SOLICITATION NOTICE
U -- Organizational Development Interventions
- Notice Date
- 12/8/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- NAICS
- 611430
— Professional and Management Development Training
- Contracting Office
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Administration, Division of Contracts, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD, 20852-2738
- ZIP Code
- 20852-2738
- Solicitation Number
- RS-HR-05-363
- Response Due
- 1/7/2005
- Archive Date
- 3/31/2005
- Small Business Set-Aside
- Total Small Business
- Description
- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 97-14. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation, as offers are being requested at this time and a written solicitation will not be issued. Solicitation No. RS-HR-05-363 herein is a Request for Proposal (RFP). This RFP is 100% small business set-aside. The NAICS code is 611430 and the SIC Code is R799. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is soliciting offers for a procurement entitled, ?Organizational Development Interven-tions.? The full scope of work anticipated is set forth in the following statement of work (SOW). The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) intends to issue a Commercial Item, Fixed-Price Delivery Order contract for organizational development interventions. The period of performance will be for one year with the option to extend the period of performance an additional four one-year periods. To respond to this request, interested offerors will be required to provide an offer and make an oral presentation. Your offer shall consist of written supporting documentation and a cost proposal. The offer must conform to the format requested in the following sections and shall contain a statement indicating the period of time the offer is in effect (not less than 90 days). Your offer must also communicate your unconditional assent to any special requirements unique to this order. Offers will only be accepted on an all or none basis for this order. The offeror must complete and include the attached Representations and Certifications as part of its offer (Attachment 2). It shall be the obligation of the offeror to exercise due diligence to bring to the attention of the Contracting Officer, at the earliest possible time, but no later than 5:00 p.m. eastern time on December 17, 2004, any ambiguities, discrepancies, inconsistencies, or conflicts between the SOW and other documents attached hereto. In addition, all questions concerning this request shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer in writing by e-mail to CAC3@NRC.GOV or by fax to (301) 415-5761, no later than 5:00 p.m. eastern time on December 17, 2004. The closing date will not be extended for the purpose of responding to questions received after that date. STATEMENT OF WORK-ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS. C.1 Background.C.1.1 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC)licenses and inspects nuclear reactors, materials, and waste facilities to ensure compliance with applicable codes and standards during all phases of construction, testing, and decommissioning operation to protect the public health and safety and the environment from the effects of radiation. In furtherance of its mission, over the past 25 years, the NRC has conducted a variety of OD interventions for its managers, supervisors, and staff designed to strengthen the participants? effectiveness and efficiency in their current positions and to develop their skills and knowledge for future work activities. These interventions have included coaching for specific projects, such as the licensing of the Yucca Mountain repository, crisis and risk communications, and conducting organizational development (OD) to improve group and individual performance. In Fiscal Year 2003, approximately 30 coaching and OD sessions were conducted. The NRC anticipates that requests for such services will continue during the next five years. C.2 Objective. C.2.1 The NRC seeks to obtain a five year contract (Base Year and four option years) to enhance the skills and knowledge of its employees (nonsupervisory, supervisory, and managerial) in all grades, including Senior Executive Service members, by offering organizational development consulting services, on an as needed basis, upon request by an NRC office. C.2.2 The objective of this contract is to: Sustain a high performing workforce; Maintain and enhance the professionalism of its employees; Build public confidence and trust in the NRC; Enable the professional staff to meet new challenges confronting them in their positions; Prepare employees for management and supervisory responsibilities; Improve individual and group performance and address cultural and environmental issues through role modeling during presentation of OD interventions; and Provide state-of-the-art OD services at a reasonable cost. C.3 Scope of work. The contractor shall provide the OD services outlined in the SOW at NRC Headquarters and its regional offices, as requested by the PM. However, it is not anticipated that any one of NRC?s regions will require more than three visits in any fiscal year over the life of the contract. Should more than three (3) sessions in the regions be required, the number of sessions will be increased in accordance with the Changes Clause. Specifically, the contractor shall be responsible for performing the following activities: a. Developing individual participant materials necessary for conducting a topic specific OD/coaching session; b. Coaching staff and management on communication topics to prepare them for