Panel advises agencies on managing mixed federal, contractor workforces
With contractors and civil servants working side by side, managers are being held more accountable but have less control over staff.
A group of federal officials, consultants and academics is developing recommendations for how agencies should handle a workforce that includes increasing numbers of contractors and others who aren't civil servants.
The National Academy of Public Administration-a congressionally chartered nonpartisan think tank that assists government in improving management-prepared a draft working paper titled "Managing Federal Missions with a Multisector Workforce." NAPA fellows discussed the paper at a Nov. 16 forum.
As a result of an increase in contracting out work, federal managers have less control and have a harder time overseeing day-to-day tasks, the authors of the draft paper pointed out. At the same time, because of the Program Assessment Rating Tool--an annual questionnaire used by the Office of Management and Budget to formally evaluate federal programs--and a greater focus on performance-based awards, managers arguably are held more accountable.
Federal managers also face the challenge of helping contractors and other nonfederal employees figure out how they will fit into performance-oriented cultures, the working paper said. Such cultures can include pay-for-performance systems where compensation is linked to the ability to meet an agency's strategic goals.
Managers also need to figure out when it is appropriate to tap contractors' specialized skills, the authors said.
"We never adequately trained federal employees to make decisions other than reactive decisions as to when they were going to use federal employees [versus contractors]," said NAPA fellow Melissa Allen, a former human resources adviser at the Homeland Security Department who is now a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. "The human capital challenge is we've not equipped federal managers to think ahead about how to make these decisions."
Allen said most managers turn to contracting only at the point when they're in need of skills not possessed by their employees or when there's not enough staff to perform a task.
Managers are "not trained to think about the alternatives until it slaps you in the face," Allen said.
Members of the working group also said in many cases, contractors have so much more expertise than managers that managers don't have the capacity to negotiate with them.
The working paper addressed the question of social values as well. The government needs to decide at what level contractors should be required to uphold government values, including veterans' preference, civil rights and a drug-free workplace, the authors said.
The question of whether contractors should be required to take same oath of office as federal employees, who must "solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…" remains open for discussion. Another option would be for federal employees to stop taking the oath, the paper's authors noted.
Panelists also said lobbyists hold more and more sway in deciding what companies received federal contracts.
Contracting is "shift[ing] to a mercantilist system," said NAPA fellow Thomas Stanton, a financial and legal policy consultant. Getting a contract depends "on your access to the royal court."
Lester Salamon, director of the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University, called the working paper "a first step" and said he hopes to develop an analytical framework for the issues raised.
NAPA said it's not its place to endorse or condemn increased use of third-party workers, but rather to "recognize the reality of the extensive reliance" on these employees and help agencies manage them better. The draft paper represents a first installment in that effort.
After the paper is complete, NAPA plans to hold two forums on the issue. NAPA fellows and other executives from the human resources, acquisitions and financial communities will be invited.
The working group that developed the draft paper includes: Allen, Rosslyn Kleeman, an executive in residence at the George Washington University; Janice Lachance, former Office of Personnel Management director; Doris Hausser, a senior policy adviser at OPM; and Hannah Sistare, the National Commission on the Public Service's executive director.