Chris Braccio
Vice President of Human Resources, AMERICAN SYSTEMS
Chris Braccio joined AMERICAN SYSTEMS, a mid-sized government contractor with 1,600 employees, in 2007. In addition to her role as vice president of human resources, she serves on the company’s board of directors, the ethics committee and chairs the ESOP administrative committee.
As chair of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan Administrative committee, Braccio collaborated with finance leadership last year to change the timing of the annual company stock contributions. This adjustment resulted in a $1.9 million increase in the annual contribution value to the active workforce — an unprecedented move that greatly benefited the employee-owners.
The most recent year-end share value rose by more than 18%, reflecting the outstanding work of all employee-owners. The ESOP, which is provided at no cost to employees, is regarded as the company’s most important and impactful benefit, and Braccio takes pride in the ability to enhance the wealth of each employee-owner.
“Chris is never satisfied with the status quo,” said John Steckel, AMERICAN SYSTEMS president and CEO. “She has a never-ending list of innovative ideas to make AMERICAN SYSTEMS a better place, and not just from an HR perspective. I really appreciate that.”
Why Watch
Braccio said AMERICAN SYSTEMS is constantly striving to streamline and improve talent management processes, from recruiting and onboarding to maintaining a strong pipeline of highly cleared professionals to support national priority programs. This year, the company will implement advanced technology to enhance its applicant tracking system and launch a new security database to monitor and maintain security clearances company-wide. Braccio expressed pride in the company’s time-to-hire metrics and the number of employee-owners with high-level clearances, noting that these new initiatives will further strengthen their capabilities in a critical industry.
Fun fact: Since childhood, Braccio always wanted to try bobsledding. It took some time — into her 50s — but she finally got the chance to bobsled down the Olympic track in Innsbruck, Austria. The experience was a thrilling 53 seconds.
