Shatter the Job Description Paradigm

It’s time to shatter the job description paradigm.

A candidate market exists because the demand for talent far exceeds market labor supply. It is partially driven by organizations accelerating their digital transformations to adopt and modernize quickly. This, combined with the pandemic, has elicited a dramatic workforce shift. The last two years resulted in many workers finding new jobs with better pay, flexible schedules, and working remotely. Today, extreme market conditions exist where inefficiencies and deficiencies have materialized in recruiting and talent attraction.

Recruiting is a sales and marketing process; however, most organizations dedicate more resources to customer acquisition than employee attraction. Companies are exceedingly knowledgeable about their customers’ products and services. They know their issues, challenges, and drivers. However, they know little about the fine points of recruiting—what appeals to the candidates? With a sea of jobs, why is yours so special? It is not uncommon to see companies advertise for 10, 20, or even 50+ open and hot positions?

Nearly every job description follows the same outline; what the company needs. Job postings begin with, “the ideal candidate will or must have {fill in the blank}” with headings like qualifications, requirements, functions, and my favorite, additional requirements because the first mention was not good enough.

Perhaps it is time to revolutionize job descriptions into exciting, entertaining, and personalized digital content that emphasizes and motivates prospective candidates. What better way to do this than BLUF writing?!?!

BLUF or bottom line upfront dramatically improves your job descriptions. It makes them more distinctive and memorable than your competitors. BLUF is a pragmatic approach that helps active and passive candidates assess job descriptions and compels them to apply or reply to opportunities faster and easier. How to BLUF:

  • Get to the point quickly
  • State important ideas upfront to make job evaluations easy
  • Start with your conclusion, don’t keep the audience guessing (results, benefits, outcomes)
  • Follow up with supporting information (where necessary)
  • Leave background information/proof points (where appropriate)

When implementing this approach, a critical success factor is to make it different from standard everyday job descriptions. Use benefits/results/outcomes to help make your job descriptions different. This approach allows you to present expected achievements, projects success, and valuable teamwork experience toward goals. When developing your BLUF, please consider the following questions and do your best to not shoehorn all answers into a single bullet or sentence.

  • What expertise will the candidate gain? What will their expertise provide?
  • What will this accomplish? Why is it important?
  • What will their participation enable or allow? What benefit will it bring to the customer?
  • What will they achieve via program management and/or technical skills/tools/practices?

Again, at least up front, each bullet should be candidate-centric, addressing the candidate needs and, subsequently, you or your clients. It’s not about how much work the candidate will do—it’s about the value of their work and the results/benefits/outcomes they gain.

Author: Sean Delaney, GovCon innovator who helps federal agencies with solutions that improve performance, reduce risks, and increase efficiencies, is a Sr. Vice President at MBA CSi

MBA CSi
4795 Meadow Wood Lane
Suite 210 East
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000

MBA CSi Wins USPS 2020 Supplier Excellence Award

MBA CSi Named Winner of USPS 2020 Supplier Excellence Award
For the third time, MBA Consulting Services, Inc (MBA CSi) is awarded the United States Postal Services (USPS) coveted Supplier Excellence Award.

Chantilly, VA., June 15, 2021 – MBA Consulting Services (MBA CSi) announced that they were recently awarded USPS’ 2020 Supplier Excellence Award for outstanding performance on the Vehicle Engineering Program. MBA Consulting Services, Inc. (MBA CSi) is a privately held company headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, and is a leading provider of Federal I.T. and engineering solutions. MBA CSi has earned an exceptional reputation as a trusted partner with USPS for over ten years, providing specialized engineering, facilities, I.T., and research and development.

The USPS Supplier Excellence Award recognizes Postal Service suppliers that have demonstrated exemplary contract performance, innovation, and supply chain integration or played a significant role in helping the Postal Service reduce costs or achieve other strategic objectives. Specifically, MBA CSi tested field vehicle motors and identified defects that saved money for the USPS.

“MBA CSi is proud to support USPS and its mission. We’re honored to be awarded the Supplier Excellence Award. This is the third Supplier Performance Award for MBA CSi, and we’re fortunate that the last two were awarded consecutively. A special thank you to our skilled employees, whose contributions are critical to success, and to our program management and back-office teams for their customer-first approach to delivering excellence.” said Lou Coleman, President & CEO of MBA CSi. “MBA CSi is committed to supporting the delivery of transformative, effective, and efficient innovations that continue to create real value, savings, and revenue streams to our nation’s Postal services.”

