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Real-Life Success Stories
Brewer & Escalante - Training and Benefits Promote Culture of Customer Service
Brewer & Escalante, a Houston civil engineering firm, was founded in 1984 and was named by CE News magazine in 2002 as one of the 25 best civil engineering firms to work for in the United States.
Business Model
Brewer & Escalante provides engineering and architectural services to private, public and institutional real estate developers. A strong corporate culture emphasizes training and education, and the company views its employees as one of its most important assets. Equal emphasis is placed on providing clients with superior customer service.
Challenges
Brewer & Escalante competes for top talent in a major engineering center full of large firms offering top-notch benefits. David Brewer, principal and CEO, says, “It looked like I would need to hire career-type people who would have to get benefits equal to what the better engineering firms could provide.”
The firm began seeking human resources help, and criteria included:
- finding services at a reasonable cost
- maintaining the corporate culture that contributes heavily to the firm’s success
Solution: Administaff
Administaff's services reinforce the Brewer & Escalante culture, while offering tangible value. “What they propose to do for our employees is very close to what we want to do for them,” Brewer says.
A quality benefits package allows Brewer & Escalante to be more competitive. “I suppose we could offer one or two or three of the employee benefits and maybe get close to what Administaff provides employees,” Brewer says, “but I don't think we could provide our employees with all the benefits and services Administaff provides.”
All of Brewer & Escalante’s employees take a core group of classes through Administaff on topics that include communication skills, time management and constructive feedback. For more technical training, employees attend classes through colleges and universities and receive tuition reimbursement.
Administaff is involved in Brewer & Escalante’s recruitment and hiring efforts from screening resumes to evaluating applicants to performing background checks, “things a business is apt to overlook or not want to do,” Brewer says. Administaff has coached the firm on how to write employment offer letters, on its employee handbook and even on conducting terminations.
The annual Administaff Client Conference is a favorite of Brewer, who considers the speakers on leadership and corporate culture a valued resource. The Administaff emphasis on service is also compatible with his philosophy. “They’re trying to do with their clients what we’re trying to do with ours,” he says.
The engineering firm recently conducted a cost analysis to determine the value of their Administaff services, which run them about $36,000 yearly. Of the results, Brewer says, “They’re providing us with all the recruiting, consulting, training and advice, and all the other services we get, such as cutting checks, keeping track of payroll and reporting to the government.
“There’s nobody who makes $36,000 a year who has all the skills Administaff has and who knows how to keep you out of hot water in the HR areas. You’d have to pay $200,000 and probably still wouldn’t have it all.”
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