interactions with the public, media, Congress, and other stakeholders; c. Reviewing previously developed OD materials (i.e., slides, tapes, or other NRC-provided documents), and making recommendations for their improvement; d. Enhancing communication skills internally through OD interventions; and e. Facilitating OD sessions (to include using any instruments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or 360 Degree Surveys) to add insights for performance improvement. C.3.1 Organizational Development Interventions. The NRC provides OD interventions covering a variety of situations to supervisors, managers, and executives, who request such services. These services include, but are not limited to: custom designed activities related to team building; conducting employee surveys and providing feedback on the results of those surveys; small group and individual improvement processes; organizational culture and environment; process re-engineering, diagnostics; conflict resolution and techniques for solving conflict; executive coaching; information gathering relating to performance issues; communications coaching; and administering/interpreting MBTI or 360 Degree Surveys. The focus of OD interventions at NRC is the maintenance of the individual and of the NRC?s organizational health and effectiveness. A. The following systems define various approaches the NRC has used to provide OD: 1. Whole system. May include an office, a division, a branch, or a combination of other work units. 2. Goal oriented. Intended to improve present or future organization effectiveness. 3. System approach. This is a systematic, planned, long-range approach to change, emphasizing a lasting change. This approach attempts to influence the culture and norms by changing values, attitudes, knowledge, behavior, processes, and structures. 4. Change intervention. Gains top management?s and any other person or group?s commitment and involvement in order to influence a favorable outcome of the change. 5. Collaborative effort. Includes those affected by the process and recognize the importance of involvement in developing commitment. 6. Behavioral approach. Draws from the fields of organizational behavior, management, public administration, psychology, sociology, anthropology, education, and counseling. 7. Data-based. Uses real-life data of the organization requesting the intervention for analysis, problem solving, and motivating change, rather than making assumptions about issues. 8. Education-based. Develops attitude and recommends practices for managers to have a more effective organization that rewards individual and group behavior leading to effectiveness and efficiency. 9. Guided. Focuses primarily on organizational and group change and secondarily on individual change. 10. Process and structures. Works with individuals and groups, and the organization as a whole, for improvements in an organization?s processes and structures. This aspect requires great skill. 10. Follow-up. Planned follow-up. This is a necessary component to maintain the desired change. B. The OD required by this SOW is defined as follows: 1. Facilitating focus group feedback, improving communications (including listening skills), facilitating at retreats and meetings, gathering data for analysis to gain insight pertaining to the OD intervention to be used, and providing any training and requisite tools or instruments, such as the MBTI or the 360 Degree Survey that may be associated with a particular OD intervention. 2. Design interventions, such as risk communications, team building, and coaching for groups on nuclear related issues, and address other NRC-specific issues. C. As in instructional system design (ISD) course development and training, OD programs have a number of important stages. The following six stages are critical to OD for best results and should be adhered to: Stage 1. A preliminary need?s assessment is required for OD program design, negotiation, and commitment building. Stage 2. Diagnosis of the organization is required to determine organizational strengths, weaknesses, and needs. This is one of the most important stages of the process because it brings issues to the surface and starts the organization on the road to change.) Stage 3. To plan for change, OD intervention techniques are used to make improvements and needed changes in the organization. Several activities are included in this stage, such as: program design, problem solving, training, team building, intergroup team building, intragroup team building, and strategic planning. Stage 4. The stabilization stage is necessary for reinforcing, maintaining, and normalizing the values, skills, and changes learned in the OD intervention. Stage 5. The evaluation stage is also necessary to OD interventions and must not be skipped. This stage may include the following: Making another diagnosis and comparing the result with the original diagnosis; Asking key employees for verbal or written comments on the value of the intervention; Looking at changes in performance and other important aspects, when appropriate, to assess the overall effectiveness of the intervention to encourage members of an organization to improve or maintain their performance; Stage 6. The follow-up evaluation plan is used by top management, the internal NRC person charged with implementing the plan, and the change agent (the OD facilitator) to learn more about the value of the intervention. D. OD interventions are generally scheduled according to internal need and frequently on short notice. OD interventions require contractor flexibility, a high degree of coordination to provide the