Military Sealift Command NSPS Support

Military Sealift Command (MSC) successfully converted some of its non-bargaining unit status employees to the National Security Personnel System (NSPS) on October 28, 2007. While a significant percentage of MSC’s workforce has already converted to NSPS, the remaining non-bargaining unit status employees at MSCHQ, approximately 230 employees, are scheduled to convert on 29 March 2009. The NSPS Program Manager (PM) and Team were responsible for ensuring all pre-conversion tasks were completed expeditiously and accurately. Proper execution and implementation ensured greater understanding and acceptance by employees of a system that strives to change an organization’s culture and values. The shift from a pay system where entitlements are based on longevity to one where employees are compensated based on their performance and contribution to mission, requires a change in workplace behaviors. The NSPS PM and Team created and fostered increased communication, a culture of engagement, upward feedback and coaching for high performance. Gaining employee confidence and trust in the new pay for performance system was arguably the most critical and challenging component of implementation. Post-conversion review of NSPS activities and an evaluation of the mock pay pool exercise highlighted the importance of pre-implementation training, communication and senior leader’s involvement. The NSPS PM and Team will have to design a comprehensive pre- and post-conversion plan and execute all outlined tasks effectively and efficiently. The NSPS PM and Team will also focus on assessing and evaluating the MSC NSPS program, implementing process improvements where indicated, and provide sustainment training for those employees that have already converted. Analysis of the recently completed pay pool process, development of updated MSC NSPS policies to reflect changes in the DoD NSPS enabling regulations, and focused refresher training will be completed to ensure that the MSC NSPS program implementation is a continued success. The purpose of this requirement is to attain contractor support and expertise that will help MSC to manage the newly implemented NSPS program. The solicitation resulting from this notice will be available on or about 07 January 2009. Once the solicitation has been posted, it will be available at www.msc.navy.mil. Click on Contracts (upper right hand corner), click on Request for Proposal, search for solicitation number N00033-09-R-8003 and follow the download instructions. THE SOLICITATION IS NOW AVAILABLE ON MSC'S WEBSITE.