During his first full week, Gary Wohl, who is serving as DPR’s new chief financial officer and member of its Management Committee, was schooled in the company culture and business operations. He started with a two-day, bi-monthly meeting with DPR Regional Managers and rounded out his week with three days of basic training in San Diego at Current Best Practices, along with a cross section of 30 other new hires from around the country.

“I had the chance to juxtapose the two events, one that included the designated leaders of each office and the other a diverse group of employees who have been with the company one year or less,“said Wohl. “It was interesting to see the consistency of behaviors between the two groups—the professionalism, the genuine respect for the work and individuals, the not taking things too seriously. It was refreshing and a good bonding experience.”

Both events also provided Wohl with an opportunity to learn the “ins and outs"of DPR, from branding and business development to preconstruction and project closeout. Started in April 1998, Current Best Practices takes new employees through a three-day intensive training session with 21 modules focused on DPR culture, operations, business, technology and interpersonal skills.

“Current Best Practices really reinforces DPR’s unique culture, while teaching everyone in the organization about the company and what we do rather than ‘how to do it,’ ” said Wohl. “As a new employee, you can take what you learned during these three days and apply it to not only your work out in the field or in the office, but also to your decision-making process. As a flat organization that empowers people to make decisions at every level, it is nice to know that everyone begins their career at DPR with a clear understanding of the business and its practices to help them make the right decisions.”