Strategic_Planning_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

Strategic Planning Questions

1. C.2 Background

Can the government please provide as a supplement to the solicitation a breakdown, or estimate, of the number and titles of labor categories covering the 402 full-time positions?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for a list of OIG Federal employees by duty location, position title, position series, and grade level. All Federal positions are included in this assessment.

2. C.2 Background

Can the government please clarify the location of the field offices, the number of employees located in each office, and the labor categories covering those positons?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for a list of OIG Federal employees by duty location, position title, position series, and grade level. All Federal positions are included in this assessment.

3. C.3.2 Task 2

Can the government please clarify if proficiency levels and current hiring, attrition/retention, grade level information will be provided by working with DOT Human Resources, or will the OIG have this information for us?

Answer: A point-of-contact will coordinate needed data and/or information on behalf of the contractor.

4. C.3.2. Task 2

Can the government please clarify how many years of current trends are anticipated to be analyzed, and what format that information will be available to us in?

Answer: 3 years of trends shall be analyzed. Data will be provided in the format requested by the contractor.

5. C.3.2. Task 2

Can the government please clarify if the trend data is up-to-date and clean of any duplications, errors, etc. , or if the contractor will have to clean the data before working with it?

Answer: Data is up-to-date and accurate.

6. C.3.3 Task 3

Can the government please clarify if the attrition data is up-to-date and clean, what format the contractor would receive it in, and the number of years to be evaluated?

Answer: Data is up-to-date and accurate.

7. C.3.3. Task 3

Can the government please clarify how many business processes are expected to be reviewed and if they will provide the process maps?

Answer: It is anticipated that by interviewing leadership in mission critical program areas, the contractor shall identify approximately 10-20 business processes for an in depth review. Process maps are not available.

8. C.3.2 Task 2 and C.3.3 Task 3

Can the government please clarify if Task 2 analysis and Task 3 analysis is to be by position or competencies? As is, it appears Task 2 is by position and Task 3 is by competencies. This appears to be an error.

Answer: Task 2 is the current state by position. Task 3 is the future state driven by required competencies.

9. C.3.4 Task 4

Can the government clarify how many employees are in the Administrative and Management Office and the number of labor categories they fall into?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for a list of employees in this organization.

10. C.3.4 Task 4

Can the government clarify how many other divisions there are and how many employees are in each of the other divisions?

Answer: Six program offices (divisions). Offices range in size from 2 to 210 employees.

11. What percentage of OIG’s workforce will be eligible to retire over the next three years?

Answer: Approximately 3 percent of the OIG workforce is eligible to retire within the next three years.

12. In Task 3.5, it asks for the identification of competency requirements. Does OIG currently have competency models, or KSAs aligned with occupations?

Answer: Competency models are available for the Auditor occupation only. The Office of Personnel

Management’s (OPM) Qualifications Standards Handbook, X-118, establishes KSA’s for each occupation.

OIG follows OPM guidance to establish KSA’s for each job occupation.

13. Section C.2 mentions that 60% of DOT OIG employees work in headquarters and 40% work in field offices. Is this workforce planning project focused on DOT OIG headquarters, or is it for the entire workforce of DOI OIG?

Answer: The entire workforce both at headquarters and the field.

14. Section C.2 mentions that 40% of DOT OIG’s employees work out of field offices. How many field offices doe DOI OIG have?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for a list of OIG Federal employees by duty location, position title, position series, and grade level. All Federal positions are included in this assessment.

15. Section 3.4.3 discusses soliciting input from supervisors. Will DOT OIG identify SMEs for the contractor to consult with? Could these SMEs be from field offices? If so, would these discussions take place over the phone, or through site visits?

Answer: SMEs will be identified both at headquarters and the field. It is anticipated communications with key personnel outside the Washington, DC area will be conducted by phone.

16. In Task 4.1, there is reference to identifying critical functions and conducting a competency assessment for the different divisions. How many different divisions are there?

