HR Secrets Revealed: Eight HR Government Contracting leaders share recruiting, retention best practices

Your product is your people. Holding on to them isn’t easy. Not when it comes to current challenges faced by government contracting. The list of challenges is long, topped by the prevailing question over insourcing. While no one knows for sure where the issue will land, contractors are already seeing more seasoned — and difficult to replace — employees move over to the government side. Meanwhile, both industry and government alike continue to vie for the same pool of talent. And it’s shrinking.

Where will the talent competition leave your ability to cultivate — and hold on to — your own employee base?

For answers, ExecutiveBiz brings you the latest best practices from eight top HR leaders within government contracting. What are they doing that’s yielding results? What’s new? What’s out? Their answers come on two fronts: recruitment and retention.

Recruiting and retention: What’s ahead

When it comes to recruitment, Jerry Calhoun (right) is thinking ahead. Over a year ago, this senior vice president of human resources for Vangent saw the writing on the wall: traditional recruiting approaches were no longer enough.

“Search firms are expensive … job boards are expensive …” says Calhoun. Besides, they weren’t necessarily generating the best results. What has worked, with increasing frequency, is social media.

Today, Jerry Calhoun of Vangent says: “LinkedIn is rapidly becoming a primary tool for us.”

Calhoun predicts that social media tools could even replace job boards such as Monster and CareerBuilder as a primary platform for HR professionals.

At CSC North American Public Sector, the past few years have seen recruiting breakthroughs as well. Particularly among college-age recruits, says John Heim (left), Defense Group Vice President of Human Resources for the company. For a time, CSC’s recruiting program amounted to a mere 25 to 50 college hires a year. Today tells a different story. Over the last two years, the company has brought in roughly 575 new college recruits. In addition, the HR team has overseen 260 summer internships among sophomore and junior-level students.

CSC’s college recruiting approach has allowed the company to look beyond mid-level candidates, that highly sought-after talent.

For CSC, recruitment happens at the local level, near customer sites. Concurrently, the company works with local schools to cultivate talent.

“Had we not had the foresight to engage in this strategy, we would have been stuck with our traditional ways of thinking … looking at a mid-level resource that we might have had to relocate from somewhere else,” says Heim.

At Agilex Technologies, it’s the company’s entrepreneurial vision that’s driving strong recruiting. So much so that the company was recently named the “hottest government contractor” in the Washington, DC area.

That achievement is all the more noteworthy given the company’s story; it’s only been around three years.

In June, Agilex Technologies was ranked among the top health IT companies by revenue — three years after its start.

Recruiting is one thing. Keeping the best is even harder. It’s an area that Mary Good, senior vice president of human resources for SRA, has covered. A key tool in her strategy: smart social media engagement.

Social media is playing a big role in breaking down “silos and barriers” that can exist across a global organization, says Good. “We’re in the process of formalizing, and creating, online communities that engage employees at customer sites both here and abroad.

Social media platforms, based on interests beyond work, has been one key to employee engagement — and retention — at SRA.

Also important is career development. “Providing the tools for people to take control of their career, that’s what works in attracting people — that’s certainly what works in retaining them,” says Rich Lakis, senior vice president of human resources for L-3 Services Group.

“Employees stay engaged when they understand we’re trying to provide them the tools they need to grow … and to give them a leg up in the event that something changes,” says Lakis.

L-3 Services Group helps employees through uncertain times in ways beyond severance models or outplacement firms.

When it comes to retention, nothing beats meaningful work, says Candice Mendenhall, senior vice president of human resources for ICF International.

From renewable energy studies to strategy insights into social programs, the Faifax, Va.-based consulting firm prides itself on doing the kind of work that improves lives in direct, tangible ways.

That mission helps explain the company’s relatively low turnover rate, across all job levels.

ICF’s turnover rate is lower than many of its competitors. One reason: meaningful work.

Jim Lawler, chief human resource officer of TASC, Inc., knows just how important retention is. As the company’s former association with Northrop Grumman fades into memory now that decoupling is complete, Lawler is focusing on building up core business functions. And cultivating talent.

Of particular focus is senior-level employees.

“We don’t make products. We don’t sell systems. We provide talent — our product is our people,” says Lawler.

“People care, particularly as they look at the last few years of their career, whether they’re in an exciting place, a place that practices good ethics and integrity,” says Lawler.

At TASC, Jim Lawler is focused on areas such as senior-level employee retention.

For Alion’s Kathy Madaleno, retention starts on day one. “You have to communicate the coporate culture, that we’re committed to our people,” says Madaleno, senior vice president and director of human resources at Alion Science and Technology.

Keeping employees vested also comes through on-demand e-learning solutions at Alion.

Alion now offers courses online, in diverse fields, from engineering and management, to government contracting and finance.

FULL STORIES HERE:

Social media for recruitment: Vangent’s Jerry Calhoun finds success beyond traditional HR approaches

No excuses: John Heim on CSC’s bold vision for college recruiting

Charlie Virtue of Agilex: HR secrets to become “hottest government contractor”

Show good faith, and your employees will, too: Rich Lakis on L-3 Services Group HR approach

Candice Mendenhall of ICF: Employee retention through meaningful work

Jim Lawler of TASC: Faster, nimbler, more entrepreneurial culture ahead

SRA’s Mary Good: Three steps to solid employee engagement

Early and often: For Alion’s Kathy Madaleno, successful recruitment and development starts here

Posted by Lisa Singh on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010. Filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry