There was once an ad on television for a laptop where their claim was that it was "small but with inner bigness". We like to think that EBA is "big but with inner smallness". We think that we have achieved the balance between being large enough to compete with the large firms and provide all the benefits that can be offered by a large firm in terms of career opportunities, interesting projects and work variety but that we still operate like a small firm in terms of how employees are treated by the firm, how we interact and work together and how we manage the environment in which we work.
Core Values
EBA is a value-based company. This means that we have six core principles that guide how we work together and with others. In doing this, we stay true to who we are and what makes EBA a great place to work.
For example one of our core values is "We improve our communities". This core value has guided EBA and EBA employees over the years in becoming involved in a number of projects and charities that improve our communities. Often that community support comes directly from employees who dedicate their time and donations to community activities.
One of EBA's long-term community partnerships is with Canadian Blood Services. EBA gets involved through sponsorship of blood donation drives but EBA employees get directly involved by participating in the blood drives and by giving blood. The ''Life Bus", which takes employees from the office to the clinic to give blood, is a regular feature in the EBA parking lot and to-date EBA employees have donated more than 1000 units of blood.
The annual United Way Campaign is another very worthwhile community program that EBA employees have made an attachment with over the years. The campaign is about raising money for the United Way member agencies but EBA employees use it for a reason to have some fun. Lunchtime events have included sumo wrestling, managers in the dunk tank, potluck lunches and much more. It is a win/win where employees have a lot of fun while we are improving our communities.
The community work that employees do often allows employees to interact with other employees from other disciplines and other operating groups within EBA and this helps to create a sense of teamwork on the community work that spills over to our project work as well. It's not a coincidence that another one of our six core values is "We succeed as a team".
Career Path and Career Builder
We believe that there is a long-term career for everyone who chooses to work for us. Career Path is a program that defines our commitment to your career at EBA. Each employee has a personalized Career Path that not only tells you where you are, but also identifies where you are going and makes commitments to doing the things that will take you there. These commitments include training and exposure to different projects that give you the skills you need to progress.
EBA uses an internal program called "Career Builder" to provide ongoing in-house career training to employees as their career at EBA develops. There are five levels of Career Builder at EBA. The first is entry-level development which focusses on understanding the consulting practice, including: client service, quality issues and technical seminars. The second level focusses on leading a team and involves project management training through our external resource PSMJ. The third level focusses on leading multiple projects and includes leadership and performance management training. The fourth level focusses on leading business units and includes business development, billing/collection systems and performance goals. The fifth and final level focusses on leading the organization and involves strategic thinking, financial management and advanced communications. The Career Builder philosophy involves two of EBA's core values. One of the core values is "We believe in the individual". This is EBA's commitment to employees to provide the training and opportunities needed for them to develop their careers at EBA. The other core value is "We each take ownership for what we do". This is the employee's commitment to EBA to accept personal responsibility for acquiring new skills and improving themselves through life-long learning.
Diversification of Skills
Look at the list of skill sets represented by the people who work at EBA. This diversification of skills not only allows employees to work with fellow employees in their fields of specialization but also provides the opportunity to interact with fellow employees from a wide variety of other fields of specialization on teams providing total solutions to clients' needs. EBA is a total solutions firm where we bring people together from all across the firm, with all the right skill sets and backgrounds, in order to build teams to provide our clients with a complete package.
Market Focus
EBA has been successful in a transformation over many years from being largely a specialty services firm working as a subconsultant for other consulting firms to today being a full-service firm largely working directly for owners. This strategic thrust continues today where we believe that it is very important for EBA to get to know the owner, their business and their industries. This knowledge allows EBA to be more innovative and to add more value on projects. We also find that this approach is much more satisfying for employees where they can be part of a team providing innovative solutions to an owner rather than providing a standalone service with little knowledge of the final product being delivered to the client.
Driven By Innovation
"We innovate". Innovation has always been a critical success factor for EBA. From the early use of nuclear densometers for measuring soil density in the 1970s to the development of ground penetrating radar for road and bridge applications in the 1980s, EBA has historically invested heavily in research and development. More recently, we have made further commitment to innovation by having a full-time Director of Research, and by sponsoring research and development across the company.
EBA is an ideas-driven organization. Our growth comes from the development of good ideas. In the future as in the past, we will rely on the ability of our staff to create and deliver better solutions for our clients.
Employee Owned
EBA is a privately owned company. The company is broadly owned by employees. Being owned by employees, even at the size we are, allows us to maintain a firm control over our own destiny. Strategic decisions and directions are made by fellow employees who are involved in the day-to-day operations of the company rather than owners and Directors who are distant from the operations and the day-to-day realities of the marketplace.
