36C10X19Q0156-004.pdf

Attachment 1

Performance Work Statement (PWS)

Leadership Potential Assessment Tool VHA Healthcare Leadership Talent Institute (HTLI)

1. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND:

The VHA Healthcare Leadership Talent Institute is charged to identify, develop, and strategically manage the enterprise and healthcare leadership talent across VA. In fulfilling this responsibility, HLTI uses leadership assessment tools to triangulate and calibrate its processes for identifying and developing future leadership pipelines and employee talent.

2. OBJECTIVE:

This objective is to purchase access to a leadership potential assessment tool that has specific qualities to enable this process triangulation, including:

empirical validation against a cohort of U.S. multi-sector leaders, alignment with the Silzer & Church (2009)1 theoretical model of leadership potential, assessment ratings benchmarked to increasing levels of leadership responsibility, online web-based accessibility, electronic individual and group data/reports, de-identified participant access (alpha numeric assignment), and HLTI certification to self-manage the delivery of feedback/coaching to VA participants completing the leadership potential assessment tool.2

3. MAJOR REQUIREMENTS:

HLTI is seeking an empirically-validated, theory-informed, and stage-oriented leadership potential assessment tool with online web-based accessibility, electronic individual and group data/reports, de-identified participant access (alpha numeric assignment), and HLTI certification to self-manage the delivery of assessment feedback/coaching.3 No consulting services are being required with this requirement.

1) Empirical validation means this tool has a published/available research or technical guide to show it has been model-tested (factor analysis) against multi-sector U.S. leaders (government, public/private sector) with results for construct validity, item reliability, and assessing sub-group differences (e.g., leadership level, gender, race/ethnicity).

2) Theory-informed means the assessment constructs measure the indicators of leadership potential, as defined by Silzer and Church (2009)4, of:

1 Silzer, R., & Church, A.H. (2009). The pearls and perils of identifying potential. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2(4), 377-412.

2 A comparative tool is the Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential.

3 A comparative tool is the Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential.

4 Silzer, R., & Church, A.H. (2009). The pearls and perils of identifying potential. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2(4), 377-412.

a. cognitive skills, or logic and reasoning,

b. personality, or derailment risks,

c. learning skills, or learning agility and self-awareness,

d. motivation skills, or motivation to lead,

e. leadership skills, or leadership traits, and

f. functional skills, or formative experiences.

3) Stage-oriented means the tool can rank the individual’s skills/behaviors/experiences against increasing levels of leadership competency for use as a roadmap in leadership development and succession planning; these levels include, at minimum: frontline/first-level leader, manager/mid-level leader, and senior executive/CEO.

4. VENDOR SHALL PROVIDE:

The vendor shall provide the following for this tool:

1. Online accessibility to the self-assessment tool, whereby the VA participant can access the tool via a laptop or mobile device system, using an individual/personalized weblink, and during unrestricted hours (e.g., 24-hour and weekend access).

2. Electronic reports, by HLTI-defined cohorts, sent to HLTI of each individual assessment (in PDF format), including a cohort summary report of individual scores (in an extractable Excel format) and an overall cohort/group diagnostic report indicating organizational trends (in PDF format).

3. De-identified participant access by providing HLTI with a list of alpha-numeric codes and associated emails/weblinks for HLTI assignment of the self-assessment tool. All electronic reports will use the alpha-numeric codes for tracking/reporting participant scores. HLTI is responsible for maintaining the cross-walk of alpha-numeric codes to participant names.

4. Two-day, in-person, certification process for HLTI members to receive training to self-manage the delivery of feedback/coaching to VA participants completing the leadership potential assessment tool.

5. Project support by assigning a representative to work with the HLTI to ensure the project is managed and resourced to meet deadlines and quality expectations, and to oversee all aspects of the assessment setup and administration, including: providing the alpha-numeric codes and associated emails/weblinks to HLTI, timely status updates of complete and incomplete online assessments, and preparing and forwarding data reports (PDFs, Excel) to HLTI.

6. Expected timelines for the leadership potential assessment tool:

7. Tool Completion: Estimated 90-minutes, on average, for a participant to complete the online assessment with ability to complete the assessment in multiple sittings (i.e., start/stop option in tool completion). Window for completion will be three-weeks (calendar) once the assessment is started.

8. Individual Report Delivery: Delivery of the electronic individual report (PDF) to HLTI within three business days of assessment completion/submission by participant. May be sent as individual or batched reports.

a. Cohort Report Delivery: Delivery of the cohort summary report of individual scores (in an extractable Excel format) and an overall cohort/group diagnostic report (PDF) to HLTI within three business days of cohort assessment completion/submission. Cohort to be defined by HLTI (e.g., quarterly, monthly, or defined group of participant codes).

9. The following protections are required in managing the transition of leadership assessment tool data between VA and the vendor. The vendor will assign a generic alpha-numeric code with weblink to each VA-purchased online assessment tool. The VA program manager (HLTI) will assign each generic code/weblink to a unique VA employee participating in the assessment. Only HLTI will know the crosswalk between the employee name and the assigned generic code/weblink to maintain employee privacy. This crosswalk information will be stored in a permission-restricted folder behind the VA firewall. HLTI will send each VA participant an individual, encrypted email with that employee’s unique code/weblink to the online assessment tool. This weblink will connect the employee to the vendor’s website outside the VA firewall to complete the assessment, where the VA employee will only be identified by the generic alpha-numeric code. Once completed, the vendor emails the completed assessment report (PDF), individually or as a batch, to HLTI. HLTI matches the PDF alpha-numeric code to the VA employee and disseminates that PDF via encrypted email to the matched employee. HLTI will store all vendor-received PDFs in a permission-restricted folder behind the VA firewall.

5. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Management and administration of the leadership potential assessment tool to be performed by Contractor at Contractor location. Tool certification process to be performed by or through Contractor at a Contractor-designated location (non-Government site).

6. PERIOD OF SERVICE:

The period of performance is June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2024, with ability to exercise the purchase of assessments for option years.

Base year (June 1, 2019 - May 31, 2020) includes:

a. alphanumeric codes, weblinks, and individual reports for 65-80 leadership assessment participants,

b. 3-4 cohort reports, and

c. 1 certification/training processes.

Option Year 1

a. alphanumeric codes, weblinks, and individual reports for 65-80 leadership assessment participants,

b. 3-4 cohort reports, and

c. 1 certification/training processes.

Option Year 2

a. alphanumeric codes, weblinks, and individual reports for 65-80 leadership assessment participants,

b. 3-4 cohort reports

Option Year 3

a. alphanumeric codes, weblinks, and individual reports for 65-80 leadership assessment participants,

b. 3-4 cohort reports

Option Year 4

a. alphanumeric codes, weblinks, and individual reports for 65-80 leadership assessment participants,

b. 3-4 cohort reports

7. HOURS OF WORK:

The Contractor may also be required to support 24/7 operations 365 days per year as identified in individual Task Orders.

There are ten (10) Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103) that VA follows:

New Year's Day Martin Luther King's Birthday Washington's Birthday Memorial Day Independence Day Labor Day Columbus Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Christmas Day

8. INFORMATION SECURITY AND PRIVACY:

Vendor shall provide:

Assessment Licensing, Copyright and Permissions Licensee Requirements Certain assessments published by CPP, Inc., have specific requirements that must be met in order to purchase and administer them. Instruments with such requirements are indicated with an (R) in the catalog and on cpp.com. The assessments with requirements have been classified in terms of the professional training required for their use. The classifications are based on The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (published by APA, AERA, and NCME, at www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/standards.aspx), which is written for both the professional and the educated layperson and addresses professional and technical issues concerning instrument development and use in education, psychology, and employment.

Requirements can be met either by successfully completing a certification program and receiving the designation Certified Practitioner or by being granted Education Eligibility based on having a master’s degree or higher in psychology, counseling, organizational development, or a related field. For a complete list of all related fields, visit here. If you meet the Education Eligibility requirement, you will be able to purchase and administer instruments, but you will not be considered a certified practitioner. Only those practitioners who attend and successfully complete a certification program for an instrument will be granted the Certified Practitioner designation for that instrument.

Permissions Content Licensing Requests for permission to modify and reproduce or quote CPP materials must be reviewed by CPP’s Legal Department. CPP considers requests that meet the eligibility requirements of CPP’s internal Content & Logo License Review Policy and will determine whether to grant a particular request. If a license or permission request is approved, it will typically be processed within 10 business days from the day CPP receives all necessary and required information and documentation from the requestor. In order to maintain the quality of our products, CPP only grants licenses to use the most current version of its copyrighted materials. Content license agreements are subject to fees. All fees must be paid in U.S. dollars. Licenses and permissions are valid only in written form, signed by an authorized CPP representative.

Cyber and Information Security Requirements for VA IT Services The Contractor shall ensure adequate LAN/Internet, data, information, and system security in accordance with VA standard operating procedures and standard PWS language, conditions, laws, and regulations. The Contractor’s firewall and web server shall meet or exceed VA minimum requirements for security. All VA data shall be protected behind an approved firewall. Any security violations or attempted violations shall be reported to the VA Program Manager and VA Information Security Officer as soon as possible. The Contractor shall follow all applicable VA policies and procedures governing information security, especially those that pertain to certification and accreditation.

http://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/standards.aspx https://www.cpp.com/certification/educationaleligibility.aspx

Contractor supplied equipment, PCs of all types, equipment with hard drives, etc. for contract services must meet all security requirements that apply to Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) and Government Owned Equipment (GOE). Security Requirements include: a) VA Approved Encryption Software must be installed on all laptops or mobile devices before placed into operation, b) Bluetooth equipped devices are prohibited within VA;

Bluetooth must be permanently disabled or removed from the device, c) VA approved anti-virus and firewall software, d) Equipment must meet all VA sanitization requirements and procedures before disposal. The COR, CO, the Project Manager, and the Information Security Officer (ISO) must be notified and verify all security requirements have been adhered to.

Each documented initiative under this contract incorporates VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security,” March 12, 2010 by reference as though fully set forth therein. The VA Handbook 6500.6, “Contract Security” shall also be included in every related agreement, contract or order. The VA Handbook 6500.6, Appendix C, is included in this document as Addendum B.

Training requirements: The Contractor shall complete all mandatory training courses on the current VA training site, the VA Talent Management System (TMS), and will be tracked therein. The TMS may be accessed at https://www.tms.va.gov. If you do not have a TMS profile, go to https://www.tms.va.gov and click on the “Create New User” link on the TMS to gain access.

Contractor employees shall complete a VA Systems Access Agreement if they are provided access privileges as an authorized user of the computer system of VA.

https://www.tms.va.gov/ https://www.tms.va.gov/