ABOUT MBA CONSULTING SERVICES, INC (MBA CSi).
MBA CSi is a leading government solutions provider. We create innovative and transformative solutions that help government agencies optimize their technology systems, data, and mobility. We deliver solutions that matter—collaborating with government agencies to protect, transform, and advance U.S. citizens’ lives. MBA CSi draws on our proven leadership expertise, diverse experience working with emerging technologies, and delivers the most effective and efficient solutions. MBA CSi was founded in 1999 and is a privately held company headquartered in Chantilly, VA. We have nearly 400 diverse and outstanding people in 40 U.S. locations.
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MBA CSi
4795 Meadow Wood Lane
Suite 210 East
Chantilly, VA 20151-2234
(703) 344-9000

Six Simple Steps to Impress a Recruiter

Your resume has garnered the recruiter’s attention, and an introduction call has been scheduled, either via the phone or using a video conferencing tool like Zoom or Teams. Of course, if you want to speak to the hiring manager, you will first have to impress the recruiter. That said, treat the recruiter with the same respect and consideration you would the hiring manager. Anything less can hurt your chances of getting to the next phase. So, follow these six simple steps to impress your recruiter.

1. Hit the basics out of the park: Recruiters are interested in your experience. Specifically, does your background align with the position’s responsibilities? Will you meet the expectations of the hiring manager and the company? And are you a good fit culturally?

As always, applicants should tailor their resumes to every position for which they apply. Equally, you should tailor your interview responses to the same job description. Know what the position requires and how your resume aligns. Prepare several brief statements that demonstrate each job requirement and your transferable expertise. Lastly, there is nothing wrong with playing to and highlighting your strengths.

2. Show you care: Recruiters talk to 20-40 plus candidates per day, and often more than 500 per month. That said, recruiters will immediately notice a blasé attitude, and if you have one, it is unlikely you will be considered for an interview with the hiring manager—regardless of your qualifications.

Always show genuine enthusiasm for what you do. Relate your earnest interest in learning more about the position, culture, and company. Recruiters are looking for a win-win and do not want to waste your time or theirs. This approach will likely lead to the next interview phase.

3. Culture is king: A company’s culture and team approach are typically purpose-built to recognize individual strengths and encourage high performance. To be a successful candidate, you must quickly demonstrate your ability to fit into the company culture. Do your homework to research as much as you can about the company, the leadership team, priority services, and clients. Always review the company’s website several times before your first call. Specifically, their mission statement, values, leadership, service offerings, and press releases. I also suggest running a LinkedIn search on your recruiter, the hiring manager, and company leadership. You can never be too to informed.

This preparation will help the recruiter see you as a proper fit during the call and happy to move you into the next phase.

4. Realize recruiters want to help you: A recruiter’s specialized skills include their ability to procure the best candidate for all positions. Sounds simple, right? It’s not. Sourcing from a pool of candidates that dozens of other companies call, screening hundreds of resumes for position alignment, and weening out the unqualified and exaggerators under tight deadlines is complicated and stressful. Do your best to make the recruiter’s job easier—use honey, not vinegar.

Most recruiters have a wealth of knowledge, and they love sharing their knowledge with others. Therefore, asking recruiters for advice is recommended. As the adage goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. So, ask questions about the company, its culture, hiring lifecycle process, the ideal candidate, community outreach, and more. Ask them about your resume and what made them contact you. It is equally essential for you to interview the recruiter so long as your questions are timely.

5. You will be tested: Whether formal or informal, expect to be tested and be prepared. Many screening processes include simple tests before or just after the first call. These can consist of personality tests such as Myers-Briggs or DISC (two of my favorite

These tests can take as little as fifteen minutes up to an hour. Most require gut responses to multiple-choice answers. Make sure you read and follow the test directions. Again, the timely and accurate responses will only aid your ability to be considered for the next phase.

6. ALWAYS follow up: Too many applicants miss this simple step, which can ruin their chances of making it to the next phase. After the call, it is important to email a courteous thank you to your recruiter. That said, make sure you have their email address. Your thank-you email should be personalized and include:
• Your appreciation
• A summary of your qualifications and value
• A request for the logical next steps

When it comes to impressing a recruiter, it is important to do your homework. The hiring process today is more competitive than ever. Be prepared, be honest, be professional, and put in the effort to be the “perfect candidate.”

