The finalists for WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards were announced March 17, and we’ll be highlighting some of them until the event takes place live, in-person May 10.
Next is Chief Human Resources Officer finalist in the Public Company category Betty Thompson, who’s chief people officer at Booz Allen. Here, she talks success in her current role, focus areas going forward, career advice and more.
What key achievements did you have in 2022 / 2023?
- Worked closely with CEO to facilitate the seamless transition of two C-Suite executive retirements, and completed the search for and onboarded a new board director.
- Established new COO role and on-boarded three new members to the leadership team.
- Redesigned and implemented new executive compensation model for all VPs and above to ensure we are able to attract and retain executives needed to deliver our strategy.
- Increased the representation of BIPOC at senior levels with a specific focus on Black women going from zero at SVP and EVP to two EVPs and 2 SVPs.
- Recognized as number one firm in Washington, D.C., for board diversity.
What has made you successful in your current role?
Working with extremely talented people and having the trust and confidence of the CEO, Board and senior leadership.
What are your primary focus areas going forward, and why are those so important to the future of the nation?
My top two focus areas are mental health and democratizing the opportunity for good jobs.My focus on mental health in our firm started about 10 years ago. We developed resources and a safe environment to support the wellbeing of our employees ⏤ which helped tremendously over these past turbulent years.
But we have more needs than ever ⏤ particularly with our youth and access to quality and timely care. We created parity in our health benefits, but that’s not enough. We need access to more providers and more awareness and acceptance of the issues plaguing our youth in particular. It’s important to our nation because our youth are our future. It’s important to employers because it’s difficult to be productive if your child is in crisis.
With regard to democratizing good job opportunities, we must break what is being called the “paper ceiling” where the lack of a college degree precludes qualified people from getting good jobs. There has been significant inflation in college degree requirements for jobs that can be done very well without a degree. They can be done with a certification, associate’s degree, course work, experience, etc.
While a college degree is great, the lack of one should not be an automatic disqualifier. College is out of reach for many ⏤ too many ⏤ and it’s only getting worse. It has an even greater impact on groups already underrepresented in our companies. We need to value skills, knowledge and experience. This is important to our nation to create more equity and fill the many jobs we are not able to fill today due to unnecessary barriers for talented, hardworking citizens.
Which rules do you think you should break more as a government/industry leader?
I’m not sure I want to “break” rules, but I would like to challenge us to go faster and be more innovative in contracting ⏤ to pay for outcomes versus the how or who; to remove obstacles for staffing like reducing unnecessary education requirements; and improving clearance processing, etc.
What’s your best career advice for those who want to follow in your footsteps?
Take advantage of the job you have to make a difference and learn; and make others’ success a key measure of your own success.