Businesses grow for a variety of reasons, but Geotechnical Consultants
Inc. has expanded because its executives treat employees with respect, and
they, in turn, build lasting relationships
with their clients.
Although David Caprio was named president of the Westerville-based company just
last year, he has been with the company for
15 years, not unlike many of his co-workers.
Anniversary pins abound at the geotechnical engineering and environmental consulting firm, which also has offices in
Boardman, Ohio, and Charlotte, N.C.
“We tend to give people at all levels
a lot of responsibility and allow staff
to make decisions,” Caprio says.
“This makes them feel like they are
part of the company and truly contribute to company growth.”
The 86 employees of Geotechnical
Consultants Inc. have grown revenue from $6.4 million in 2004 to
$8.4 million last year.
Smart Business spoke with Caprio
about how he stays true to his staff
members so they remain devoted to
his company.
Q: How have you grown your company?
We have very loyal staff members
who understand what we’re trying
to do for our clients, and we are
loyal back to them. We support their
endeavors, on a personal level and
on a business level. We believe in
training, education and family.
In return, they are very loyal to
us. They support us with their
efforts, and they promote our company.
Having a staff that believes in what the company does and portrays that to the client is
really important.
Q: How do you create a staff that believes
in your vision?
We keep telling them it’s all about service
and doing a good job for the client. The
client is our bread and butter.
We have a very open company with an
open-door policy. Anybody can talk to
anybody in our company and get advice
on a professional level. If people have personal issues, we’re behind them, and
we support them.
Q: How do you support your staff?
Education is really important, and it’s
important to give people that opportunity.
People come to us and say, ‘I’d like to take
this course,’ so we work with them on that
and encourage them. If they’re smarter and
if they’ve got more knowledge that positions
them to do their job better, we’re behind it.
Another thing we do to support our
employees is at the end of the year, when
we look at the revenue and the financial
statements, we give a lot of money back to
the employees. Every employee in this
company gets bonuses twice a year, participates in profit-sharing and has an opportunity to buy stock. Those things help promote a loyal staff.
We have two parties a year, and at the
summer picnic, we have given pins for
five, 10, 15, 20 years of service. People
come here, and we can’t get rid of them.
I’m saying that jokingly, but to see 10-year or 15-year people here is not unusual
because it’s a great place to work. We treat
them right personally, and we treat them
right financially because those are two
things that are important to them.
We don’t work people to death here.
Overtime is not a requirement for the professional staff. People know they have a
job, and as long as they do their job, the
company’s profitable and the client is
happy, that’s what matters.
Q: How do you communicate your open-door policy to your staff?
We’re not a company of people who
sit in cubicles and stay there eight
hours to do their job. We’re a very
interrelated and interactive company. I
walk around the office all the time and
talk to everybody.
My office literally does not have a
door on it. When I was named president, this was my space, and I never
changed because I like where I’m situated in the office.
I started as an engineer, so I had a relationship with a lot of people, and there
was no reason for that to change. People
have learned to respect the work I did, so
they understand me professionally.
They know me as a person. I’m pretty
level-headed professionally, and they
know I’m not one to put the company in
a position of liability.
Q: What advice would you share with
other leaders of fast-growing companies?
The only thing I’ve regretted is handling
a situation wrong. When a situation arises
— just like you do with e-mail — sit back
and think about it before hitting the ‘send’
key. Make sure it’s a good decision, and
also think about it from a staff standpoint.
How will this decision affect other people? In the end, if you make a mistake or
have wronged somebody, you’ve got to be
able to admit it and change it.
We’re all people doing the best we can,
and executives should treat everybody
with respect and know that employees
are no different than we are. That puts it
all in perspective.
HOW TO REACH: Geotechnical Consultants Inc., (614) 895-1400 or www.gci2000.com