Long-term contracts for governments can be an ideal source of growth opportunity, but they demand a flexible workforce that can grow without affecting day-to-day functioning. In case of varying demands for contract services, it is necessary for the contractors to have resources that can deal with increasing load capacity while consistently delivering the services.
An effective scalable government workforce provides an organized framework to manage staff demands that vary from time to time. A government workforce helps the organization in building strong teams and a flexible talent pool.
It should be noted that building a sustainable workforce does not mean recruiting more workers with the increase in workload. Rather, there must be adequate planning and processes for achieving this objective.
Build Structured Processes Before Scaling
Workforce development is not possible without well-defined processes. Prior to scaling, contractors should design standardized operating procedures for recruiting, compliance checking, project delivery, communication, and regular operations.
Processes enable employees to know what to do and provide managers with techniques to control the increased scope of work within a scalable government workforce.
It may include the following:
- Compliance Checks: Set the criteria that will be used to evaluate ongoing compliance with standards.
- Project Delivery: The procedures for managing recurring contract deliverables should be standardized.
- Team Responsibilities: The responsibilities should be standardized to avoid confusion in the case of workforce growth.
Connect People, Contracts and Data
Scaling a workforce requires visibility into people and operational requirements. Contractors need a practical way to understand staffing levels, contract responsibilities, workload changes and available resources as projects develop.
Integrated systems can assist in organizing this data in an interconnected operational system. Visibility will give managers a chance to recognize increased workload without having to depend on manual tracking and employ workers just for managing administrative tasks.
Forecast Staffing Needs Early
Multi-year contracts need long-term workforce planning to secure the staff in the future. Such contracts should include strategic workforce planning to meet the needs for vacant positions, considering business development, project needs and anticipated changes in the scope of work.
In addition, if vacancies can be predicted in advance, it will provide the recruitment team with more time to find and qualify candidates to fill these positions.
Planning must take into account:
- Contract Milestones: Check future milestones that can influence personnel needs.
- Project Workload: Take into account future workload growth.
- Hiring Timeframe: Make sure you have enough time to hire qualified people.
- Projected Job Openings: Plan for new jobs that will be created in the future.
Develop Flexible Talent Pipelines
Talent pipelines provide contractors with professionals whenever a new set of requirements arises. Relationships developed before any shortages will result in a more reliable source of candidates in the future.
Recruitment partnerships can support contract staffing by ensuring access to specialized professionals when internal sourcing capability is limited. Educational organizations, private organizations, and specialized suppliers can be part of the talent network.
A flexible pipeline enables contractors to nurture relationships with candidates in preparation for changing staffing requirements.
Balance Core Teams With Flexible Talent
A single workforce structure may not always suit at all the phases of the long-term contract for the contractor. The contractor may have a core team for core activities and may use validated contingent professionals when extra manpower is required.
This method allows organizations to accommodate changes in workloads while retaining organizational experience and providing additional resources within a scalable government workforce.
A balanced workforce may consist of the following:
- Core Employees: They handle the fundamental contract-related tasks, thereby providing continuity to the organization.
- Vetted Contractors: Additional support for an organization whenever the workloads go up.
- Specialized Professionals: They support the roles that require a specific type of professional knowledge.
- Flexible Resources: They help the organization cope with temporary or project-specific workloads.
Maintain Compliance During Growth
The growth of the workforce should not adversely affect compliance efforts. With the growth of professionals in the organization, contractors require standard procedures for onboarding, documentation, training, and other processes that need to be done.
Compliance duties continue to be an everyday activity within the workforce management process. Standards will assist employees in knowing what is expected while making it easier for managers to oversee them.
Prepare For Changes In Contract Demand
Federal contracts may have fluctuations in workload, priorities, or required capabilities. A contractor needs to conduct reviews of their workforce rather than sticking to the initial structure that was developed when entering the contract.
Such reviews will assist in identifying any capacity issues and determining whether the current personnel are capable of handling future demands.
Reviews of the workforce can address:
- Capacity: Evaluating if the current teams are able to handle the existing workload.
- Demand: Assessing staffing needs for future phases.
- Gaps in Skills: Capabilities that need assistance.
- Resource Allocation: Determining where the professionals are supposed to go.
Use A Consistent Staffing Approach
Consistent staffing practices can enable contractors to maintain consistency even as staffing needs vary. The recurring process, the process of onboarding staff, the allocation of staff members, and training are all interlinked steps rather than independent ones.
Consistency becomes especially important when the team works on more than one project at a time. Standardized procedures allow the manager to address staffing concerns effectively.
The strategy needs to be consistent yet flexible enough to take into account new conditions of the project.
Workforce Scalability Should Be Reviewed Periodically
Workforce scalability is determined by how well the company can scale up its workforce without generating any operational complexity. The contractor must periodically check if their workforce, processes, systems and talent pool can cope with future expansion.
The review can indicate areas where enhancements may be required in recruitment, processes, technology, the structure of the workforce and future preparedness.
Workforce development in the long run should continue to align with contract expectations.
Final Thoughts
Scalability of the workforce is crucial to ensure reliable delivery through long-term government contracts. Process efficiency, forecasting, flexible talent pipeline, balanced teams and compliance are all key factors for the contractor.
The scalability of the workforce can only be ensured with the right people and a scalable government workforce supported by proper staffing services. GovCon Associates will assist you in scaling your workforce according to changing requirements of the government contract.
Contact GovCon Associates to develop your flexible staffing strategy.