Cue the applause: It's awards season at Leidos
Hollywood’s awards season runs from November to February. The business world, however, has a seemingly continuous stretch of honors and recognitions.
For Leidos, 2017 is shaping up as a bountiful year on the corporate awards circuit. Since February, the company has added seven new awards or rankings to its trophy case. Ranging from industry-specific honors to corporate-level achievements, the honors help paint a picture of who Leidos is and where it’s going.
In good company
A close look at any ranking of the best-performing or most popular corporations reveals a common theme: the companies listed possess a breadth of both talent and capabilities. What makes these companies stand out is their ability to take those characteristics and convert them into business success. This holds true at Leidos, where a couple of recent recognitions confirm the young brand’s ascent.
Last month, the Fortune 500 listed Leidos at No. 381. The company climbed 123 spots to rejoin the esteemed list for the 17th time. One week before the Fortune 500, Leidos achieved the No. 1 ranking on the Washington Technology Top 100, an annual list of the largest government contractors based on prior fiscal year prime contracts in IT, systems integration, professional services, and telecommunications.
The company’s first appearance in the top spot is attributed to its merger with Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business last year. Completed last August, the merger made Leidos the leading provider of government IT services and expanded the company's civil, commercial, and international footprint. Today, Leidos has a portfolio of unmatched technical expertise coupled with a highly talented workforce.
A destination for jobseekers
LinkedIn released its second annual Top Companies List in May and Leidos landed at No. 31, climbing five spots from 2016. The rankings use exclusive LinkedIn data – based on the actions of jobseekers and professionals on the platform – to spotlight the companies that are the best at attracting and retaining talent.
“Our employees are inspired to create innovative technology solutions and, as a company, we seek out programs and customers that allow us to leverage our technical innovation,” said Ann Addison, Chief Human Resources Officer. “That mindset is a core driver for our hiring practices and the talent we target.”
Among the 32,000 global employees at Leidos, almost half work remotely or are embedded at customer sites. To engage these employees and help them feel included, the company launched a new employee resource group (ERG) last fall. The Collaborative Outreach with Remote and Embedded Employees (CORE) ERG joined the African American Leidos Network, Hispano-Latino Leidos Asociación, Military Alliance Group, Millennials, Pride, and Women’s Network in fostering an inclusive environment.
The ERGs provide avenues to meet colleagues, broaden networks, mentor, perform community outreach, and take advantage of personal development opportunities. They also help attract a diverse workforce and create an environment where a wide mix of employees can thrive.
“We have a truly diverse and talented employee base,” said Addison. “For HR, this creates an opportunity to recruit and retain a varied workforce that allows Leidos to support the important work of our customers.”
In addition to keeping employees engaged, the LinkedIn rankings highlighted Leidos’ commitment to hiring veterans. Roughly 20 percent of the company’s workforce is veterans, including 1,300 hired last year alone. Operation MVP, Leidos’ dedicated program to hire, train, and support veterans, plays a leading role and is among the main reasons Military Times named the company a Best for Vets Employer for the fourth year running.
"This award underscores our continued dedication to supporting veterans, and the unique experiences and insight they provide to employers," said Addison. "Our Leidos veterans help enrich and grow our inclusive culture."
Recognition of diverse capabilities
The company’s run of awards started in February with Leidos Health being ranked as the Technical Services leader in the Best in KLAS Awards. KLAS, which publishes its rankings annually, measures vendor performance to inform healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors, and vendors. Leidos rated highly in sales and contracting, services and support, and implementation and training performance.
“The KLAS report is a true benchmark for the healthcare industry and our placement reinforces our commitment to providing the best services and support to customers,” said Tom Aikens, senior vice president of Leidos Commercial Health.
Leidos Health snagged another honor in June by placing ninth on the Healthcare Informatics 100. The annual list features the top health IT companies based on industry revenues from the most recent fiscal year.
As a provider of services and solutions to commercial and government clients in health IT, biomedical research, and public health, Leidos Health’s broad range of capabilities help reduce costs and improve patient care.
Leidos creativity and technical expertise goes well beyond healthcare. Its Advanced Solutions Group (ASG) is a hotbed of innovation. Focused on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, data analytics, autonomy, and advanced systems integration, ASG conducts research and development that moves the needle on technological improvements and scientific discoveries.
In April, the Edison Awards named Leidos the Gold Winner for innovation in tactical and industrial technology. The win came via ASG’s work supporting the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program. ACTUV is an entirely new class of vessel, able to traverse thousands of miles of ocean for months at a time and without a single crew member aboard.
“We relished working with DARPA on the program and we’re thrilled to be recognized for our maritime autonomy technologies,” said Mike Chagnon, president of ASG. “Winning the Edison highlights Leidos’ ability to rapidly mature research and development systems to meet urgent operational needs.”
Whether it’s Edison, Best in KLAS or Best for Vets, Leidos is thriving because of its vision to deliver innovative solutions to customers through the efforts of dedicated employees.
“My main responsibility is to ensure we have a skilled staff that’s committed to understanding all the complexities and solving all the problems for our customers,” said Addison. “I’m excited about watching current and future Leidos employees positively impact our world.”
Under Addison’s purview, Leidos could be a constant on the corporate red carpet for the foreseeable future.
