In a competitive government contracting market, it’s the people behind the solutions, capabilities and services who power the information technology transformations of tomorrow. The mission-oriented companies serving federal defense and civilian agencies are made possible because of these diverse leaders and their teams. And to excel, these companies need to provide the opportunities and culture to attract, integrate and retain the talent they needs.
But this doesn’t happen without strong human resources leadership. For WashingtonExec’s Top 10 HR Executives to Watch in 2019 list, we identified the best of the best in putting team, talent and employee opportunities first, based on their accomplishments, impact on internal HR missions and vision for the near-term future — bringing exactly what the GovCon community needs to empower the employees of today and tomorrow.
Jeffrey Brody
Chief Human Resources Officer, ManTech International Corp.
Jeffrey Brody joined ManTech in June 2017 and is responsible for the development, implementation and execution of the company’s human resources strategies supporting annual business objectives and its long-range strategic plan.
“Everything we do in HR is designed to provide a work experience that makes our company the employer of choice, industry-leading in all we do, and sustaining ManTech as a great place to work,” Brody said.
In the last year alone, ManTech has reached a number of related notable milestones.
For example, the company has vigorous initiatives that bring on board veterans — and today, half of its employees are veterans. The company also has a new Women’s Leadership forum featuring ManTech women leaders on the important difference women make in the industry.
ManTech also has tuition-paid degree programs with its education partner Purdue University Global that allows employees to build expertise in exciting fields like cloud computing, where they earn expertise in AWS, Azure and Google cloud platforms. The company provides some 30,000 free Skillsoft courses — open to all employees — in technology, leadership and business management.
Additionally, ManTech has a STEM high school intern program with the Academies of Loudoun, which trains young people in cyber and helps build the leaders of tomorrow.
“These milestones point to continued success,” Brody added.
In late 2018, Monster.com hailed ManTech as the best company for veterans for the third consecutive year, and in 2019, Washingtonian magazine added ManTech to its “Best Places to Work” list.
And one key differentiator from ManTech’s competitors, according to Brody, is its intense focus on the customer mission.
“Everything we do every day results in an awesome outcome for the customer,” he said. “What drives that focus: great people.”
ManTech aims to attract special individuals who share its attitude of total commitment to the mission, and mentors them to grow as vital contributors to — as Brody put it — “the best team on the planet.”
And as an HR leader, Brody believes empathy and understanding are key traits.
“I follow the principle of SITS — ‘sit in the shoes’ of others — to maintain a strong focus on our people and to develop innovative programs that enhance their work experience, build exciting careers — and contribute to the success of every customer mission,” he said.
Why Watch:
In the next 12 months, Brody is focused on keeping ManTech industry-leading in all it does by recruiting, developing and retaining great talent, and building on its position as an employer of choice.
“In addition, we will push hard for improvements to legislation such as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that can enhance the work experience not only at ManTech but for our industry partners and beyond,” Brody added.
He also looks forward to collaborating with his peers on the WashingtonExec HR Council to build HR competency and exchange in mutually satisfying thought leadership.
Donna Diederich
Chief Human Resources Officer, LMI
Donna Diederich was weeks into her role as chief human resources officer when LMI announced its February acquisition of The Tauri Group, a firm with expertise in emerging technologies and life sciences.
“Their scientific capabilities complemented our workforce so nicely,” said Diederich, whose HR team completed the integration of 150 Tauri employees, along with 50 new hires for recently awarded work, in 30 days. “We worked hard to get people settled quickly. Now, we’re capitalizing on more opportunities.”
The move exemplified the type of burgeoning, dynamic organization Diederich came to be a part of. LMI has hired more than 600 employees in 2019, bolstering its presence in national security, defense, health care and civilian agencies.
“LMI’s strategy is to grow, but to grow in the right way — enhancing our support to clients and in how we support our people,” she said.
Helping LMI navigate this strategy — encompassing organic growth, acquisitions and internal mobility for employees — appealed to Diederich, whose career includes nearly two decades at Northrop Grumman as well as executive leadership roles at CSC, CACI and Abt Associates. She is passionate about career mobility, which she sees as a cornerstone of workforce development and retention; 13% of LMI’s 1,400 employees have transitioned within the company this year.
“Providing opportunities to explore meaningful work, wherever it is in the organization, is key to retaining our talent,” she said. “Our employees thrive on challenges; they should know they don’t have to go elsewhere when they’re ready for something different.”
Why Watch:
Diederich is excited about the organization’s commitment to cultivating its culture, talent and leadership. LMI provides on average $15,000 per employee for annual professional development, certification and training opportunities.
