Provant

CREATING A GOVERNMENT THAT
WORKS BETTER AND COSTS LESS

by Ralph Smith
FPMI/Star Mountain, part of the Provant solution

Regardless of a readers' party affiliation, it is clear that the Federal Government has been changed dramatically or, if you prefer the term used by the current Administration to describe the changes, the government has been "reinvented."

There are now fewer Federal employees than has been the case for several decades. There is no longer a "one size fits all" human resources system. Unions that represent Federal employees are more numerous and more influential than at any time in the history of our Republic. And, unlike the private sector where white collar unions are relatively rare, most Federal employees are represented by a union-about 62% of all Federal employees are in a bargaining unit compared to about 15% in the private sector.

With all of this change going on throughout Federal agencies, there are new programs to be implemented; new computer systems to be created and implemented; employees to be trained; and a new "culture climate" for employees to work in. In short, change is rampant throughout the government.

As with any significant change, there are a lot of people who don't like the new systems. There are always programs and systems to be criticized and the Federal Government is certainly no stranger to programs and systems. Health benefits costs are up; many Federal employees believe their pay has not kept pace with the private sector; there are fewer managers and supervisors than there were a short time ago; there are more teams and sometimes more confusion; and anyone looking for assistance from their human resources office may have trouble finding someone on-site in an agency to answer questions on any personnel issue.

On the other hand, Federal agencies now have more flexibility in implementing changes in their agency, especially in the human resources management area. This is a dramatic cultural shift. A culture that sometimes encourages or is receptive to change is a major innovation for a system that, like many large organizations, does not historically respond well to changes. The government is no longer viewed as one large employer. An employee in the Department of Interior may have different rules, requirements, and even different performance and pay systems than an employee in the Department of the Navy. And experimentation is actually encouraged in many agencies as management tries to create a government that "works better and costs less."

With all of this change comes another development-agencies are turning to private sector companies to help staff their human resources offices. While this would have been unthinkable a few years ago, it is increasingly common. Most agencies have limited budgets. Contracting the HR function to a private company allows agencies to use their resources to hire employees with skills critical to accomplishing their mission. Using a contract work force for many HR functions typically saves money and creates efficiency for the government. Some agencies for example, issue a blanket purchase order for services and later direct the contractor to provide the specific services they need. In other words, rather than hiring several classification specialists that may not be needed at a given time, they can use the money for a classification specialist one-month and a staffing specialist the next month.

Agencies as varied as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the US Marine Corps, the Internal Revenue Service and the US Coast Guard all rely to some extent on Provant to help them classify jobs, review official personnel folders, research labor relations issues in preparation for contract negotiations or assist in recruiting new employees.

Moreover, the government itself is making it easier for agencies to do this. The General Services Administration and the Department of Transportation, among others, have issued contracts to private companies to make it easier for agencies to contract directly with these private sector suppliers without going through the usual bidding competition. (The competition and price negotiation has already been completed by the agency that issues the "umbrella" contract.)

FPMI Communications, part of the Provant solution, has provided human resources services for Federal agencies throughout the United States for the past 15 years.

With more than 100 contracts for human resources services successfully completed during the past two years, Provant's FPMI Communications is the leading provider for HR services for Federal agencies. The company has been awarded two GSA schedules (go to www.fpmi.com for more information on these schedules) and a Department of Transportation schedule to make it easy for any agency to use these services without the time constraints and inconvenience of using the traditional Federal procurement process.