Author: Sean Delaney, GovCon innovator who helps federal agencies with solutions that improve performance, reduce risks, and increase efficiencies, is a Sr. Vice President at MBA CSi

MBA CSi
4795 Meadow Wood Lane
Suite 210 East
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000

Leadership

Leadership. Ten letters that drive a ~$400 Billon “Development” Industry (Forbes). For this blog, I define leadership as an interpersonal influence directed toward achieving goals. There is no question that everyone has experienced radically different styles of leadership. How leaders communicate, realize contributions from team members, and ultimately achieve goals can be divergent and challenging.

The impression of leadership and its responsibilities have followed me from as far back as I can remember. Leadership grew prevalent during competitive childhood athletics. It didn’t matter the sport—hockey, baseball, football—leadership styles from my coach and team captains played a significant role from an impressionable age.

A different type of leadership was recapitulated during the summer between my college freshman and sophomore years—corporate/professional leadership. I joined the workforce and became a successful Vector/Cutco sales rep and was quickly promoted to management. And with management came vital leadership responsibilities. I was responsible for leading my peers and, in some cases, my elders with how-to sales strategies while inspiring and motivating my team towards success. It was my job to make them better. Years of experience—both success and failures—laid the foundation for professional growth to leadership positions in IT staff augmentation. Today, I lead a mid-sized government contractor’s growth and growth enablement strategies.

Throughout my professional career, the type of leadership I experienced varied. In most cases, it seemed situational-based, and it didn’t matter if it was from a peer, coach, or manager—few followed a predictable approach. It seemed like everyone defined leadership differently depending on time, team members, culture, and business situations. I soon recognized that consistent leadership and management traits are essential for a successful, thriving, and stable environment. This understanding allowed me to group leadership methods and styles into three distinct buckets. The three styles are 1) Traditional. Also known as command and control, top-down, authoritative, and waterfall. 2) Servant. Also known as employee-based, innovative, persuasive, and heart-based. 3) Toxic. This method speaks for itself and, surprisingly, was and is too common. Why? The simple answer is not everyone can and should be a leader. Nevertheless, I’ve read extensively about this subject throughout the years. Can leaders learn? Yes, of course, they can. Can people be trained to be good positive role models and strong leaders? Also, a definitive yes. In the following, I’ll examine each method and provide some common characteristics and pros and cons.

Traditional Leadership. Traditional Leaders encourage companies, teams, and individuals by providing guidance, direction, and motivation. This drives everyone towards a common goal; improving the company’s market position. Additionally, traditionalists typically employ a top-down leadership approach. This is where goals, projects, and tasks are determined by the company’s senior leaders and, in some cases, independently of their team(s). Traditional Leadership is hierarchical by nature. Typically, teams, departments, or divisions are organized into management ranks, and each subordinate to the manager above. Although not as profound as the Roman Emperor, they do share similarities. One significant similarity is Earned Authority. Over time, this trait has also come to mean several things, including leading by example, someone having authority on a subject, or a demonstrated and proven ability. However, at its core, traditionalists often believe Earn Authority means they’ve earned the right to lead, and you will follow me. Meaning authority is earned, not bestowed.

The pros of Traditional Leadership include 1) Goals. Traditionalist typically creates goal alignment—expectation across the company is clear. 2) Decisions. Critical decisions are generally made by senior leaders using a standards/procedure-driven approach. 3) Command and Control. Schedules, output, and budgets are easily controlled across respective departments. Conversely, cons include 1) Employees may feel disconnected from the company’s mission and values. 2) Little to no involvement or input from staff can lead to poor decision-making and unhappy employees. 3) Does not encourage creativity, or diversity of thought, and employees are expected to follow direction.

Servant Leadership. Servant leadership is a philosophy conceptualized by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 essay “The Servant as Leader.” Directly opposite to Traditional Leadership, where the boss is at the top of the hierarchy. Conversely, Servant Leadership’s notion places the leader at the bottom of the hierarchy and in a serving position. A servant-first leader puts people first. Today, Servant Leadership is a set of principles that enrich employees’ lives and helps build better organizations. Servant Leaders are empathic, have exceptional listening and persuasion skills, challenge others to grow and excel, and drive big picture thinking. Using this approach, employees’ needs are considered first. The Servant Leader will help employees build expertise and improve performance. Their organizational model is an inverted triangle where employees are at the top, and the senior leaders are at the bottom. The desired outcome includes maximized communication and collaboration and creating an agile and responsive team.