“We are focused on developing our program managers as leaders of people and as technical experts,” she said. “It takes leadership at all levels to make this company run.”
Other priorities for Diederich are LMI’s commitment to diversity and strengthening its reputation as a leading employer of veterans. LMI was named a “Best for Vets” employer by Military Times for the 10th consecutive year in 2019.
Maliek Ferebee
Chief Human Capital Officer, Alion Science and Technology
Maliek Ferebee is an innovative human capital leader who translates business vision into actions that improve performance, profitability, growth and employee engagement. As chief human capital officer, he is a member of Alion’s executive team and provides a unique perspective and appreciation that human capital is every organization’s greatest asset.
An influencer and risk-taker, Ferebee thrives on solving complex organizational challenges, translating vision and strategies into actionable value-added goals. Through his key strengths in strategic planning and design, organizational development, diversity and inclusion, talent management strategy, risk management and large-scale program management, his organization has disrupted the norm to prepare for change, increased aptitude for knowledge, learning and understanding and created a trusted partnership across Alion.
In 2018-2019, Ferebee led the efforts to shape Alion’s culture to build brand strength around a set of core values aligned with behaviors and competencies to shape the organization for growth and technical excellence. Through an Engagement Impact Planning Initiative, employees were given the opportunity to help shape the systems and processes for better outcomes and ultimately success for all.
This effort resulted in organization-wide implementation of several new technologies, service platforms and processes in performance management, professional and social media collaboration, and career progression and development.
Over the next 12 months, Ferebee and Alion will introduce Alion APEX, an incubator program partnership with well-known universities to foster and build the next-generation workforce in cyber, artificial intelligence and key technologies that support the defense and intelligence communities.
Why Watch:
Ferebee stays ahead of the competition by employing a macro-level, future-focused approach that aligns and integrates human capital programs with the needs of the organization. He believes the collective values, beliefs and behaviors demonstrated by leaders as well as employees is crucial. Ferebee is an industry leader integrating programs and technologies aimed at the systematic identification, assessment and performance management of talent aligned to the values, behaviors and competencies of the organization.
Ferebee builds enterprise programs and systems aimed at identifying and attracting candidates, deploying both internal and external candidates to fill workforce requirements. He is focused on developing the skills and capabilities of employees at all levels of the organization to meet current and future organizational requirements — all while identifying, assessing and implementing the underlying technology, policies and practices to bring this all to fruition.
Jack Jackson
Vice President of Human Resources, DCS Corp.
Jack Jackson joined DCS Corp. in 2018 and has led improvements in multiple areas including talent acquisition, HR technology, and employee engagement that have enabled the company’s record growth. Specifically, headcount has grown from 1,100 to approaching 1,500 during Jackson’s tenure.
Jackson’s prior experience with helping other organizations meet their growth targets has proven invaluable. The success in the talent acquisition area has been a result of building a strong team and providing it with the necessary tools and technology to be successful.
“Our talent acquisition director has done a phenomenal job implementing a new applicant tracking system and developing her team with the skills necessary to recruit in a difficult labor market,” Jackson said. “Focused improvements have also occurred in the area of employee engagement, which has improved retention.”
As DCS continues to expand, it is emphasizing scaling the HR organization to meet the growing needs of the business without losing focus on its employee-owners.
And because DCS is an employee-owned company, its culture is collaborative and customer mission-focused.
“We hire experts in a multitude of advanced disciplines,” Jackson said. That includes cybersecurity, systems engineering, electronic warfare, software engineering, modeling and simulation, weapons systems test and evaluation, and program management.
“Most of our employees are working side by side with our customers on the development of new technologies which improve our national security,” Jackson said. “By supporting our employee’s development, we are able to provide added value to our customers.”
And personally, Jackson’s prior military service in the U.S. Navy has aided him in supporting DCS’ mission. He started his career as a naval officer in the Naval Supply Corps before transitioning to various HR positions with General Electric and leadership positions with several other Fortune 500 and government contracting companies.
Throughout his career, Jackson has developed his leadership skills with an emphasis on employee and team development. He has mentored many HR team members and enabled their success by giving them opportunities to succeed and impact the organizations they support.
Why Watch:
As DCS continues to win new work and expand its geographical footprint, its HR processes need to evolve to support a broader workforce.
“We are focused on improving our employee engagement through a redesign of our onboarding process as well as implementing new technologies for improved efficiencies and user experience,” Jackson said. That includes mobile technology and improvement of the company’s internal and external websites.
