Meeting Veteran & Employer Challenges During Transition from Military to Civilian Work



Expectations and Reality are Far Apart on Both Sides of the Employment Spectrum

By Ken Larson 

Aside from the legal and moral obligations to employ returning veterans, there is a third, vital challenge in the employment transition equation: understanding the vast difference between the military and civilian work environments.  The expectations of both parties must be carefully assessed and communicated with realistic processes for effective transition from military to civilian employment by the veteran.

Civilian Knowledge of the Military Environment Has Diminished

As a country, America has been at war nonstop since 911. As a public, it has not. A total of about 2.5 million Americans, roughly three-quarters of 1 percent, served in Iraq or Afghanistan at any point in the post-9/11 years, many of them more than once.

The Tragedy of the American Military

War was much closer to home when the draft existed and military participation ran higher during WW II and the Vietnam Conflict.

The Nature of Today's Wars and a Cynicism with Regard to Their Outcome Impacts the Veteran and the Civilian Outlook

Ultimately, the military’s discontent may stem from dissonance between the commitment to, and pride in, the mission in Iraq and Afghanistan and the knowledge that these sacrifices have not yielded the desired results.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan arguably have prompted a crisis of confidence within the military itself.

Despite a six-year, $287 million effort to make troops more optimistic and resilient, an Army survey found that 52 percent of soldiers scored badly on questions that measured optimism, while 48 percent reported having little satisfaction or commitment to their job.

Understanding the Military's Morale Crisis

Veterans bring these issues home and find a civilian employment environment that does not have a focus on combat life and death, but rather an emphasis on long term thinking, collaboration, viewing actions with respect to the impact on internal and external customers and politically correct human resource considerations.

The assumption on the part of the employer is that the strength and training of the individual coming out of the military environment permits a reasonable transition. It does not.

We Must Educate and Develop Programs to Bridge the Gap from Both Ends.

A transition partnership between the veteran and the company is necessary. Expectations must be adjusted to reflect the differences in both venues.

Military core values such as – oaths, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), a culture of direct command, and a narrow focus on the task at hand are no longer available when the veteran leaves the military. 

In the civilian environment political correctness, strategic group awareness, tact, organization factors, and a broad view of mission and achievement are required.

A veteran is therefore is not so much entitled to a job as he or she is entitled to be understood, and to be allowed to understand the civilian job environment, growing into it.

Professional Roles are Vital

There are two important types of professional roles to consider when hiring and managing military veterans in the business venue.

As a veteran who made the transition to civilian professional work and ultimately owned a small enterprise, and as a counselor who supports veterans in becoming business owners, my experience over several decades indicates military men and women do well in Role 1 below. They have the most challenges with Role 2.

Role 1 Technical - Scientific, engineering, logistics, electronics, design and similar skill sets where direct supervision, team building, corporate policy compliance and human resource planning and utilization are not major factors.

VS

Role 2- Management - Functional process capacities responsible for hiring, evaluation, supervision, compliance with civilian law and department activities involving group dynamics, customer relations and sensitive human factors.

Image: The Military Wallet

I came out of the military having had a leadership role in engineering, base development planning and combat support. I served in war zones in Southeast Asia and on highly classified missions. I was not a manager. I was a military leader in specialized skill sets under Role 1 above.

I knew how to direct people who followed orders without question because the Uniform Code of Military Justice to which we swore an oath said they must do so.

I felt uncomfortable in jobs involving Role 2 above because they were foreign to me. I later adjusted, learned the venue and became skilled as a manager in the corporate world. I preferred staff assignments, however for most of my career.

The corporate venue seemed enormously political and bureaucratic to a former war fighter like me. I was not that tactful. I cut to the chase often and did not always take everyone with me when I made a decision.

Once I grew into a Role 2 performer, I found in interviewing, hiring, evaluating and managing young veterans, even seasoned ones, who had retired and joined the civilian work force, that almost all were better suited for Role 1. It took years and effort on my part to fit them into Role 2 and some never made it.

Management Analysis  and Moving Forward

The principal reason for the logic conveyed above is that the military environment may seem to be structured in a way that fits Role 2, but the military does not turn out individuals who are suited in the knowledge and experience necessary in the civilian environment and they are not very good at it without extensive training and adaptation.

Enterprises have multiple-faceted challenges and they require multiple- faceted people. Even though individuals may hold a specific position job title, success in the civilian work force demands avenues where the human resource can contribute in multiple ways.

