Optional AEC TalentMAX Pre-Conference Session
AEC Compensation Workshop: Balance and Benchmark for the New Talent Market
Add This Must-Attend Workshop to Your AEC TalentMAX Experience and Master the Art and Science of AEC Compensation
In today's competitive market for AEC talent, your compensation strategy can make or break your firm's success in attracting and retaining top performers. Inconsistent and inequitable comp decisions can kill morale and your bottom line. So how can you make sure your pay practices are rock-solid?
Join AEC CFO Jenifer Navard of design firm EskewDumezRipple for an intensive, full-day workshop that transforms how you approach pay, bonuses, and talent investment.
Stop guessing at compensation decisions. This hands-on workshop delivers the data, frameworks, and real-world strategies you need to build a compensation system that actually works—one that attracts the talent you want while protecting your bottom line.
You'll walk away with:
- Concrete benchmarking data to justify every salary decision
- Scripts for those difficult compensation conversations
- A clear understanding of what Millennials really expect (spoiler: it will shock you)
- Proven formulas for setting technical staff salaries based on chargeability and multipliers
- Your personalized 90-day compensation review action plan
AEC Compensation Workshop: Balance and Benchmark for the New Talent Market
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Welcome & Introduction
10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
- Workshop objectives and outcomes
- Brief introductions around the room
- Overview of compensation challenges facing AEC firms today
The Big Picture: AEC Compensation Challenges and Opportunities
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
- Current and near-future AEC labor market analysis
- Millennial compensation expectations that might shock you
- Assessing which of 3 popular compensation strategies fits your firm
- Applying employment trends and data for shrewd decision-making
- Avoiding anecdotal traps: Using accurate data for comp offers
- Win-win trends in incentive compensation
- Addressing gender pay equity in your compensation strategy
Morning Break
11:15 AM - 11:30 AM
Paying Non-Exempt Staff: Reduce Turnover and Disruptions
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
- Determining who is truly exempt from overtime rules
- Responding effectively when hourly employees request raises
- Setting appropriate pay scales for AEC-specific vs. general office positions
- Accessing and applying location-specific salary data
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Lunch Break
Base Salaries for Exempt Technical and Design Staff
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
- Why position descriptions fail as salary-setting tools
- The 4 critical factors for every design/technical professional salary offer
- Using PSMJ survey data: chargeability, billing rates, and multipliers
- Establishing equitable market-based salary structures
- Gender pay equity considerations for technical staff
Base Salaries for Managers: Executive Comp That Delivers ROI
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
- Regional compensation benchmarks for PMs and managers
- Short and long-term management compensation trends
- Justifying or declining pay increase requests
- 5 key elements of effective management comp policies
Afternoon Break
2:45 PM - 3:00 PM
Having Transparent Compensation Conversations That Build Trust
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
- Turning raise discussions into professional development opportunities
- Teaching employees how the firm makes money and their role in it
- Connecting individual performance to billing rates and multipliers
- Creating clarity around what drives future compensation increases
- Scripts and frameworks for difficult compensation conversations
- Building financial literacy among staff at all levels
GROUP EXERCISE: Attendee pairing with a fellow attendee to practice a difficult conversation based on 1 of 5 scenario and persona cards attendees will receive, with one pair performing their conversation for all assembled.
Incentive Comp: Supercharge Your Bonus Plan Effectiveness
3:45 PM - 4:30 PM
- Making bonus programs reward desired behaviors
- Peer firm benchmarks for ROI-driven incentive pay
- Avoiding unintended consequences of poorly structured plans
- Common mistakes in owner bonus distribution
- Benchmarking your incentive compensation plan
Implementation Planning & Q&A
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM
- Creating your 90-day compensation review action plan
- Open Q&A session
- Resource sharing and next steps
Jenifer Navard brings over 25 years of experience in business and financial management. Her experience ranges from auditing with one of the top 5 public accounting firms to financial accounting and management of mid-sized companies in a diverse range of industries. This background has provided Jenifer with a broad set of skills to draw from in managing a growing AEC firm.
In addition to her consulting work with PSMJ, Jenifer is a Principal and Director of Finance with nationally recognized design firm EskewDumezRipple. In this capacity, she works closely with the firm’s partners to ensure adherence to both the design and business values within each project. In addition, she maintains an active role assisting each Project Manager in tracking their individual project performance targets.