# Presentation: 814002

## The Federal Acquisition Institute

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**GS-1102 Competencies: Development to Deployment**
**Presented by the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI)**

## Purpose 

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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- Develop an understanding of  the 1102 competencies for AWF, and  how these competencies are applied and measured.

**To achieve this goal, we will:**
- Work to understand all perspectives
- Review how competencies were developed
- Build awareness of how competencies are measured
- Develop an understanding of how to apply competency data from surveying workforce

## Competency Definition

- “ .... an observable, measurable pattern of skills, knowledge, abilities, behaviors & other characteristics that an individual needs to perform work roles or occupational  functions successfully.” (OPM definition)

**Demonstrated by**
**Behaviors**
** ****(Required Performance and**
**a Success**
**Criterion)**

**Superior **
**Performance**

**Results in**

**Notes:**
represent the job’s tasks and goals
capture desired characteristics of the employee
are independently measurable
form the basis for effective, relevant learning experiences 

## A competency is...

- OPM defines a competency as *"A measurable pattern of knowledge, skills, abilities, behaviors, and other characteristics that an individual needs to perform work roles or occupational functions successfully."*
- Competencies specify the "how" of performing job tasks, or what the person needs to do the job successfully.
- Competencies are both general and technical
- General competencies reflect the cognitive and social capabilities (e.g., problem solving, interpersonal skills, leadership) required for job performance in a variety of occupations.
- Technical competencies are more specific and are tailored to the particular knowledge and skill requirements necessary for the specific job.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## How were 1102 competencies developed?

- In 2003, FAI followed OPM’s MOSAIC model to identify and validate the competencies that Contract Specialists should possess.
- Competencies were identified around specific acquisition phases:
- Acquisition Planning
- Contract Formation
- Contract Administration

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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**Notes:**
FAI followed the approach established by the OPM to incorporate competencies into career management.

## How were 1102 competencies developed?

- Validation of the 14 technical competencies followed these steps:
- Identification of performance dimensions,
- Collection of critical incidents,
- Examination of the link between the competencies and the work that Contract Specialists perform (as described in the critical incidents).

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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**Notes:**
FAI followed the approach established by the OPM to incorporate competencies into career management.

## How were 1102 competencies developed? 

- Contract Specialists from at least 16 Executive Departments and Independent Agencies were surveyed to assess the technical competencies.
- Participants created critical incidents and rated the importance of each technical competency for successful contracting in those situations.
- A competency’s usefulness for discriminating between effective and ineffective Contract Specialist performance was also assessed to provide further evidence of the validity of the competencies.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## The Result

- The validation study provided evidence that each of the 14 technical competencies are important for successful performance as a Contract Specialist.
- The study validated that these competencies were associated with effective contracting which provided further support for the technical competency model.
- Extent to which the competencies were exhibited successfully predicted whether an incident was effective or ineffective approximately 80% of the time.
- The results were applied to a career management model

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## How are competencies measured?

- Contract Specialist , and now COTR and Program/Project Manager, competencies are measured via the annual FAI competency survey.
- 2007 CWCS was deployed in Spring 2007.
- 2008 AWCS open from August 4th - October 31st.
- The surveys gather information on:
- Individual proficiency for competencies and aligned skills,
- Demographic information,
- Training needs,
- Managerial and environmental characteristics,
- Certifications.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## 2007 CWCS Target Audience 

- Personnel in the GS-1102 series.
- Personnel, regardless of series, performing Contract Specialist duties.
- Military personnel, outside DoD, performing Contract Specialist duties.
- Personnel, regardless of series, with Contracting Officer warrant authority.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## 2007 CWCS Highlights

- Objective
- Determine available supply of contracting skills.
- Determine where resources should be concentrated to improve or maintain essential contracting skills.
- Get a baseline of the Contracting workforce
- Identify centers of excellence.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## 2007 CWCS Key Demographic Data 

- 51-55 years of age
- Female
- GS-1102, Grade12-13
- Not in a supervisory role
- Holds a Bachelor’s degree or higher (70%)
- 51% of 1102s are eligible to retire in next 10 years
- Additional CWCS Data:
- A Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist
- Has 20+ years of federal government experience
- Has 11-20 years of federal contracting experience
- Has 1-3 years of private sector contracting experience

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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**Notes:**
A. Contracting duties are performed by multiple job series, with the majority of this group being in the contract specialist series. 

B. Of the 1102s responding, 64% of the Contracting Officer population is age 46 or above. 59% of the Contracting Officer population is eligible to retire over the next 10 years, and 52% of Contracting Officer respondents report plans to retire over the next 10 years. 

C. Of the 1102s responding, 49% of the Contract Specialist population is age 46 or above. 41% of Contract Specialists are eligible to retire over the next 10 years, and 37% of the Contract Specialist respondents report plans to retire over the next 10 years. 

## 2007 CWCS General Analysis 

- Multiple series are performing contracting duties.
- Of the survey respondents, the highest proficiency levels in general business and technical contracting competencies:
- Appeared in the GS-1102 workforce.
- Appeared in the Contracting Officer and Procurement Analyst job functions.
- Were reported by those respondents who have a Masters or PhD degree.
- Were reported by those respondents with 21 or more years of federal contracting experience.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## 2007 CWCS Major Impact

- Survey results and demographic information from the FAI Annual Report on the Federal Acquisition Workforce suggested that a significant amount of the intermediate to advanced proficiency in both technical and general business competencies will be leaving the acquisition workforce over the next 10 years.
- Technical: Roughly 40% of those who possess proficiency levels of intermediate or greater will be leaving within the next 10 years.
- General business: About 45% of those who possess proficiency levels of intermediate or greater will be leaving within the next 10 years.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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| --- |

## 2008 AWCS Target Audience 

- Personnel in the GS-1102 series.
- Performing Contract Specialist duties.
- Military personnel, outside DoD, performing Contract Specialist duties.
- Personnel, regardless of series, with Contracting Officer warrant authority.
- Personnel serving in a COTR role.
- Personnel serving in a PPM role.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## 2008 AWCS Highlights

- Collected data on a broadened scope of the acquisition workforce as defined in OFPP Policy Letter 05-01
- Contracting professionals
- Contracting Officer Technical Representatives (COTR)
- Program/Project Managers (PPM)

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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| --- |

## 2008 AWCS Highlights

- Objective
- Analyze contracting data against 2007 baseline and establish baseline for other roles.
- Determine available supply of acquisition skills.
- Determine where resources should be concentrated to improve or maintain essential acquisition skills.
- Identify acquisition centers of excellence.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## Applying Competency Data

- Results of agency competency data can be used for Agency Workforce Planning
- Reporting on mission or goal accomplishment (ex. OPM Proud to be Goals and/or agency goals for the acquisition workforce).
- Assisting in the creation of agency specific training programs.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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**Notes:**
There is a link between competency proficiency and possession of a FAC-C, in that possession of one trait indicates possession of the other. Non-directional causation.

## Applying Competency Data cont.

- Determining individual development needs.
- Identifying workforce gaps (e.g. hiring/training needs).
- Proactively managing the projected loss of senior personnel (e.g. succession planning).

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## Applying Competency Data cont.

- Illustrating the performance of prior competency improvement strategies.
- Determining the concentration of acquisition certifications in an agency (e.g. Identify centers of excellence).
- Identifying areas for individual improvement.

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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## The Federal Acquisition Institute

**The Federal Acquisition Institute**

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| --- |

- Preparing Today’s Workforce
- for Tomorrow’s Challenges

**Linda Ott**
- _[Linda.ott@FAI.gov](mailto:Linda.ott@FAI.gov)_
**703-805-9416**