The ten principles of Servant Leadership are—

  1. Listening: Deep commitment to listen intently to others
  2. Empathy: Accepted and recognized for their unique self
  3. Healing: themselves and others
  4. Self-awareness: Commitment to foster general and self-awareness
  5. Persuasion: Seek to convince rather than coerce
  6. Conceptualization: Planning and encouraging others to achieve a vision
  7. Foresight: Understand lessons learned (retros)
  8. Stewardship: Hold company, team, employees in trust for the greater good
  9. Commitment to the growth of people: Committed to the personal, professional, and spiritual growth of every individual in the company
  10. Building Community: Seek to identify a means for building a community within the company…cultivating lasting relationships (community) among your team(s)

Following the ten principles can create a cohesive and collaborative environment. However, applying these principles from a genuine position is the only way to achieve success. Employees will easily detect inauthentic Servant Leaders.

The pros of Servant Leadership include putting people ahead of power. They prioritize the company, team, individual’s growth, and well-being, letting their own needs and ambition come second. The cons include time. It takes time to build relationships. Understanding individuals needs and what motivates, and creating solutions that matter will not happen overnight

The book “The Servant” by James C. Hunter tells a wonderful story about Servant Leadership through protagonist John Daily’s eyes. This story helped put Servant Leadership in perspective for me. Servant leadership produces a set of behaviors that creates inclusivity and motivates an innovative culture.

Toxic Leadership. Toxic Leadership is the most ominous form of leadership. And, as previously mentioned, it is far too common. Their actions and politics are constantly threatening—to anyone with different ideas, thoughts, strategies. Toxic Leaders are inauspicious—if it’s not their idea, they sabotage. They will purposefully destroy, look for fault and take advantage to damage, or obstruct change or progress. Three characteristics that best define Toxic Leaders include Narcissism, Manipulation, and Competition. As Narcissists, they have extensive and, most times, complete admiration for themselves. They constantly try to outdo or one-up their perceived competition, even when their experience is outdated by 30 years. Toxic leaders are manipulative. They discriminate against all new ideas—and more specifically, the person with the ideas. If you’re not a yes wo/man, they’ll find a way to undermine you.

Lastly, Toxic Leaders are competitive. Their competitive drive is abnormal, unhealthy, and corrupt. They undermine competition at the department, team, and individual levels and elate in teammates’ failures—especially if they had a hand in it. Constantly politicking for the position, the Toxic Leader is always and only interested in one person—themselves.

There are no pros to discuss. Everything about Toxic Leadership is a con. We’ve all heard the adage “misery loves company.” Well, toxicity breeds toxicity. So, what should you do if you experience a Toxic Leader? You have two choices. 1) Develop a communication and risk mitigation plan specific to dealing with this individual. You’ll need a roadmap for delivering your message to the toxic leader. The communication plan should include clear and straightforward messaging. Much like managing a project, you must design your risk mitigation plan to eliminate or minimize the impact of risks. Unfortunately, you’ll probably have to create these plans for most planned interactions. It’s time-consuming and unproductive. 2) I believe Toxic Leaders are worth avoiding at all costs. Take steps to manage and still succeed by getting help from your peers and mentors. Professional support builds confidence and results in thoughtful actions. Also, be objective with each of your achievements. I suggest special attention to remaining calm, being flexible, and keeping quiet. If you decide to leave a toxic job, remember this job can set the tone for the next one. While you may consider telling your manager your thoughts on improving the environment, resist the urge to speak negatively. Thoughtful planning and strategic career search practices can dictate how quickly and easily you find your next opportunity. Good luck!

Author: Sean Delaney, GovCon innovator who helps federal agencies with solutions that improve performance, reduce risks, and increase efficiencies, is a Sr. Vice President at MBA CSi

MBA CSi
4795 Meadow Wood Lane
Suite 210 East
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000

Innovative Recruiting

More than any other back-office business function, recruiting continues to experience profound transformation.

