by Matt Sheaff

As The Performance Institute prepares for the 2007 Federal Acquisition Summit, I recently had a chance to sit down with Robert Burton, Deputy Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, to discuss the procurement landscape for 2007, the acquisition workforce, and performance-based acquisition.

Q. Mr. Burton, as we head into 2007, with a new congress and the upcoming SARA recommendations, do you see any major implications or legislation that will affect the acquisition community?

 I think we will see an effort to enact provisions of Congressman Waxman's "Clean Contracting Act," which was introduced in the House during the last session of Congress.  The proposed legislation focuses on promoting more competition and increasing contract oversight. 

With regard to the upcoming SARA Panel recommendations, we plan to make the review and implementation of the recommendations a top priority for OFPP in 2007.  Many of the Panel's recommendations can be implemented without legislation.  We look forward to reviewing the recommendations once they are formally submitted to OFPP and Congress.  

Q. In your opinion, how do we ensure that agencies have an adequate acquisition workforce?

This is a continuing challenge that we are approaching from two directions -- development of the existing workforce and recruitment of qualified candidates.  First, we want to provide substantial training and development support to the acquisition workforce through the Federal Acquisition Institute (FAI) and Defense Acquisition University (DAU) partnership.   During the second half of 2006, FAI provided over 2,300 classroom seats for core contracting training -- a significant resource for our civilian agency community.  In FY 2007, we will increase the number of training opportunities for core courses and topical training, such as performance-based contracting, strategic sourcing, and earned-value management.  These courses provide the foundation for the Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting, which requires that civilian agency employees are trained to common standards aligned with those required by the Department of Defense.

Second, through FAI, we plan to coordinate common recruitment and retention strategies to increase the visibility of the acquisition career field -- at the entry and mid-career levels -- and increase the effectiveness of recruiting events.  Additionally, we plan to develop an acquisition intern coalition to coordinate various developmental activities across the government's existing acquisition intern programs.  These efforts will assist agencies with their recruiting and retention initiatives and strategies. 

Q.  Finally, what advice would you give to agencies who are working to make 40% of their contracts performance based?

Most agencies have surpassed the 40 percent target.  In fact, preliminary data from FPDS shows that 49% of federal contracts were performance-based in FY 2006.  This is a significant increase from 2001, when only about 26 percent of contracts were performance based.    We still need to ensure that our data is correct, but the increasing use of performance-based contracts is very encouraging.   It is also important to note that we continue to emphasis the need for increased training in this critical area.

Robert A. Burton is the Deputy Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Executive Office of the President.  As the Deputy Administrator, Mr. Burton is responsible for the direction and development of government-wide acquisition policies, regulations, and initiatives.

Matthew Sheaff currently serves as the Director for the Center for Contracting and Acquisition at The Performance Institute. For any questions or comments he can be reached directly at Sheaff@performanceweb.org. To learn more about The Performance Institute’s Federal Acquisition Summit, please visit www.excellenceinacquisition.org

The Performance Institute, located in Arlington, VA., is a private, non-partisan think tank seeking to improve government performance through the principles of competition, accountability performance, and transparency. PI serves as the nation’s leading authority and repository on performance based management practices for government. The mission of the Institute is to identify, study, and disseminate the leading management innovations pioneered by “best in class” organizations.