Before you start removing family photos from the office wall and begin cleaning out your desk drawers because your job has been targeted for outsourcing, you may want to pick up a new guide that shows federal managers how to survive, and even win, competitions with private contractors.
More than 200,000 Defense Department employees must defend their jobs from outsourcing over the next five years. With recent efforts to step up the pace of privatization, employees in other agencies can also expect to join the ranks of the potentially outsourced. But government outsourcing rules give federal managers the opportunity to prove they can create a "most efficient organization" (MEO) to do their jobs better than anyone else. Building the Optimum Organization for Federal Agencies: The Handbook for Developing the A-76 MEO (FPMI Communications, 1998) can help managers keep their jobs, and their employees' jobs, in-house.
In the new book, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charles "Rob" Nelson explains the nuts and bolts of Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76, which sets the rules for how government employees compete with private sector companies for Uncle Sam's business. Nelson goes step-by-step through the procedures for developing an MEO plan, which essentially serves as the government employees' bid to keep their jobs.
Nelson lays out a 13-step process for developing an MEO plan, along with helpful tips for getting through the difficult experience of putting your job security on the line.
"If the MEO team members do not believe they have a chance, then the competition is already over," Nelson writes.
Nelson urges managers to think like contractors. "You must put yourself in the position of the contractors, tap into the way contractors look at bidding, think about the competition, and approach establishing processes and procedures for organizational structure and mission accomplishment with creativity. Remember, the contractor is not constrained by the way you have always done the job."
Managers putting together a team to come up with an MEO plan should get a good mix of people on board, Nelson says. He recommends a "Crazy Charlie" (someone who is always coming up with ideas for change), a "Pragmatic Patty" (who has her feet firmly planted on the ground), and an "Old Timer" (who's seen every kind of reform come and go over the years). These people can balance each other out and help managers come up with the most innovative-but workable-plans, Nelson argues.
Nelson takes the mystery and fear out of the A-76 process, but he reminds managers that in the end, the government's best deal may be in the private sector.
"Remember, even if the competition goes to the contractor, you, as an American taxpayer, win," Nelson says.
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