Month: September 2022

Great Place to Work® Names Highlight One of the Fortune Best Workplaces for Women™ in 2022, Ranking 2nd

Posted on by Victoria Robinson

Fairfax, VA — Great Place to Work® and Fortune magazine have honored Highlight as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces for Women. This is Highlight’s first time being named to this prestigious list, this year coming in at 2nd place in the small and medium category. Earning a spot means that Highlight is one of the best companies to work for in the country.

To determine the Best Workplaces for Women, Great Place to Work analyzed the survey responses of over 640,000 women who work for Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies that employ at least 50 women. Companies must also have least 20% of non-executive managers who are women, and at least one executive who’s a woman. In the Great Place to Work survey 97% of Highlight employees said Highlight is a great place to work. This number is 40% higher than the average U.S. company.

“This is wonderful news and reflects Highlight’s emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe that no matter who you are, and how you self-identify, you are valued for your contributions to our company, clients, and work community.” Said Highlight CEO, Rebecca Andino.

The Fortune Best Workplaces for Women list is highly competitive. It’s the only company culture award in America that selects winners based on how fairly women say they’re treated at their workplace. Great Place to Work measures the differences in women’s survey responses with those of their peers and assesses the impact of demographics and roles on the quality and consistency of women’s experiences.

“Congratulations to the Best Workplaces for Women and their commitment to ensuring equity for women at every level of the organization,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. “These companies showed up for women in new ways to help them cope with challenges they face wherever they are—both inside and outside of work. Women in these companies are seen, heard and valued.”

Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture, determines its lists using its proprietary For All™ methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America’s largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1.1 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 7 million employees this year alone.

About Highlight

Highlight Technologies (“Highlight”) is an award-winning, employee-owned, ISO® 9001, ISO 20000, ISO 27001, ISO 44001, ISO 56000 certified, CMMI-DEV Level 3, and CMMI-SVC Level 3 appraised federal contractor that provides Digital Government and Mission Support services to more than 20 U.S. federal government customers. Our customers include National Security (DHS, State, Army, Navy, DISA, the Joint Staff, DTRA, Intel), Health IT (USAID, USDA, NIH, HRSA, EPA), and Citizen Services (FCC, FDIC, FTC, GSA, HHS, SBA, Education, Labor). For more information, please visit www.highlighttech.com. 

Highlight’s Previous Great Place to Work List Achievements

In 2022, Highlight received the Great Place to Work Certification, Forbes and GPTW: Best Millennial Workplace, Best Medium Workplace, and Best Workplaces in Technology

About the Fortune Best Workplaces for Women™

Great Place to Work selected the Best Workplaces for Women by analyzing the survey responses of over 640,000 employees who work for Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies who employ at least 50 women. Companies must also have least 20% of non-executive managers who are women, and at least one executive who’s a woman. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place to Work Trust Index™ survey. Great Place to Work determines its lists using its proprietary For All methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America’s largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1.1 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 7 million employees, this year alone. Read the full methodology.

To get on this list next year, start here.

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, it has surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Its employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything it does is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™. 

Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Great Place to Work® and Fortune Name Highlight One of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Technology™, Ranking 10th among Small & Medium Companies

Posted on by Victoria Robinson

Fairfax, VA   — Great Place to Work® has honored Highlight as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Technology™. This is Highlight’s first time being named to this prestigious list, coming in at 10th place among Small & Medium workplaces. Earning a spot means that Highlight is one of the best companies to work for in the country.

The Best Workplaces in Technology award is based on an analysis of survey responses from over 151,000 current employees from Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies in the tech industry. In that survey, 97% of HIGHLIGHT’s employees said Highlight is a Great Place to Work. This number is 40% higher than the average U.S. company.

Adam McNair, Highlight President and COO said, “We’re honored to receive this recognition because it reflects our commitment to our employees and our overall Employee-First culture.”

The Best Workplaces in Technology list is highly competitive. Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture, selected the list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback. Companies were only considered if they are a Great Place to Work-Certified™ organization.

Great Place to Work is the only company culture award in America that selects winners based on how fairly employees are treated. Companies are assessed on how well they are creating a great employee experience that cuts across race, gender, age, disability status, or any aspect of who employees are or what their role is.

“These companies have adapted to the challenges of an ever-changing workplace by their commitment to inclusive, high-trust cultures where employees are treated as human beings first and foremost,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. “Congratulations to the Best Workplaces in Technology.”