Everyone has high expectations and demands for accelerated staffing delivery. Today more than ever, talent competition is ultra-competitive, sometimes contentious, and its needs to continually increases over time. Recruiters must be faster, more efficient, have transparent communications, and clear recruiting goals and deadlines. Recruiting Innovation is no longer optional, it is now mandatory.

To succeed in this competitive talent market, recruiters need to apply innovations in people, processes, and tools. This includes people in their network, processes that drive efficiencies and quality, and tools such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and smart technologies that shorten the recruiting lifecycle. Some companies are experimenting with these innovations. So, what is next?

Innovative recruiting is comprehensive and can be challenging to implement. Proper implementation includes two significant elements 1) how you immediately implement it and 2) building a culture that values innovation and its perpetual evolution. Following details, one and two, and defining problem statements, collecting data, interpreting data, and rendering decisions led me to choose Agile recruiting. Perhaps it will lead you to Agile recruiting, too.

Thankfully, a friend of mine involved me in the early battles as Agile pioneers fought the wild west accusations (if you know, you know). Early Agile adoption—literally and personally— helped me understand how Agile recruiting naturally aligns with Agile software development principles. It gave me a better appreciation for the potential issues, challenges, and critical success factors needed for success. In its abstract, Agile is about efficiency and continuous improvement. Too much clutter in your people, processes, and tools will not work. Failure will find you if you incorporate dozens of outdated artifacts such as technical questionnaires, job descriptions, g2 sheets, and the like. Building a bottom-up Agile recruiting approach is essential because it considers inputs from all areas of the organization.

Time for some situational assessment—you have to know where you are before you can chart your future—effective change starts with understanding where you are. To that end, do a complete audit of recruiters (people), recruiting process, sourcing tools. This audit should include key recruiting processes, procedures, systems, metrics, and internal controls to improve productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness.

An Agile Recruiting Approach shortens the recruiting process by breaking recruiting tasks into manageable pieces; 1-2 week sprints depending on project complexity. This provides frequent touchpoints, which ensures all stakeholders are engaged. The approach also improves collaboration. It starts by setting collaboration metrics at the kickoff meeting and is reaffirmed with every touchpoint. This provides real-time feedback. Agile ensures continual feedback and iterations—minimizing the need to wait until the end of the process for feedback. This allows for greater flexibility to adjust without burning everyone’s time. This approach, combined with data-driven analytics, makes for better hires and happier employees.

People resist change. Change is hard. The ideas and rules that have governed recruiting for years are replaced with new ways of thinking. People naturally resist this change because the new mindset seems wrong. However, you can effectuate success if you guide the paradigm shift with a proven approach. Throughout my 25 year career, I have come to embrace that adage, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” As cliché as it is, nothing is broken when it comes to Mr. Stephen Covey. In all my lessons learned and Agile retrospectives, I have found the best way to implement paradigm shifts is to follow Mr. Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effectively People. His steps are 1) Be proactive, 2) Begin with the end in mind, 3) Put first things first, 4) Think win/win, 5) Seek first to understand then to be understood, 6) Synergize, 7) Sharpen the saw. This is not a paid advertainment, just my honest feedback. For more information on Mr. Covey’s book, click here.

For increased user adoption, you can use some of the following methods. The key is to engage the recruiting and operations teams in daily Scrum Meetings. The agenda must be consistent and efficient. Much like an Agile (software) Scrum, the meeting leader will ask individual team members the following three questions 1) What did I do yesterday? 2) What will I do today? What challenges or delays do I foresee? Additionally, if used correctly, a weekly Scrum of Scrums can provide the necessary feedback to remove all bottlenecks—whether internal or client-driven—with a sense of inter-team and inter-stakeholder collaboration. We use Scrum of Scrums meetings to connect multiple teams and stakeholders who must work together to deliver staffing solutions. The meeting leader, typically the recruiting manager, facilitates and encourages dialog using the following five questions. 1) what has your team accomplished since our last meeting? 2) what problems occurred, if any, that negatively affected your team? 3) what does your team want to accomplish before we meet again? 4) what output from your team in future Sprints do you see as possibly interfering with other teams’ work? 5) does your team know any interference problems coming from the work of other teams?

