow principals
Chapter 9 - Policies, Procedures & Benefits
Human resources staff
Human resources director
Recruiting/human resources budget
Job market
Telecommuting
Work-related travel
Performance appraisals
Compensation policies
Overtime pay
401(k) plans
Medical/dental insurance
Paid time off
Sick leave
Disability insurance and maternity/paternity leave
Tuition reimbursement
Professional registration
Feedback on benefits
Chapter 10 - Incentive Compensation
Incentive compensation spending
Future incentive compensation spending
Most successful incentive compensation plans
Profit sharing
Hiring bonuses
Performance-based bonuses
Project bonuses & sales commissions
Chapter 11 - Management Compensation
Project managers
Financial managers
IT managers
HR directors
Marketing directors
Branch office managers
Principals
Tables
1-1 Sample sizes
2-1 Profi t/loss
2-2 EBITDA margins
2-3 Net service revenue per employee
2-4 Returns on equity and assets
2-5 Debt to equity ratios
2-6 Contribution rate (gross profi t margin)
2-7 Overhead rates
2-8 Current and quick ratios
2-9 Average collection and average payment periods
2-10 Multipliers, chargeability, and revenue factor
2-11 Staff ratio and turnover rates
2-12 Bonus costs
3-1 Hourly billing rates
3-2 Updating billing rates
3-3 Policies on subconsultants
3-4 Reimbursable expenses
3-5 Setting fees
3-6 Contracts and retainers
3-7 Invoices
3-8 Collection procedures
4-1 Project team organization
4-2 Principal-in-charge
4-3 Project budgets
4-4 Job numbers
4-5 Out-of-scope requests
4-6 Project management updates
4-7 Project performance appraisals
4-8 Soliciting client feedback
4-9 Client follow-up
4-10 Scheduling systems
4-11 Project management software
4-12 Project management training
4-13 Quality assurance
4-14 Project manager work habits
5-1 Marketing staff
5-2 Marketing director responsibilities
5-3 Tracking new and repeat business
5-4 Web sites
5-5 CRM databases
5-6 Direct marketing materials
5-7 Press releases
5-8 Marketing newsletters
5-9 Proposals
5-10 Marketing budgets and spending
6-1 Operating systems
6-2 Web sites
6-3 Project web sites
6-4 Videoconferencing and remote network access
6-5 IT management and training
6-6 Disaster recovery
6-7 Software licensing
6-8 IT staff
6-9 IT spending
7-1 Merger & acquisition history
7-2 Future merger & acquisition plans
8-1 Ownership
8-2 Company cars and auto allowances
8-3 Perks
8-4 Work habits
8-5 Background
8-6 Age, race & gender
8-7 Attitudes toward fellow principals
9-1 Human resources staff
9-2 Human resources directors
9-3 Recruiting/human resources budget
9-4 Telecommuting
9-5 Work-related travel
9-6 Performance appraisals
9-7 Compensation policies
9-8 Overtime pay
9-9 401(k) plans
9-10 Medical/dental insurance
9-11 Paid time off
9-12 Sick leave
9-13 Disability insurance and maternity/paternity leave
9-14 Tuition/fee reimbursement
9-15 Professional registration
10-1 Incentive compensation spending
10-2 Future incentive compensation spending
10-3 Most successful incentive compensation plans
10-4 Profi t sharing
10-5 Hiring bonuses
10-6 Performance-based bonuses
10-7 Project bonuses & sales commissions
11-1 Project manager compensation
11-2 Financial director compensation
11-3 Information technology director compensation
11-4 Human resources director compensation
11-5 Marketing director compensation
11-7 Principal compensation
Charts
2-1 Profi t/loss per employee
2-2 EBITDA margins
2-3 Net service revenue per employee
2-4 Returns on owners' equity
2-5 Debt to equity ratio
2-6 Contribution rate
2-7 Overhead rates
2-8 Current and quick ratios
2-9 Average payment period
2-10 Target and net multipliers
2-11 Staff growth rate
2-12 Bonus costs per employee
3-1 Firms standard markup for reimbursable expenses
4-1 Firms with a PIC role
4-2 Firms with a formal process for out-of-scope requests
4-3 Firms that use project management software
5-1 Proposal win rates
6-1 Web sites
6-2 Firms formal with user committees
7-1 M&A activity in fi rms' business plans
8-1 Principal chargeability
9-1 Percentage of total staff assigned to the HR department
9-2 Total HR spending per employee
9-3 Percentage of employees working overtime
10-1 Total incentive compensation spending per employee
10-2 Most successful incentive compensation plans
10-3 Percentage of profi ts fi rms set aside for profi t-sharing pool
10-4 Firms that offer signing bonuses
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