Immeasurable Goodwill, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Retention – and a Highest Performing Small Business Partner

Flying a bit below the radar, Avening, a subcontractor recognized by its Primes as their highest performing small business partner, leverages culture as a game changer for attracting and retaining top talent. 

Culture Within 
 
We tell every person we hire that they only have one job – to go to work and make their customer(s) love them. We then tell them that our job (the management) is to ensure that they have the resources they need to accomplish that. Everything else falls into place. It sounds overly simplistic, but it really isn’t. What our clients get out of this is the best each person has to offer, and evidence that management supports the employees and the mission. What the employees get out of this is a management team that works for them, cares about them, and advocates for them. What the company gets out of this is immeasurable goodwill, employee and customer satisfaction, and a significantly higher retention rate than many comparable companies. 
 
Taking Care of the Team 
 
One of the things we do includes company-paid long and short-term disability which we decided to cover for everyone. Shortly after we made that decision, one of our employees suffered a traumatic illness. Because the company covered him, he received compensation for the duration of his disability leave, and then returned to work with us.   
 
During COVID, when people were isolated, we had a robust online community using MS365 tools. We hosted games and contests and awarded prizes (Amazon gift cards) with reckless abandon.  Since our people are located in Japan, S.Korea, Guam, Hawaii, Alaska and across the continental US, it was a fun way for people to get to know each other. 
 
We also participate in Time to Vote, which means we provide paid time off and encourage people to vote in every election. On presidential election day every 4 years, we give everyone the entire day off reinforcing our belief that voting is that important. No matter who they’re voting for. 
 
Culture Ingrained from the Top 
 
Culture is ingrained in our management team. Our interactions with current employees and new hires/applicants are consistent and deliver the same message. It’s who we are. In addition, we avoid hiring anyone who we feel won’t be a good fit for us, regardless of how qualified they are. 
 
Our tagline is “Authentic Excellence,” which translates into being honest, open, and transparent in everything we do, and always doing our best. We operate with integrity. We communicate sincerely. We build trusted relationships, and we treat everyone fairly. We admit when we’re wrong, and we own our mistakes. We go the extra mile, always. Our customers think they’re getting more than they’re paying for. 
 
A View to the Future  
 
Government contracting is a volatile and fickle environment.  We have a robust pipeline, including a number of opportunities currently in source selection, but competition is fierce and it’s impossible to quantify probability of win.  
 
That being said, we are very good at what we do. We’re a bit below the radar, but once we’re engaged, we’re in it for the long haul.  We’ve been in business almost 11 years, have been a subcontractor on two programs with two different primes for 10.5 of those years, and recognized by both companies as their highest performing small business partner. 

Learn more about Avening here.

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