The Office of Personnel Management has launched an effort to consolidate the 119 separate human capital management systems in use across various agencies with a single, governmentwide platform that would simplify operations, eliminate redundancy, drive efficiencies and cost-savings, and provide a better view of federal workforce information.
In a blog post, OPM Director Kiran Ahuja invited industry to submit proposals for a core HCM system that could transform how the government manages its talent pool.
Why Does OPM Want a Governmentwide HCM System?
According to Ahuja, having separate HCM systems per agency limits transparency and efficiency. She explained that none of the 119 HCM systems are interoperable with one another, preventing agencies from accessing consistent and accurate employee information.
For instance, OPM personnel will need to coordinate with HR staff from multiple agencies to assemble a “golden file” of a retiring employee’s work history.
The lack of a core HCM system also means that the government does not have a single resource for how many positions are in an organization, how much employees are paid per sub-department and other workforce information.
Moreover, Ahuja revealed that the government spends about $5.5 billion annually across the 44,000 HR professionals it currently employs. She stated that HR professionals must focus on their core missions rather than navigate outdated and duplicative technology systems.
How Will OPM Implement the Overhaul?
In a request for proposals for the Federal Human Resources IT Modernization posted on SAM.gov Friday, OPM said it is seeking an industry partner to use agile methodologies and best practices to plan, develop and implement a core HCM system to support approximately 2 million federal employees.
The system must be adaptive, scalable and interoperable with other agency platforms and meet Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program Moderate or higher certification standards.
The government will award an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a 10-year period of performance. Work will be conducted at various locations within the continental United States.
Interested parties may submit their proposals until Oct. 31.
