If you're evaluating whether your company can realistically staff a government contract, these are the questions program managers, capture teams, recruiters, and executives should be asking before bidding, and certainly before winning.
Talent Availability
- Do we already have qualified candidates in our pipeline?
- How many incumbents are likely to stay after transition?
- Is this skill set readily available or extremely niche?
- How competitive is the market for these positions?
- How many competitors are hiring for the same talent?
Security Clearance Requirements
- What clearance level is required (Secret, TS, TS/SCI, CI Poly, FS Poly)?
- Can we hire uncleared candidates, or must they already hold the required clearance?
- How many people with these clearance requirements actually exist in the target location?
- Will reciprocity work, or will additional adjudication delay onboarding?
Geographic Reality
- Is the work on-site, hybrid, or remote?
- Is the location one candidates are willing to relocate to?
- Is relocation budgeted?
- Are there local competitors paying more?
Compensation
- Are our salary ranges competitive with the current market?
- Does the labor category ceiling support realistic compensation?
- Have we factored in sign-on bonuses, retention incentives, or shift differentials if needed?
- What are competitors offering?
Recruiting Capacity
- Do we have recruiters who understand this labor market?
- How long does it typically take us to fill similar positions?
- Can our recruiting team support a rapid ramp-up?
- Do we have sourcing tools and candidate databases capable of finding this talent?
Proposal Assumptions
- Are the labor categories realistic?
- Are the education and certification requirements unnecessarily restrictive?
- Could experience substitute for degree requirements?
- Are we creating "purple squirrel" positions that don't exist?
Customer Expectations
- What is the required staffing timeline?
- Are there contractual staffing metrics or penalties?
- Does the customer expect Day One readiness?
- Is phased staffing acceptable?
Competitive Position
- Why would a candidate choose us over another contractor?
- Do we have incumbent relationships?
- Is our employer brand strong in this market?
- Can we offer career growth beyond this contract?
Business Risk
- What's our backup plan if we can't fill key positions?
- Which positions represent the highest staffing risk?
- What's the financial impact of delayed staffing?
- At what point should we reconsider bidding if staffing isn't realistic?
But the most important question to ask yourself: If we won this contract tomorrow, could we realistically fill every required position within the customer's timeline?
If the answer isn't a confident "yes", supported by market data, recruiter input, and an existing talent strategy, it's worth reassessing the bid strategy before making promises that will be difficult to deliver.
In government contracting, winning the contract is only half the battle. Successfully staffing it is what ultimately determines whether the program succeeds.