DCS is also continually looking to enhance its benefits and employee ownership rewards. It conducts an employee engagement survey annually, and combined with DCS senior leadership site visits, DCS hopes to improve the connection to its mission and employees attaining their personal and career goals.
Tammy Kness
Vice President of Human Resources and Communications, General Dynamics Information Technology
Tammy Kness joined General Dynamics Information Technology in 2003 and oversees matters related to people management and development, talent acquisition, benefits, compensation, global mobility, diversity and inclusion, corporate giving, employee engagement and internal communications.
And she hails GDIT for its people-first strategy.
“We value our employees for their commitment to our customers’ missions and to making GDIT a great place to work,” Kness said. “We want them to have the best employee experience, to achieve their career goals and enjoy the camaraderie of teammates.”
One of GDIT’s strategic priorities is its “People First” imperative. This encompasses efforts focused on attracting, engaging and connecting with its people – and ultimately, plays a key role in shaping company culture.
Supporting employees in finding their next career opportunity at GDIT is paramount, Kness said.
“By successfully working with our leadership and people across the company, our Internal Mobility team is helping employees find their next career opportunity right here at GDIT,” she said. “Everywhere I go, I tell our employees that I want their next career move to be within GDIT. It is hard to describe the level of excitement and buzz this has produced, and we are looking forward to building on this momentum.”
And according to Kness, some of GDIT’s most meaningful achievements in the past year are those with a positive impact on the employee experience.
For example, well in advance of rolling out a new Total Rewards Program for 2020, Kness and her team brought together employees from across the business to drive the planning effort. They launched an extensive all employee survey to understand what matters most to them. Leadership has also been active in listening tours across GDIT.
“This feedback provides valuable information to build meaningful programs,” Kness said.
A few other notable HR achievements include introducing a new learning platform to help employees learn and grow their skills, helping employees stay connected through the Employee Resource Groups (which include a speaker series and volunteer events) and expanding the GDIT Cares program to support employees’ desire to volunteer and contribute to organizations in the community.
GDIT has also strengthened its technical communities so employees can learn from its subject matter experts and engage with their cohorts who share similar interests. The company also has prioritized in-person events such as summer socials and employee town halls.
Additionally, GDIT established a Military Partnership Program to connect transitioning veteran (or military) hires with seasoned veteran peers to enhance professional growth, foster employee engagement and assist new military hires with assimilating into their new civilian role at GDIT. The company’s internship program was also named to WayUp’s Top 100 list for 2019.
“We are a people-focused business with over 30,000 everyday heroes delivering for our customers every day,” Kness said. “In my role, I have the privilege of working with this dedicated team of professionals. I am constantly amazed by their talent, innovative thinking, technical acumen and commitment to our customers.”
And as an HR leader, engaging and collaborating with the business and its people is a must.
“HR leaders need to understand, appreciate and align to the overall strategy and priorities of the business,” Kness said. “This understanding and alignment informs our people strategies and investments — and also ensures a highly valued impact to our business.”
Alignment to the business needs is important, but so is understanding and appreciating the company’s people. Kness believes a highly valued and effective HR team focuses on the needs of employees.
“We value the input of our employees and actively engage with them to gain a full scope of their experience,” she said.
Kness and her team do this by building communities at GDIT through leadership listening tours, social events, employee resource groups, town halls, technical communities of interest, social media campaigns and more.
Why Watch:
“Our focus has been and will continue to be on building the right foundation that allows our employees to learn, grow and move across opportunities at GDIT,” Kness said.
GDIT is building programs that help ensure its employees are prepared for new technologies and changes in the marketplace, and will continue to expand its internal mobility programs, enhance its internship and co-op offerings, and prioritize certifications and required learning.
“We will continue to build on our momentum and enhance our presence as the leading technology provider for the federal government,” Kness said.
Janet Waldron
Vice President for Human Resources, SOS International LLC
Janet Waldron was named vice president for human resources at SOS International LLC in 2017. She has since worked tirelessly to help integrate three acquired companies — one larger than SOSi itself — to create a single organization solidly focused on ensuring compelling career paths and providing outstanding work-life balance within a culture of learning.
The most significant achievement of the past 18 months for Waldron was the integration of STG, Inc. — a company with nearly twice as many employees as SOSi. Waldron’s team had to recognize and normalize the differences in benefits, 401K options, corporate policies, and other culture factors, and it had to integrate employees from different states and countries. All this had to be accomplished with as much transparency and seamlessness as possible to retain as much of the team as possible.
And, of course, Waldron and her team had to do all of this while serving two distinct audiences: existing SOSi employees and newly added STG employees.
“Everybody had to feel loved,” Waldron said.
