Statement of Work1.pdf

1 | P a g e

Statement of Work NIEHS Organizational Climate Survey and Morale Project

8/11/09 Revised 8/21/09

About NIEHS

The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences was created in 1966 and elevated to full institute status in 1969, making it one of 27 current NIH institutes and centers. The mission of NIEHS is to reduce the burden of human illness and disability by understanding how the environment influences the development and progression of human disease.

NIEHS is located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and is the only NIH institute that is not located in Bethesda, Maryland. Although there are other federal agencies nearby (the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers), there are fewer federal job opportunities available within a reasonable commuting distance, thus helping to create a relatively stable workforce at NIEHS. In fiscal year (FY) 2007, the Institute had a $721 million budget and approximately 700 federal employees. This budget funded management support; intramural research conducted by NIH personnel; and extramural research at universities and other institutions funded by grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.

The Division of Intramural Research (DIR) conducts research that is often long-term and high-risk in nature and involves specialized research, such as epidemiological studies of environmentally associated diseases and intervention and prevention studies to reduce the effects of exposures to hazardous environments. In FY 2007, DIR had 56 tenured and 14 tenure-track investigators. Within DIR is the National Toxicology Program, an interagency program created as a cooperative effort to coordinate toxicology testing programs within the federal government; strengthen the science base in toxicology;

develop and validate improved testing methods; and provide information about potentially toxic chemicals to health, regulatory, and research agencies, scientific and medical communities, and the public.

The Division of Extramural Research and Training (DERT) funds a substantial portfolio of research in environmental health sciences conducted by investigators in many disciplines from various agencies, universities, and organizations. In FY2007, NIEHS funded 756 research grants totaling $340 million.

BACKGROUND:

As stated in the Office of Management Assessment (OMA) report, “In response to a number of allegations involving the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and its senior management, the House Appropriations Committee, in House Report N. 110-231(see addendum), requested that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct a comprehensive management review of NIEHS. The Committee specifically identified several business areas for review, and the NIH Director expanded the review to include an evaluation of the organizational climate at NIEHS”.

2 | P a g e

The review further identified “a preponderance of negative perceptions of senior management among NIEHS staff, including senior scientists. The results of two surveys, along with individual interviews and focus groups, showed more negative responses than elsewhere at NIH or in the federal government on questions measuring respect for senior leadership and leaders’ ability to generate high motivation and commitment.”

The reviewers made several recommendations to the NIEHS Director, including “Development of an action plan to address low morale”.

Corrective Action Plan:

In response to the review finding, the NIEHS Acting Director submitted a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to the NIH Director. Stated in the CAP was this action step: “offer a new organizational climate assessment survey to NIEHS employees following implementation of the action plan to address low morale”.

PURPOSE:

To enlist the help of a contractor to design and administer a survey instrument for the NIEHS staff with the primary purpose to improve organizational climate and morale. The contractor will gather data and analyze it, make recommendations to NIEHS committee on organizational climate, institutional morale and managing perceptions of leadership;

thereby, increasing confidence in NIEHS management, and ensure that workforce is more actively engaged. A follow up survey will be conducted after one year’s time to track changes in response.

Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the contractor shall furnish either directly or indirectly (by subcontractor), services, qualified personnel, equipment, facilities not otherwise provided by the Government under the terms of this contract as needed to perform the work set forth. The project officer in conjunction with the NIEHS committee must approve the survey instrument, and any other task set forth in the contract before the commencing of any activity.

Specifically the contractor shall perform the following:

Phase I – Survey Design

The contractor will work with an established NIEHS committee (chaired by NIEHS designee) to determine the goals and objectives of the survey process. Examples of some goals may include but are not limited to the following: improved communication among NIEHS staff, greater transparency in decision making, creating stronger leadership, garnering greater trust, and facilitating additional avenues of employee empowerment.

Once the goals and objectives are solidified, the contractor will develop and design pertinent and measurable survey questions to address these goals. The survey will be a

3 | P a g e measurable tool to assess morale throughout the entire Institute. It is anticipated that 1,000 people will be invited to participate in the survey. This includes FTE and non-FTE employees, but does not include contractor staff.

During Phase I, a communication plan to launch the survey will be developed by the contractor with approval of the NIEHS committee. In addition, the type and format of the final survey and survey comprehensive reports will be agreed upon among the NIEHS committee and contractor. The committee and the Project Officer will have final approval of the survey questions before implementation.

