Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF DECEMBER 24, 2004 FBO #1124
MODIFICATION

U -- Organizational Development Interventions

Notice Date

12/22/2004
 

Notice Type

Modification
 

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
 

Point of Contact

Carolyn Cooper, Contract Specialist, Phone (301) 415-6737, Fax (301) 415-8157,
 

E-Mail Address

cac3@nrc.gov
 

Small Business Set-Aside

Total Small Business
 

Description

The following are responses to questions posed by interested offerors in response to the subject solicitation. Offerors are advised that these questions refer to all three parts of the solicitation that were posted on FedBizOpps: RS-HR-05-363, RS-HR-05-363-1, and RS-HR-05-363-2. RS-HR-05-363-I is a duplicate of RS-HR-05-363-1 and should be disregarded. Please be advised that the closing date for questions has passed, so no additional questions will be entertained. The closing date for receipt of proposals has not been extended and is 3:30 p.m. on January 7, 2005. 1. QUESTION: Does the NRC believe there is a need to provide a full-time project manager or is the need for full-time availability (the person needs to be available to plan OD interventions and training on an as needed basis)? RESPONSE: The NRC needs a person to be available to schedule OD sessions with its OD practitioners on short notice. If the contractor can assure the availability of OD facilitators on a short notice whenever NRC requires OD services, NRC would not require a full-time person to handle the OD effort. What NRC wants to avoid is getting a voice message or being unable to reach a contractor representative to set up an OD session and not receiving an answer for days. Sometimes the offices will call and request for an immediate response as to availability of an OD facilitator. 2. QUESTION: Is this person required to be on-site? RESPONSE: The person will be required to perform the OD interventions on NRC’s site. 3. QUESTION: Is there a current contract performing this work? RESPONSE: No. 4. QUESTION: Is a non-contract incumbent currently performing this work? RESPONSE: No. 5. QUESTION: Who held the last contract? RESPONSE: Resolution Dynamics held a similar contract that provided for organizational development activities and other training courses. 6. QUESTION: What was the dollar amount of the last contract, with a breakdown per line item? RESPONSE: This information can be requested from NRC’s Public Document Room, telephone number (301)4737. The contract number is NRC-38-00-281. 7. QUESTION: Regarding the OD facilitator's certification requirements: Absent formal certificates or licenses, will the senior facilitator certification requirements for this solicitation be satisfied by a doctor of philosophy degree in political communications that includes a dissertation in crisis communications, and a masters degree in management that includes successfully completed courses in organizational theory and behavior, managerial psychology and group dynamics-combined with more than three decades of experience providing OD learning, coaching and leadership interventions to Federal Government agencies and extensive experience teaching OD intervention theory and practice at the graduate school level? RESPONSE: Yes. 8. QUESTION: Please correct me if I'm wrong: - As I understand the meaning of the Solicitation, the "technical approach" of our proposals is to be spelled out in the slides of the Oral Presentation (rather than in narrative form in the Written Presentation). (It is understood that the Written Presentation includes the Oral Presentation slides and supporting documentation of resumes, past performance, past client surveys, work break-down, etc., and that the Oral Presentation will address each of these in addition to our technical approach.) RESPONSE: The first part of you understanding is not correct. The second part of your understanding is partly correct. Please refer to Topics for Oral Presentation and Written Presentation for details on the information to be included in the Oral Presentation and Written Supporting Documentation. 9. QUESTION: If my understanding of Question 1 is correct, will NRC use the Written Presentations to select finalists to deliver Oral Presentations? RESPONSE: No. The NRC intends to conduct Oral Presentations with all offerors and narrow its selection down to those individuals who are technically qualified based on their oral presentations. 10. QUESTION: Please confirm the two uses of the term "risk," in the following: In RS-HR-05-363, paragraph C.1.1, the Background discusses "coaching for specific projects, such as the licensing of the Yucca Mountain repository, crisis and risk communications..." (nuclear-related risk?) and in RS-HR-05-363-1, Part III.A.1 ORAL PRESENTATION, "Your discussion should include, at a minimum... risk mitigation tools and techniques..." (financial risk? addressing client investment, results and return on investment?) RESPONSE: Risk is an emotional issue. When dealing with emotional issues, the speaker must maintain a calm, cool, and unemotional manner. They must be in control of themselves and stay on the message. Coaching on specific topics relate to conducting public meetings where the audience is sometime hostile and disruptive. Coaching helps the presenters at a public meeting maintain balance and conduct the meeting in a professional and informative manner. Risk mitigation tools and techniques are the processes and procedures used to ensure that the contract requirements are met in accordance with the SOW. 11. QUESTION: The RFP refers to instruments "such as" the MBTI and 360-Degree Surveys. Are these the specific instruments that are required? RESPONSE: No. They are examples of effective tools we have used in the past. 12. QUESTION: Will OD facilitators whose experience is with Federal Government agencies whose focus is not scientific or related to engineering be acceptable? RESPONSE: Although the SOW calls for experience in scientific/engineering environments similar to NRC’s, the panel will evaluate the OD facilitators specific experience on a case by case basis. 