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    Case Study
    Maximus-logo

    COMPANY

    Maximus

    INDUSTRY

    Government Services

    How Maximus Reduced First-Year Turnover by 70% with One Model

    "With One Model, we get the power to establish a data-driven culture.”


    — Brendon Scharf, Vice President Business Analytics 

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    Reduction in First Year Voluntary Turnover

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    About

    About Maximus

    Industry: Government Contracting
    Company Size: 65,000

    Who We Spoke To: Brendon Scharf, VP of HR Analytics, Process Improvements, & Strategic Workforce Planning

    Sitting at the intersection of public policy and technology, Maximus is a government contractor based in the DC metro area. This billion-dollar firm helps state and federal governments deliver vital services to citizens, supporting the likes of health plan administration, cybersecurity, case management, and much more. They work with every state in the union, as well as the UK, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. 

    The Challenge

    Data Needs That Went Beyond Workday Capabilities

    When Maximus decided to adopt Workday in the late 2010’s, Brendon Scharf, their VP of HR Analytics, saw an opportunity. While it was a vital HR system of record, Scharf wasn’t confident that Workday alone could satisfy the organization’s towering needs in the realm of data analysis. “We had this disparate landscape of systems,” he explained, feeling they needed to “go further” than what Workday could provide on its own. He knew they needed a data warehouse that would reconcile their reams of workforce data and democratize access to it. 

    Several struggles led Scharf and the team to conclude they needed to rethink their data landscape: 

    • Data Scattered Across Nations and Systems: Maximus’ global presence made stats like global headcount nearly impossible to determine. They relied on a multitude of localized systems, including Workday in the US, ADP in Canada, and Cascade in the UK. The sprawling nature of the data made reconciliation seem out of reach.

    • Lack of Time to Track Down Numbers: That international data spread demanded countless hours from the team. Not only did vital info sit across borders and systems, it also hid inside spreadsheets on people’s desktops. Harvesting all of that information was a crippling demand on the team’s time.

    • Internal Stats Had High-Stakes External Uses: As a government contractor, stats like headcount were included in client-facing RFIs. That made getting them right all the more important. When bidding on work, they needed to be able to show where their people sat in relevant geographic regions. Splintered data made that level of precision difficult. 

    • Compliance Risks Amid Evolving Privacy Laws: With ever-changing regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), maintaining strict compliance was a top priority, but their data landscape made it harder.

    • High Turnover But Limited Data to Monitor the Problem: The organization also struggled with high turnover, which imposed steep ongoing costs. There were clear gaps in onboarding, but they lacked the data to pinpoint what was wrong so that they could monitor and rectify it.

    Launching a data warehouse while switching to a new HCM is no small feat. The sheer number of moving pieces put weight on the team, especially given the size of their organization. “It marked a fundamental change in how we manage people,” Scharf said. 

    The Solution

    A Fully Transparent Data Platform

    Once he was sure they needed a people analytics platform, Scharf knew it came down to three core options.

    1. Build it. 

    2. Buy it off the shelf. 

    3. Or buy something they could customize. 

    Building it was daunting; it would demand massive internal resources and slow them down further. They quickly scratched that off the list.

    Buying a ready-made system had far more appeal. They demoed with several data platforms, but Scharf was wary of the lack of transparency he saw in other vendors. He needed to know how the system made its judgments and calculations, and they didn’t share that information.

    Then he came across One Model.

    Scharf was won over by: 

    • How transparent the system is, with the ability to “pull back the curtain” on the logic used

    • The fact that it was built on a native AWS framework

    • The built-in Workday connector and its ongoing updates (which would have been a nightmare for the organization to maintain on its own)

    “How One Model was running facts and dimensions really resonated with me,” Scharf said. 

    “It seemed like a great option where we didn't have to carry a ton of internal resources. It was the ultimate accelerator for what I was hoping to achieve with this project.” 

    “We’ve been with One Model for 8 years if that's any indication of the quality of the partnership.”

    Maximus approached their partnership with One Model with the end goals clearly in mind. They identified the critical business questions they needed to answer regularly, like CEO pay ratio, which previously required hours of manual effort and left leadership questioning the data's integrity. Instead of telling stakeholders, "I'll get back to you in two weeks," the team needed to deliver flawless metrics instantly. One Model provided the foundation to answer these high-frequency, high-stakes questions quickly, accurately, and repeatedly.

    One Model offered:

    • Expert Guidance in Data Blending: One Model acted as a strategic guide, mapping out exactly which data sources were required to answer specific business questions. They expertly identified and integrated complex recruiting and financial sources, blending a vast multitude of disparate systems into a unified landscape.