Phase II – Survey Administration

The contractor will administer the survey via an easy to use web interface. The contractor will track survey progress, send reminders, compile results. The survey will be confidential (a nondisclosure agreement is required – see Addendum) and anonymous (e.g., no personally identifiable information is collected and no internet address is logged). The contractor will coordinate with the Chief Information Officer, NIEHS to organize and/or develop any necessary agreements. The survey shall be administered in the specified period of time set forth by the NIEHS committee, Project Officer and agreed upon by the offeror.

Phase III – Survey Results

After closure of the survey period, the contractor will, within the agreed timeline, analyze the results of the survey data as specified during the survey design. The contractor will provide in a clear and concise format, a comprehensive report to the NIEHS committee to include, but not limited to the following: interpreting results and identification of underlying trends regarding the organizational climate, morale, perceptions of leadership and confidence in NIEHS management. Data will be quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The contractor will provide recommendations to address the findings and develop an action plan.

Phase IV – Develop Action Plan

The contractor will work with the NIEHS committee to be identified to develop an action plan to address the results of the survey and the concerns in the OMA Report. The action plan should address morale issues at NIEHS and may include but are not limited to tools addressing the following: talented management who would benefit from leadership development and communication skill enhancement; execution of methods related to balancing work and life issues; instructions for long-term employees with resistance to organizational change; suggested mechanisms for proficient staff who need skill in promoting and gaining idea acceptance; ideas for managers who wish to become great leaders.

4 | P a g e

Phase V – Implement Action Plan

The contractor will oversee the execution of the action plan and provide guidance to the NIEHS committee and suggest appropriate steps to facilitate the implementation during the entire Phase V. The plan should provide methods where an atmosphere of learning is made possible. The plan should help focus the NIEHS committee and individual staff energies on the clear vision of issues identified by the survey and the OMA report. The contractor may suggest, but is not limited to addressing what is desirable to achieve the goals of trust and transparency by assessing perceptions and evaluating leadership cohesion, which will help ensure integrity in decision making and aid the Institute perform its critical research mission.

Phase VI – Re-administer Survey

One year after the initial survey was administered, the contractor will follow up to re-administer the original survey. The contractor will work with the designated committee to develop an additional communication plan to re-announce the survey.

The contractor will analyze the results of the survey data (tracking change, sending reminders and compiling results of re-administered survey), and provide a comprehensive report to the NIEHS committee on the new survey results and provide a gap analysis to further identify, redefine areas needing additional improvement.

The contractor will provide recommendations for a future action plans to the NIEHS committee which will address the findings, and confirm the steps to develop a plan that continues to improve morale within the Institute.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation criteria are used by the evaluation committee when reviewing the proposals. The proposal will receive paramount consideration with weights assigned for evaluation purposes.

The evaluation will be based on the demonstrated capabilities of the contractor in relation to the needs of the project as set forth in the RFQ. The offeror must submit information sufficient to evaluate their proposal based on the detailed criteria listed below. (1000 Points total)

5 | P a g e

Personnel – (125 Points)

**The offeror’s professional staff shall include a licensed psychologist; a PhD in psychology or a related field is desired but may be substituted with experience;

the staff shall have expertise in executive coaching and leadership development and should have expertise in cognitive and thought process, with the ability to conduct seminars, and speak at large scale events. The offeror shall document familiarity with NIEHS research. The offeror’s key personnel must have the ability to meet in person with NIEHS senior leadership committee, and focus groups. The offeror shall provide a list of names and records of experience for all proposed personnel who are considered key to this project. Resumes shall clearly show education, and major duties and responsibilities.

2. Phase l – Survey Design (325 Points)

The offeror shall demonstrate strategies for developing a survey instrument that implement the goals and objectives forth in the SOW and including but not limited to the following: improving communication; strengthening leadership; garnering greater trust;

creating greater opportunities for employee participation. The offeror will work with senior NIEHS leadership to develop a marketing plan to announce the survey. The survey mechanism shall strive for 90% NIEHS staff participation. The offeror shall present a sample survey design, including developing timelines to complete the tasks stated in each Phase, including but not limited to timelines for survey planning, implementation, and resurvey.

3. Phase ll – Survey Administration (150 Points)

The offeror shall document expertise in the following: survey design; knowledge of the use of the English language; the ability to write in a clear and grammatically correct manner; quality control approaches; approaches for coordination of multiple tasks; and software expertise. The offeror shall present a sample survey, with website demonstration capability for easy use in a web interface. Offerors will be contacted for a date and time to present a website demonstration. The sample survey shall include knowledge of confidential language (a nondisclosure agreement) and be anonymous (e.g. no personally identifiable information is collected and no internet address is logged). **Please note, the government will not be responsible for travel costs to the NIEHS for website demonstrations.