She went on to say: “I’ve managed a lot of acquisitions, and this was the most successful, by far.”
Proof of the successful integration, according to Waldron, was in the unusually high retention rate. Six months after completing the acquisition, most of the top leadership at STG was still happily on staff within SOSi. That’s relatively rare for an acquisition of this size, Waldron said.
The acquisition and subsequent integration of these companies into a single, integrated SOSi tapped into one of Waldron’s greatest strengths: collaboration.
“If you’re approachable and collaborative, team members are more comfortable speaking up and bringing up new ideas,” Waldron said.
For example, Waldron is employer centric — she tends to focus on policy and is financially-minded. Based on that, Waldron hired a benefits manager who is employee-focused.
“It is critical to have a balance, and to be able to see both sides,” Waldron said.
Why Watch:
SOSi’s differentiator is, without a doubt, its culture. While Waldron has done an enormous amount of work to ensure SOSi’s strong work-life balance and culture of learning persisted through its acquisitions, this is her greatest focus for the coming year.
Waldron has already created new initiatives within SOSi such as the Culture Calendar, where each month offers a different corporate theme — diversity, work-life balance, financial fitness, etc. She has also been working to create a culture of learning by implementing lunch-and-learn sessions, launching a training department, creating an internship program and building a skills database (rolling out in November) that includes things like certifications and language skills to maximize employee career paths.
“Moving forward, our goal is to be strategic,” Waldron said. “The goal is to be proactive versus reactive —especially now that the tools are in place to enable that to happen.”
Waldron’s focus on collaboration has become contagious at SOSi and will serve the organization well as it moves toward a more proactive, strategic period.
Frank Peloso
Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Vectrus
Frank Peloso has served as the chief human resources officer for Vectrus since 2010, charged with all HR activities and strategies. Previously, he was the vice president and director of HR for the Exelis Mission Systems business, the predecessor company to Vectrus.
Vectrus recently celebrated its 5-year anniversary as a publicly traded, government services contractor. Despite its relative youth, the company has a long 75-plus-year legacy of providing maintenance sustainment and operations support for U.S. government facilities, vehicles, equipment, ranges, networks and systems.
The challenge as Vectrus spun off from its parent company, Exelis (formerly ITT) was to build on the company’s rich history to define a new culture that aligns its roughly 7,000 global employees. A key differentiator for Vectrus is that its employees and the culture they embody are the company’s chief asset.
Under the current President and CEO Chuck Prow, Vectrus has embarked on a journey of cultural transformation to move from a siloed, command and control environment to one that fosters agility, collaboration and accountability. This ongoing transformation supports Vectrus’ strategic objectives of growth and margin expansion over the next five years.
Why Watch:
With a relentless focus on employee engagement, Vectrus conducted an all-employee survey in 2017 — the results of which provided insights into areas for improvement. Vectrus then developed customized training modules and platforms to achieve these improvements.
In 2017, the transformation focused on transparency, collaboration and courageous communication. In 2018-2019, it focused on the company’s cultural imperatives of agility, accountability and engagement.
The training — which targeted leaders at all levels across 18 countries — focused on these culture imperatives and featured a mix of classroom training and “leader-led” training. This design ensured every leader at Vectrus not only understood each of these imperatives but also taught and modeled the way for his or her employees.
To round out this holistic approach to cultural transformation, Vectrus aligned its performance management system to set employee expectations regarding cultural imperatives and to assess individual competence in those areas.
Debbie Rhodes
Vice President of Human Resources, CGI
Debbie Rhodes has been with CGI since 1999 and one of the most significant achievements she was a part of in the past year was the company’s recent merger with Sunflower Systems.
“The merging of teams bringing different corporate cultures can be challenging, and the human resources integration piece of M&A activity is critical to its success,” Rhodes said. “We believe our new members coming from the merger feel welcome and understand how much we appreciate their talents.”
As part of the company’s approach to developing its next level of leaders, Rhodes and her team enhanced key learning and development programs to better leverage gamification and experiential learning, and broadened its successful mentorship program.
But what differentiates CGI from its competitors, according to Rhodes, is its dream: “To create an environment in which we enjoy working together and, as owners, contribute to building a company we can be proud of.”
The company has an entrepreneurial culture, and a vast majority of CGI professionals are shareholders. This ownership mentality is woven into all aspects of its management approach. In fact, CGI professionals are called “members,” not employees, and all CGI members have the freedom to drive their careers, make decisions in the best interests of clients and participate in the continuous improvement of its business.
And Rhodes is able to advance HR missions within CGI with the help of her team.
