GAI Consultants: Optimas Gold Winner for Business Impact

GAI Consultants has a simple belief: As employees and leaders grow and succeed, the company will grow and succeed right alongside them.

In order to put this belief into action, the engineering, planning and environmental consulting firm created a more effective training program with clearer, more precise directions. Their training program, GAI University, was designed in 2014 to develop the skills of employees and leaders alike. The program is constantly being evaluated and reworked to suit the company’s changing needs.

The program includes a partnership with Point Park University in Pittsburgh, a tuition reimbursement program, GAI-funded technical training offered both within and outside of company, onsight leadership training, a yearlong Harvard Business School curriculum and regular coaching. Since the program was created, GAI’s employee turnover has dropped from 18 percent to 15 percent, gross revenue has gone from $110 million to $135 million, profit from $8.8 million to $13.5 million and the firm’s efficiency factor has moved to 78 percent.

Customer satisfaction also has benefited from the GAI University training program. In communication, work quality and responsiveness, GAI is ranked 8.3, 8.6 and 8.7, respectively, on a 10-point scale by customers, far higher than average. Their employee engagement also rose, when comparing a survey from 2014 to 2016, and improvements were noted in 12 areas.

Patty Racz, senior training and development specialist, said that this award provides validation for their efforts in training.

“We are honored to win the Gold Optimas Award for Business Impact. At GAI Consultants Inc., we strive to ensure all employees are provided the training and development necessary to do their jobs and continue to provide superior service to our clients,” Racz said. “Being recognized by Workforce Optimas is a meaningful acknowledgment of the success of our efforts.”

For its efforts in quality training, GAI Consultants is the Optimas Award Gold winner for Business Impact.

Read about the rest of our 2017 Optimas winners here