About Highlight

Highlight Technologies (“Highlight”) is an award-winning, employee-owned, ISO® 9001, ISO 20000, ISO 27001, ISO 44001, ISO 56000 certified, CMMI-DEV Level 3, and CMMI-SVC Level 3 appraised federal contractor that provides Digital Government and Mission Support services to more than 20 U.S. federal government customers. Our customers include National Security (DHS, State, Army, Navy, DISA, the Joint Staff, DTRA, Intel), Health IT (USAID, USDA, NIH, HRSA, EPA), and Citizen Services (FCC, FDIC, FTC, GSA, HHS, SBA, Education, Labor). For more information, please visit www.highlighttech.com. 

About the Best Workplaces in Technology™

Great Place to Work selected the Best Workplaces in Technology by gathering and analyzing confidential survey responses from more than over 151,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies in the technology industry. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place to Work Trust Index™ survey. Great Place to Work determines its lists using its proprietary For All™ methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America’s largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 6.1 million employees, this year alone. Read the full methodology.

To get on this list next year, start here.

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™.

Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Missions of Rapid Scaling: Seven Essential Elements

Posted on by Victoria Robinson

Federal agencies continuously face changing mission requirements, budgets, and scope. Whether the mission scope morphs, or unforeseen changes or events occur, or the needs rapidly scale up or down, our role as a contractor is operationalizing to meet our customers’ mission. 

Rapid growth in programs is not uncommon. Growing a program from 50 team members to hundreds indicates impactful missions with an immediate need. However, scaling a program comes with multitudes of challenges. Ensuring the team has laid the foundation to support these unforeseen changes is essential to success. 

This begs the question – How do we meet the Mission at Scale?

  1. Set Expectations but Remain Flexible to Change. Change is part of every program. Establishing expectations for the team and equipping them with the right tools, roles, and processes enables them to overcome any changes with agility. Starting a program with strict procedures and clear role functions sets the cadence and lays the framework for management. When unforeseen scaling occurs, the team can morph existing processes, insert new team members, and scale tools to meet the unique needs and landscape. 
  1. Plan for Change. By establishing adequate risk management, evaluating disaster recovery, and continuity of operations planning, the team should determine the different steps required to respond to a disaster that requires scaling before it is received.
  1. Lay the Communication Framework Early. The best way to help support fast-growing customers is to maintain transparent communication regarding goals and expectations. Discuss the biggest challenges upfront and remain solution-oriented in the process. Set up the cadence for regular communication. Keep an open line of communication with the customers to ensure they understand each action and its impact on the whole mission. 
  1. Be Prepared. One of the best ways to support a quickly growing customer includes addressing contracting requirements early and often. There may be unforeseen labor categories or other provisions to address sudden demand to offer a full suite of services in response. It is essential to know that when the time comes, clients seek help where it’s most readily available.
  • Build a Strong Team & Partnerships. You can’t do it alone. A company must accept the overhead required to maintain the partnerships and relationships to scale rapidly. In addition, organizations must be committed to excellence in hiring, training, and assigning managers best qualified to run programs. Teammates are essential to success when managing a surge successfully. True partners discuss issues early on instead of hiding them. Part of Highlight’s success comes from having a dedicated network of proven partners.
  1. Know your Why! Maintain a “Customer First, Mission First” mentality. Make sure a mission’s “why” is clear and understood. People tend to lean into a program when they understand its purpose and impact. Ensure that everything you are doing is focused on serving the customer. This may mean accepting some risk or inefficiencies in the short term to solidify trust and a reputation for performance in the long term.
  1. Leverage Technology. Automation and IT are some of the primary stakeholders that enable scaling. Engage them early and often and expect to take on some “IT responsibilities,” such as data and business analysis—innovative solutions to their problems. When customers reach out, they’ll often need an out-of-the-box solution to address the challenge. 

So, what have we learned? The best way to help support fast-growing customers is to maintain transparent communication regarding goals and expectations. Discuss the most significant challenges upfront and remain solution-oriented throughout the process. Sudden challenges require our ability to pivot quickly into resolutions and be readily available for various labor needs.   

Check out more about Highlight at highlighttech.com

Thank you to our team for contributing to this post! 

  • Lia Melakou, Sr. Director of Service Delivery
  • Tim Garvey, BD Pursuit Manager