13. QUESTION: The RFP states that the contractor will be required to provide the PO with an OD facilitator roster within 20 days of contract award C.3.6.5. However, it seems that the written presentation requires submission of the credentials of Senior Facilitators and Junior Facilitators at the time of proposal submission. Please clarify. RESPONSE: Credentials of proposed OD practitioners are required when proposal is submitted. After award, the contractor’s list of OD practitioners shall be provided to the NRC Project Manager. 14. QUESTION: The evaluation factors include the offeror's staffing pattern. However, considering the statements related to scheduling of interventions (sporadic, uneven work pattern), other than the PM, it doesn't seem possible to determine any other full-time staff positions or to propose, in the absence of specific examples, "staffing projects at the task level". Please clarify. RESPONSE: NRC would like to know if the OD facilitators are full-time employees or are consultants and what relationship the contractor has with the facilitator. NRC has to be able to rely on the availability of proposed facilitators to be provide the services requested. 15. QUESTION: Is there an assumption that the selected provider has a history with NRC or is at least very familiar with nuclear related issues and other NRC-specific issues? RESPONSE: There is no assumption that the selected contractor has a history with NRC. What is important is that the contractor (facilitator) be able to provide OD services on numerous matters to improve performance and enhance the organization which could involve nuclear related issues or NRC-specific issues. 16. QUESTION: Does NRC cover the cost of instrumentation (i.e., Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, 360 Degree Surveys)? If not, how do we account for the cost of these materials in our proposal? These instruments can add significantly to the cost of delivery and total cost is dependent on the number of sessions and participants. RESPONSE: NRC does cover the cost of tools used. The contractor has to contact the provider of such tools, obtain the cost, and submit a proposal to the NRC so that the cost can be negotiated and a Work Order Letter can be issued. Offerors shall propose a separate line item for other direct costs in their proposal. 17. QUESTION: In the past, was there a standard/off-the-shelf group process for sessions using, for example, the MBTI or 360 Degree Survey, or were services customized based on the specific group of participants or agency goals and challenges? RESPONSE: In the past, services were generally customized. 18. QUESTION: The RFP indicates OD interventions are to be delivered to five locations (Rockville, MD; King of Prussia, PA; Atlanta, GA; Lisle, IL; and Arlington, TX). Do we need to propose the specific trainers who will be providing the interventions in each location or can we provide a pool of trainers who will be available to provide the training in any one of the locations? RESPONSE: OD practitioners may be located in the Washington metropolitan area or in any of the four regions. 19. QUESTION: Did the incumbent have trainers located in each area so travel was not a factor? RESPONSE: No. In the previous similar contract, OD facilitators from the Washington metropolitan area traveled to the region where the OD services were required. 20. QUESTION: Does an estimate of travel cost for the entire program need to be included? If so, how do we estimate the cost without knowing how much travel may be involved for each delivery? RESPONSE: Offerors shall include travel estimates for the entire effort. Estimated travel costs for each region and headquarters, if not located in the metropolitan area, multiplied by the number of estimated days for each trip. It is expected that an OD practitioner who is not local, will construct the OD effort to spend an entire day, rather than on an hourly basis, based on the need to manage the travel dollars. (Travel is cost reimbursable, but the travel estimate should be based on the Federal Travel Regulations.) 21. QUESTION: Is project management to be discussed in general for the whole program or is it to be discussed with respect to each individual OD intervention? RESPONSE: Project Management should be addressed for the overall contract effort. 22. QUESTION: If project management is to be addressed for each individual OD component, could you be more specific with the actual categories (i.e., team building, employee surveys, process re-engineering, etc.)? RESPONSE: N/A (See 21 above.) 23. QUESTION: Do you also want a description of project management for the six (6) stages of Instructional System Design (BEEN) Course Development and Training? If not, could you provide some more details on what are you looking for us to demonstrate with respect to these six stages? RESPONSE: No. The six stages were intended to help offerors sort out what is involved in an OD effort. 24. QUESTION: Is it assumed that sufficient preparation time for each intervention is included within the 800 hours? RESPONSE: Yes. 25. QUESTION: In general and in the past, was it preferred that each service be (1) customized or; (2) off-the-shelf or at least based on an off-the-shelf product? RESPONSE: OD services in the past were generally customized. 