Answer: There are six program areas (divisions). A comprehensive competency assessment will be made for the Office of the Assistant Inspector General for Management as well as any other key area identified by the contractor and approved by the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative.

Competencies exist for the auditor occupation only.

Section C.5 Deliverables

17. --In accordance with the stated delivery dates, the project must be completed within 5 months.

Clarify for Items 5 through 7, whether the delivery dates are all “after approval of the final Project Plan” or should be after approval of the previous deliverable.

Answer: “After approval of the final project plan”, however, the contractor may propose different delivery dates, as long as the final deliverable does not exceed 9 months from contract award.

18. --Can the offeror propose different delivery dates if the entire project is completed within the period of performance (from date of award not to exceed 9 months)?

Answer: Yes.

19. Are demographic data of all OIG employees collected in a system and, if so, will these data be made available for this project by someone with knowledge of report writing in the system? Typically this data would include hire date, position(s) held, salary progression, birth dates, address, gender and race/ethnicity. Sometimes this data will include education, experience, performance reviews and span of control. All of this data as well as aggregate data such as turnover and recruiting statistics would be desirable for this project.

Answer: A point-of-contact will coordinate needed information and data with the respective internal source(s).

20. In addition to the 402 full-time employees, how many part-time employees and ongoing contractor positions exist? Will these be up for consideration in this project?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for a list of OIG Federal employees by duty location, position title, position series, and grade level. All Federal full-time, part-time, and Expert positions are included in this assessment.

21. Will all people in managerial and supervisory capacities be made available for interviews?

Answer: All applicable personnel will be made available.

22. Will all employees be made available for surveys and/or focus groups for information gathering purposes, including field employees?

Answer: All applicable personnel will be made available.

23. Have any employee satisfaction or engagement surveys been conducted within the last 5 years? If so, will that data be made available doing the project?

Answer: The government-wide Employee Viewpoint Survey results for OIG will be made available.

24. Please clarify – Will hotel costs for D.C. travel will be covered separately by the OIG versus needed to include them in travel cost estimates?

Answer: Any travel and hotel costs are the responsibility of the contractor. It is anticipated that communications with key personnel outside the Washington, DC area will be conducted by phone.

25. Please clarify – Is the intent of Task 6: Implementation Action Plan deliverable for the contractor to facilitate the implementation of the Workforce Action Plan through the establishment of the evaluation criteria tool and the change management and communication strategy only? As stated, the requirement implies the contractor would facilitate the entire implementation of the Workforce Action Plan.

Answer: The contractor shall produce deliverables for all Tasks, including the establishment of an evaluation criterial tool, a change management and communication strategy and facilitate the initial roll-out of the Workforce Action Plan.

26. Is there an incumbent for this work, if so what details can you provide?

Answer: No

27. Is there an estimated level of effort expected, i.e. number of FTEs?

Answer: FTE numbers to be provided.

28. The RFP, item C.5, contains a time-line for deliverables, which appears to be over a 90 day period. However, item C.6 states that the contract is over a 9 month period. Please clarify whether or not the deliverable time-line in item C.5 is a definitive time-line. Or, are you asking that the contractor propose a time-line when submitting the Draft Workforce Planning Program Project Plan?

Answer: The contractor may propose a different deliverable date, as long as all deliverables are produced no later than 9 months from contract award.

29. Does DOT have an existing strategic plan that has been used to date? If so, can this be shared with the contractor?

Answer: Yes, the Office of Inspector General’s Strategic Plan will be shared with the contractor.

30. Has DOT done any workforce planning in the past? If so, can that information and reports be shared with the contractor?

Answer: There has been no formal workforce planning program conducted for the Office of Inspector

General.

31. Are organization charts available to the contractor?

Answer : Organization charts will be available to the contractor.

32. Does each department within DOT have their own mission statement, goals and performance metrics? If so, can this information be shared with contractor?