If a contributor has experience and training in several areas the business can utilize, that makes him or her a valuable resource and it is likely they will be professionally fulfilled and rewarded from doing so. Military personnel have specialty training and focus; few have a wide view of what is in front of them, particularly with respect to military vs. civilian professional settings.

It all comes down to the workers having an element of control in the future success for both themselves and the company and having the opportunity to realize their potential in that regard.

If the professional is in a narrow, technical discipline and his or her expectations are to have others support them in that role or if they are more comfortable in a "Stove-piped" professional setting and not attuned to group dynamics and the often politically correct nature of the civilian organization, they perhaps belong in technical roles and they do not belong in management roles at the onset of their employ.

Summary

In fairness to veterans and to our hopes for them in the future, we must understand these above distinctions, build on Role 1, understand the risk in Role 2 and assist wherever possible.Above all,  a respectful partnership and realistic expectations must evolve between the veteran and the company for success in transitioning  former military personnel into the civilian work force. This must be achieved through education, training, communication and assessment of both the veteran and the company personnel.

About the Author: 

Ken Larson is a 2 Tour US Army Vietnam Veteran, retired after 36 Years in the Defense Industrial Complex, having worked on 25 major weapons systems, many of which are in use today in the Middle East. He concluded his career with his own consulting firm. As a SCORE  Counselor Ken receives many inquiries from small companies wishing to enter or enhance their position in federal government contracting. 

Meeting Government-Owned Property Management Contract Requirements

For small businesses involved in development and manufacturing efforts under government contracts, or those who are pursing research and development involving large scale systems, the government property topic often arises.

In general, government contractors are required to provide all that is necessary to fulfill the scope of work on a government contract. However, under time and materials and cost plus contracts where the acquiring agency has made substantial investment in manufacturing aids, special test equipment or apparatus, title to such items will fall to the government.

Title falls to the contractor on firm, fixed price contracts where the cost is base lined at contract award and is assumed to include all that is required to produce the end item when it was bid.

Government property must be stored separately from contractor property when not in use, identified in the facility inventory system as government owned and have government property tags.

Rent – Free Use of government property accountable under one contract must be requested on a non-interference basis from the owning contracting officer before use on another contact and the using contract must reference the approval.

The government may elect to charge rent for use of government property under commercial or foreign contracts. The process for calculating and paying rent is specified in FAR 52.245-9.

The principal FAR Clauses for government Property are 52.245-1 and 52.245-2. If you are undertaking a contract involving government property please read these FAR Clauses. Within these clauses are requirements for inventory, disposal and disposition of government property.

FAR - Government Property Clauses

Government property may be furnished by the acquiring agency with a contract award and may be placed in the care of the contractor. In those cases accountability for the items, together with associated maintenance may be assigned to the contract and reassignment of the property must occur before the contract can be closed out at completion.

The Difference Between A Free Lancer And A Small Business Federal Government Contractor

 INTRODUCTION

Talented free lancers often wish to grow independently as individuals in the government contracting market and face difficulties in doing so. Many have service and product development skills of value to federal agencies, but few succeed without forming a company and beginning to view their objectives as an enterprise instead of a single person entity. 

This article will examine the principal differences between free lancing and small business contracting from the perspective of the market realities that drive success in the venue.

DEFINITIONS:

We have previously discussed the organization entities that are involved in federal government contracting:

WHAT IS A SMALL BUSINESS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT “CONTRACTOR”?

Free Lancer:

A particular type of individual – the “Free Lancer”, finds his or her way to the federal market via established companies and performs single person services while not on a company payroll as an employee, having no taxes, benefits or deductions taken from their pay and not covered by any form of insurance.

The company issues a purchase order to the individual at an hourly rate and submits a Form 1099 to the US government reporting what is paid for services. The free-lance contractor must self-insure during the contract period and pay taxes on the money earned at the end of the tax year. Little, if any intellectual property protection exists for the individual and the larger firm may require non-disclosure, exclusivity and noncompete agreements that may limit the future efforts of the free-lancer.

Contractor

The term “Contractor” in government parlance refers to businesses, not individuals. To become a contractor to a government agency, you must therefore form you own business. Government agencies rarely engage individual contractors or free-lancers.  If they want individuals to perform services they put them on the agency payroll. If they want to acquire specialized outside services they contract with companies. 

Subcontractor

A subcontractor is a company that takes on a flow-down of liability from a prime contractor to complete a major portion of a large scale job for the prime contractor's customer. The subcontractor is obligated to the prime contractually in an identical fashion as the prime is obligated to the government agency. The prime contractor issues a subcontract with a statement of work and flow down terms and conditions from the prime contract to the subcontractor. In many instances the government requires review and approval of major subcontractor selections and holds the prime contractor accountable contractually at the prime contract level for the subcontractor(s) efforts.  Free-lancers and contractors, as described above, rarely become subcontractors.

