Allworld CEO Michael Hooks Jr. discusses impact of firm's new leadership hires
COREY DAVIS | MEMPHIS BUSINESS JOURNAL
Allworld Project Management's leadership staff has expanded to handle the company’s continuing growth.
The Memphis-based firm recently welcome three new additions. Lori Von Bokel-Amin was hired as chief people officer; Derrick Joyce joined the firm as chief of staff; and Doug Edwards came on board as vice president of transit and transportation and senior project manager.
Michael Hooks Jr., founder, owner, and CEO of Allworld, told MBJ that all three hires were made during the first quarter of the year. Allworld currently has 63 full-time employees along with five part time staff. The firm is one of the largest local Black-owned businesses based on employment, according to MBJ research.
Hooks noted that Allworld has learned that other firms their size have additional administrative resources to be able to function at a high level. And with that increase in staff, there's a need to track resulting expenses and how such staff are adding to or supporting business.
“That also means it’s more pressure to make sure we’re maintaining the amount of revenue to support things,” he said. “It’s a very strategic decision, and it’s got to be monitored and tracked.
"We’re also putting key performance indicators for everybody, beginning with myself," he continued. "The whole administrative team has key performance indicators that are tied to monitoring and tracking performance. We don’t want to look up and see that we've got all of this administrative staff, but we’re not bringing in the work or we’re not completing the work on time to support them.”
Stepping up the hiring game
Bokel-Amin brings over two decades of human resources experience to AllWorld. She spent nearly 20 years as associate director of human resources at Rhodes College then was deputy chief of human resources operations and strategy at Memphis-Shelby County Schools. Her most recent role was as deputy administrator of human resource operations at Shelby County Government.
Hooks said adding Bokel-Amin and her experience fills the firm’s biggest critical need.
“We needed additional horsepower in the area of human resources,” Hooks said. "We need to be able to recruit, train, and retain, and those are her high-level key performances indicators.”
He noted it's becoming more of a challenge for companies to hire professional staff with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) backgrounds.
“We are seeking more professional engineers and more certified construction managers as we are evolving from a subcontractor role to a prime [contractor] role,” Hooks said. "You've got to have the talent to lead those projects, and the first goal was to step up our game in that area. Lori brings years of experience.”
Man of many hats
As Allworld increased to 50 employees and seven different service departments, Hooks realized that the firm needed someone who could focus on internal and external communications.
That’s why Joyce was hired. He assists in the firm’s day-to-day operations by doing tactical planning while also aiding on special projects within the firm as a liaison to other leadership departments.
Joyce has had an extensive career prior to joining Allworld. He was director of administrative operations and interim executive director at the Memphis Academy of Health Sciences charter school, where he managed a $7 million operating budget. He also served as pre-K coordinator for Memphis City Schools from 2011-13, which involved managing a $22 million budget and 27 childcare centers. And Joyce was president of Memphis-based consultant firm New Power Strategic Management.
“Derrick’s role has really added value in a short time and already we’ve received feedback from internal stakeholders that the company’s communications have improved and increased," Hooks said.
One of Joyce’s key performance indicators is to help coordinate about 24 staff meetings a year for Allworld, which includes bringing the entire firm together in the Bluff City. Joyce is also involved in the firm’s strategy to secure more national projects.
“We’ve got associates in South Carolina, Birmingham, and California,” Hooks said. “We bring everybody to Memphis for an all-hands meeting twice a year. … “We’re pursuing federal designation as we’re transitioning from doing business with municipalities and state government, and we’re now looking ahead to federal government work. Derrick is leading that effort as a special project.”
Bringing a different element
After Allworld performed project management duties for FedEx’s electrical vehicle (EV) charging stations in California, Hooks said that work allowed the firm to gain valuable knowledge in the transportation industry.
Allworld later started doing work with the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) focusing on construction management, which is the firm’s familiar expertise.
However, MATA wanted Allworld to perform different work as part of its electric bus project. That led to the firm hiring Edwards, who served 30 years as a decorated Marine Corps officer and has a background in fulfilling large-scale capital programs — between $50 million to $200 million — in the transit, transportation, water, and wastewater sectors. Edwards was SVP for Guide Management Group in Atlanta, including being project director over the $71 million Summerhill/Capitol Avenue bus rapid transit expansion project in Georgia.
“MATA wanted us to manage its [electric bus] project, so it threw us into the transit and transportation world,” Hooks said. “If you would’ve asked me a year and a half ago, that wouldn’t have been a service delivery model for Allworld. But we’re hedging our bets, and we’re thinking ahead to differentiate ourselves. Doug is a 20-plus-year veteran to lead that lane. He is a former public works director, and a former marketing manager for firms that are 10 times bigger than us. He brings that talent to the table that, quite frankly, I don’t have. ... This is an example of us stepping up our game and hiring people who bring additional value to the table.”