service requested, and a close working relationship with the PO, Contracting Officer (CO), and the NRC requesting office. Occasionally, two facilitators may be required for an OD program. The second (junior) facilitator shall be less qualified and paid at a lesser rate than the lead (senior) OD facilitator. A second facilitator shall not be added to the activity without prior approval from the CO, nor shall extra time be added to an established length of time without prior approval of the CO. C.3.2 Personnel Qualifications. The contractor shall provide qualified OD facilitators to conduct customized OD, such as team building; coaching in preparation for public meetings; reviewing and coaching on specific topics to be presented at a public meeting; quality management techniques; organizational and individual performance improvement; small group improvement processes; organizational culture and environmental issues; special learning groups; focus group feedback sessions; communications to include listening skills, facilitation at management retreats and meetings, and gathering data and analyzing it to gain insight pertaining to an OD intervention. The facilitators shall be able to provide any training necessary that is associated with these activities. Proposed OD facilitators shall have a minimum of five years of experience providing similar OD interventions to other Federal Government agencies of a scientific and engineering nature. At a minimum, OD facilitators shall have the following skills: a. Knowledge. The proposed OD facilitator shall possess knowledge of OD, the behavioral sciences, management, general business, training, and current developments in OD. b. Conceptual. The proposed OD facilitator shall be skilled in the theory for understanding organizations and the process of change; a view of organizations; and an ability to visualize, design, and implement long-range training programs or other appropriate interventions. c. Humanistic. The proposed OD facilitator shall possess strong interpersonal skills in the following areas: communications, providing and receiving feedback, leveling and confronting, and the ability to handle stress and frustration. d. OD Affiliations. The proposed OD facilitators shall identify any affiliations they have or have had with applicable professional OD organizations, such as the Organizational Development Network. They shall be certified in organizational learning, coaching, creative leadership, and qualified to administer and interpret the MBTI and the 360 Degree Survey instruments. C.3.3 Organizational Development Session Administration. A. The OD facilitator/ instructor shall make their needs for audio-video equipment known to the NRC Project Manager (PM) in advance of the OD session, so that such equipment will be in place when the facilitator arrives. B. The contractor shall reproduce and deliver a participant handbook for each participant in the OD intervention, where applicable. C. The OD facilitator shall arrive in sufficient time to ensure that the equipment and room setup is satisfactory and to distribute any coaching materials and handouts required for a particular coaching session prior to the official start time of the coaching session. D. The facilitator shall commence the OD session by describing the importance of providing the OD session, providing the objectives and outcomes for the session. E. The training room used shall be left in a neat and clean condition. Upon completion of each OD session, the facilitator shall remove all extraneous materials, including used flip chart sheets, extra handout materials, etc., that were used during the presentation of the OD session. F. The NRC may require that crisis and risk communication coaching be conducted by two-way televideo conferencing, so that participants located in the NRC regional offices may participate in the coaching session that is being held at NRC Headquarters. NOTE: While the contractor will not need to be technically knowledgeable about the NRC?s televideo equipment, the contractor shall be able to provide facilitators who will have experience adjusting their presentation style to include those virtually participating on a large monitor in the classroom. C.3.4 Participant Evaluation. The NRC will provide a sample of an evaluation/feedback form (Attachment 1) that the contractor shall duplicate and distribute to each participant to complete. The NRC reserves the right to make changes to the evaluation form as necessary to meet its reporting requirements. The original copy of all completed participant evaluations shall be submitted to the NRC Project Officer (PO) on the day the course ends. The contractor shall summarize the findings on each evaluation form in the monthly report and provide the summary to the NRC PO no later than10 days after completion of the course. C.3.5 Quality of Performance. During the life of the contract, the contractor shall assure that the OD facilitators and OD materials are of the highest quality. The contractor shall, as a minimum: 1. Provide a qualified primary instructor that is capable of conducting an OD session with an estimated 12 to 30 participants and one alternate back-up facilitator for each OD session. The Alternate shall be capable to fill-in if the primary instructor is unable to perform the services on the date scheduled. The contractor shall obtain the PM?s approval before substituting a primary or a back-up OD facilitator in accordance with the Key Personnel Clause of this contract. 