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How can we ensure that the growing number of management hires doesn't lead to an imbalance within the organization? Many of us are concerned that too many management layers could disrupt team collaboration and affect efficiency.
DISA is currently building our organization for the future. We’re adding people, including leaders, to ensure everyone's work scope is reasonable. Every person we hire, including senior executives, is expected to be hands-on. We don't have anyone who simply delegates; everyone is a doer/leader.
Additionally, anyone at DISA can reach out to any leader, manager, or executive anytime. Leaders are expected to ensure their teams collaborate effectively within their own groups and across the organization. We have grown quickly and are moving very fast, but we are continuously working to ensure we are aligned and working together as One DISA across the organization.
Will our clients' service costs increase in 2025? If so, do we have a percentage range? Have clients ask as they prepare 2025 budgets.
We’re continually examining our operating costs, investments, margins, and how that may or may not impact client pricing. We are working on our 2025 plan and will provide more information in Q4 as it is finalized.
With open enrollment around the corner, are we staying with the same insurance company or moving to another?
We are reviewing these as part of our annual process. In mid-October, we will send more information to all employees.
Can you advise us on DISA’s future plans for the Birmingham office? We are approaching the end of the lease in our current building. Thank you!
We plan on extending our lease at the Birmingham location and are committed to being there long-term. It houses several teams coming into the office under one roof: Operations, Sales, Customer Success, Finance, and IT. For Operations, it acts as our center of excellence in the US, with most folks working out of that office in a hybrid capacity and coming in three days a week. The Operational best practices established there are replicated with teams on other platforms and acquisitions. We’re excited about DISA’s future in Birmingham!
Is there anything in the works for cost-of-living raises?
DISA regularly reviews pay for all employees in the spring of each year, and we expect to do that again in 2025.
Will DISA provide training on the software we are expected to use, or will employees be expected to learn independently?
Yes! We always want to set our employees up for success, and training is a crucial part of that process. We are working to improve training across the board as we consolidate functionally. For example, we have multiple finance platforms now but are working to consolidate them into one. Part of that process SHOULD include training on the final platform of choice. If you feel like you’re not receiving the training necessary, please touch base with your direct manager, or if you’re more comfortable, inquire with your executive leader. We’ll keep your request anonymous and work to ensure you get the training necessary to be successful!
There seems to be many platforms that have overlapping functionality in pre-employment background screening. When do we expect to complete migration of clients to DISAScreen and retire the other platforms? What about DISA360?
Yes! We’re continually working to consolidate platforms – when it makes sense for both DISA and our clients. We have been executing a very detailed migration plan since 2023. Last year we successfully migrated over 5,000 accounts representing $25 million in annual revenue, and we’re on track to do the same this year.
It is not uncommon for high-volume clients to require functionality that we developed on previous platforms to meet their complex and specific requirements. Our aim is to ensure that when clients migrate to a new platform, they feel they are getting an upgrade in user experience and/or capabilities. As a result, some migrations require platform development, but all require meticulous planning and user training and happen over time.
Do we need to worry about layoffs due to the GHRR acquisition?
No layoffs are planned due to GHRR’s acquisition in 2022. GHRR has allowed us to increase our product capabilities and service offerings to our clients and immediately expand DISA into new industry verticals like healthcare, staffing, retail, and technology. Throughout 2023, we realigned our organizational structure due to the acquisition, and numerous GHRR employees saw expanded roles and responsibilities throughout DISA.
When will we expand the selling of drug testing services into Mexico, in addition to background checks?
We’re continually investigating the demand of our clients and the industry for our products and services. Historically, if we enter the drug testing market in Mexico, it will be via acquisition. It is similar to GHRR expanding our access into healthcare, staffing, and retail industries or Validata and Signum giving us an international client base and service solution. We are continually investigating acquisition targets as they appear worldwide. We will certainly be interested if we see the right acquisition opportunity to grow our drug testing services in Mexico immediately. If you are aware of any opportunities, please present them to your manager for escalation.
Which email address should I forward any suspicious emails to?
When we report an email with a link to click, do we forward the email to infosec@disa.com?
I received an email from admin@disa.com. Is that a valid email address?
Please send suspicious emails to ITemailcheck@disa.com or infosec@disa.com for verification. We’re also working on a new process to improve this for users in the future.
What strategies are we implementing to ensure long-term client retention, especially as we continue to grow?
Are there specific initiatives in place to identify and address at-risk clients?
For our high-volume clients (representing 60% of DIDSA’s volume), we maintain detailed account plans to help ensure they are getting the service level and upsell assistance needed to run effective screening programs. We manage these clients through Client Teams, including an executive sponsor, an Account Manager, and a dedicated Premier/CAR representative. Additionally, we maintain dynamic (real-time) health statuses to manage and address the issues impacting these critical accounts. We continuously advise the Executive Team and the Board on any at-risk clients for advice and assistance with our action plans.
Given the recent changes in our pricing structure, I'm concerned about how these updates will be communicated to our clients. How can we ensure that these changes are published promptly to all clients? What steps are we taking to ensure this process is smooth and transparent?
2024 was a unique year for pricing changes at DISA. We made a concerted effort to consolidate all pricing changes clients would see in 2024 into a single communication. This was done for two reasons. Firstly, we wanted to avoid clients getting hit with multiple communications every few months. Secondly, we wanted to simplify the process and make it easier for clients to understand.
This past year, we implemented one main set of price increases for most clients and saw minimal client confusion.
For consortium clients, we implemented three new price changes, including standard pricing adjustments in February and two brand-new fees with effective dates of April and June. This staggering of effective dates may have created more confusion and questions than in the past. Clients received an email notice of the changes in December, and account managers updated their managed accounts about the new fee. We added cover letters on top of their invoices in March, 30 days before the new fee went live, with reminders of these fees.
Unfortunately, these releases were pushed back 1-2 months and implemented after the initially communicated go-live date due to unforeseen events. This ended up being a financial benefit to clients, but it likely increased confusion around the fee when it finally appeared on their invoices. Despite this, we believe less than 1% of clients experienced confusion and reached out to DISA for clarity. Additionally, we’ve learned from this experience and will look to build an even more robust communication process in the future if we have entirely new fees that require additional communication.
How are we ensuring effective collaboration between our various sales teams to share insights and best practices, and avoid working in silos?
Effective collaboration and transparency are critical to each sales team’s success. Each sales team is focused on a specific client type and/or territory defined by either geography, vertical, or size. All prospects and current accounts are managed out of a single CRM, Salesforce, which allows overall team visibility into any prospects within the pipeline.
Sales teams are also encouraged to collaborate in situations where multiple areas of expertise are required. For example, if we are working with a large enterprise client that requires a robust pre-employment screening program and maintains a private fleet, an enterprise seller will partner with a transportation seller to close the deal.
We continuously improve territory and vertical splits as our offerings evolve and communicate those improvements to the sales organization.
Finally, we conduct monthly town hall meetings with all of sales to keep the entire team informed. This is in addition to our regular team meetings and bi-weekly sales training.
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