**Acquisition Advisory Panel Looking at Mid-November for Draft Report**

***Reproduced with permission from Federal Contracts Report, Vol. 86, No.16 (October 31, 2006),***

***Page 155, Copyright 2006 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033)******http://www.bna.com***

The Acquisition Advisory Panel is looking to go public by mid-November with a draft report recommending changes to federal contracting laws, regulations, and policies. 

The panel's report is based on an 18-month review that concluded in late August. The panel originally was chartered for a year by a provision in the fiscal year 2004 defense authorization act (Pub. L. No. 108-136) and subsequently extended six months. 

The advisory panel plans to take into account comments on the draft report in preparing its final report to Congress. The panel heard from more than 100 witnesses in the course of its review. 

    The panel's six working groups focused on:      

· performance-based contracting; 

· commercial practices/commercial items; 

· interagency and government-wide contract vehicles; 

· cross-cutting small business issues; 

· cross-cutting federal workforce issues; and 

· ethical concerns associated with contractor employees working in the federal workplace.

In a recent article published in the General Services Administration Acquisition Workforce Forum, Laura Auletta, the designated federal officer for the panel, described a number of common themes that emerged from the working groups' reviews. Among them were: 

· the importance of a competitive process to drive the best outcomes; 

· the importance of requirements analysis to derive the benefits of competition; 

· the government's need for more tools to improve requirements analysis; and 

· the current lack of transparency in key areas.

**NOTE:  The Panel’s Executive Director has stated that the Draft Final Report will be posted on their web site at****http://acquisition.gov/comp/aap/index.html****shortly.  The Panel’s adopted findings and recommendations are also available under the link for “Panel Recommendations To Date.**

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**2006 AT&L Workforce Development Awards**

Congratulations! to the following Defense organizations that were honored at the Program Executive Office/Systems Command (PEO/SYSCOM) Commanders’ Conference in November:  

· **Gold Winner** (Large Organization) – **Naval Surface Weapon Center, Dahlgren Division** (NSWCDL)

· **Gold****Winner** (Small Organization) – **U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center** (NSC)

· **Silver Winner** (Large Organization) – **U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command**(AMCOM)

· **Silver Winner**(Small Organization) – **Communications-Electronics Life Cycle Management Command**(C-E LCMC) **Acquisition Center**

· **Bronze Winner** – **Naval Surface Weapon Center, Port Hueneme Division** (NSWCPHD)

Read about these award-winning best practices and those of eleven more organizations in the 2006 USD(AT&L) Workforce Development Award program.  Acquisition excellence at its best!

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**Generation Y in the Workplace, Part II**

*Cara Spiro*

*Reprinted from*Defense AT&L*magazine, November-December 2007.*

**What Makes Generation Y Tick?** Generation Y’s characteristics put them in high demand in today’s job market, but managers and employers are having an extremely difficult time understanding how to incorporate them in the work environment. Following are some of their most unique characteristics, which are proving to be beneficial on one hand, yet extremely challenging on the other.

**High Expectation of Employers** Y’ers want fair and direct managers who are highly engaged in their professional development. 

**Need for Ongoing Learning Generation** Y’ers are known for their ability to multitask. They seek out creative challenges and view colleagues as vast resources from whom to gain knowledge. It is important for employers to continue giving them challenging projects in order to prevent boredom and attrition. Y’ers aren’t eager to bury themselves in a cubicle and take orders from others in the workforce. They want ownership and control of their own fate.

**Goal, Goals, Goals**.  Y’ers want small goals with tight deadlines so that they can build ownership of tasks. They should be challenged to find technological solutions to everyday issues. 

**Desire for Immediate Responsibility** They want to make an important impact immediately on projects they are involved with. They are looking for immediate gratification and an opportunity to excel. 

**Balance and Flexibility**. The more psychologists and social scientists study this generation, the more they realize that Generation Y members are most drawn to flexibility and balance in their day-to-day life, so it’s important for employers to understand how to incorporate flexibility and work life balance into their recruiting strategies. Even in this time of lean staffing, Generation Y workers like to have a life outside work. Generation Y’ers don’t want to repeat what they perceive to be the mistakes their parents made. Unlike the boomers, they don’t want to work long hours at the expense of family, friends, and personal pursuits. Whereas the boomers put a high priority on career, today’s youngest workers are more interested in making their jobs accommodate their family and personal lives. 

Money is important to them but maintaining work-life balance outranks money. In most cases, it’s not the corner office or a large paycheck that drives Generation Y, but rather, the opportunity to work for a company that fosters strong workplace relationships and inspires a sense of balance and/or purpose. Generation Y’ers want jobs with flexibility and telecommuting options that allow them to work, yet at the same time give them the opportunity to leave the workplace temporarily to care for children. They see work as one component of a balanced life portfolio that includes family, friends, fitness, and fun. Demonstrating flexibility, while focusing on goals and accountability, can go a long way toward inspiring loyalty in Generation Y employees. Affording employees some flexibility to balance family, educational pursuits, leisure, and community often leads to better performance as well as higher retention rates.