2. Be responsible for reading and understanding the materials and make recommendations to improve slides provided by NRC staff in the OD/coaching sessions and ensure that participant materials are designed and printed in a quality fashion, as outlined in this SOW, and acceptable to the PM. 3. Maintain control of the learning time so that the presentation of information and exercises are organized and timely (key points and course objectives are stated and met.) 4. Provide 10 minute breaks (generally every 50 minutes) within the overall schedule, and manage distractions. Consistently and tactfully defer questions of minimal interest to the group, to answer a later time, in an effort to save time. 5. Observe the effect of the coaching on the group and reasonably attempt to clarify, provide examples or, in some other way, help correct problems, and improve participants? opportunity to learn. C.3.6 Program Management. The contractor shall be responsible for managing and coordinating the delivery of all services described in this SOW. The contractor shall provide a full-time Program Manager (PM), available Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays, during normal business hours (eg, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time), for implementing tasks pertaining to the contract and responding to all NRC OD requests effectively and efficiently in a timely manner. This shall include answering questions about invoicing, scheduling, delivery of course materials, availability of OD facilitators, and other related contractual matters. The PM shall perform the following tasks, at a minimum: 1. Ensure completion and timely delivery of required contract reports. 2. Communicate, as appropriate, via e-mail, telephone, fax or letter regarding contractual matters. 3. Schedule OD requests, as needed. Calls for organizational development services are not scheduled in advance and requests for OD services can be sporadic?with many requests over a short period of time or intervals where little or no activity takes place. When offices need OD services, it is generally on a short turn-around time, sometimes immediately but usually within a week of the call for assistance. It is not possible, therefore, to establish a time schedule for OD interventions. The contractor?s schedule shall allow for flexibility of scheduling so that when the requests are made, the services can be provided. 4. Schedule additional OD interventions for the Headquarters and the regional offices, upon request from the PO. Such scheduling includes clearing the date with the instructor and advising the PO that the instructor has been confirmed to conduct the session. 5. Provide the PO with an OD facilitator roster, within 20 days after contract award. The roster shall include for each facilitator his/her full name, telephone number and facsimile number. 6. Meet twice during each year of contract performance for an estimated duration of one hour each time with the PM to discuss any OD concerns, billing, delivery, and any other related issues, if necessary. Total estimated time is 10 hours over the life of the contract. 7. Perform any work described in the Statement of Work either under oral or written instructions. It is expected that NRC will use a written work order letter to confirm oral requests to perform work. C.3.7 OD Interventions Locations, Cancellations, Length, and Time. A. OD Interventions Locations. OD interventions may be offered in NRC training facilities in Headquarters (Rockville, MD), Region I (King of Prussia, PA), Region II (Atlanta, GA), Region III (Lisle, IL), and Region IV (Arlington, TX). Cancellations. The NRC will cancel a scheduled OD session when there is a reason for doing so, not later than five workdays prior to the time the OD session is scheduled to begin. The NRC may reschedule the session for a mutually agreeable date without additional cost to the NRC. If for any reason, the NRC fails to give either written (this includes e-mail) or oral notice to the contractor within the five workday period, an equitable adjustment may be negotiated. Should the NRC have to close down due to an emergency situation, and it is not within the five workday period, the contractor shall reschedule the OD session, upon the NRC PM?s request, for a mutually agreeable date, without additional cost to the NRC. G. OD Session Length and Starting Time. OD sessions shall begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4:00 p.m., unless otherwise stated at the time of scheduling. Coaching for Public Outreach Meetings, Crisis Communications, Team Building, and other Organizational Development sessions may be given at various times during the workday and may last from one to two hours, to half a day, or all day. C.3.8 Travel. A. All travel shall be in accordance with Government Travel Regulations in effect at the time the travel is undertaken. B. The contractor shall be responsible for making all travel arrangements. All travel expenses shall be reasonable and within the Government allowance. The contractor shall submit itemized receipts for travel expenses when invoicing the NRC and shall include supporting documentation for travel such as: lodging statement, copy of airline ticket, copy of rental car receipt, or cab receipt(s). C.3.8 If an OD facilitator is away from his/her place of residence and requests flight arrangements be made from a location other than their place of residence, the NRC will not be obligated to pay the increased costs.
- Place of Performance
- Address: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
- Country: US
- Country: US
- Record
- SN00718826-W 20041210/041208212249 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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