The Necessity to Grow From a Free Lancer to a Contractor and/or a Subcontractor

Although talented professions may believe there is growth in the market for high performing individuals, the government contracting industry has very little room for them except in specialty roles and then usually only temporarily.  Prime contractors also view Free Lancers as interim performers of a short term variety and usually offer them the option of joining the company or moving on.  The government tends to view them as “Roosting” and not long term in reliability.

No past performance record is kept on individual Free Lancers by the government or prime contractors under FAR.  Such records pertain only to incorporated entities.  Companies bringing free lancers on board cannot claim their historical work as credible under government past performance guidelines until the individual has contributed to the company success as an employee, losing his free -lancer status in the process except for resume and organization chart purposes on future projects. 

With federal agencies there is a strong movement to issue umbrella, multiple year, long- term contracts, many to multiple sources for qualification and then order services as required with bundled capabilities in teams of companies.  Free Lancers do not qualify for such efforts without a company identity.

On cannot acquire a GSA schedule as a Free Lancer.  Once must form a company and apply as a business entity to achieve that form of marketing vehicle. 

Further, the government hesitates to become involved in contracting with individuals unless they are heavily insured and such insurance costs heavily for individuals and in many cases cannot be achieved at all.  

Therefore, to progress economically and independently the Freelancer must incorporate, form an enterprise and begin to thinking in terms of a company entity in lieu of a single person image for the future.  This can be achieved by adding personnel via incumbent work forces, using contingent hire agreements or engaging in product development with industry partners and government financing.  The following articles at this site provide details:

Acquiring An Incumbent Work Force As An Element Of Winning A Government Contract

Utilizing Contingent Hire Agreements to Strengthen Workforce Depth

Techniques for Small Business Product/Services Development in Government Contracting

SUMMARY

For stability, growth, cash flow, industry reputation and partnering, past performance consideration and economics, consider the transition from a single individual free-lancer to a company.  Brand your company and not yourself and think bigger than you are in terms of involving others in your operations to best position your supplies and services in the federal contracting market. 

Government Contract Statement Of Work and Technical Specifications Are Vital Documents

Part 1, Section C, is where the technical specifications and statement of work are located in your government contract. It is vitally important to manage these documents with your agency customers.

Without a well written Statement of Work (SOW) and associated supplies and services specifications there is unacceptable risk in your contract. 

Both the contractor and the government must come to an understanding regarding the scope of effort to be performed. That understanding is conveyed in the SOW and confirmed in the specifications referenced therein. A good SOW should have the following principal attributes:

* Clear identification of the products, services, skills, materials and performance factors required to complete the contract

* A description of the conditions under which the contractor will be required to perform and any related environmental or location factors

* Specific references to product specifications that govern an acceptable product or services performance outcome and delivery acceptance

* A schedule for the contract that identifies discrete delivery dates for products and specific start and end dates for supporting labor.

* A precise description of government furnished material or facilities required and when it will be made available to the contractor.

If your customer does not provide the above in the contract SOW offered in Part 1, Section C or your contract, offer a revision to the document during negotiations that represents a version to which your company will commit. Signing off on a poorly written SOW results in a difficult contract to manage and a high probability for disputes during the performance period.

Promoting Entrepreneurship To Create A Learning Organization

Involve the employees in the training process and encourage mentoring.

The organization mission is conveyed by continuous organization training. Internal experts can be very entrepreneurial in training approaches. Recognize and reward them for doing so and place them in lead positions in training programs. Organization training in business is a form of communication. It is not an academic pursuit, although elements of it may include learning new information. Still, it is not schooling in the sense of personal improvement as much as it is communication of company policy and expectations.

Employee Training

The most successful organizations pair experienced personnel on a staff basis with junior ones as models. Each has individual assignments and reports to the boss but the senior party is the example in the process/experience-driven aspects of the job and is available to answer questions. The younger individual infuses the older one with energy and new ideas much like osmosis. The result is a hybrid of old and new that works and has been put together by a team. The approach works extremely well, imposes on no one, results in the young and old learning by observation, satisfaction and recognition for collective efforts and reduction in the boss’s work load. A win-win all around.