26. QUESTION: Does the "800 hours" of OD intervention time include labor hours associated with custom instructional design and consulting hours associated with "performing preliminary needs assessment," "diagnosis" and "evaluation" tasks? Are these assessment/diagnostic tasks still a requirement of the solicitation? They are not included in subsequent updates. RESPONSE: The 800 hours covers the estimate number of OD interventions that will take place during any given year during the life of the contract. These requirements will exist throughout the life of the contract. However, this estimate was provided as advisory and should not be the sole basis for proposal development. 27. QUESTION: How many parts to the response are there? I've counted three: Oral Presentation, Written Technical Approach and Cost Proposal. Please confirm requirements for submission. RESPONSE: Actually there are four parts to the response. The fourth one in addition to those mentioned above is the Representations and Certifications. Each part must be addressed clearly and concisely. 28. QUESTION: What time on Jan. 7th are responses due to the NRC? No date was provided, except for the closing date and time for questions. RESPONSE: It was stated in the synopsis that responses are due no later than 3:30 p.m. eastern standard time on January 7, 2004. 29. QUESTION: What level employees will participate in OD interventions? RESPONSE: The level of employee will depend on the type of OD undertaken. It could be the entire staff of a branch, a mix of supervisors and managers, supervisors and managers, office directors and their direct reports, etc. (There is a wide variety of combinations that could possibly request OD services.) 30. QUESTION: Approximately how many 360 Degree Surveys/Feedback Tools are required? What core topic areas are required for 360 Degree Feedback? Would NRC like a customized feedback tool or an "off-the-shelf" tool? RESPONSE: The 360 Degree Survey we have used was an “off-the-shelf” electronic version. NRC estimates that no more than three such surveys would be conducted, if any. 31. QUESTION: How much advanced notice will be provided to the selected contractor when NRC determines that an OD intervention is required? Will a master schedule be provided or is this the "OD Session Schedule" that the contractor is to develop? RESPONSE: The time of the advance notice to the contractor will depend on the urgency of the request from the NRC requesting office. It could be immediately, a week, two weeks or even longer. There is no master schedule provided by the NRC. The contractor shall prepare a schedule once an OD session is requested and shall maintain the schedule as new sessions are added. Such a schedule shall reflect the hours spent and the number of people participating in the OD effort. 32. What is the ceiling amount for this contract? RESPONSE: The ceiling amount will be negotiated with the successful offeror. 33. How many "key personnel" are allowed to attend the Oral Presentation? RESPONSE: As many as the offeror deems necessary. 34. QUESTION: How has MBTI been applied at the NRC in the past? RESPONSE: The MBTI instrument has been used in OD interventions that involved team building. 35. QUESTION: How many years of experience are considered "Senior Facilitator" versus "Junior Facilitator"? RESPONSE: A senior facilitator is one with more than five years of effective OD experience. A junior facilitator is one with less than five years of experience, but has still been effective. It is expected that the more senior facilitator will be better suited to provide OD services to NRC management. 36. QUESTION: Is the current incumbent Resolution Dynamics, Inc. If not, who is the incumbent and is this information publicly available via FOIA? What are procedures for obtaining such information from the NRC? RESPONSE: There is no incumbent contractor for this effort. Resolutions Dynamics was the contractor for a similar effort which involved organizational development. See Question No. 6. 37. QUESTION: With regard to cost, will a daily rate be accepted by the NRC and a fixed price for classroom instruction? RESPONSE: Offerors should propose an hourly rate for OD Interventions. It is not expected that classroom instruction will be employed in an OD intervention at NRC. There may be some teaching aspects with regard to coaching, but usually NRC presenters at public meetings on specific topics have prepared slides and they are practiced in class and improved upon through actual presentation scenarios. 38. QUESTION: How much travel will be required to fulfill this contract? RESPONSE: Please refer to Section C.3, Scope of Work for the response to this question. 39. QUESTION: How should full descriptions of ODCs be included? RESPONSE: Other direct costs should be described in whatever way the offeror deems appropriate, but in a straight forward manner so that NRC can clearly understand what other direct costs include. 40. QUESTION: How should subcontractors be integrated into the proposal effort? RESPONSE: It is totally up to the offeror how he or she plans to use subcontractors for this effort. 41. QUESTION: The SOW states that approximately 30 coaching and OD sessions were conducted in Fiscal Year 2003. How many individuals participated in the 30 sessions? RESPONSE: Participation ranged from 10 to 15 individuals per session. 42. QUESTION: How many individuals - non-supervisory, supervisory, and managerial - does NRC anticipate will be involved in contracted OD consulting services? RESPONSE: This information is unknown at this time. It depends of the needs of the agency. 43. QUESTION: When the NRC has required outside support for OD services, who has been contracted to provide these services during the past 3 years? Will any previous contractor be competing for this project? RESPONSE: Resolutions Dynamics was the previous contractor for similar services. They have not been eliminated from competing on this project. 