A healthy balance

For Ashburn-based IT company Sriven Technologies LLC, an emphasis on work-life balance and leading a healthy lifestyle, as well as a strong benefits packages creates a stress-free place for employees to focus on their careers, CEO Raj Kilaru says. And that makes it a place where people want to stay.

Founded in 2009, Sriven Technologies provides IT staffing and managed services, including application development and business intelligence to retail, financial, insurance and health care clients.

Although the company is relatively young, a majority of its 90 employees, 27 of whom are based in Virginia, have been with the company for five to 10 years, Kilaru says, thanks to competitive compensation packages and benefits, including covering 100% of employees’ medical and dental benefits and providing a free $100,000 life insurance policy. Employees can also be part of a profit-sharing plan through an employee stock option. And to help employees manage their personal finances, Sriven offers financial advising services at no cost.

Day-to-day operations changed at the company after COVID-19 hit and employees were asked to work remotely.

Meetings, biannual performance reviews and team building will continue to be conducted via Zoom through at least June 2021.

“Working in the office is always good, but our employees are working very hard to provide all the services to the clients,” Kilaru says. “We don’t have any issues working remotely. The only difference is we’re not seeing them face-to-face.”

Sriven’s Virginia operations are broken up into three, six-member teams plus management positions. Teams meet virtually for weekly check-up calls to discuss ongoing projects — including a long-term project management and cloud contract with Freddie Mac.

Pre-pandemic, Sriven employees would meet in-person for weekly lunches and golf games, as well as quarterly fitness, yoga and meditation sessions and monthly company picnics. Employees also could take paid time off each month to volunteer in the Northern Virginia community, without using their 15 paid days off per year.

“We treat our employees as family,” Kilaru says. “We always value their time and their services.”

From a corporate philanthropy standpoint, Sriven regularly donates funds to charities including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Native American education.

Sriven is also growing — and growing fast. From 2014 through 2019, the company made the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing, privately held companies. It reported a three-year growth rate of 65% in 2019. Aside from Freddie Mac, Sriven also provides services to the U.S. Department of Labor, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Despite its focus on growing its customer base, Sriven considers itself an “employee-first work environment,” Kilaru says. “If the employees are happy, then we’re happy.”

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