The last class of the Continuing Professional Development put on by the Engineers Foundation of Ohio came in the form of two breakout sessions. I attended, “Marketing Your Professional Engineering Services.” Dr. Lynn Daily, professor of marketing at Capital University, gave the class. All in all, these are decent tips for any company.

The notes I took from this are as follows:

As competition moves from a single supplier to many suppliers of a service, companies follow a progression of concepts:

• Product Concept: Make what you want to make.
• Selling Concept: Convince people that they want what you make.
• Marketing Concept: Find customer, figure out what customer wants, and make what the customer wants.

Retail vs. Commercial: Retail is using a product for one’s own service, while commercial is using a product to sell one’s own services.

In order to sell services in a highly competitive atmosphere, a company may choose to participate in only certain market segments. Segments can (perhaps should) be measured even before a product is created. For example, outdoor magazine subscriptions may be an indicator of how popular your outdoor product may be. Segments should be measurable, substantial (sufficiently profitable), accessible, differentiable (responds differently to different product mixes), and actionable (able to be served effectively).

Understanding target segments is key. Find out how customers research and decide to handle their problems. People spend more time searching for a solution as their involvement and risk go up. If they already have an answer in mind (and your goal is to be in their mind), they won’t spend as much time searching. Determine what evaluative criteria the target uses.

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Don’t wait until the job is done to provide good customer service. Sometimes a mistake can be turned into a gain, if you recover from that mistake and compensate in more than just a satisfactory manner. Employees must be empowered to do those kind of recoveries.

Implement a client database if you haven’t already, including contact info, decision makers, previous issues, buy practices, and opportunities you could address.

Take all complaints seriously; if one bothers to complain, more than likely other people have been dissatisfied and just haven’t bothered to tell you.

When differentiating yourself from your competitors, note your points of parity, which are attributes you share, and points of difference, positive attributes about you that a client could not find in your competition.  Position your company with these attributes, showing the customer how he can benefit from your superior attribute.

Expertise is highly variable and can’t be stored. People should be selected, highly trained, and highly motivated. Consider performance-based compensation.

“Avoiding Hot Spots” was a lecture given by Luther L. Liggett, Jr., and Douglas L. Shevelow, of Bricker & Eckler, Attorneys at Law.

The State of Ohio Engineers and Surveyors Board confers and revokes Professional Engineering licenses, and they also have the power to prosecute people who practice engineering without a license. P.E.s typically represent the owner and, where there is a risk to others, the public. Although P.E. License law is less complex than most, people can still fall into one more pitfalls:

1. When working on a project, an engineer must be employed by the owner of the project or the company that is going to build the project (called a “design-build” service). These are the only ways an engineer can have access to the total body of knowledge required to do the job. They cannot be hired by a subcontractor. This generated a lot of discussion in class, as this situation comes up frequently but it is not enforced. The presenter said that the enforcement hotline is anonymous, and anyone can call, whether it is competition, an angry employee, or someone else.
2. Engineers can and should vote. They have a First Amendment right to donate to the candidate of their choice. Their firm can be hired by a public official, as long as the public official uses Qualifications Based Selection to choose the best (not necessarily cheapest) solution. Neither a P.E. nor the spouse of a P.E. can contribute in a situation where the P.E. gets unbid contracts. Gifts to public officials should be nominal, and nothing of “undue influence.” The current generally acceptable level is $75. Go over that, for example, with some golf outings, and the Ethics Commission can be called in.  A violation of ethics law is a criminal offense.
3. Materials testing is practicing engineering in Ohio. Materials are being tested to see if they will meet the needs of the situation, and the engineer must know what those needs are.
4. Liggett recommended that engineering firms not submit proposals for competitive bid, and that they should submit their proposals for Qualifications Based Selection. By allowing proposals to be bid, price becomes the overriding concern, and engineering becomes a commodity.
5. Firms that employ engineers should have a Certificate of Authorization from the State of Ohio Engineers and Surveyors Board. One or more full-time partners, officers, or other high-level personnel must be designated as being responsible for the professional engineering services of the firm.