44. QUESTION: What is the greatest number of participants that the NRC anticipates may be involved in any one OD session? What is the typical number of participants that the NRC anticipates would be involved in any single OD session conducted at NRC locations? RESPONSE: The greatest number of OD participants in any one session would be no more than 30 people. A more typical range is ten to fifteen participants. 45. QUESTION: How many training workshops does the NRC anticipate across all locations this year? Approximately, how many participants would attend each workshop? RESPONSE: OD sessions are not considered to be workshops. See Question No. 37. 46. QUESTION: How many coaching sessions does the NRC anticipate across all locations this year? Approximately, how many individuals would participate in the coaching sessions? RESPONSE: This information is not available at this time. However, offerors are advised that the Government’s estimate of 800 hours per year includes the coaching sessions for the regions and headquarters locations. 47. QUESTION: What is the time frame in which oral presentations will be conducted? Will the NRC coordinate with offerors to schedule oral presentations or assign presentation dates and times? How many offerors does the NRC anticipate scheduling for oral presentations? RESPONSE: Oral presentations will be conducted within one week of the closing date of the solicitation. The NRC will assign presentation dates and times to offerors. We have no idea how many offerors we will schedule for oral presentations at this time. 48. QUESTION: I want to be clear as to what you're looking for in our proposal. Since your organization will be using these OD services on an as needed basis, it is therefore difficult describe what we would do. Operating from that assumption, you are therefore looking to hear about past experience of our organization and personnel, current capability and our broader methodology to ensure success. Is this correct? RESPONSE: Please refer to the Topics for Oral Presentations and Written Supportive Documentation for details of the information required to be presented in your offer. 49. QUESTION: Going along with the above assumption, the cost proposal would therefore be 800 hours times our hourly rate? Is that correct? RESPONSE: The 800 hours is the Government’s estimate. This is simply advisory for estimating purpose and should not be used as the sole basis for preparing your cost proposal. 50. QUESTION: How many people in your whole organization? RESPONSE: There are approximately 1,500 employees in Headquarters and 1,500 in the four regions. 51. QUESTION: Are you looking for a certain sized company as far as personnel goes? How many people do you believe is needed for the work as it comes up? RESPONSE: We are looking for a small business firm who has a proven track record in providing OD interventions with a high percentage of customer satisfaction. One OD facilitator is generally sufficient. Should more than one OD facilitator be necessary for a complicated OD session, NRC will determine the practicality of that situation on its merits. 52. QUESTION: Is there an incumbent with whom you will be considering for the work? RESPONSE: There is no incumbent contractor. 53. QUESTION: Will you be posting the other questions along with their answers? RESPONSE: Yes, via this amendment to the solicitation. 54. QUESTION: In fiscal Year 2003 approximately 30 coaching and OD, sessions were conducted. What was the length (actual contact hours) of the sessions? RESPONSE: In 2003, an OD session averaged 3 days, spread out over a period of time with hourly sessions. 55. QUESTION: Are online assessments and surveys acceptable for this solicitation? RESPONSE: Yes. The 360 Degree Survey, for example, is an on-line survey. 56. QUESTION: Will assessment include the performance of existing team structures? RESPONSE: The use of “assessment” is misunderstood. Assessment, as used here, means meeting with the manager requesting the OD service to determine what the focus of the OD should be. 57. QUESTION: Will the OD interventions include working with intact teams in a schedule of activities to be determined by the needs of that team? (This form of just-in-time leadership and organizational development results in more customized solutions that can compliment and deepen the concepts or tools taught in standardized course work.) RESPONSE: It depends on the needs of the requesting office. When coaching for public meetings occurs, an intact team could be used or just the presenter could be coached. The requesting office decides which format it wants to use. 58. QUESTION: May we submit for your consideration the credentials of foreign nationals with work privileges in the United States and considerable consulting experience with the U.S. Government? RESPONSE: No. Contractors must be citizens of the United States to be cleared for access to the NRC facilities. 59. QUESTION: In the cost proposal, shall we submit a separate line item for project management? RESPONSE: Yes. NOTE: THIS NOTICE WAS NOT POSTED TO WWW.FEDBIZOPPS.GOV ON THE DATE INDICATED IN THE NOTICE ITSELF (22-DEC-2004); HOWEVER, IT DID APPEAR IN THE FEDBIZOPPS FTP FEED ON THIS DATE. PLEASE CONTACT fbo.support@gsa.gov REGARDING THIS ISSUE.
 

Web Link

Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/NRC/OA/DCPM/RS-HR-05-363/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 11545 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852

Country: US
 

Record

SN00725623-F 20041224/041222213120 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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