Answer: The current mission statement, goals and any available performance metrics for the Office of

Inspector General will be shared with the contractor.

33. Will an internal Champion or DOT staff member or team be assigned internal project coordination and provide support in terms of document gathering, scheduling meetings, review of time lines and deliverables of the contractor?

Answer: A point-of-contact will coordinate needed information and data with respective internal offices.

34. What contract type is the government looking for? T&M or FFP?

Answer: Firm Fixed Price

35.Would the government consider extending the due date by one week to September 2

Answer: The due date has been extended to close of business, August 30, 2016.

36. C.3.4 Task 4

Can the government please clarify how many employees are working in the Office of the Assistant

Inspector General for Administration and Management, and how many labor categories those positions fall into?

Answer: See attached personnel roster for this organization.

37. C.3.5 Task 5

Can the government please clarify the format the Action Plan deliverable is to be in, i.e., Word, Excel, etc.

Answer: All deliverables shall be submitted in Microsoft Office 2010 electronic format using Microsoft

Word and Excel.

38. G.1 Instructions

Can the government please provide the SF 1449 form? We did not find this form in the solicitation materials.

Answer: This form will be provided by the Contracting Officer at the time of award.

39. General

Can the government please clarify if the OIG is currently, or recently, been working with an incumbent on similar tasks as noted in the solicitation? If yes, what is the name of the firm and the contract number they worked under?

Answer: No Incumbent.

40. General

Can the government please clarify if it intends to award this contract in FY16 or FY17?

Answer: The government intends to award this contract in FY-16.

41. General

Can the government please clarify what system is currently used for the OIG HIRS?

Answer: The government recruits through the Office of Personnel Management’s USA Jobs Monster

System.

42. General

Can the government please provide organizational charts for each division?

Answer: Organizational charts will be provided.

43. General

Can the government please clarify how many supervisors manage staff within the OIG?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for a list of OIG Federal employees by duty location, position title, position series, and grade level. All Federal positions are included in this assessment.

44. Is there a limit on the number of pages for the response?

Answer: No

45. Is there a limit on the number of pages for resumes of key personnel?

Answer: A 1 to 2 page resume shall be submitted for all key personnel assigned to this initiative.

46. The SOW requires a kick off meeting 5 days after award and a project plan within 2 days after award. Would the government move the project plan to a date after the kick off meeting so that project plan can incorporate critical feedback from the government on its needs, issues, concerns, etc.

Answer: The contractor shall provide the project plan deliverable within 2 days after award. Upon review and approval of the plan by the government, the contractor shall provide the final project plan within 3 days of approval.

47. The SOW provides only 2 weeks (15 days) to complete the workforce analysis. Experience has shown that one of the major steps in a workforce analysis is simply gaining access to the appropriate historic HR data (generally from the agency personnel and payrolls systems for analysis) and obtaining the proper fields and formats to allow analysis. This process will be eating into the scant 15 days available for the entire analysis. Will the government consider adding time to this task to provide sufficient time for the careful analysis of workforce trends which are necessary to complete a meaningful workforce analysis and will the government isolate a data point of contact in the agency for which providing data to the contractor will be a top priority to ensure that this data is provided with no delay in the requested format so that the contractor is able to complete the analysis?

Answer: The contractor may propose a different deliverable date, as long as all deliverables are produced no later than 9 months from contract award.

48. Can the government clarify and delineate the differences in expectations for the Workforce

Planning Program and the Implementation Plan? Typically, these would be integrated into a single plan for executing workforce planning goals and institutionalizing workforce planning into business operations.

Answer: The Workforce Planning Program and the Implementation Plan shall be developed as two separate documents. Based on analysis, the Workforce Planning Program document shall be based on analysis of the current state. The Implementation Plan shall be a vision that employs strategies on how to get to the future state.

49. Will the government allow focus groups, interviews, and or surveys of key personnel to gather information for the skills and gaps analyses areas?