Having internal Scrum meetings with the recruiting and operations teams are essential for success. However, to truly maximize success, you must involve your customers in the agile process. How? By conducting Agile Retrospectives is an excellent way to ensure a smooth partnership with customers. As a best practice, customer retrospectives should happen at least quarterly. The more frequent the retrospective, the better we can identify and track risks. Customers are invited to speak openly about things that went well and things that did not. This helps to ensure everyone hears relevant first-hand feedback. Customers and teams collaborate in a formal meeting, usually with a dedicated and objective facilitator. This facilitator encourages everyone to share ideas, opinions, and experiences so that the team can learn, collaborate, and improve. It is essential to recognize there are always ways to innovate and grow. Retrospectives offer the opportunity to celebrate milestone successes, identify blockers, issues, or anything that slow down a schedule.

This Agile Recruiting approach provides infinite value. It is designed to scale to any agency’s mission, or staffing needs irrespective of technology or skill. This approach, combined with innovative thought leadership, ensures a smooth partnership with customers and, more importantly, a better way to recruit and staff projects of all complexities.

Author: Sean Delaney, GovCon innovator who helps federal agencies with recruiting and staffing solutions that improve performance, reduce risks, and increase efficiencies, is a Sr. Vice President at MBA CSi and leads the Recruiting Center of Excellence

MBA CSi
4795 Meadow Wood Lane
Suite 210 East
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000

New Headquarter Office Move Enables MBA CSi to Accelerate Growth

The New Facility Reinforces MBA CSi’s Innovative Culture and Commitment to Proving Industry-Leading Solutions to Our Federal Customers.

Chantilly, VA., December 8, 2020 – MBA Consulting Services, Inc. (MBA CSi) is a leading management and technology services company that solves mission challenges with agility, experience, and innovation. Today announced it recently opened a new office in the Washington DC Metro area of Chantilly, VA.

The new office space increases the office footprint and supports the company’s growth strategy. MBA CSi signed a 10-year lease for Venture Park, a second floor, 10,000-square-foot office located at 4795 Meadow Wood Lane, Suite 210 East, Chantilly, VA 20151. “The modernized, state-of-the-art building enhances collaboration and productivity among our employees and drives efficiency and cost savings for our federal customers,” said Mark Colturi, Chief Operation Officer. “We are also staying in D.C. Metro Corridor, which is strategic for MBA CSi, given the proximity to many of our customers and partners.”

“The decision to expand our headquarters was a logical step in our business growth strategy,” said Lou Coleman, Founder, and CEO. “The area is rich with diverse talent from well-known prestigious colleges and universities, as well as high-tech Fortune 500 government contracting and commercial-based companies. We have the opportunity to expand management capabilities in our Digital Solution, Engineering Solutions, Facilities Management, Professional Services, and Management Consulting service offering, as well as increase our ability to service current and future federal agencies customers.”

ABOUT MBA CONSULTING SERVICES, INC.
MBA Consulting Services, Inc. (MBA) is a leading government solutions provider. We create innovative and transformative solutions that help government agencies optimize their technology systems, data, and mobility. We share a passion for creating real value and positive working relationships and have become a trusted and impartial partner to our civilian, defense, and intelligence agency clients. We draw on our proven leadership expertise, diverse experience working with emerging technologies and deliver the most effective and efficient solutions. MBA CSi was founded in 1999 and is a privately held company headquartered in Chantilly, VA. We have nearly 400 diverse and outstanding people in 40 U.S. locations.

MBA CSi
4795 Meadow Wood Lane
Suite 210 East
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000

MBA CSi Launches Four Centers of Excellence

MBA CSi Centers of Excellence (CoE) will strengthen world-class performance and continuous innovation to tackle our client’s toughest challenges.

Chantilly, VA., June 28, 2020 – MBA Consulting Services, Inc. (MBA CSi) is a leading management and technology services company that has long-standing customer relationships built upon a reputation for excellence and innovation. MBA CSi’s commitment to innovation is the bedrock of its success. This is why we are launching four CoEs—Facilities Management, Recruiting, Data Analytics, and Digital Solutions (www.MBACSi.com/centers-of-excellence).