“We are passionate about being open to new ideas,” she said. “Our HR team is encouraged to present new ideas, different opinions and innovative approaches to problem-solving. I’m proud of the way the team collaborates with one another and all relevant stakeholders to make these approaches a success.”
Personally, she also reminds herself every day that she and her team will display empathy, compassion, respect for, and understanding of, the human condition.
‘We genuinely care about our each other as professionals and fellow members,” Rhodes said.
Why Watch:
Rhodes and her team are currently redoubling their efforts in diversity and inclusion through the creation and expansion of several initiatives, including a program to recognize members who foster inclusion, broadening the scope of CGI Women’s Forum to promote gender equality and balance in its ranks, expanding its inclusive leadership training and adding new affinity groups, such as the recently launched Pride@CGI.
Jamila Taylor
Managing Director and Head of Human Resources Operations, Guidehouse Inc.
In 2019, Jamila Taylor joined Guidehouse, the recently acquired PricewaterhouseCoopers’ U.S. public sector business by an affiliate of private equity firm Veritas Capital. Appointed as the head of HR operations, Taylor is responsible for all day-to-day operations including compensation and benefits, talent acquisition, HR information systems data and analytics, payroll and shared services.
As a recent carve-out and with such a diverse and broad range of programs, Taylor has focused on the “build out” and alignment of human capital to the Guidehouse business strategy.
“I’m proud to have joined such a dedicated and gritty team,” Taylor said. Her group focuses on partnering with the business to ensure its human capital practices, tools and repeatable routines meet business needs and build confidence; identify, attract and retain a diverse workforce; as well as develop and deploy tools for company leaders to engage and motivate employees.
But most of all, Taylor said she’s extremely proud of the team’s accomplishments in recent months helping the business achieve its most notable milestone to date — the recent announcement of the Navigant merger.
And according to Taylor, that merger continues to allow Guidehouse to differentiate itself from competitors by creating a unique consultancy with unparalleled scale in both regulated commercial end markets and in the public sector that regulates those end markets. The deep, focused expertise in both industry and technology-enabled solutions delivers unique services offering in the management consulting marketplace.
“I’ve had success advancing the human capital mission at Guidehouse by sticking to my core values and beliefs,” Taylor said. “I demonstrate the importance of operating with integrity, an unyielding work ethic and a level of confidence that garners the team’s trust and infuses them with new energy.
“I inspire those around me by being positive in my approach and actions and being fully committed and passionate in all that I do,” she added. “I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty and leading by example!”
Why Watch:
Going forward, Taylor plans to continue focusing on the large-scale integration activities of Navigant, the design and implementation of an enterprisewide Job Architecture and Compensation structure, a global Human Resources Information System and a global shared services center.
Betty Thompson
Chief People Officer, Booz Allen Hamilton
Betty Thompson joined Booz Allen Hamilton in 2008, bringing more than 20 years of experience directing human capital strategy and human resource functions for large corporations. Her highlights in the last year include advising Booz Allen’s CEO and board of directors on the organization’s long-term vision and growth strategy and driving company culture and people strategy for its 26,000-plus consultants and technologists worldwide.
Well ahead of her time, Thompson conceived Booz Allen’s Women’s Agenda, which aims to ensure all women and all diverse populations at the company have a chance to move to the next level and to be successful in their efforts. She was instrumental in efforts leading to women comprising more than half of Booz Allen’s leadership team and one-third of its board of directors — the latter setting Booz Allen apart from many other public companies, according to Thompson.
“Booz Allen tech professionals have the opportunity to bring innovation to life in mission-critical projects for military units and federal agencies serving American citizens around the clock and around the world, as well as commercial organizations,” she said. “This purpose-driven work changes the world for the better and goes beyond the short-term thrill of developing cool gadgets.”
For more than 100 years, the firm has prided itself on being one step ahead in solving challenges with no roadmaps.
And in terms of advancing HR missions within the company, Thompson drives forward-leaning initiatives aimed at accelerating diversity and inclusion and advocating physical, mental and emotional wellness, among other employee programs.
But what truly sets Thompson apart is her character. She is a standard bearer for the values that define Booz Allen’s company and culture: unflinching courage, passionate service, ferocious integrity, collective ingenuity and champion’s heart.
As described by CEO Horacio Rozanski, “Betty brings a wonderful and rare balance of insight, determination and empathy even in the most difficult situations.”
Why Watch:
Thompson continues to champion diversity and inclusion and focus on winning “the war for talent,” growing Booz Allen’s workforce with an emphasis on providing best-in-class work experiences along with opportunities for professional growth and personal enrichment.
