As originally seen in YAF CONNECTION

Americans, culturally, are generally optimistic.  Sure there are the short sellers, but most of us are long the American way.  Because of this, there is an expectation that growth in all forms - job, economic, status, wages - will just always happen and the US will remain atop the global marketplace.  However, hidden in the expectation of unending growth are two lurking phenomena: bubbles and cycles.  From an economic perspective, they both can be managed with the right business savvy.  It is possible for a business to survive the troughs of a down cycle or a bubble burst by being diversified, nimble or innovative.  But if that plan includes trimming staff, inflexible hours or furloughs, it can cause talent to leave the profession.  If we want to recruit talent into the profession and retain them, there must be a plan in place for individual growth and development in addition to business or billings growth.

Two of the possible issues that cap the potential of architecture firms are common problems for most small businesses in America.  The first is that our business plans (if there is one) primarily address what it takes to stay in business; get work, churn, repeat.  If that model isn’t broken, why try to fix it?  That is a view shared and is human nature.  The problem occurs when the system breaks down ever so slightly and the maintenance required to fix it is deferred.  Think check engine lights, worn tires, or a leaky faucet.  They are pesky issues that in our minds just have to last one more [insert length here - inspection, winter, season].  As the system continues to break down, it increases the risk of catastrophic failure or at very least, inopportune inconveniences.  The same is true of architectural firms with employees.  If growth stalls, it might not always be visible and key personnel may look for greener pastures.  Firm leaders can’t use the excuse they are too busy managing projects or cash flow and allow the future health of their firm and profession to fall into disrepair.

The potential neglect of employees is intensified by the second possible issue - lack of dedicated human resources.  Large corporations have teams or divisions dedicated to leadership development, succession planning, and cultural oversight.  Architecture firms have benefit managers, if we’re lucky.  Unfortunately, there is no immediate cure for this.  Dedicated positions to develop talent are generally a product of firm size or a willingness to invest non-billable hours to projects.  This puts the onus on firm principals and team leaders to shape firm culture and develop their future leaders.  With the aforementioned issue of limited resources, the likelihood that it is not addressed greatly increases.

The long term fix requires dedication, investment, and an understanding of motivation.  It also requires a plan to address the three key concepts of recruitment, retention, and retraining.  Culturally, work/life balance has been the loudest benefits crowed about and it has been vigorously associated with the Millennial generation.  However, it is just one piece of what motivates us and could broadly fall into either the recruitment or retention category.  Frequently, issues such as diversity, equity, types of work, types of client, challenging environments and/or leadership development are also important.  As firm leaders develop their next moves they should note that the AIA’s 2016-2020 Strategic Plan has also identified workforce development as a strategic initiative for the next five years.  It benefits the profession as a whole when future architects are recruited into the system, young architects and emerging professionals are retained by positive environments and those who left are retrained to perform at a high level.  

Growth doesn’t always happen on its own.  It’s possible to become complacent with success or blind to the small breakdowns that occur while running a firm.  Firm leadership must do their part to make architecture a profession worth pursuing and to differentiate themselves from their competitors.  If we want the talent pool to remain deep, it requires an investment on all of our parts to provide the challenging and productive environments desired by those who seek it.  Don’t ignore the check engine light.