How to select the best PMs Presented to Marc Bourget, PMP, P. Eng. MBA, LEED AP

Transcription

1 How to select the best PMs Presented to Marc Bourget, PMP, P. Eng. MBA, LEED AP February 19, 2015

2 Marc Bourget, PMP, P. Eng, MBA, LEED AP Director of Operations, PM Services at Morrison Hershfield 25+ years of experience in project management 20 years at Morrison Hershfield Located in Baton Rouge, LA Manage a team of 40 PMs and project coordinators Worked in the Industrial, Building and Facilities and Life Sciences projects up to $700M Experience throughout North America Extensive knowledge on working with diverse and remote teams to deliver integrated and complex projects

3 Corporate Profile Morrison Hershfield Morrison Hershfield is a North American consultant engineering firm Provider of integrated multi-disciplinary services for over 69 years Corporate Headquarters in Toronto and Altanta Permanent in-house resources: 900+ Employee ownership: 100% (200+shareholders) Our business is the provision and integration of specialized multi-disciplinary engineering Locations: Atlanta Baton Rouge Calgary Charlotte Edmonton Fort Lauderdale Houston Ottawa Portland Seattle St. John s Toronto Vancouver Victoria Winnipeg

4 Integrated Multi-Disciplinary Services Roles: Manager Project Manager Owner Advisor Technical Advisor Design Consultant Specialty Consultant Independent Advisor MH Solutions Buildings Water & Wastewater Transportation Land Development Technology & Telecommunications Energy & Industrial Environment Project Specific Service Bundles / Project Management Delivery & Procurement Strategies PPP Process and Advisory Project Definition & Feasibility Studies Environmental Assessment & Regulatory Compliance Planning, Design & Supervision Technical & Policy Advisory Sustainability & Life Cycle Analysis Due Diligence & Technical Peer Reviews Design and Construction Administration

5 Project Management - Projects Edmonton Clinic South Size of Project: $500 M MH Scope: Acted as the Owner s representative for cost and schedule Created Master Budget and Schedule Baseline Liaised between AHS and Construction Manager Ottawa LRT Size of Project: $2 B MH Scope: Provided full PM Services, including: project set up scope definition cost control schedule control procurement Fort Hills Oil Sands Size of Project: $200 M MH Scope: Performed infrastructure work on Fort Hills mine and upgrader Provided full PM and engineering services Tracked cost and schedule and flagged issues to AHS and AI quality control risk management documentation control

6 Morrison Hershfield 2008 Structure What s missing?

7 PM With This Structure PMs are assigned by who is available Anyone can be assigned Technical people are tagged with PM tasks Emphasis on the technical delivery Clients are always happy with the technical solutions but rarely happy about the delivery Projects are delivered in an inefficient manner We have project over budgets Schedules are almost never met Confusion about who are the stakeholders Etc.

8 Past Hiring Process Hired individuals for their technical expertise If we won a telecommunications design project, we would be looking for a telecom PM We ve always asked technical questions pertaining to the type of project we won Always verify their references (which are usually past employers) We barely asked any project management questions

9 We would have good technical people but the delivery was still difficult We would not make major improvements related to project financials, schedule, communications, etc. We ended up with a mix bag of PMs (the good, the bad and the ugly) We kept telling ourselves that we will select better next time but we didn t The great PMs didn t stay We hired the PMs for their technical skills and we laid them off for the inability to deliver or their attitude

10 We had to change our ways. Fundamentally, we needed better PMs. We had to find a new approach to select and keep the best PMs in the business How do we do that? How come our competitors are able to obtain and keep those great PMs? Where are those great PMs? Have these PMs gone to better schools, have they had better coaching, have they had better training? If so, can we tap into this pool of coaches, schools, trainings?

11 Morrison Hershfield Structure

12 Project Management - Philosophy The new PMO would manage all our major projects and by major we mean either financially large, complex or risky projects Project Management is not discipline oriented, it is a discipline on its own What does this mean? It means that we almost don t care if you are not an airport expert to manage the delivery of an airport project Instead of concentrating on your technical skills, we will now concentrate on your PM skills and especially the soft skills as leadership, negotiation, communication, assertiveness, team spirit, etc.