**The Challenge for Employers**.  Generation Y will most likely prove, if capitalized on, to be one of the greatest assets of companies today; however, many organizations are failing to formulate strategies to recruit and especially to retain this talent. The challenge that lies ahead is to find a balance between a work environment that leverages the benefits of Generation Y but does not alienate the rest of the workforce.

Coaching is one of the most successful methods for retaining Generation Y employees because it allows employees to thrive in an environment designed to enable their success. Frequent coaching and mentoring by higher level employees challenges new graduates to take on more challenging work. It takes advantage of employee potential by playing to their strengths, while at the same time, it helps them recognize and understand their weaknesses. Many successful business entities are creating mentorship programs to impress and recruit younger employees. Generation Y employees accept that they cannot rely on their employers to take care of their careers, but they appreciate all the help they can get. In addition to required annual appraisals, feedback from managers is best when given frequently and in a constructive manner. This helps employees better understand what they’re doing well and how they can improve upon their skills. Mentors should be honest and clear with young employees, stating the specific behaviors and why they are good or bad. 

Together the managers and employees should establish desired goals, and ways in which to accomplish them. Additionally, mentors should keep in mind that Generation Y’ers—like most people in the working world—thrive on praise. Don’t save recognition for a year-end banquet, but compliment and give positive reinforcement during an assignment. This open dialogue and understanding has proved to be very successful in organizations all over the nation.

To this goal-oriented generation of employees, training may be the most important aspect of workplace coaching. It may be even more important than bonuses and stock options to some young employees. So it’s essential to provide Generation Y with a variety of training options—online, on-the-job, and classroom. And employers should keep in mind the technology expertise and productivity potential of this generation of workers. It is a wise investment to spend money out of the company budget on state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge training.

**Personalized Motivation and NSPS.**  Managers of Generation Y workers should explore a New Age idea recently introduced into the business world: *personalized motivation*. This is method of profiling employees to determine how each individual prefers to be managed. These approaches can be easily implemented and, in no time, enable employees to give managers information on the best ways to motivate them and, therefore, maximize their potential. 

Some of the most basic questions used in this method are: What would you like to do more of? What would you like to do less of? How would you like to be managed? The need to identify employees’ critical motivators is important because most managers are not skilled at motivating their employees. When managers don’t know what motivates an individual, they mistakenly assume that all employees like to be managed in the same way. The personalized motivation methodology increases open communication in the workplace and better understanding of what will get the best performance out of each employee.

The new Department of Defense National Security Personnel System will undoubtedly lead to this type of open communication, enabling employees and managers to establish goals and deadlines together as a team. NSPS is about performance and results. Generation Y values working in an organization where they know what is expected, where there is a shared vision of what needs to be accomplished, and where they are provided feedback about performance. 

NSPS encourages meetings between supervisors and employees to cooperatively establish goals, the monitoring of success, and communication of accomplishments. It is believed that NSPS will improve the way the DoD hires, assigns, compensates, and rewards its employees, while preserving the core merit principles. The change to NSPS is perfectly aligned with Generation Y thoughts, beliefs, and desires in fostering a high-performing culture of outside-the-box thinkers. The system is in the beginning stages but has the potential to be a great model not only for government organizations, but also for the private sector.

Generation Y is a powerful group of young individuals with unique attributes and a potential considered by most social scientists and researchers to be infinite. It is vital for organizations inside and outside government to take the necessary steps to better understand Y’ers. 

Above all, Generation Y wants to—and has what it takes to—balance workplace success with a healthy lifestyle. The challenge is now on organizations to provide the environment in which that can happen. The key is for employers to work with these young employees, to listen to them, and to understand what makes them tick.

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**ACQ 265 Mission Focused Services Acquisition**

This multifunctional intermediate course provides acquisition team members with the tools needed to analyze and apply performance-based principles when developing performance requirements documents and effective business strategies for contractor-provided services. The seven-step performance-based acquisition process, a team-oriented approach, and several case-based activities designed to provide students with practical hands-on experience are used. ACQ 265 is designed for those individuals needing to improve contracted-services-related planning, executing, and performance-assessment skills; however, this course may also serve as a refresher for experienced acquisition personnel. 

**Objectives:** Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

· apply a life-cycle approach by using results-driven techniques when acquiring the acquisition of services in an integrated process team environment; 

· enhance and apply their knowledge of the performance-based business, technical, and managerial aspects that are unique to acquiring services;

· understand and appreciate the critical role that each functional discipline of the acquisition team plays in the process of acquiring services; 

· participate effectively in integrated service teams; and

· apply knowledge gained from previous learning assets to develop plans and resolve problems.

