Culture

Success seems mysterious. It’s the subject of countless books and is expounded on by business pundits, yet still the secret eludes many companies. But what if there is no “secret”? What if the path to success is to simply give employees opportunities to push beyond their boundaries, collaborate with colleagues, and do great work for clients, while at the same time doing the right thing for employees, the community, and the environment?

That formula for success isn’t found in a textbook — yet it’s not just theory. It’s the way Langan has been successful for 50 years.

Talk with anyone at the firm—from its leaders to its most recent hires — and the concept of culture comes up as the most essential element at Langan.

What’s at the heart of Langan’s culture? It’s commonly summarized by three principles that shape Langan’s practice: Technical Excellence, Practical Experience, and Client Responsiveness.

As educated, ambitious, and competitive workers, Langan employees are encouraged to be entrepreneurs in every way. They devote themselves wholeheartedly to designing innovative solutions to client problems. They collaborate across technical disciplines and offices, readily sharing information and expertise, openly soliciting knowledge and assistance, and voluntarily contributing to problem-solving whenever and wherever possible. The payoffs? Amazing projects, satisfied clients, deeper practical knowledge, and groundbreaking technological advances.

While culture defines Langan’s success, the structure of Langan’s culture rests on three foundational concepts.

TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE

Langan engineers, scientists, landscape architects, planners, surveyors, and technical specialists are recognized as the best in their respective disciplines. Employees come from top schools and are encouraged to remain at the leading edge of technology by publishing scholarly papers, shaping technical and regulatory standards, attending continuing education courses and professional conferences, attaining professional registrations and certifications, and earning advanced degrees.

PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE

With 50 years in business, there is little in the world of engineering and environmental services that our experts have not seen. Langan recruits problem solvers who welcome the opportunity to use science and technology combined with ingenuity to find practical solutions that meet and exceed client goals.

CLIENT RESPONSIVENESS

Technical excellence and practical experience are expected from consulting firms with a successful track record, but nothing is more important than responsiveness to clients. Every employee at Langan is naturally responsive – it’s in our DNA. In fact, the majority of our business relationships are longstanding specifically because of our responsiveness, a responsiveness that differentiates Langan from the competition.

Life at Langan

SUPPORTING OUR PEOPLE AND THEIR COMMUNITIES

We partner with more than 130 nonprofit and charitable organizations to support initiatives focused on community development, medical research, economic opportunity, humanitarian aid, education, and advancement of our profession. We are proud of the philanthropic contributions we make to these groups, and humbled by the individual community service efforts of our employees.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Langan has always supported Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), and is among a select group of ACEC firms that put together the industry-standard guidelines to support and grow D&I initiatives around the country. Launched in 2015, Women@Langan is an employee resource group where all levels of staff can comfortably network, learn from one another, and achieve professional and personal success. The group holds regular programming that spans a range of topics and is open to all genders, and also encourages Langan women to be highly visible as industry leaders.

PROTECTING OUR PLANET

All Langan services tend toward sustainable design, and we practice what we preach. The Langan Corporate Sustainability Plan is an actionable framework that lays out a strategy to further expand our sustainable practices and services; formalizes employee-led “green” grassroots efforts; and minimizes our environmental footprint where we operate.

Since 2014, we have cut paper usage nearly in half among our 30 offices, implemented recycling programs, reduced energy usage, established an internal award to recognize sustainable design projects, and offset 437 tons of CO2 at our major corporate events. In 2018, Langan reached a milestone in our sustainability efforts: we now operate as a carbonneutral business. In 2019, we won the Acterra Award for Sustainability.