    • Enterprise-Grade Support with a Human Touch: As an early, large-scale adopter, Maximus watched One Model scale and evolve without ever experiencing a degradation in service. Customer support went far beyond a ticketing system; when Maximus reaches out, a dedicated contact answers. This direct line of communication ensures they are always heard, guided, and supported by someone who understands their business, eliminating the frustration of the standard help-desk black hole. He describes One Model’s approach, foremost, as human-centered. While being AI-forward, he praises its human-in-the-loop policy for helping ensure everything is done responsibly and ethically. Transparency, ethical usage, and human-centeredness are the three pillars that attracted Scharf to One Model to begin with. 

    • Infinite Implementation: In people analytics, implementation is never truly "finished." New data sources emerge, business questions evolve, and systems change. Maximus recognizes that staying fluid and agile is vital, and One Model provides the continuous adaptability needed to navigate that shifting landscape.

    The Impact

    A Stronger, More Satisfied Workforce

    One Model successfully cleaned, reconciled, and presented Maximus’ data for organizational consumption. The results were transformative. Not only did KPIs improve, but One Model helped propel Maximus toward a more data-driven culture. 

    Here’s what happened:

    Turnover Plummeted: With their newfound data access and dynamic reporting, the team could easily slice tenure breakdowns by multiple dimensions. That granular visibility allowed them to pinpoint the root causes of attrition and launch targeted strategies to successfully combat it. Strategies included finding and fixing vulnerabilities in onboarding processes and X. Turnover fell by an astronomical 70%.

    • Jobs Saved: The data fundamentally changed their hiring/firing practices. It revealed where employees at risk of layoffs could simply be rehomed in a different part of the organization–to great success. The strategy saved over 5,000 jobs, and the company saved on recruitment/hiring expenses.

    • Bottom Line Savings: In saving those 5,000 jobs, Maximus also saved an incredible $10M.

    • Democratized Data Access: Critical data was no longer siloed within systems, spreadsheets, or exclusively available to leadership. Now, leaders across the organization could log in, drill down into their specific areas of the business, and see exactly how their purview is performing. This democratization fundamentally transformed how HR delivers value and drives business decisions. They could ask questions in natural language and get immediate, accurate answers. 

    • Speed to Insight: One Model eliminated the need to chase down metrics across time zones. This eased the time burden on the team and allowed them to meet tight deadlines with much greater ease. 

    • Stronger Work-Life Balance: The shift drastically reduced the hours previously spent manually prepping data. Manual reporting deadlines used to loom over the team, but now leadership could now pull accurate insights instantly. As a result of One Model, the team enjoyed greater work-life balance and more time to spend with their families.

      “Before One Model, it took 2 weeks to pull everything together and validate it, and by then it's out of date. Now, at the snap of a finger, we have everything there, right on the front page of the platform, including global geographic headcount. It’s instantaneous. You don’t have to say “I'm going to get back to you in 2 weeks,” Scharf shares. 

      Maximus’ data modeling success story speaks to a key truth in business: If you can't see your flaws, you can't fix them. One Model makes data usable in a way that transcends the likes of attrition stats. Historically, HR as a field wasn't always as data-oriented, using tangible facts to drive decisions. Now, that is the clear expectation, and with One Model, it’s the reality for Maximus. The team is reliably equipped with data that they can use to create a better experience for employees. As a result, their eNPS has exploded, as has manager effectiveness. 

      Ultimately, Maximus’s eight-year journey proves that when you give an organization total visibility into its workforce, the results go beyond standard business metrics, they impact lives. By moving away from disjointed spreadsheets and embracing One Model as their single source of truth, Maximus protected $10M in capital, safeguarded 5,000 careers, and slashed first-year voluntary turnover. As Scharf’s experience highlights, true workforce transformation requires an enterprise data partner committed to transparency, human-centric ethics, and infinite adaptability.

    The Future

    Scharf’s Message to Other Companies Considering One Model

    “If we didn’t have the data at our fingertips, we couldn’t have put together the business case for the things we’ve achieved. If you’re an organization that’s looking for help in accelerating your people analytics program, One Model is an exceptional partner. I would choose them every single time.”

    Cost-Savings
    $10M in Savings

    Used workforce insights to identify redeployment opportunities, reducing recruitment and hiring costs while retaining valuable talent.

    Jobs-Saved
    5,000 Jobs Saved

    Identified opportunities to redeploy employees at risk of layoffs into other roles, protecting more than 5,000 jobs.

    Turnover-icon
    70% Reduction in Turnover

    Used people analytics to uncover drivers of first-year voluntary turnover and improve onboarding and retention strategies.

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