Employees

They realized the Washington, D.C., company wasn’t clearly organized, had poor internal communication and was a frustrating place to work, says Jennifer Folsom, the director of corporate development.

Summit Consulting was still operating with a startup culture even though it was 10 years old and had 50 employees, Folsom says. Important jobs like chief financial officer and human resources director were being done parttime by employees who had other assignments.

“No one knew who’s in charge. The communication piece was really wrong. People were hearing different things from different people,” Folsom says. And without a clear organizational chart, younger staffers didn’t know what jobs they could advance to.

The solution was implementing clear tiers and teams, and hiring fulltime managers to handle finances and human resources. The company also improved its retirement plan and other benefits. Summit Consulting now has

Passing the baton

A culture change is progressing slowly at the Houston law firm Wilson Cribbs & Goren.

“Law firms are the most old-fashioned professional practices and one of the most old-fashioned business models,” managing partner Anthony Marre says. They’re run by senior partners, he says, while “young lawyers are looking for trust and responsibility, the freedom to interact directly with clients and to build their own practices.”

Senior partners recognized that they needed to prepare the firm to be passed on to the next generation, so they started giving Marre, who’s now 34, more responsibility, including recruiting younger attorneys. He became managing partner three years ago, and began suggesting changes like hiring marketing and business development consultants.

Among the changes: All the attorneys meet weekly, and while one focus is client issues, another is what the lawyers need for their own professional development.