Small Business Federal Government Contract Billing

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACT BILLING

A recent poll revealed that in excess of 40% of the visitors who voted on the topics listed at this site wished to see a feature on government contract billing. Billing under federal government contracts can cause difficulty for small businesses because they often do not recognize that setting up complete contract identification information on the government billing form is vital to smooth invoice processing.

Another major feature not recognized by businesses new to government contracting is the relationship between inspection and acceptance records and invoice approval.

The type of contract also drives invoice preparation and requirements for supporting information.

The below article is an extract from the Navy SBIR site and is one of the most informative discussions I have seen by a government agency on the topic of billing. Following that article below is a special notice from the Defense Finance Accounting Service regarding electronic billing and links to tools insuring that mode is achieved correctly.

HOW TO GET PAID ON TIME

http://www.navysbir.com/paid.htm

1. Instructions for Invoicing and Vouchering are usually included in Section G of the contract. The instructions will include the location where vouchers shall be sent. If the contract requires the contractor to send vouchers to the sponsoring DoD organization for approval, the DoD organization would forward vouchers, after approval, to the appropriate DFAS for payment. The appropriate DFAS will usually appear at block 12 on page one of the contract. It is important for contractors to follow specific instructions contained in Section G of the contract. If there are any questions, they should call the contracting officer. This procedure should reduce the time required to process payments.

2.. Additional information on submission of vouchers is available from the Defense Contract Audit Agency. Contractors may request a copy of a guide entitled "Information for Contractors" (DCAAP 7641-90), August 1996, from Headquarters, Defense Contract Audit Agency, Operating Administrative Office, 8725 John J. Kingman Road, Suite 2135, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6219; Telephone No. (703) 767-1066; Telfax No. (703) 767-1061. This is an excellent source of information for contractors and its use is strongly recommended. A contractor may determine its local DCAA office by calling (703) 767-3274.

3. The type of contract will usually impact how, when, and under what circumstances the contractor will receive payments. The contract should be reviewed for payment schedules and procedures prior to signature. The contractor should understand how and under what circumstance each payment will be made. The following information is provided to help contractors better understand the payment process:

If the contract is Fixed-Price, the clause at FAR 52.232-2 will be included in the contract. This clause provides that contractors should be paid promptly as portions of work are completed. In order to provide for payment for a portion of the work, that portion of the work and price must be separately stated in the contract. If this is not done, the contractor will not be able to receive payment for portions of the work. The only other method of receiving interim payments on a fixed-price contract would be through progress payments, which can be authorized by the clause at FAR 52.232-16. Progress payment procedures are more complicated than partial payments and the contractor must have an approved accounting system if the progress payments clause is included in the contract.

If the contract is Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee,a Cost-Reimbursement type of contract, the clause at FAR 52. 216-7 will be included in the contract. This clause allows for submission of vouchers approximately twice each month for actual costs incurred. The clause also allows a small business to voucher for recorded costs for items or services purchased directly for the contract, even though they have not yet paid for those items or services.

If the contract is incrementally funded (not fully funded at time of award) the contract will require the contractor to notify the contracting officer when additional funds will be required to continue performance.

If a fixed-price contract is incrementally funded, the clause at DFARS 252.232-7007 Limitation of Government’s Obligation will be included in the contract. This clause requires the contractor to notify the contracting officer in writing at least ninety days prior to the date when, in the contractor’s best judgment, the work will reach the point at which the total amount payable by the Government, including any cost for termination for convenience, will approximate 85 percent of the total amount then allotted to the contract. The notification will state the estimated date when that point will be reached and an estimate of additional funding needed to continue performance. This clause also provides that if such additional funds are not to be allotted, the contracting officer will terminate any items for which additional funds have not been allotted. However, the contract may be modified, by mutual agreement of the parties, to change the funding schedule and, if necessary, the period of performance.

If a cost-reimbursement contract is incrementally funded, the clause at FAR 52.232-22 Limitation of Funds will be included in the contract. This clause requires the contractor to notify the contracting officer in writing when costs expected to be incurred within the next sixty (60) days (may be varied from 30 to 90 days) will exceed 75 percent (may be 75 to 85 percent) of the total amount allotted. This notice should state the estimated amount of the additional funds required to continue performance. This clause also provides that if additional funds are not to be allotted by the end of the period specified in the schedule or another agreed-upon date, upon the contractor’s written request, the contracting officer will terminate the contract.

4. The clause at FAR 32-232.25 Prompt Payment is included in most SBIR contracts. The following information applies to prompt payment procedures:

The clause at FAR 32-232.25, among other things, provides that the due date for making an invoice payment by the designated payment office shall be the 30th day after the designated billing office has received a proper invoice from the contractor and/or the 30th day after Government acceptance.

