Counter Threat Solutions COVID-19 Action Plan

The CEO of this privately held Woman-Owned Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) is pulling out all the stops to lessen the financial impact and stress of the pandemic for her employees.

Reston, VA (April 9, 2020) – Reston-based consulting firm Counter Threat Solutions (CTS) is one of the Capital region’s numerous small federal government consulting firms affected by the coronavirus. Its employees typically spend their days at various secure client facilities, with company income derived from achieving full, 40-hour per week billability.

Since 16 March, the ability to perform client work, bill for time, and collect payment for contracting services has ceased except for a handful of mission critical personnel. That same week, CTS enacted unprecedented measures in order to keep its employees paid – at full salary and with full benefits – while also keeping them engaged in meaningful work.

Layoffs Averted
To avoid depleting its cash reserves while awaiting economic relief, the company’s CEO and CIO immediately stopped taking pay, and all senior executives unanimously agreed to a temporary salary reduction. While other companies had to resort to layoffs, these efforts, along with curtailed discretionary spending, allowed CTS to provide peace of mind to its employees that they would continue to be paid for at least six weeks.

“Recruiting cleared professionals able to serve within the unique constraints of our client space is challenging enough,” says CEO Theresa Keith. “I want to do everything in my power to keep CTS employees fully covered with pay and benefits during this crisis. They are the backbone of our service delivery, and the expertise they offer is not easily replaced.”

Purposeful Engagement
To keep employees mentally engaged in the weeks ahead, CTS leadership quickly implemented a plan to mobilize teams of similar talents to work virtually on projects that will strengthen the company’s operations. Employees were matched to line of business teams, equipped with the tools needed to work from home, and provided guidance and assignments to best utilize the same exceptional skillsets sought after by the firm’s clients.

“We’ve assembled a cadre of highly-skilled experts to serve the mission needs of our clients,” says CEO Theresa Keith. “It made perfect sense to put these same skills to use within our company, giving our teammates purposeful work to help keep their mind off of the crisis while they self-isolate, while strengthening our business operations at the same time.”

Silver Lining
Nine teams meet virtually every week day to work a variety of business objectives with laser focus. From skills-based training in finance and data analytics to building technical acumen in ServiceNow and Salesforce to marketing and business development, CTS is employing its in-house talent to assist in the company’s needs.

“Not only are we executing our own continuity of operations plan, we are using this ‘down time’ to ramp up our teammates’ skills,” adds Luca Ducceschi, the firm’s CIO. “When we are able to return to client site, we will do so with a tremendous amount of job-related added value.”

CTS Executive Vice President Dean McKendrick reports: “Our virtual teams are growing future leaders within our company as well. We are experiencing high levels of engagement across our organization, with many of our teammates stepping up and asking for more responsibility.”

“Keeping everyone occupied, engaged, and connected is so important to our mental and emotional well-being,” says Keith. “And our approach seems to be a win-win and a productive way to ride out the pandemic.”

About Counter Threat Solutions

Counter Threat Solutions LLC (CTS) is a Woman-Owned Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) consulting company named a 2019 Best Small Company to Work For by Talent Desk. CTS provides mission-savvy subject matter experts to the U.S. Government’s Intelligence and Defense communities, as well as innovative financial and IT solutions to its Civilian clientele. Learn more about CTS at  ctstruenorth.com  or  LinkedIn .

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