What's it like to work at FHB?
Get the inside scoop from our valued team members in this special blog series.
Michael Hawley joined FHB four years ago, bringing more than 10 years of consultative and strategic solution-selling experience with state and local governments. He takes a client-first approach, helping governmental finance and budget teams to identify, implement, and maintain the best available technology to meet their needs.
Q: Before you came to FHB, what were you doing?
A: I worked for one of our business partners, Questica, which is a point solution for budgeting. Prior to that, I worked for Workiva, another one of our business partners, which has been very helpful in my role at FHB.
Q: Why did you join FHB?
A: I had the opportunity as a business partner to work with Jamie (Jamie Black, FHB President). When I would talk to organizations about their implementation and how it went, they would always say, "We just love the budget book," which was done by Jamie and FHB. And I would think, “What about my stuff?” The first thing they would bring up was their experience with F.H. Black. Sooner or later, I figured out, I can't beat him. So why don't I join him?
Q: What is a highlight of your time here?
A: The highlight is definitely the people, the culture. We're all trying to create that positive client experience. We're all rowing together. I mean, we laugh together, we cry together, we work together, we don't point fingers. It's just that culture.
Q: Is there anything that you've learned here that you didn't anticipate learning?
A: It's interesting. Typically, when you're coming from the software side of the house, and you're selling a subscription or a license, you don't realize the number of details that go into a proper implementation. At FHB, we try to do everything we can to set clients up for success. And still, sometimes there are hurdles. Maybe the client loses a team member or maybe something happens on our side, like (God forbid) COVID, those types of things. Just seeing how much effort and attention to detail it takes to make sure we're hitting the mark—I wasn't exposed to that at other organizations.
Q: For organizations that choose to self-implement solutions rather than partner with FHB, what are they missing out on?
A: They don't usually hit stride until year two or three. Whereas if they work with us, and meet us halfway, we can hit it out of the park in year one. Not to say that they can't get there on their own. But they’ll still oftentimes miss out on a lot of functionality. And it's unfortunate because they're paying the full price.
Q: How has FHB demonstrated that they care about you as a person?
A: It's every day. It's how we work together, how we work as a team. We're a big family here. And you see it when folks have challenges, or something comes up—life—we all come together and figure out how we can help each other out. I've been lucky, I've had good health. I've haven't had that challenge. But if something were to come up, boy, Jamie would figure out how to make something work long-term.
Q: Can you tell me about a time that a coworker stepped up to help you on a project?
A: Yeah, right now. And it happens all the time. If I'm double-booked or have a challenge, if I'm going on vacation, I can always reach out to my fellow Solutions Advisors—Justin, Flavin, or Dustin, for support. Right now, I've got a project where I can't meet with eight people all at once. So, I'll say “Hey, Flavin, can you help me out?” We know we're on the same page; we collaborate, we talk to make sure we make it work.
With other organizations, at the executive leadership team level, that support kind of falls off. But here, we have it not only at our colleague level, but at the executive team level as well. Jamie will jump in; if I need something, he will help out to make it happen. Darryl (Darryl Parker, Director, Solutions Design & Architecture)—I mean, the entire team, across the board, everyone will help you out in any way they can.
Q: What's your favorite thing about working here?
A: It's the people. It's the culture. Like we said, we're all in one boat. We're rowing together, committed to client success. We're all remote. But it seems like I know people better here in different departments or areas, because we're not siloed. You could go to a brick-and-mortar building, and a colleague could be right behind you, and you don't even know who they are. Whereas we're on the phone working with each other as a team. It's almost like we know each other.
Q: How does FHB support you to do your best work?
A: It's always having the CPAs, our Principal Consultants, to reach out to for support, based on the type of implementation or technology we're discussing with organizations. If I need a Principal Consultant on a call to provide their particular expertise, they're always happy to jump on board just to make sure that we're setting the right expectation, and we can hit the mark.
Q: What do you think FHB gets right that a lot of employers miss?
A: It’s just treating people like people. No one's a number here. There's a heavy investment to get employees up to speed. What we do is kind of unique. We're not selling software, but we kind of help software vendors sell their software. We focus more on the implementation. Basically, our name means everything. One failed implementation is horrible. Whereas other vendors don't really care about meeting or exceeding client expectations. Huge difference there. And that's where I think most companies miss it. If they're publicly traded, come hell or high water, they've got to hit their number. They don't care how they get there; whereas we're always trying to set the right expectation.