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6. There is a 15 year general warranty for contracts that do not have special warranty clauses. Contracts are required by law to specify liquidated damages. When writing up a contract with a contractor, make sure the damage reflects the per diem you the owner is going to suffer, such as lost revenue, if what you want done is to be late. Contracts can’t penalize in order to teach a lesson — those types of penalties are unenforceable. Contracts can contain a bonus clause if the contractor finishes early, which is useful motivation. Indemnification clauses shift a lot of risk from owners to contractors, and this is particularly advisable if there is more than one contractor on a job.
7. The owner is responsible for telling the contractor where the utilities are for a location. It’s not hard to ask utility companies where the utilities are at.
8. Some charter corporations have a “home rule” that is different than a municipality or state law.
9. Engineer plans that have more than one stamp are usually difficult to determine which work each engineer did.  Multiple-stamp plan violations are aggressively pursued by the Board. If an engineer is using another engineer’s sealed work, he shouldn’t seal it with his own seal. If a seal is needed, the project should be redrawn and resealed.
10. If an anonymous call is investigated by the Board, the Board cannot tell you who complained or if the investigation is dropped. You do get notified if you’re indicted.

• Reaction to Pastor David Petersen’s interview (MP3) on Issues, Etc., regarding pastoral care for those with special needs. Worship practice may be a dovetail here…
• The rest of the Professional Engineering conference notes
• What do we listen to for Christmas (and the fact that the new shopping season is two weeks done already)
• Global warming?  Not in Ohio…
• Gathering contacts for “A Night with NR” #2…if not, you’ll get to hear my piano through a monaural voice mike.

Or if you don’t want to wait until actual posts on these topics, leave a comment.  Could be fun.

The last session of the first day, it didn’t help my interest level that there wasn’t as much new material in “The Fundamental Keys of Success for Every Engineering Firm” as in the other classes.  Brad Bennett, Esq., did his best. He talked about sole proprietorships, LLCs, S-Corporations and C-Corporations.

While he was talking about the application process, he threw out a stat: 20% of an application may be false.  People tend to puff up their resumes. Look for “power words.” Oh, you managed? What did you manage? Oh, you mean you scheduled employees? Did you decide the schedule?  Oh, you mean you wrote the names on the board. Thanks.

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Ohio has a reference check law that protects a person who is asked for a character reference as long as the reference isn’t discriminatory. People giving references still must be cautious: if you give a lot of detail during one reference, you need to be consistent in giving detail to other people who call for references.

It is permissible to check backgrounds for convictions but not for arrests. Arrests inadvertently bias the sample to certain races. In certain occupations, the nature of the conviction can be especially relevant: it is reasonable for a bodyguard company to mandate clean assault records, or for accounting services to require records free of theft or embezzlement.

Credit reports can be checked. If the credit report causes the employer not to hire the applicant, the employer needs to send the applicant a letter stating the situation.

In the Employee Handbook, don’t list all the behaviors that can get an employee fired.  If the list is long enough, a judge may determine that the list limits the number of behaviors that are firing offenses.

The class ended with a brief overview of how to deal with personality types at work.

Lori Torriero returned in the afternoon Thursday to talk about investigations in the work place.

Whenever there is an accusation of wrongdoing, it is a mistake to rush off and confront the person. Unless there is a pressing need, such as theft or danger, the first thing to do is to plan and perform an investigation. Done right, investigations avoid liability, impose discipline, and improve company performance.

There are advantages and disadvantages to using either in-house personnel or external personnel.  External personnel avoids an appearance of bias, and internal personnel have experience in the tasks that need to be performed.

Investigations can’t be kept secret, so don’t try. Keep it factual and impartial. If and once you have a case of harassment, the law says the action must be remedial and effective.  If a co-worker tells you they are being harassed, you have to report it or take action if you’re a manager, even if the employee tells you not to take action.

If you as a manager have to put a person on administrative leave, remind the person that he or she is still an employee still needs to follow what management wants, such as reporting back to work.

While interviewing the person making the accusation, ask:

• What do you think you saw or heard?
• Who else saw it?
• Who else should have been there?

Private sector employees can’t be polygraphed, but public sector employees can.  The presenter doubted the usefulness of polygraphs. The private sector employee can be informed that they need to answer truthfully upon insubordination; the public sector employee has Fifth Amendment protections.

In Ohio, recordings are legal if one of the parties in the interview is aware they are being recorded. A third party cannot record the interview without the consent of either party. An interviewee may refuse to be recorded, but the interviewer can then say that notes will be used, and it will be a matter of he-said-she-said. Written statements prior to the interview are a good thing to get.

