The U.S. House of Representatives (House) requires the services of a Contractor to provide orientation and training sessions and effective writing courses for House employees that hold Staff Assistant positions and for House Interns.

YOU MUST GO TO: www.house.gov/procurement opportunities/procurement opportunities ---- for full document & attachments The U.S. House of Representatives (House) requires the services of a Contractor to provide orientation and training sessions and effective writing courses for House employees that hold Staff Assistant positions and for House Interns. The goal for the orientation sessions is to provide staff assistants with improved office skills to make a greater contribution in their respective offices and to assist with advancing their careers within House of Representatives. The goal of the Intern Orientation is to provide House interns a timely overview of their responsibilities and the skills required to succeed in working in a Member or Committee office. In addition to the orientation training, the goal of the writing constituent correspondence course is provide staff with the skill to effectively and accurately prepare written communications. Writing is a significant job requirement within a congressional office where training needs to be developed. The two major efforts of this Request for Proposal are: Orientation Training Effective Writing Classes Orientation Training New staff assistants receive little or no formal training about how to handle their responsibilities. Incumbents in the Staff Assistant position typically have the following types of responsibilities: § Great visitors to the Member or Committee office. § Answer the telephone and resolve the caller’s question or transfer the caller to the appropriate person. § Type correspondence. § Coordinate tours. § Handle flag requests from constituents. § Open and distribute mail; receive and distribute facsimile transmissions. § Provide general support for office staff. The goal of the Intern Orientation is to provide interns a timely overview of their responsibilities and the skills required to success in their positions. This program will provide them training on critical topics such as: § A summary of congressional office functions and staff positions. § An overview of customer service principles and the importance of professionalism in an office. § Basic phone answering skills, with special attention to reviewing the types of calls that congressional offices receive and guidance on handling difficult calls. § On how to balance competing assignments from various staff members. § An overview of ethics in a congressional office, and important rules and laws to be aware of (i.e., restrictions on the use of the frank, proper use of office e-mail, and prohibitions on campaign related activity). Effective Writing The goal of the Effective Writing classes is to provide staff with the skills and knowledge for writing effective constituent letters and documents. The course should focus on choosing the right words to present an appropriate tone; how to bring the purpose of the message to the beginning of the correspondence; how to write concise sentences; how to organize the correspondence for maximum effect. Scope The successful contractor shall design and deliver orientation programs and writing classes on Member and Committee office expectations for incumbent Staff Assistant and Interns. Is shall be tailored to address the needs of the House community. Requirements 1. Define specific objectives for each topic area. At a minimum the objectives include: a. Learn proper telephone technique (what to say when answering the phone, how to put caller’s on hold and transfer caller, how to handle difficult callers, how to end a call) b. Learn proper “person-to-person” greeting techniques. c. Learn business letter formats. d. Identify and apply effective time and prioritization management techniques. 2. Develop and deliver orientation program for incumbent Staff Assistant and Interns a. The contractor shall develop and document the orientation curriculum. b. Design and develop the orientation content and class materials required to accomplish and support the objectives. c. Conduct the Orientations. As part of the initial requirement conduct up to twelve (12) full-scale staff assistant orientation and six (6) intern orientations. 3. Develop and deliver writing courses for Member office staff. a. Provide classes for up to 15 participants and all class materials such as workbook and instructor. b. The House anticipates 12 courses per year or a monthly frequency of writing classes. c. Classes will focus on topics such as techniques for organizing what the writer wants to say, bringing the main point to the beginning of the document, how to write clear sentences and rules for punctuation. d. Contractor shall conduct class in 6 hours duration, two in half day sessions on two consecutive days or both sessions on one day. e. Provide pricing for 2-year base plan and options year. 4. For all training the contractor will: a. Conduct the training at the U.S. House of Representatives location in the metropolitan Washington, DC location. b. Provide one instructor to deliver each workshop. c. Provide student workbooks and all other participant materials such as job aids, PowerPoint slides and additional handouts deem necessary for the benefit of the learner. d. Approximate schedule for all classes is 9:00 am t 12:00 noon or 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. e. Provide the Contracting Officer with a list of attendees, and a brief recap of the session, and include any issues raised by the attendees, or any open items that require a response back to specific or all attendees. f. Provide class schedule two months in advanced of training for purposes of adequate scheduling of training facility and communication of training classes. g. Provide cancellation policy, particularly notice required for cancellation without penalty. 5. The House will provide: a. Training site and classrooms, overhead projector, two flipcharts stands and two full flipchart pads. b. The House Learning Center will add the class dates and times to House course schedule. c. The House Learning Center will also handle student registration. The House Learning Center will notify attendees of course schedules and classes. d. In addition the Contractor will receive an attendee list prior to beginning of each session. e. The House Learning Center will provide the course evaluation form for post training. f. The contractor will be advised of the desired date and time of each session in sufficient time to permit a minimum of ten (10) business days for coordination of the session between the COR and the contractors.