**Who Should Attend:** This course is for members of a service acquisition team who are military officers, O-3 and above; civilians, GS-9 and above; and from industry. 

**Prerequisites:** Continuous learning courses Performance Based Services Acquisition (CLC 013) and Work Breakdown Structure (CLM 013). Students should have 2 to 4 years of acquisition experience and be involved in developing and executing performance requirements and business strategies and assessing contractor-provided services.

**Recommended:**Completion of****ACQ 101, Fundamentals of Systems Acquisition Management

**Length:**4 class days (Students are required to conduct research within their organization and submit a “best practice” product that relates to the acquisition of services.)

**Method of Delivery:** Resident 

**PDS Code:**AH3

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***Regulations Now***

****

AT&L Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy (DPAP) and the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) are pleased to announce the release of the new web-based video magazine entitled *Regulations Now*. This magazine provides workforce members the latest insight on FAR and DFARS changes.  The magazine will also include the DARS Director's Corner which provides insights into the FAR and DFARS, various supplemental tools, and upcoming events by the Director, Defense Acquisition Regulations System.

***Regulations Now*** will be hosted at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/dars/regulationsnow/. In addition, specific FAR/DFARS cases will be integrated into applicable parts of the PGI.  Make sure you bookmark this valuable resource!

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**Acquisition Community Connection (ACC) Enhancements**

***...continuing to make your job easier***

Based on member feedback the Acquisition Community Connection (ACC) has recently implemented several new capabilities and enhancements to the site. They include: 

· Addition of **My ACC Bookmarks** – this feature is located on the left hand navigational area and allows members to add and remove ACC bookmarks of their choosing.

· Addition of **Poll** capability – this feature allows Community Editors to conduct simple polls and get feedback from the community.  Allows community members to provide feedback in real time and see poll results on topics relevant to the community.

· Addition of **Auto Hyperlink****within Threaded Discussions** – this feature automatically hyperlinks urls referenced within a discussion thread.  Urls must start with either http:// or https:// in order to be hyperlinked.

· The tabs at the top of each community have changed. They now read **“Main View” “Discussions” “What’s New” “Members”**and**“Activity”**The **“Main View”** tab now contains all contributed knowledge, highlighted knowledge and other related contributions. The **“What’s New”** tab contains the highlights summary, top ranked items, most recently posted material and most recently posted discussions. The **“Discussion”** tab was moved from the third tab to the second tab.  The **“Members” and “Activity”** tabs have not changed. The **“Knowledge”**tab was removed from the list since all contributions are now on the**“Main View”**

Future editions of the AT&L eLetter will feature different communities.  This month we feature Acquisition Modeling and Simulation special interest area. The purpose of the Acquisition Modeling & Simulation Working Group (AMSWG) is to assist program managers and acquisition professionals by improving the utility of Modeling & Simulation (M&S) in the acquisition of defense capabilities and products delivered to ultimately benefit warfighters.

*By joining the ACC, members can participate in online discussions, view other members’*

*business cards, and submit content for the site.  ACC is accessible at**https://acc.dau.mil**.*

*To learn more about ACC take a**virtual tour**.*

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**Department of Defense Research and Engineering Portal**

The Department of Defense (DoD) Research and Engineering (R&E) Portal, launched in 2005, is providing access to R&E information using superior and affordable technology.  Located at https://rdte.osd.mil, the Portal facilitates collaboration, communication, and reuse of information and artifacts among its more than 12,000 users who are at all organizational levels, from Pentagon managers, planners and policymakers, to bench-level researchers at DoD laboratories and other research activities. A joint effort of the Director, Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) and the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), the Portal can reduce research time and effort through its centralized, single sign-on. Robust text searching tools to examine the wealth of DoD research and engineering data makes the Portal—the information support of choice.   

In an integrated environment, the Portal brings together 21 Web applications that support DDR&E strategic planning and the congressional reporting process.  Easily accessible features allow users to view historical, current, and planning R&D information.  New features like ***Ask a Librarian*****and the***R&E Portal Descriptive Site Map*** provides prompt assistance with search queries and increases navigational functionality while**the***Interactive Customer Evaluation*******feature collects feedback from users.    Upcoming additions to the Portal include an e-mail notification system, personalized pages, and Business Intelligence tools.  These features will allow Portal users to improve government-to-government as well as government-to-business communication both within the DoD and the larger government communities.  Until recently, access to the Portal was limited to DoD employees and Defense contractors.  Now, Federal Government employees, their contractors, and foreign government employees can use the Portal’s Defense Technology Search to search across multiple DoD technical libraries.  Register at https://register.dtic.mil/DTIC and experience how the Portal transforms R&E information into technological innovation.  For more information about the R&E Portal, contact rdte_help@dtic.mil.

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