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During the interview, ask pointed questions in order to get a story that makes sense.  Don’t leave the judge who is reviewing your information a year or so after the incident with pieces that need to be put together. Schedule time after the interview to fill in voids, such as body language and impressions.  If you don’t feel the interviewee was truthful, write down the objective cues that gave you the hint.

Documentation is most important. Date and number pages.  Xerox appropriate pages of company policy, because the handbook may change. Be aware of immediate and potential audiences, and be as factual as possible. Keep investigation files separate from personal files until the incident is closed; then they can go into the personal file.

Anybody can sue. The lawyer always gets paid. The difference is whether you win or lose.

Angela Newland, PE, gave a presentation on the most interesting subject of the day, public works security. Since she is a VP at the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, her emphasis was in airport security.

Three times during the presentation we were asked to recite a promise to use the knowledge in the presentation “for good and not for evil.” The recitation was light-hearted, but it reminded us of the seriousness of the subject. I am restricting information in this post.

Posted signs and policemen with Segways are classified as “Lightweight Infrastructure Security.”

“Heavyweight Infrastructure Security” includes the scrambling of jets to protect our air space, but Newland’s specialty is in ground security.

A picture of CMH in 1958 was shown. Parking was right next to the terminal, and there were no cameras on the light post.

Headache bars, set at the entrance of the airport, keep excessively large vehicles from getting close to the terminal. The small concrete posts that keep people from driving into glass windows and other gear are called bollards.

There is no parking allowed near any of the security fences, to keep them from being compromised. Fences are 8′ high to prevent deer jumping. They also extend underground.

CMH Airport during Thanksgiving

After September 11, airports spent millions of dollars installing cutting-edge bagging screening technology that didn’t work very well and/or are expensive to maintain. My comment: thank Tom Daschle and his wife the airport lobbyist. At the time, CMH didn’t have the money to install the cutting-edge equipment, so they are spared those headaches.

The airport is seeking funds from TSA to upgrade its baggage screening equipment and move the machines out of the airport lobby.

Baggage is currently screened with low dose X-rays, and there is research to X-ray vehicles as they come into the airport. Waste receptacles are now blastproof for a certain amount of TNT, in case there is a need for quick disposal.

“Puffer” systems that try to detect explosives on a person have been tested in several airports, but not in Columbus. The detectors have a high failure rate due to dirt and dust at airports.

Airport demand is projected to be down over the next couple of years, then increasing as the economy improves.

During the question and answer session, I expressed concern for the new air traffic control tower’s proximity to the main road. She answered by saying that the tower needed to be built in a location where it could see everything, and that the new terminal would be built around it, pushing road access away from the tower.

The dry topic of employment posters was lightened a little bit by Lori Torriero, of Downes, Hurst & Fishel.

Failure to post is a 4^th degree misdemeanor, though there are no records of someone going to jail because they didn’t post proper information regarding minimum watch, equal opportunity employment, etc. Enforcement of this rule usually comes on the tail of other employment violations, such as wrongful termination.

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No Smoking posters not only have the international No Smoking sign or NO SMOKING, but they should have the phone number of the Department of Health, so that someone may call for enforcement. The passage of Ohio’s anti-smoking act, which forbids smoking in buildings “with at least 2 walls and a roof,” also requires No Smoking signs for businesses. Smoking is also forbidden in public vehicles.

Torriero recommended getting a new set of posters every 3-5 years. Posters must be displayed in conspicuous places where employees regularly gather.

The Family Medical Leave Act requires that its poster be in a language that is readable by the majority of posters, if the majority of posters cannot read English.

One could contact the Department of Labor for posters, but this increases the risk of a visit by the D.O.L. It’s better to get posters from a third-party supplier.

Posters may be required in places where legislation doesn’t affect them, such as taxi drivers. The posters then have a sticker that says the legislation doesn’t apply.

If a company hires minors for summer employment, there is an additional poster that covers the rights of minors.

Employment posters can be posted on the company’s intranet.

Thursday was the first day of the Continuing Professional Development Conference put on by the Engineers Foundation of Ohio. The entire conference provides enough continuing education hours for me to keep my P.E. license another year. Some material I’ve heard before, but there were a couple of topics that were enjoyable despite their subject matter.

Brad Bennett, Esq., of Downes, Hurst, & Fishel, started the day with a two-hour presentation on proposed and actual changes in employment law. He made no secret of it; with Democrats in charge, there is bound to be more employment law.

