As if you haven’t noticed, this year has been the year of bid proposals for government contractors. My team at Redstone Government Consulting has been working the last six months straight supporting various government contractors in the development and pricing of cost volume proposals. Fortunately for us, we have a team of consultants that can provide support for cost volume proposals and are 100% dedicated to the effort, without the distraction of other projects or responsibilities. Most small business contractors, however, do not have that luxury and the employees working the bid proposal efforts must also continue to complete their daily responsibilities associated with their already busy, “day” job.
The added responsibility and workload of supporting a bid proposal can be very taxing to your employees, because not only are they working more hours than typical in a normal work week, but proposal development is stressful. The stress comes from multiple angles:
- Is our proposal compliant with the RFP requirements?
- Have we represented our skills and represented ourselves well enough in the limited page numbers that we were allotted?
- Have we set ourselves apart from our competitors?
- Did we submit the right price?
- Did our subcontractors do everything we asked them to do?
Not to mention, deadlines…deadlines for color team review, deadlines for color team recovery, deadlines for production, deadline for submission, and oh, wait, the government just issued an extension and an amendment to the RFP so now we go back to square one and start over again with the deadlines. For those of you reading this, who have worked on proposals, know exactly what I’m writing about and how that stress builds, especially when compounded with the fact that you are missing out on time with friends and family and the guilt associated with the personal aspect of your life. As a government contractor, there are some things that can’t be changed, such as proposal deadlines, RFP amendments and extensions, and even to some extent, overworking your most vital and talented employees. But, there are some company initiatives that can be put in place to help make the stress and anxiety of bid proposal development a little more bearable. I have compiled a list of actions that government contractors could take to show appreciation to those hard working employees and make the process a little less painful.
- Always express appreciation and show recognition of hard work.
- Flex time - Encourage non-standard work hours. Maybe it works best for an employee to have time in the morning to run errands and spend time with family, freeing that person up to work late into the evening or vice versa. Not to mention, this doesn’t cost the contractor any more money.
- Modify the dress code to allow employees to dress a little more casually and comfortably.
- Offer additional paid time off and encourage that employees take long periods of PTO when done. It is my opinion that it takes at least two weeks or more to truly decompress and feel relaxed from supporting a proposal effort.
- Pay for a cabin in the mountains or a condo at the beach for a long weekend for those employees and their families who worked excessively long hours and need to rejuvenate.
- Encourage physical activity, such as a walking group at lunch, a team exercise program early in the morning, a healthy eating challenge, or pay for employee’s gym memberships.
- Spot Bonuses. Offering some type of bonus immediately after the completion of a large project makes an employee feel appreciated and rewarded for all of the extra hard work. Waiting till the end of the year when annual bonuses are typically paid, doesn’t always result in the same sort of encouragement and sense of accomplishment that motivates employees.
- Provide snacks and lunches (or dinners) when working long, stressful hours. Not only does the brain work better when nourished, but a lot of productive time is wasted or cut short when employees have to leave the office for lunch or dinner, especially when facing deadlines.
- Allow employees a few hours off to volunteer or participate in a community activity. Especially as we approach the Christmas holiday, allowing employees to give back and encouraging that behavior can been motivating and rewarding.
- Pull in outside resources to alleviate the workload. Everyone already has a 40 hour/week job, proposal support adds stress and additional hours to those involved. Sometimes, it is better to pull in consultants or part time assistance to help with this added workload than it is to risk losing vital employees who are burned out. Some of the services offered byRGCI to assist contractors with the overflow of work includes:
- Cost volume preparation (Proposal pricing, narrative writing, labor benchmarking, subcontractor management, compensation plans, BOEs)
- Subcontractor data calls and proposal templates
- Indirect Rate calculation, review and strategy
- Outsourced accounting functions (AR, Billing, AP, Month-end close)
- Outsourced HR functions, (employee onboarding, HR policy development, benefits administration
- Contracts Administration and management
- Incurred Cost Proposal development
- Purchasing System reviews
- Deltek implementations and restructuring
Courtney is the Chief Executive Officer for Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. She is responsible for guiding the direction of the organization after spending several years as a vital member of the consulting and management team. Her entrepreneurial mindset and deep knowledge of the company and the government contracting industry have enabled Courtney to provide financial and operational leadership for Redstone while implementing a strategic vision for Redstone’s team and company growth. Courtney has extensive experience with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) compliance, evaluation and preparation of Cost Presentations, cost accounting systems setup and reviews, and policy and procedure preparation. This technical experience gives her the background needed to lead a high-performing managerial team and the leadership skills necessary to establish a growth mindset within the organization. Prior to her career in consulting, Courtney served as a financial statement auditor for large and mid-tier government contractors. This experience helped her to develop a deep knowledge of the markets and industry in which Redstone operates. Courtney was both an Advisory and Assurance Consultant and a Government Contracts Consultant with the CPA firm, Beason & Nalley, Inc., where she first provided services for various industries before focusing on risk assessments in the government contracting industry. Courtney is a lead instructor for the Federal Publication Seminars courses, “Government Contractor Accounting System Compliance,” and “Accounting Compliance – Training Academy” and provides class instruction for other compliance courses and webinars such as “Preparation of Incurred Cost Submissions,” “Cost Accounting Standards,” and “FAR Part 31, Cost Principles.” She is a CPA licensed in Alabama and holds a Master of Accountancy from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a BS in Accounting from Jacksonville State University.