13 Project Management - Philosophy How do we translate this new philosophy into the selection of better PMs or even to know if the PMs we have are any good? Is there a way to predict how a PM will perform? If so, are there any traits or skills we can seek in these PMs and use that to predict their performance? The simple answer to all of these questions is, YES!

14 Career System We approached our VP of HR to get some help and he was able to find us a program called Pathfinder Career System that helps managers improve recruitment strategies and processes It is a program that can be used for all kinds of jobs or occupations, not just PM It can also be used for different levels of PM (junior PM to Portfolio PM)

15 Career System What is Pathfinder? It is a behavioral test of over 340 questions the individual has to answer. The Pathfinder's basic premise asserts that, to be successful in any specific occupation or job function requires a wide range of unique but relevant basic behavioral attributes Pathfinder through its ongoing field research have been able to identify key or discriminating traits required to succeed in distinct positions such as project managers

16 Career System Knowledge Skill Social Role Self-Concept Attributes & Traits Experience Pathfinder Motives

17 PM Traits What are those famous PM traits or competencies we are looking for? Here is the list of 5 most important traits Pathfinder is looking for in successful project managers: o Leadership o Decisiveness o Work Ethic o Structure o Stamina

18 PM Traits Here is the list of the 16 other traits Pathfinder is looking for in successful PMs: o Analysis o Responsibility o Assertion o Fraternity o Self-confidence o Complexity o Stress Tolerance o Conscientiousness o Common Sense o Humor o Discipline o Learning o Industriousness o Empathy o Self-Expression o Initiative

19 Scores and Accuracy Based on the test results of these traits, a score of 70 and over will give you a fairly good predictor of success in a candidate A score between 50 and 70 will give you an average successful candidate A score below 50 will essentially give you a candidate who will fail 94% of respondents are stating that s accuracy is between 75 to 90%

20 Benchmarking PM Profile Establishes Order Initiates Independently Utilizes Humor Leads Decisively Communicates Clearly Responsive to Change Energetic Enthusiasm Focus on Drives Achievement Engineer Profile Reasons Critically Demonstrates Character Strives for Excellence Builds Consensus Empathetic Inclusion Maintains Accountability

21 Stop looking for only technical skills even though we are still hiring technical people We started to look for the proper behavioral skills associated with Project Management We created a series of interview questions and case scenarios seeking those proper behaviors Every candidate has to do the Pathfinder test The results are analyzed by a professional who has the skills and experience in Pathfinder analysis (in our case, our VP of HR). Every candidate has to go through two to three sets of interviews

22 We usually ask for recent clients references, not just past employers If case of great interviews and poor Pathfinder results, we gather as a team to make a final decision and perform a risk analysis After they have been hired, we immediately work on their PM skills that need improvements

23 of New Hiring Strategy Since 2011, we have reduced the number of bad hires to zero The performance of the PM team has substantially improved by reducing the number of projects that are over budget and behind schedule Every other department in the company sees a massive difference in the team We only lost one individual (due to love) We are receiving about 5 requests a year from individuals who want to join our group. We improve the skills of the team a lot faster by concentrating on the lower scores We found out that many candidates are just born to be PM. It s in their DNA.

24 We are now hiring top candidates but they know they are top ones. The cost more money. They all want to be the next super PM, a super manager, or the next CEO How do we get these people engaged and motivated? How do you avoid having these talented individuals leave the company or give them insane salaries?

25 Way Ahead Obviously, we will keep using We need to expand the pie. By that I mean find other ways to keep these talented PMs engaged and challenged. Continue the training and improvements of these PMs. Communicate regularly with them and review their career goals more frequently. Also, great PMs usually make a good base for great managers in other areas. Focus on the performance of the group or team rather than personal performance

26 Recap Instead of looking for technical fit, start looking for behavioral fit. Organize your structure to support that behavioral fit If you are a large firm, use either tools like or other consultants to help you streamline the selection process If you are a small firm, it is more difficult but include some behavioral questions into your selection process Create an implementation plan Monitor your success Keep those PMs engaged through challenging work and close communications.

27 Thank you. Questions?