As federal agency missions become increasingly complex, teams often work in silos, not sharing their knowledge, despite various skills’ parallel evolution. MBA CSi’s CoEs, coupled with our engagement model, will identify these areas and bring together internal resources to be shared among programs. This brings more collaboration and agency efficiencies, and creates a more consistent customer experience, benefiting all stakeholders. Sean Delaney, Senior Vice President of Strategy, said, “Our CoEs will continue to drive innovations, improvements, and promote transparency and shared results. They are a powerful way to align business and mission goals rather than individual departmental metrics.”

“Because our CoEs are designed to drive innovation and improvement, they also provide the spark to inspire our experts with a collaborative spirit to measure, experiment, and push each other forward,” said Mark Colturi, Chief Operating Officer. Lou Coleman, Founder, and CEO said, “Our CoEs are separate from the business units they serve and provide a necessary distinction designed to assure supreme agility in deploying the CoE across an organization. We’re delighted Mr. Delaney will oversee our CoEs.”

ABOUT MBA CONSULTING SERVICES, INC.
MBA Consulting Services, Inc. (MBA) is a leading government solutions provider. We create innovative and transformative solutions that help government agencies optimize their technology systems, data, and mobility. We share a passion for creating real value and positive working relationships and have become a trusted and impartial partner to our civilian, defense, and intelligence agency clients. We draw on our proven leadership expertise, diverse experience working with emerging technologies and deliver the most effective and efficient solutions. MBA CSi was founded in 1999 and is a privately held company headquartered in Chantilly, VA. We have nearly 400 diverse and outstanding people in 40 U.S. locations.

MBA CSi
4795 Meadow Wood Lane
Suite 210 East
Chantilly, VA 20151-2234
info@MBACSi.com | (703) 344-9000

 

Cyber Recruiting, A Success Story

A military branch needed to strengthen its capability to deter, detect, protect, defend, and respond to the rising number of attacks on U.S. military networks.

Using our Agile Workforce and Talent Management solutions, MBA CSi formed this cyber team with the best and brightest cyber professionals recruited from around the nation. They work from fixed, remote, and expeditionary locations worldwide to introduce capacities that help ensure U.S. freedom in cyberspace while denying the same to our adversaries. This cyber team collectively established a community of practices that share emerging security best practices within and with other federal agencies.

Working with the customer, we developed a multi-track recruiting strategy to fulfill the distinctive skill set requirements. We targeted experienced industry experts and collegiate phenoms with the necessary skills, knowledge, and abilities to satisfy the customer’s civilian vacancies. MBA CSi designed, developed, and produced multimedia advertisement, video, messaging, branding, marketing materials, and a dedicated website to support and facilitate recruiting. Moreover, we conducted detailed market research to produce a targeted list of colleges, universities, and industry events to successfully identify, attract, and recruit highly qualified individuals with the required skills to exceed the customers hiring requirements.

MBA CSi also prepared, organized, and participated in hundreds of hiring events and led the customer’s annual collegiate cyber competitions. This served as an essential venue to meet and exceed recruitment and hiring objectives. Collaborating with the customer, we developed innovative interviewing processes and artifacts that became an integral interviewing tool and the foundation for all agency cyber interviews. Our recruiters supported the client with the on-boarding process and maintained communication with candidates throughout the lengthy security clearance processes. The MBA CSi recruiting effort for this customer was quickly adapted and scaled to include all civilian occupational series/specialties as required.

Our progressive cyber recruiting efforts exceeded industry standards for the identification and hiring by more than 200%. Our propriety Agile Workforce and Talent Management solutions provided the additional support needed to identify and hire cybersecurity Rockstars. While technical expertise is essential for engagement, we empower and emphasize a collaborative spirit to drive mission success. Since our first contract, we have recruited over 400 cybersecurity experts and maintain an exclusive and independent cybersecurity database of tens of thousands of candidates.

Our Agile Workforce and Talent Management Solution is designed to scale to any agency’s mission or needs irrespective of technology or skill. Email info@MBACSi.com for more information on how MBA CSI’s Agile Workforce and Talent Management Solutions can support your agency.

