Salaries Increasing for Landscape Architecture Grads

WASHINGTON -- The American Society of Landscape Architects 2003 Graduating Student Survey reveals that salaries rose to an average of $35,000 in 2003, compared to $33,000 in 2002, for all who found positions.

For graduates of undergraduate programs, the average 2003 starting salary was $34,000, compared to $32,000 in 2002. For graduates of graduate programs the 2003 starting salary averaged $41,000, compared to $38,000 in 2002. The survey is posted online at http://www.asla.org/whatsnew.html.

"All of these figures reflect the growing demand for landscape architecture services," said Susan L.B. Jacobson, FASLA, president of ASLA. "In addition to more traditional projects, like parks, residential, commercial and planning, our members are leading new markets, such as security design and green roofs. It's a very good time to be a landscape architect."

Also of note, ASLA membership has increased by 6 percent over the past year, to more than 14,000 members, a record in the Society's 104-year history. The ASLA Awards Program drew nearly 500 entries, exhibit space in the annual ASLA Expo sold out months prior to the October show, and advertising revenue for ASLA's magazine, Landscape Architecture, is up by 30 percent over 2002.

Recruiting and Retention Tactics Can Boost Profitability

NATICK, Mass. -- Economists are predicting a growth year with more opportunities for architecture, engineering, planning and environmental consulting firms to win work, said Pa-Sun Chen of ZweigWhite, a management consulting firm serving the design industry.

"To help increase profitability, the best thing firm leaders can do is stock the company with the right talent and retain the top-notch employees who can win and complete the project opportunities that will be available this year," said Chen, a principal and the leader of the "staffing solutions" division of ZweigWhite.

"One thing is for certain: a firm that carries deadwood among its staff cannot be successful, even in a good economy."

Chen shares some advice to firm leaders on how recruiting and retention tactics may lead to a more profitable firm:

• Spend money on recruiting. According to ZweigWhite's 2004 Policies, Procedures & Benefits Survey, firms spend less than 0.5% of net service revenue on recruiting. "It's no wonder two-thirds of firms complain they don't have the best talent for the job," says Chen. "Recruiting the best person ensures the job will be done correctly. This is one case where the old adage, 'you have to spend money to make money' definitely applies."
• Play favorites. "Everyone deserves an equal chance on day one, but once the top performers distinguish themselves from those on the bottom, don't treat them equally," Chen said. "Top performers should be given raises aggressively while the poor performance of the weakest staff needs to be documented and addressed. Talk up the accomplishments of the best people in public forums within the firm to send a strong message about what kind of performance is rewarded and remind under-performers that they need to change their behavior."
• Fire, fire, fire! "No one likes to fire people, but the best firms don't tolerate poor performance. Otherwise, managers will end up wasting 80% of their time managing the bottom 20% of the staff. Although many leaders were trained to believe that retention is always good, the reality is that the top-performing firms have turnover, and they use it to their competitive advantage," Chen added.