FAR 32.903(a) and (b) requires that the Government NOT make an invoice or contract financing payment earlier than 7 days prior to the due date specified in the contract.

The Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement (DFARS) states, at subparagraph 232.905(2), that "designated payment offices are encouraged to pay small disadvantaged business (SDB) concerns as quickly as possible after invoices are received and before normal payment due dates established in the contract. The restrictions of FAR 32.903 prohibiting early payment do not apply to invoice payments made to SDBs. Contractors shall not, however, be entitled to interest penalties if invoice payments are not made before the normal payment due dates established in the contract."

5. There are a number of things that contractors may do to help decrease the period of time between the submission of an invoice and receipt of payment:

Submit invoices directly to the designated billing office. Call the point of contact at that office to insure that acceptance has been accomplished and that the invoice has been sent to the designated payment office.

Contact the designated payment office to obtain status of invoices. (FAR 32.904(a)(4) states that contractors shall be informed of points of contact within their cognizant payment offices to enable them to obtain status of invoices.) Verify the due date for the invoice with the payment office – what do they consider the due date to be? If the payment office indicates a due date that is more than 30 days after the designated billing office accepted the supplies or services, point out that FAR 32.905(a)(ii) states "In the event that actual acceptance occurs within the constructive acceptance period, the determination of an interest penalty shall be based on the actual date of acceptance." (The "constructive" acceptance period is 7 days.) Therefore, the due date should be 30 days after Government acceptance - commonly at the billing office.

Offer discount for prompt payment. FAR 32.905(g) states: that "when a discount for prompt payment is to be taken, payment will be made as close as possible to, but not later than, the end of the discount period. Payment terms are specified in the clause at 52.232-8, Discounts for Prompt Payment." For example, a discount of "1/2% - 14 days" offered on a $10,000 invoice should result in a payment of $9,950 within 14 days after the date of the invoice. The discount for prompt payment procedure should help in at least two ways. (1) the due date would be computed from the date of the invoice rather than the date of acceptance (Note: acceptance must occur prior to payment and the invoice should be mailed on the date it is submitted), and (2) the "discount for Prompt Payment" offer would overcome the requirement at FAR 32.903(b) that the Government shall not make invoice payments earlier than 7 days prior to the due date specified in the contract. The offer for a discount for prompt payment should appear prominently on the invoice (perhaps underlined). It may be helpful to discuss this with the designated paying office in order to get their recommended format. It is not the intent of DoD to encourage or discourage use of the discount for prompt payment procedure. The purpose of this paragraph is to provide sufficient information for the contractor to make that choice.

WAWF Training Practice Web Site - Go here to practice using the WAWF

application.

WAWF Training Web Site

Wide Area Work Flow - Receipts and Acceptance (WAWF-RA) is a Paperless Contracting DoD-wide application designed to eliminate paper from the receipts and acceptance process of the DoD contracting lifecycle. The goal is to enable authorized Defense contractors and DoD personnel the ability to create invoices and receiving reports and access contract related documents.

In the traditional DoD business method, three documents are required to make a payment - the contract, the receiving report and the invoice. Each of these may arrive at the payment office separately - if they are paper. They are processed individually as they arrive. Information is then manually keyed in to the payment system. Using WAWF-RA, electronic documents are shared, eliminating paper and redundant data entry. Data accuracy is increased and the risk of losing a document is greatly reduced.

The contract is available through a seamless interface with an application called Electronic Document Access (EDA). Contractors have electronic options for submitting invoices and receiving documents. They can submit documents on the Web, through FTP, or through EDI.

Authorized DoD personnel receive notification electronically of pending actions and have a virtual folder of documents accessible. Digital signatures are used to authenticate the users and to digitally sign documents. In some cases, user id and password can be used in lieu of a digital signature.

WAWF-RA supports DoD's efforts to reduce unmatched disbursements in the DoD receipt, acceptance, entitlement and payment process through data sharing and electronic processing. The benefits to DoD are global accessibility of documents, reduced need for re-keying, improved data accuracy, real-time processing, and secure transactions with audit capability. For vendors, benefits include the capability to electronically submit invoices, reduction of lost or misplaced documents, and online access to contract payment records.

For security purposes, with WAWF-RA, user identity is assured through the use of digital signatures and certificates or user id and password over an SSL connection. The online data transmissions are protected with encryption.

For additional information, please see the WAWF-RA website at

https://wawf.eb.mil/