The company gave me opportunities, like the chance to receive leadership training and obtain professional certifications. They pour back into their employees, and it has been amazing to watch what has happened over the last 11 years!
Melissa Frye has seen her career blossom because of internal mobility opportunities. She came to GDIT with a marketing background and started in a contracts role. She now runs a global security engineering and supply chain contract for the Department of State customer as a senior director.
Internal mobility. I own it.
Internal mobility is really important for me at GDIT because it is my story.
I have had five different roles here, all in different areas. I went from a contracts role at headquarters to program operations. I’ve been a project manager. I moved to a deputy program manager, and then I moved into the senior director role that I am in now. All of that career development happened over 11 years with the company.
Throughout my journey with GDIT, I have had the support from managers who challenged me to get out of my comfort zone, and my biggest growth has come when I heeded that challenge. I try to foster this same feeling with the employees in my program—and show them internal mobility success stories—to inspire them for what could be next in their careers.
A community for women’s advancement
I have two daughters, so the idea of giving back to women in the workplaces hits home for me. To that end, I decided to get involved in the ForWARD Employee Resource Group (For Women’s Advancement Recognition and Development), and I’m now a co-lead in the ERG.
Each year, we host a number of different programs, including several events in March for Women’s History Month and our Women and Tech conference each fall. Last year, several thousand people attended the conference virtually.
I want to create a positive workplace for the future where women, including my daughters, are seen, recognized and advancing.
How are you really?
Our president, Amy Gilliland, started the “How are you really?” campaign to focus on mental health during the pandemic. I remember being surprised when she posted about it on LinkedIn because mental health is not something that is regularly talked about at work.
It really resonated with me, and I brought the topic to my program meetings when it felt appropriate to do so. While there were some people who hesitated sharing how they were feeling, I found that over time, more people started to open up. Asking the question helped to create more connections at work that may not have happened without really asking how someone was.
As we come out of the pandemic, this remains an important question for me to ask because there are still people struggling. I encourage my leaders to ask their teams this question as well. By asking the question, I have created some great relationships across my entire program.