Answer: Yes, the contractor shall conduct focus groups, interviews, and/or surveys as long as the final deliverable does not exceed 9 months from contract award.

50. What level of DOT OIG resources will be available to work on this initiative? Will subject matter experts be available to participate in interviews or surveys?

Answer: A point of contact will be designated to work on this initiative and subject matter experts will be available to participate in interviews and surveys.

51. What labor categories are considered key personnel? What are the requirements for these labor categories?

Answer: Based on the OIG’s Strategic Plan, goals, and objectives, the contractor shall perform an analysis of all labor categories to determine which positions are determined to be mission critical.

52. Is there a limit for how many resumes to include, or the length of resumes?

Answer: A 1 to 2 page resume of key personnel assigned to this initiative shall be provided.

53. Can proposals be hand delivered

Answer: Yes, proposals can be hand delivered.

54. Are the days referenced in the deliverables table business days?

Answer: The deliverable due dates are business work days (Monday-Friday).

55. The proposal states a period of performance of no more than 9 months. However, based on the deliverables table, assuming business days, the final deliverable will be submitted in less than 9 months.

Does the government anticipate additional support in the final months of the period of performance?

Answer: The contractor may propose a different deliverable date based on a particular task, however, the total workforce planning initiative shall not exceed 9 months from date of award.

56. Will the government find it acceptable for the contractor to propose alternate deliverable dates that still fit within the 9 month period of performance?

Answer: Yes

57. Is there an estimated travel budget that should be included for CLIN 0002 in the price quote?

Answer: There is no estimated travel budget, as the contractor is responsible for all travel and hotel costs. It is anticipated communications outside the Washington, DC area will be conducted by phone.

58. How many employees are in the Office of the Assistant Inspector General for Administration and

Management (JM)?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for this organization.

59. For Task 4, does the government already have competencies developed, or will the contractor be developing all new competencies?

Answer: Competencies are available for the auditor occupation only. The contractor shall develop competency levels for the Office of the Assistant Inspector General for Administration and Management and potentially other key occupations identified by the contractor as mission critical occupations.

60. How many different job series are in OIG that the contractor will be required to assess?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for a list of OIG Federal employees by duty location, position title, position series, and grade level. All Federal positions are included in this assessment.

61. How many different job series are in JM?

Answer: See the attached personnel roster for this organization.

62. Does the government have an anticipated award date for this requirement?

Answer: Before the end of Fiscal Year 2016 (September 30th)

63. Is there contractor who has provided similar services in past three years? If yes, please provide their name, the contract #, the period of performance and the total contract value.

Answer: No similar workforce planning services have been conducted.

64. Will the contractor be given documentation of previous plans to analyze and develop Workforce

Planning Program?

Answer: No previous workforce planning documents exist.

65. Is there an established baseline for the KSA’s? Will the contract have access to the baseline to better analyze and document organizational structure?

Answer: Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA’s) are established by the Office of Personnel Management in their Qualifications Standards Handbook, X-118. The Office of Inspector General follows these qualifications standards when establishing KSA’s for each occupation.

66. What does the Government currently use in regards to page 6 C.3.3.10 – information technology?

Answer: In general, the OIG operates in a Microsoft office environment with a suite of tools, such as

Share Point. In addition, the OIG utilizes several Department-wide systems for processing personnel actions, time and attendance, travel, and procurement.

67. On page 6 C.3.4.1, does the Government already have a ‘comprehensive competency assessment’ in place? Will the contractor build a new assessment?

Answer: A competency assessment of auditors exists. No other competency assessment has been conducted. The contractor shall conduct a comprehensive assessment for the Office of the Assistant

Inspector General for Administration and Management and propose an assessment of other potential mission critical occupations.

68. Is there a page limit or other guidance for the formatting of the proposal?

Answer: No Preference

69. How are the hardcopies to be bound? (binder, folder, spiral bound?)

Answer: Hard copy deliverables shall be submitted in a 3-ring binder.