Notes from the first course:

• Ohio Military Discrimination Prohibition
  • Puts military status on the same level as race, color, creed, etc.
  • Unintended consequence: Some charities like to hire veterans, and until there is litigation to write an exception into case law, it is now illegal to ask someone you are about to hire their military status.
  • If a “dishonorable discharge” has a direct effect on the job they would do, it might survive a court challenge.
• Family Medical Leave Act Amendments
  • Currently required for 50 or more employees. There are talks of taking it down to 25.
  • Opens up who can take care of a person to “next of kin” rather than immediate family.
  • A single 26-week period in addition to 12 weeks per year of a “qualifying emergency.”
  • If your company hires a person who is taking leave under the FMLA, you need to let them know right away that you’ll likely let them go when the first person comes back.
• Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments
  • Increases ability to sue.
  • In Ohio, companies with 4 or more people are required to follow.  The Federal minimum is 15.
  • Lessens the need of the employer to retain their own doctor in order to procure a patient’s medical records so that the employer can reasonably accommodate a disability.
  • An employer does not have to remove a typical employee in order to place a disabled employee, but if a spot opens up, disabled employees are to be given special consideration.
  • Funny: glasses are not considered a disability, but hearing aids are.
• Ohio Healthy Families Act. This was the Proposition 4 that was withdrawn for the election. Its proponents are now aiming for federal legislation.
• Employee Free Choice Act.  Also known as Card Check.
  • Expect the Democrats to pass this.
  • If 30% of employees agree, they can go to the National Labor Relations Board and request a vote using union recognition cards, ending the secret ballot. Ironic since the secret ballot was a hallmark of the original National Labor Relations Act.
  • 50% + 1 employee is required for unionization, which means 50% - 1 employees don’t have to be asked to vote with the Card Check system.
• Employment Non-Discrimination Act
  • Pending legislation in the House.
  • Two bills, one also adds “gender identity” as a protected class.
  • Currently gender identity discrimination is already sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
  • Purports to exclude military and religious organizations (but what about organizations like Catholic adoption agencies?)
• Changes to the I-9 Proof of Employment Eligibility
  • Do not keep the photocopies of the drivers’ license and Social Security cards.
  • Employers cannot mandate which
  • Keep I-9s separate from other employee records for ease of auditing.
  • Expired drivers’ licenses are acceptable.
  • Audit your I-9s before the Feds do. If you find a mistake, fill out a new form and staple it over the old form. Don’t throw the old form away.
• E-Discovery Rules
  • Under electronic discovery rules, a document’s metadata (stored changes, last time it was saved, etc.) can be used as evidence.
  • May want to work in Word for documents, save documents in PDF, and mandate that PDF is the official copy of the document.
  • Electronic documents can be placed on a “legislative hold” upon suspicion that they may be needed in litigation. Know your company’s document retention schedule.

The discussion ended with one attendee asking if legislators consider the administrative costs of these regulations. Bennett indicated that there is some consideration of these costs, reflected in the fact that the smallest businesses aren’t required to perform many of these requirements.

I really think this issue would be over if first, California and other states had just gone for civil unions with the same legal rights as marriage, and second, if the courts had let the legislatures handle it. Alas, the courts decided to write law. Gavin Newsom and same-sex proponents wanted the right to change the definition of a word and, perhaps more importantly, showed more hate for their opponents than was ever displayed by the Mormons, Saddleback Church, or Delta Township church in Lansing. The Bash Back group seems to be the Westboro Baptist Church of the Left.

The sexual morality horse is out of the barn. Even if 100% of gay civil unions ended up in legal dissolution, it doesn’t come close to the half of U.S. marriages ending in divorce. We have our own house to clean up. Call it specks and logs, if you will. Oops, there’s that Bible again.

As long as there are no discrimination laws that impinge on the free speech rights of pastors and my responsibility as a parent to instill right and wrong in my children, I’m actually quite open to the civil union debate.  Just don’t call it marriage.

Google Logo for Veterans Day

I am impressed.

Google, who took a little heat for not providing a custom logo for Memorial Day, has come out with a logo for Veterans Day.

Good on you, guys.

Thanks also to the men and women of our Armed Forces, who give up more than we know in the defense of our country. Thanks especially to Dad, my uncle, and my father-in-law.