Book Review: Contractors in the Government Workplace: Managing the Blended Workforce

Abstract

Glenn Voelz traces the growth of contracting and effectively argues for government supervisors to understand the rules, expectations, and boundaries of managing the government-contractor relationship. The challenges for managing this dynamic are many and start with the fact that the public sector's acquisition workforce is thin and has not kept pace with massive expansion of contracting in recent years. Voelz's contribution is a valued one in this environment. Current and future managers need to be familiar with the basics of contract administration and understand how best to build contractor relationships while protecting legal and ethical priorities.Voelz's book draws upon primary and secondary data collected via seminars, interviews, regulations, other published documents, and personal experience to present practitioners with a useful guide for understanding the scope and complexity of the government-contractor relationship. Voelz is careful to note both the strengths and the limitations of the book. Although the text is intended to provide a basic understanding of "tools, techniques, rules, and regulations relating to the supervision of contractors in the workplace," it is not intended as a substitute for formal training that would allow someone to "write contracts or make obligations on behalf of the government" (p. 4). Nor does it offer theoretical foundations or empirical research results. Rather, this practical resource provides general context and broad recommendations.To begin, Chapter 1 offers some striking facts about the rise of contracting. Voelz notes that the U.S. federal government is the single largest buyer of commercial services in the world and that government purchasing increased by nearly 75% between 2000 and 2005 (p. 1). The challenges associated with navigating this uncharted territory are apparent: Managing contracts has been identified as a high-risk area by the U.S. Government Accountability Office due to vulnerability to fraud, waste, and misuse of taxpayer dollars. These risks are compounded by insufficient capacity to oversee the contractor workforce. Yet, the reliance on contractors to perform core mission functions previously carried out by government personnel demands careful attention. Given this new reality, "all government employees and supervisors must understand 631045R OPXXX10.