WashingtonExec GovCon Awards Series:
The finalists for this year’s Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards were announced last month, and as promised, WashingtonExec is bringing you its annual series with GovCon Awards all this month before the winners are unveiled November 1.
The winners will be announced at the annual gala at Marriott Wardman Park hotel in Washington, D.C., and the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, Professional Services Council (PSC) and Washington Technology magazine will present the awards. With over 1,300 business and public sector leaders attending the event, our series will keep you up to date with all the finalists for this year–who they are, what they do, and why they are worthy of winning.
Today’s series features Social & Scientific Systems, Inc, nominated for Contractor of the Year in the $75 million to $300 million division. We interviewed James Lynch, President and CEO of Social & Scientific Systems, Inc.
WashingtonExec: How do you differentiate your company from its competitors? What is unique about your approach?
James Lynch: Large data sets are central to nearly every service that Social & Scientific Systems provides, and our competitive edge is our ability to inject health research expertise, clinical knowledge, and an understanding of health policy implementation into our analytics.
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Our approach, which focuses on delivering outstanding service to our clients, yields more insight for them—insight that is accurate, comprehensive, and reliable.
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WashingtonExec: How have you grown the company as the government asks the private sector to “do more with less”?
James Lynch: We continue to grow while we accommodate our government clients’ limited budgets not only by reducing costs, but also by increasing quality while we work more efficiently. We consider ourselves long-term partners to our clients, and we continuously grow our expertise, our services, and our technology to align with clients’ needs. Doing more with less is here to stay.
Two articles in Maryland’s Business Gazette featured Social & Scientific Systems as an example of local companies “bucking the trend” of downsizing in the face of federal government budget cuts. In fact, we added 88 new contracts in 2011. Our experts in health research, data management, and policy analysis work together to find fresh ways of looking at our clients’ challenges.
WashingtonExec: What is the fastest growing component of your business?
James Lynch: The fastest growing component of our business is clinical research and bioscience—quickly assembling global clinical trial networks, effectively recruiting patients, and providing real-time analytics in the course of trials. We recognize that much of the solution to reducing health care expenses lies in the ability to effectively treat costly diseases and conditions, and our clinical research services have a role in reducing overall drug development costs and ensuring more rapid delivery of new products to the public.
WashingtonExec: Obtaining top talent in the government contracting is fierce – how is your company able to not only recruit top talent, but also retain it?
James Lynch: We focus on selecting and employing talented employees without discrimination of any kind, and our ability to partner with the government in critical research priorities such as HIV/AIDS research, epidemiology studies of chronic diseases, and international health contribute to our ability to retain such talent. We are committed to fulfilling our obligations to our employees in regard to fair wages, job opportunities, professional development, and training. We are also committed to providing the best possible working conditions—treating each employee with courtesy, dignity, and consideration. Part of this commitment is to encourage an open and frank atmosphere in which any problem, complaint, suggestion, or question is answered quickly and accurately by company management.
Additionally, our employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is a valuable differential when employees evaluate the benefits of working at SSS. According to studies, ESOP participants make 5–12 percent more in wages and have almost 3 times the retirement assets of comparable non-ESOP companies.
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In 2012, for the 13th consecutive year, SSS was the recipient of the “Workplace Excellence” award from the Alliance for Workplace Excellence for promoting a healthy balance between work and life.
For the fifth year in a row, SSS was awarded the Health and Wellness Trailblazer Award, which recognizes employers who provide innovative programs for employee health and wellness.
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WashingtonExec: What is your corporate culture? How do you maintain satisfied employees?
James Lynch: Through its ESOP plan, Social & Scientific Systems is a 100 percent employee-owned company, and all our staff are encouraged to think and act like owners—to work toward each other’s mutual success and to take responsibility for doing the best work possible. Our diverse workforce of highly motivated and talented people is the reason we maintain a high level of customer satisfaction—our dedicated staff are committed to excellence, to our mission of improving public health worldwide, and to consistently delivering the highest quality services.
WashingtonExec: How has the government contracting industry changed since you entered the sector?
James Lynch: The industry has seen an increase in the use of more commercial practices to acquire goods and services through procurement reform. The increased emphasis on the use of small business has created a much more competitive and more diverse landscape. Mergers and acquisitions have created additional complexities for the government, and increased emphasis on security has created both opportunity and anxiety.
Social & Scientific Systems was incorporated in 1978 as an 8(a) business, and we have successfully transitioned to our current status as a large business competing solely in the full-and-open market. Throughout this time, we have been an active, responsive participant in the government’s transition to more performance-based contracting, more predictable or fixed pricing, and the growth of the government’s procurement of professional services, which encourages the participation of the nation’s diverse human and business resources in a revitalized economy.
WashingtonExec: Does your company have a Bring Your Own Device Policy (BYOD)? What has been your largest challenge with this policy? How is the “mobile workforce” changing the way you conduct business within your company and with the federal government?
James Lynch: Although BYOD policies have the potential for saving company resources by allowing employees to use their own devices for work-related applications, Social & Scientific Systems believes that the security risks for our clients’ data far outweigh any financial benefits for us. The data that drive our services are considered confidential at a minimum, and may contain personally identifiable information (PII). However, with the advent and maturation of virtualization and virtual desktop capabilities, securing and isolating data and systems in a private cloud is allowing us to begin considering limited BYOD policies. We currently provide company-issued smartphones, tablets, and laptops as needed that incorporate encryption and mobile device management among other tools in a suite of security services.
We understand the need for reducing our current footprint to be more competitive, and we encourage telecommuting. Currently, about 25 percent of our staff telecommute from 1 to 5 days a week, and we are committed to seeing this number increase over the coming years. We provide secure remote access for our telecommuting staff to efficiently and securely access corporate resources. Additionally, by implementing a standard mobile configuration for laptops, smartphones, and tablets we are enabling greater flexibility in the use of hot spaces and mobility between offices. The increase in the mobile workforce has also introduced new opportunities for managers and their staff to use new methods for communication and collaboration.
WashingtonExec: How is your company involved in the community ?
James Lynch: Community service is one of SSS’ four corporate values, and it is clearly embraced by our employee-owners. We participate in a wide range of civic, professional, and charitable activities. These activities build a sense of teamwork among current staff and help attract new employees. We have a Community Service Committee composed entirely of volunteers who take on a large variety of projects each year. Our community service and annual giving centers around four themes: health, place, inclusiveness, and family. These efforts allow us to share our successes with the communities of which we are a part—throughout Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; and Jakarta, Indonesia. We have received several awards for our community service programs from organizations directly as well as from the Corporate Volunteer Council of Montgomery County.
