A Mid-Year Look Back on Accomplishments, Opportunities, and Change
Six months is a short amount of time, but a lot can happen. Since I shared my reflections on 2021 and optimism for the year ahead, Macro Solutions continues to build on new partnerships, practices, and initiatives.
Indeed, three words capture what has guided and driven our work: people, opportunity, and change.
Putting people first
Macro has always been an employee-centric company. Many companies say the same, but few receive independent, employee-verification of this fact.
When surveyed, Macro’s employees have selected us as one of The Washington Post’s 2022 Top Workplaces in the Washington, D.C. area. That’s right. For the fifth year in a row, Macro was honored as a top-ranked company based solely on employee feedback gathered through an anonymous survey.
The award is a testament to the amazing job that our HR, marketing, and management team does in engaging and crafting connected employee experiences – even when they are scattered across remote locations – and a reason why we have an impressive 97% employee retention rate (among the top in our industry).
A culture of opportunity
One of the reasons why our employees are so happy is that we have created a culture that supports a spirit of exploration and innovation and a desire to be on the leading edge of technology. One of the products of this is our expanding partnership roster, which includes Workday, UiPath, Salesforce, and Microsoft Power Platform.
These opportunities didn’t come about through secret boardroom dealings, they are the product of our people. People who understand our customers’ most challenging missions and goals, how federal work is changing, and who see the opportunities and value-based outcomes that cutting-edge technology can deliver.
People like Brian Jacobs. Brian previously served for 14 years with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller and directed a wide portfolio of technology solutions used by thousands of users across the U.S. Army. Notably, Brian led the establishment and direction of the office’s “Bot Squad” and oversaw its first use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
That experience and a determination to support our clients’ most complex modernization projects, particularly in the areas of financial, human capital, acquisition, and logistics, has seen Brian spearhead the development of our Intelligent Solutions practice.
Applying his expertise in RPA and Artificial Intelligence (AI), through the practice, Brian has championed intelligent automation initiatives and new partnerships, like UiPath, that help federal agencies find and prioritize automation opportunities, follow best practices, and add value to the mission.
As a result of Brian’s efforts to engage and educate federal clients, formalize new partnerships, and quickly ignite the embers into flames, our Intelligent Solutions practice is off to the races. In recognition of his efforts and vision, I’m pleased to announce that Brian has been promoted to VP of Intelligent Solutions.
New executive leadership position
I’m also excited to announce a new hire, Chris Molitor. Chris will assume the new position of VP of Enterprise Solutions. Chris has been with the Macro team in a consulting role for some time, but this step will formalize his relationship and allow us to take full advantage of his more than 30 years in financial information systems planning and development.
New! The Macro Solutions Tech Spear program
Opportunities like these exist to everyone on the Macro team – new as well as tenured employees. Through our new Tech Spear program, we are committed to help our team push the boundaries of innovation, unlock their full potential, and provide a forum for trailblazing new ideas.
Tech Spear members are solutions architects who determine how the creative use of technology can support the federal government’s missions. They bridge IT and the business to incubate new opportunities, ideate solutions to tough problems, and champion new approaches in key technology areas including ERP, intelligent automation/RPA, AI and machine learning.
To support these initiatives, Macro provides members with fully funded training and certification opportunities, access to a Macro Labs space where they can design solutions at their own pace, mentoring and guidance, engagement with thought-leadership groups including ACT-IAC, AGA, AFCEA, ASMC, etc., plus other perks.
Bringing Agile, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to the DoD
This recap wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a big win for Macro and one of our biggest clients.
Earlier this year, Brian Jacobs also led a notable intelligent automation project at a financial center within a Department of Defense (DoD) agency. The project involved developing a proof-of-concept (PoC) using UiPath’s out-of-the-box Document Understanding (DU) capabilities.
The PoC proved successful in demonstrating how RPA and machine learning could be applied to automate invoice review and utility bill manual-based processes – improving the accuracy, readability, auditability, and increased throughput of finance and accounting operations, while reducing costs. The project is also an example of how Macro can deliver immediate business value through our Agile, DevOps methodology.
(The team has produced a short white paper showcasing their methodology and results. Contact Brian Jacobs to learn more).
Going forward: Reimagining the post-pandemic “new normal”
Change is a constant. But being flexible and responsive to change is a Macro hallmark. As we exit the pandemic cloud, we recognize that we won’t return to either the pre- or mid-pandemic normal.
What the “new normal” will look like remains to be seen. But, as a team, we’re committed to ensuring that we remain a connected company with a sense of purpose and meaningful interactions – while providing our employees with freedoms they have come to value and the ability to serve our clients well.
Until then, we will continue to seek out new opportunities for our customers and our employees, and I look forward to sharing those accomplishments in my next look back blog.