Forbes & Dunagan

The staff at Forbes & Dunagan has more than 70 of years combined structural engineering experience. They attribute much of their success to developing working relationships with clients and the project team. Forbes & Dunagan is known for their ability to produce quality and thorough construction documents.

The Challenges

• Scheduling staff and projects

• Having clear expectations and communicating them

• Need to increase staff efficiency to free Partners for more marketing of quality projects

• Lack of engineering standards

• Staff turnover & accountability

The Process

Strategic Essentials, Inc. introduced the LMI Strategic Development Process to Forbes & Dunagan through a company-wide, custom in-house facilitation of the Effective Personal Productivity Program. The staff commented about a positive cultural shift. Special attention was next given toward employee retention through assessments, improved interview and hiring techniques, etc. The following year, the focus moved to improving ownership and upper management’s Supervisory Management techniques. Later, the focus was for staff to better understand their responsibilities through complete job descriptions and standards that enhance staff accountability and improve efficiency.

The Results

• A standardized project list/schedule was developed and implemented resulting in less stress within the company and increased client satisfaction.

• Company engineering standards are now in place for wood framed projects and the organization is working towards consistent standards for all projects.

• Employees now refer excellent engineering candidates to Forbes & Dunagan and retention has improved and negative turnover has been eliminated.

• The company now tracks and measures project timeliness, quality & profitability.

• The partners now focus on managing the business, servicing clients and marketing.

Client Feedback

“I have never been more excited about the future of the company. We have always had our goals but now we are able to more clearly define the path we need to take and effectively measure the progress we have made.”

Allen Forbes, Partner, Forbes & Dunagan

“The Effective Personal Productivity Program produced a 6 to 1 ROI. The work with Strategic Essentials, Inc. has been invaluable to create a company structure that will provide an environment where we can be successful as a company and individuals.”

Brian Dunagan, Partner, Forbes & Dunagan