Blended Workforce: Management Planning Implications

[Gort]

Recent commentary from an industry source at http://fcw.com/articles/2010/01/25/comment...-workforce.aspx suggests that a partnership between the industry and the Federal government could result in more effective government management in the area of human capital planning. It strikes me that the position the author takes overlooks some principles that I had understood to define basic differences between the private and public sectors.

My first impression is that one man's idea of a closer partnership between industry and government is another man's idea of unnecessarily intrusive government. This first impression is quickly followed by a concern that such information sharing likely targets a moving landscape that would involve tracking current contractor performance obligations against the constant ebb and flow of normal workforce churn to produce usable information for any objective analysis and management action.

For my own education, rather than rely just on my own biased view as a career civil servant on this admittedly abstract issue, I would prefer to hear from our colleagues in industry, who read and contribute to this board, what they think of the feasibility of this notion that more sharing of contractor workforce information could have a beneficial effect on government performance by what has been popularly termed the blended government workforce.

Thanks in advance for sharing.

[formerfed]

I actually don't know where to start commenting because I think the suggestion is absurd. Some of the authors points are just nuts:

Strategic human capital plans can only be effective and executed properly when leaders identify an organization?s skills and capabilities and recognize how that skill set helps the organization achieve its mission. Contractors' visibility and transparency remain areas of concern for the government because of poor information management, lack of oversight and accountability, and, most importantly, poor leadership. A renewed focus by the government on contract management is critical to fixing those problems.

In short, the government must have a better grasp of who the contractors are and what activities they are performing.

The lack of contract oversight and administration means the government has incorrect or incomplete data. That creates a vicious cycle because inadequate staffing contributes to contract management problems, which in turn fuel reliance on contractors.

Companies must provide agencies with information crucial to human capital planning so they, too, can be more effective. Contractors have more accurate data on their workers, if only because they need to maximize profitability. Obtaining such data from industry will help the government make better-informed decisions. Only through that partnership and trust can workforce plans be created that are of any value.

First the Government better have an idea of what activities contractors are performing. Next, companies should provide agencies with information on their employees??? And that is used for the government to know what kind of people to recruit or what? Then that data is used to creat workforce plans?