The finalists for this year’s Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards were announced in September and WashingtonExec is bringing you its annual series with the nominees.
The winners will be unveiled on November 7th at The Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce (FCCC), the Professional Services Council (PSC) and Washington Technology magazine. With over 900 business and public sector leaders attending the event, our series will keep you up-to-date about all the finalists for this year–who they are, what they do, and why they are worthy of winning.
Today’s interview is with David Moskovitz, Chief Executive of Accenture Federal Services. The company is nominated for “Contractor of the Year” in the greater than $300 million category.
WashingtonExec: As a leader in the community, how have you approached the government shutdown? What did you learn from the last government shutdown?
David Moskovitz: The shutdown reinforced several of the principles that guide the work we do on behalf of our clients. It also gave us the opportunity to reinforce, throughout Accenture Federal Services, the commitment we make every day to outcomes, innovation and, especially, to delivering for our clients. As the U.S. government continues to address its fiscal priorities, we believe that it will continue to seek innovative IT solutions that offer cost savings and efficiencies.
“We believe our success in cultivating employees throughout their career at Accenture lies in creating high-energy environments where our people can thrive.”
WashingtonExec:What is your 2014 market outlook for the federal contracting community? Where are you seeing areas for growth?
David Moskovitz: This is an exciting time for the federal contracting community. The fastest growing component of our business is in the area of health. As the Departments of Defense and Veteran’s Affairs face a once-in-a-generation modernization opportunity we find ourselves in a unique position – our federal heath qualifications combined with our commercial health experience in the US and around the world position us to drive profound change in areas such as electronic health records.
WashingtonExec: How does your company identify and then cultivate high-potential employees to become leaders in your organization?
David Moskovitz: Our employees are at the very center of our success and we take great pride in having the best people working for our clients. Accenture employees range from recent college graduates to experienced professionals from across the business world, to our veterans. We embrace diversity and have established a number of employee resource groups to encourage collaboration, networking and community. We believe our success in cultivating employees throughout their career at Accenture lies in creating high-energy environments where our people can thrive—bringing a commonality to those environments so that people from one area of our business can work seamlessly with others. This unique team culture offers our employees a diverse network of skilled, respected colleagues and leaders who are committed to helping them – and ultimately our clients – succeed.
“Success will be defined by government leaders who are both bold and realistic. And by contractors who are both forward thinking about helping the government navigate today’s cost pressures and expert in the spectrum of operating models and solutions that will transform the way agencies achieve their missions in the future.”
WashingtonExec: How does your organization engage effectively with all levels of employees, on and off site?
David Moskovitz: Just as success in the digital age means achieving consumer relevance, we believe the same goes for our employees. We seek to deliver highly relevant experiences for our employees in real time, using the latest technologies to increase teamwork and drive better outcomes for our clients. Being a company that is committed to being flexible and to creating high performance across all levels of employees we leverage cutting edge technologies, a spirit of teamwork and a deep dedication to mentoring to create an environment where our employees are set up for success, both within the company and with our clients. Constant engagement across the company and the world, using a suite of tools including Town Hall meetings and webcasts, help us continue to drive performance and delivery.
“My vision for Accenture Federal Solutions is to be the very best service provider in the marketplace – renowned for helping our clients solve the nation’s most pressing and complex challenges, unparalleled career experience for our people and sustained profitable growth year over year.”
WashingtonExec: What trends are you seeing that are important to your customers?
David Moskovitz: We believe the federal government is at a critical inflection point, entering a new normal in terms of lower budgets while at the same time facing increasing pressure to execute their missions and meet citizen expectations for new /better ways to interact. Smaller government is inevitable. Leaders who move beyond debating this to embracing new ways to deliver their missions in this “new normal” will be the winners. Success will be defined by government leaders who are both bold and realistic. And by contractors who are both forward thinking about helping the government navigate today’s cost pressures and expert in the spectrum of operating models and solutions that will transform the way agencies achieve their missions in the future.
This presents us with great opportunity – we know what works, having helped multiple industries and clients in the private sector, around the globe, achieve profound efficiencies and drive lasting change by combining our knowledge with deep government expertise.
“Working with the U.S Chamber of Commerce Hiring our Heroes program, we recently completed 19 workshops designed to help 500,000 vets and their spouses get the skills they need to secure civilian jobs.”
WashingtonExec: What is your company’s biggest accomplishment in the last 12-18 months?
David Moskovitz: I’m celebrating my first year as Chief Executive of Accenture Federal Services, and it has been an eventful year. My vision for AFS is to be the very best service provider in the marketplace – renowned for helping our clients solve the nation’s most pressing and complex challenges, unparalleled career experience for our people and sustained profitable growth year over year. We are focused on continuing to leverage commercial best practices, innovative technology, and a mission-driven sense of delivery for our clients. Our progress in IT optimization, including shared services and the Accenture Cloud Platform, and our growth in military health help mark a successful year for our business and our clients.
WashingtonExec: How is your company involved in the community? (Corporate citizenship).
David Moskovitz: Our approach to client work and community involvement is the same. We “act local; leverage global.” All over the world, we value working side by side with our clients on their critical missions; we value –just as highly – working side by side with them in the communities where we all live. Our employees serve on the boards of nonprofit organizations, volunteer in their neighborhoods, coach and mentor. Next week, we will celebrate our annual Day of Service, encouraging our employees to spend the day volunteering and learning about ways to contribute. Accenture has a global corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which plans to equip 500,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business.
As a government contractor, we have a strong affinity and focus on support of our veterans. Working with the U.S Chamber of Commerce Hiring our Heroes program, we recently completed 19 workshops designed to help 500,000 vets and their spouses get the skills they need to secure civilian jobs. We also recently launched the Accenture Military Career Coach, an online tool with instructional content to help veterans transitioning from the military into civilian jobs. And, we are working on other veteran employment skills efforts including the USO Institute for Veterans and Military Families and American Corporate Partners, where more than 100 Accenture executives are engaging in year-long, one-on-one mentor relationships.