4. Phase lll – Survey Results (225 Points)

After the specified period of time for completion of the survey, the offeror will, within time frames set forth by the contract, analyze the results of the survey data as specified in the survey design finalized by the senior leadership committee and the offeror. The offeror will supply a sample of the comprehensive report, and this sample comprehensive report document must include interpretation of results of a sample survey and identification of underlying trends using industry wide standard analytical methods. The sample document must be presented in a clearly and concisely, using grammatically correct English in a format that will interface with Microsoft Word.

6 | P a g e

5. Phase lV – Develop Action Plan (100 Points)

The offeror will work with the NIEHS senior leadership committee, and provide guidance to develop an action plan to address survey results. The offeror must provide a sample action plan which demonstrates the offeror’s ability to understand and implement survey results within established timelines, including but are not limited to the following:

matrices for measuring communication and additional opportunities for participation;

assessing leadership strengths by suggesting and reviewing related training and course work, and encouraging greater trust by transparency in communication with a no reprisal policy. The offeror must have the ability to meet with leadership in person as necessary to review results and develop action plans.

6. Phase V– Implement Action Plan (75 Points)

The offeror will oversee the implementation of the action plan and provide guidance to the NIEHS senior leadership committee during this phase of the contract. The offeror must implement an action plan which demonstrates the offeror’s ability to understand and implement survey results within established timelines, including but not limited to the following: a plan that provides matrices for measuring communication and additional opportunities for participation; that assesses leadership strengths by suggesting and reviewing related training and course work, and that encourages greater trust by transparency in communication with a no reprisal policy. The offeror must have the ability to meet with leadership in person as necessary to implement action plans.

7 | P a g e

Deliverables and Timeline

The offeror shall have adequate staff available to ensure that the reporting time frames and deliverables are met.

The following is an estimate based on each Phase of the project:

1. Phase I – Survey Design – 2 weeks after award date.

2. Phase II – Survey Administration – 2 weeks after survey design has been accepted and approved by Project Officer.

3. Phase III – Survey Results – 2 weeks after administration of survey has been completed.

4. Phase IV – Develop Action Plan – 2 weeks after analysis of survey results is presented to the NIEHS group.

5. Phase V – Implement Action Plan – Provide Guidance – I month after action plan has been accepted and approved by the NIEHS group and Project Officer.

6. Phase VI – Re-administer Survey – One year after the initial survey is administered.

8 | P a g e

Addendum

Commitment to Protect Non-Public Departmental Information Systems and Data

(1) Contractor Agreement The Contractor and its subcontractors performing under this SOW shall not release, publish, or disclose non-public Departmental information to unauthorized personnel, and shall protect such information in accordance with provisions of the following laws and any other pertinent laws and regulations governing the confidentiality of such information:

-18 U.S.C. 641 (Criminal Code: Public Money, Property or Records) -18 U.S.C. 1905 (Criminal Code: Disclosure of Confidential Information) -Public Law 96-511 (Paperwork Reduction Act)

(2) Contractor-Employee Non-Disclosure Agreements Each contractor/subcontractor employee who may have access to non-public Department information under this contract shall complete the Commitment to Protect Non-Public Information - Contractor Agreement. A copy of each signed and witnessed Non-Disclosure agreement shall be submitted to the Project Officer prior to performing any work under the contract.

9 | P a g e

Commitment to Protect Non-Public Information -Contractor Agreement

Access to sensitive information from the files of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is required in the performance of my official duties, under contract number _____________ between the NIEHS and my employer (Employer’s Name) ___________________________. I agree that I shall not release, publish, or disclose such information to unauthorized personnel, and I shall protect such information in accordance with relevant laws and regulations available for research and review at any Law Library. Among these laws may be various provisions of:

a) 18 U.S.C. 641 (Criminal Code: Public Money, Property or Records; 2pgs.long)

b) 18 U.S.C. 1905 (Criminal Code: Disclosure of Confidential Information; 2 pgs. long)

c) Public Law 96-511 (Paperwork Reduction Act; Encyclopedic in length)

I affirm that I have received a written and/or verbal briefing by my company concerning my responsibilities under this agreement. I understand that violation of this agreement may subject me to criminal and civil penalties.

Signed: ________________________________________ Type or Print Name: ______________________________ Date: __________________________________________ Witnessed by: ___________________________________ Date: __________________________________________ Copies are to be retained by: NIH Project Officer Contractor’s Contract Management Individual Signatory