Author: Sean P. Delaney, MBA CSi’s SVP of Strategy

MBA CSi
14900 Conference Center Drive
Suite 525
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000

Agile Discovery

The following bullets are all-inclusive influences for our eCommerce and logistics government clients. MBA CSi has experience with many eCommerce and Logistics projects. These projects include a wide variety of scope and complexity. However, the two things that remain consistent is our Agile approach and our teams of motivated experts. This allows us to deliver solutions that scale into sustainable and profitable change. Our success is attributed to—

  • Critical and strategic eCommerce and logistics services and solutions that solve real-world problems
  • Transformative leadership know-how, specialized subject matter expertise, and innovative best practices
  • Trusted leadership who can move and inspire clients with innovative ideas
  • Convert ideas into reality while demonstrating how to scale with repeatable success

Perhaps more than any other business function, logistics, supply chain, and transportation continue to undergo a profound transformation. One primary reason for transformation includes the many advances in technology from artificial intelligence to machine learning, blockchain, and data analytics that provide tremendous insight into making better decisions. Additionally, there is what many call the “Amazon effect.” Everyone has high expectations and demands for fast delivery.
Subject matter experts lead MBA CSi eCommerce and logistics teams. Projects begin with an initial Agile discovery phase of collecting and analyzing project information, as well as market conditions, growth expectations, and competitive insight. It also provides purpose and direction that aligns all members around a shared vision. We highlight vital strategies, operating models, key challenges, and potential roadblocks that could negatively impact the project. Our Agile discovery phase helps to confirm where the client wants to get to (desired state)? What exists today in terms of systems, tools, processes (current state)? And what we need to know and understand to get the organization to the desired state (gap)?

Moreover, these teams include eCommerce, logistics, supply chain, nationwide distribution, transport equipment, specialized transportation software, GPS, national carriers, and transportation operations functional and technical expertise. We apply proficient knowledge to determine the accuracy and reasonableness of all data. The focus is always to create a culture of trust, collaboration, and achievement within logistics ecosystems and with stakeholders. These projects are always complex and nonlinear. Accordingly, we use nonlinear Agile approaches to solve nonlinear problems. Nonlinear approaches have led to disruptive technology innovation. eCommerce is the preeminent example of disruptive technology—replacing the antiquated mail ordering systems and processes with the superior qualities and innovation of eCommerce.

Successfully leveraging disruptive technology innovations such as automation, IoT, digital twinning, trust in digital interactions, phygital spaces, smart buildings, and data wallets in eCommerce will be revolutionary. Our next blog, disruptive technology.

Author: Sean Delaney, MBA CSi’s SVP of Strategy

MBA CSi
14900 Conference Center Drive
Suite 525
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000

Sean Delaney, MBA CSi SVP of Strategy Talks Recruiting & Social Media

Sean Delaney, MBA CSi SVP of Strategy Talks Recruiting & Social Media

Social media has fast replaced email as the primary method of communication for students, and most of Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z. Big-name technology firms, government agencies, and industry recruiters leverage Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok, and others as essential elements of their recruiting plans. Today, there are compelling business drivers for companies to create a multi-faceted social media recruiting program that accomplish the following goals:
1. Attract and engage qualified candidates and external stakeholders in your chosen community
2. Solidify your company’s credibility and thought leadership by creating engaging, thought-provoking content and interacting with industry influencers on timely issues
3. Trigger a ‘snowball effect’ that drives traffic, referrals and ultimately, qualified resumes to your posts or website by highlighting unique opportunities

Core Messaging:
In the social media domain, content is king. In a capricious environment, not just any content will do. You only have a short time to capture your target audiences’ attention, and you are often limited to 140 characters or less. You must deliver strong and compelling messages that get straight to the core of your unique opportunity, in language that resonates with your target audience.

Teaser Message Example:
Join MBA CSi and be a part of the elite few who will:
• Work with state of the art technologies to shape the future of logistics operations
• Stand on the forefront of addressing the nation’s growing needs in cyber operations
• Protect the nation’s most critical assets, its people and its infrastructures, from behind the scenes

OR…

Do you have what it takes?
• Are you ready to put your data analytics skills to the ultimate test?
• Do you think you can out-play (move) the nation’s most cunning cyber threats and criminals?
• Are you called to apply your mathematics and computer science degree to a more significant cause?

Stimulating Conversation and Promoting Events:
Distributing timely and meaningful content is the cornerstone of any effective social media campaign. As with any public relations, marketing, or recruiting plan, it is essential to establish clear milestones and to track measures to ensure you are meeting strategic and tactical goals. This approach will allow you to build on critical information about your audience as it is revealed organically on social media sites.

MBA CSi
14900 Conference Center Drive
Suite 525
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 344-9000