Ingram's May 2023

LARGE COMPANIES BLACK & VEATCH

HENDERSON ENGINEERS The benefits of employee ownership are on full display at Henderson Engineers in Lenexa. The firm, with a staff of 926, is 100 percent employ ee-owned, so its profitability and growth impact the personal bottom line of its employee-owners, regardless of title or rank. In addition to a wage structure benchmarked against industry standards, Henderson employees enjoy a 401(k) retirement plan with a match of up to 5.25 percent of each employee’s annual contributions. They also have access to health savings and flexible spending accounts that are part of the firm’s robust health benefits. Henderson also supports wellness activities through monthly challenges and complimentary access to an onsite gym at its headquar ters. In addition to paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave, employees enjoy the security of health, dental, vision, and disability insurance. The firm just switched over to the ESOP structure in 2021, but clearly, lead ership had done its homework on workplace design. Integral to that is frequent, transparent employee communications. One tool for those is a weekly companywide email from CEO Kevin Lewis. Complementing that are daily intranet announcements, quarterly all-company meetings, and ongoing Company Conversations (bite-size video/audio updates). Each employee has direct access to executives, and questions are always wel come. “The goal,” Lewis says, “is to ensure employees feel invested in the success of the firm.” Maximizing that investment requires a comprehen sive training program, and the firm provides ongoing training for seven distinct engineering disciplines to keep employees sharp and share best practices. Inclusivity is a core value supported by three people-resource groups tasked with fostering inclusion at every level. The groups, with more than 100 members each, have an ongoing open chat, host events to cultivate inclusivity and partner together to share information firmwide.

With offices strewn over every populated continent, engineering giant Black & Veatch brings focus to 10,400 employees by aligning mission, vision, and values. Those pillars drive innovation in the sustain able design of projects that can solve some of humanity’s most critical infrastructure challenges through a blend of entrepreneurship, collabo ration, accountability, safety, integrity, respect, and ownership. That last one is a key piece for the eighth-largest employee-owned firm in the U.S., with more than 7,000 employees in ownership ranks. From the corporate learning laboratory, where knowledge is shared and profes sionals are developed, to formal programs ranging from early to late career development, employee-owners find their fit in the company and explore new options through leadership training. Training is crucial for an organization that hired more than 1,400 professionals in 2022

BOOMING AGAIN | After several years of steady revenues, Black & Veatch is back in fast- -growth mode, and the hiring has followed: 1,400 last year, and even more in 2023.

and is expected to top that number this year. Large ESOP companies, by virtue of scale, help establish best practices for industry markers such as base compensation and benefits, and B&V is no exception. In addi- tion, employee-owners share in the financial rewards of their success. Annual ESOP contributions are influenced by performance, balance sheet strength, cash demands, investments required for growth, and other factors, yielding an annual contribution that allows participants to build long-term wealth. Physical, mental, and social health are support ed in various ways. A well-being digital platform provides professionals and their loved ones with personalized resources, support, and educa tion. There are concierge advocacy services providing benefits support in over 200 languages to professionals, their dependents, parents, and parents-in-law. Maternity/parental/adoption paid leaves support growing families, as do fertility benefits, lactation support, caregiving telehealth services, and a legal plan that covers parents. And an em- ployee assistance program offers free counseling services and online resources. The workplace setting, like many companies post-pandemic, is a hybrid environment allowing professionals to work in ways that let them balance personal well-being and professional success. Stain ability-driven global megatrends such as electrification, decarbonization, digitization, and resilience are reshaping the critical infrastructure mar kets, generating impressive growth for a firm more than a century old. Operating units focused on energy, water, and communications infrastructure led to record revenue of $4.3 billion last year. On the community service front, local and national organizations benefit from B&V philanthropy, including the United Way, Operation Breakthrough, STEM Education organizations, Water for People, Engineers without Borders, and the fight against human trafficking. In 2022, the firm provided 181 grants and topped $27 million in total giving to United Way—with two-thirds of those grant recipients in Kansas City.

The company offers “flex hours” so employees can manage work and per- sonal commitments. Full-time employees must work 80 hours every two weeks, but they can “flex” their time across that period. Henderson moved to fully remote during the pandemic and has since introduced hybrid schedules and remote working arrangements. The ESOP structure carries forward organizational success that has seen a doubling in revenue and employment levels over the past decade, resulting from keen strategic planning and placing innovation and client experience at the center of business operations. Completing the cultural mosaic is community ser vice; giving back has been part of Henderson’s culture since its founding in 1970. Employee receives 16 hours of paid community service every year to volunteer as they wish. This is in addition to a foundation that fulfills grant requests nationwide across four philanthropic pillars: education, arts and culture, environment and sustainability, health and human services. (Back row, left to right): Patrick Mills , Chief Information Officer; Mindy Garrett , Chief People Officer; Dustin Schafer , Chief Technical Officer; Kevin Lewis , CEO & President; and Jason Wollum , Chief Sector Officer. (Front row, left to right): Darrell Stein , Chief Opera tions Officer; Steve Hancock , President of Henderson Building Solutions; Robin Broder Gibson , Chair of the Board and Chief Marketing Officer; Tiffany Arnold , Chief Legal Officer; and Dana Kettle , Chief Financial Officer.

18

I ngr am ’ s

May 2023

Ingrams.com