On Sept. 4, the finalists for this year’s Greater Washington Government Contractor Awards were announced and WashingtonExec is bringing you its annual series with the nominees.
The winners will be unveiled on Nov. 13 at The Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Services Council. With more than 1,000 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.
Our next interview is with MindPoint Group, LLC ‘s Vice President, Corporate Operations Mariam Es-Haq. MindPoint Group is nominated for “Contractor of the Year” in the less than $25 million category.
WashingtonExec: How has your business been able to grow as the federal market contracts?
Mariam Es-Haq: Service Delivery and Market Demand: Despite federal market contraction, MindPoint Group has been able to grow at a significant rate over the past five years. Our transition from sub-contracting to priming contracts due to our strong focus on service delivery paired with an increase in demand for cybersecurity from both the public and private sector has positioned us well to grow a federal presence.
Diversification Strategy: Part of MindPoint Group’s Managed Growth Approach has been to diversify our client base in both the government and commercial markets to reduce operational risk from any single market. In 2013, we achieved this goal (52%/48% respectively) and the timing was perfect. MindPoint Group did not experience any negative impact to its operations or its employees as a result of contraction in the federal contracting market and in particular, government sequestration and shutdown in 2013. Our diversification strategy provided us the ability to quickly reallocate resources to commercial contracts. Additionally, our fiscally responsible financial management also allowed us to allocate some resources to overhead projects that benefited the company. As a small business with limited resources, we are very proud of the fact that our operational management proved successful during a turbulent time and that we were able to operate as usual and further demonstrate the stability and commitment of the company to our employees and clients (since all of our employees were able to return to their projects where other companies had to report layoffs and request time to recruit new resources causing further delay in client projects).
Attracting and Retaining Top Talent: The proliferation of federal focus on cybersecurity has led to an increasingly competitive marketplace. Countless studies have shown a severe shortage in cybersecurity professionals. Attracting and retaining top talent has been integral to our organizational success as we are in a service based industry, thus we are only as good as the professionals we are so fortunate to work alongside.
WashingtonExec: What is the fastest growing component of your business?
Mariam Es-Haq: Because we specialize in one thing, IT Security, our entire service line is fast growing. Very early on, we made a decision to focus purely on cyber security. This focus allows us to provide expertise with breadth and depth in a market that is fast growing and sustainable for the long term, meaning, security is not g0ing away, so putting all our eggs in the cybersecurity basket is not a risky move but has proven to be a wise decision.
WashingtonExec: What was your organization’s largest accomplishment in the last 12-18 months?
Mariam Es-Haq: Diversity is the first word that comes to mind. Our greatest accomplishment lies in the successful implementation of our diversification strategy and our promotion of diversity in the workplace. Let me explain how and why.
Part of MindPoint Group’s Managed Growth Approach has been to diversify our client base in both the government and commercial markets to reduce operational risk from any single market. By targeting large, small, and midsize contracts in both the public and private sector across a variety of agencies and industries, we have successfully limited operational risk from market volatility. In 2013, we achieved this goal (52%/48% respectively) and the timing was perfect. It is this strategy that enabled us to weather the storm during sequestration, as we were able to leverage our commercial contracts to avoid layoffs. Furthermore, our fiscal responsibility allowed us to allocate resources to overhead projects which has bolstered our product offerings and has ultimately benefitted the company in the long run.
As a woman and minority owned small business, we are a staunch advocate of equal employment. This can be seen from all aspects of our operation from a diversity based recruitment strategy to equal pay rights and equal benefits for same sex couples and domestic partnerships. Our policies of equal pay and benefits has helped us to attract and retain top talent, which is essential to our growth, particularly in our market where there is currently a severe shortage of cybersecurity professionals.
WashingtonExec: Given the current state of the federal contracting market, how has your organization’s marketing approach to customers, employees and future customers changed?
Mariam Es-Haq: MindPoint Group’s approach to marketing continues to evolve to meet the preferences of current customers, employees, and future customers. As we grow, it is essential to maintain the small business approach (our open door policy with employees, clients and teaming partners) in the cultivation, maintenance and fostering of relationships. At its core, MindPoint Group’s marketing strategy focuses on consistent and clear omni-channel communication that has been scaled to maintain individualized client and employee contact.
The evaluation of our future clients is also dependent on our diversification strategy. Because our balanced growth approach aims to hedge contracts across multiple industries and cybersecurity services, our target market is constantly evolving. Through an omni-channel approach which utilizes conventional relationship building techniques, networking, targeted marketing, and a growing focus on social media, we are empowered to manage diverse prospective client list.
Our diversification strategy includes the expansion of existing contracts across various services. Proper maintenance of client relationships enables us to anticipate client need before it arises. Our greatest asset in doing so is our employees. By maintaining clear lines of communication and a proper understanding of company capabilities, our employees are empowered to identify opportunity as it arises and respond or escalate accordingly.
WashingtonExec: What are the largest challenges that you predict your business will face in the next 5 years?
Mariam Es-Haq: We are in our 5th year of operation; in our rapid growth phase and we have quickly realized and taken action to address the challenges associated with a fast growing company, primarily, the organizational changes required to meet the needs of our growth. This early recognition has been helpful for us because we have begun to take steps necessary to proactively implement change so that our business continues to grow smoothly.
WashingtonExec: How does your organization maintain engagement with all levels of employees?
Mariam Es-Haq: Employee Centric Culture: MindPoint Group has an open door culture which encourages idea sharing and direct collaboration between executive management and employees. We foster a deeply collaborative environment, one in which staff can both share and strategize in teams and grow as individuals. Our clients turn to us as trusted advisors and we empower staff to embrace this role.
Fostering Innovative Minds: Our approach to fostering innovative minds encourages our employees to participate in continuing education and professional growth. We facilitate this by offering employees robust programs such as our MindPoint Group Cyber Security Research Lab, the MindPoint Group iLearn online training platform, and significant tuition and training reimbursement.
Strong Focus on Performance Recognition: We are big advocates of rewarding and recognizing high performance at all levels. To that end, we have established a very robust performance bonus program such as quarterly “Spot Light Awards” given by managers to their employees, semi-annual “On Point Awards” given by executive management to employees and annual performance bonuses. This along with our 360 performance evaluation process ensures that both management and executive management stay connected with employee performance and we recognize a job well done.
WashingtonExec: Have millennials entering the workforce changed your corporate policies? If so, how?
Mariam Es-Haq: As an IT security company, our market embraces diversity and dynamic environments. As a result, MindPoint Group’s culture of diversity stems from this environment therefore, we have not experienced any “change” if you will, from the entry of the millennial generation in the workforce.
WashingtonExec: How is your business involved in the community?
Mariam Es-Haq: At MindPoint Group, the Partners recognize that with prosperity comes responsibility to give back to society. In 2012, we launched our community outreach program and began quarterly sponsorship of civic endeavors. To date, we have supported numerous causes including volunteer work at the Ronald McDonald House and Howard County Food Bank and team participation and sponsorship at the American Diabetes Association, National Brain Tumor Society and Accelerated Brain Cancer Cure as well as supporting the Cardinal Bank Charity Classic benefiting the Inova Health System Foundation.
All events are led by employee volunteers with full sponsorship of the company. This new approach allows us to support non-profit organizations that are meaningful to our employees. The company further promotes employee participation as a part of each employee’s corporate citizenship performance accountability.
To date MindPoint Group has contributed over $20,000 and hundreds of hours to charity, but we believe that the greater contribution for the company and employees who participate is the growing camaraderie and time spent supporting these organizations together.
