OFPP asks agencies for their workforce plans

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy wants to get as much information as possible from agencies on their acquisition workforce as the office draws up a governmentwide plan to recruit, retain and develop contracting officers and project managers, according to a Jan. 7 memo.

Lesley Field, acting OFPP administrator, asked agencies to send the office the Human Capital Management Reports that Congress required them to prepare. Her office is looking for policies and programs to strengthen the acquisition workforce over the next five years.

OFPP must create its own strategic governmentwide plan, as required by a law enacted in 2008. That plan, OFPP's Acquisition Workforce Development Strategic Plan, is due by October.

Field asked for copies of agencies' workforce retention plans by Feb. 18. Agencies’ current acquisition resource and competency data are in those plans, which were submitted to the Office of Personnel Management Dec. 15.

Those plans include, and OFPP wants:

• Recruitment goals for 2009 from procurement intern programs, such as the Presidential Management Fellows Program.

• Acquisition workforce training needs for 2009.

• The ways agencies sought to retain experienced employees with critical contracting skills.

Field also asked for information on methods or analyses an agency is using to project future workforce needs for contracting officers, program managers and contracting officer technical representatives. She also wants a description of the challenges in using existing hiring authorities, according to the memo.

“Agency acquisition workforce planning is critical to ensuring the success of mission delivery,” she wrote.