If $10k needs to be cut from a $100k proposal "fair" would be everybody takes a 10% haircut.?ÿ ?ÿCutting it all off one department while another stays whole is disrespectful. It's not that there needs to be trimming, its in how it's done.?ÿ?ÿ
That tactic is standard operating procedure at most all large multi-discipline firms around Atlanta. The survey department is usually treated as the loss leader and a support department for engineering. And it is usually the survey department that takes the haircut and the head cheese and other big wigs conveniently forget 6 months later and force out a Survey Manager and have to hire another and then do the same to the new one.
Lather, Rinse and Repeat.
That has been my experience as well. It's not just Atlanta.
I think it's pretty logical human behavior actually.?ÿ When we were doing the expansion for that large retailer Survey was getting PAID.?ÿ Like legit getting paid for that service.?ÿ In the hay day of their expansion from?ÿ1998 to 2006 they may have been known for their cost cutting ways on the consumer side but when it came to their real estate development program they paid a premium to their entitlement and design consultants.?ÿ Even then Survey was only one tenth of the overall contract value.?ÿ?ÿRegardless of how I?ÿfelt (or feel) about my equality?ÿwith the Engineers their contract value?ÿwas far more because there?ÿwas simply more work for them to do.?ÿ I can't change that cold hard truth any more than I can make more hours in the day.?ÿ All the more reason to not just sit back and complain about being undervalued as?ÿa support service.?ÿ Absolutely?ÿtake care of?ÿyour inhouse Engineers better than anyone else because they're the golden goose of repeat work you don't have to compete for but you need to make your own bones as a profit center if you don't want to be treated like just?ÿsupport.?ÿ It takes a special person at the helm to not allow your?ÿservice?ÿto be marginalized if you only support inhouse work and only account for a small fraction of the fees.?ÿ I'm here to tell you if your top line starts exceeding that of the?ÿEngineers you'll get respect and it will feel GOOOOOD!?ÿ?ÿ?ÿ?ÿ?ÿ
