The federal government is fundamentally reassessing how it hires and retains talented workers.  Among the many initiatives underway is the Office of Personnel Management’s HR Federal Integrated Business Framework (FIBF).  This is a strategic project to match hiring needs with evolving missions.  The government’s efforts have several potential implications for contractors.  First, if your customer is changing who and how they hire, contractors may want to keep pace to ensure that they are providing people with the right training and skills.  Second, the skill sets and priorities of government people with which contractors interact will change.  Third, a lot of changes are being proposed for the structure and education of the acquisition workforce.   The most obvious changes are that workers now participate in hybridized workplaces.  While some enjoy remote work, others seek at least occasional face-to-face interaction.  We’ve said before that such interaction is critical to federal business success.  Beyond those areas, though, several agencies have sought, and obtained, specialized hiring power to recruit people with specialized technical capabilities.  This means that contractors may find themselves speaking with officials possessing unique training and experience.  As a result, the types of discussions will likely differ and be potentially more fruitful than some that take place today.  One key area of concern is retention.  The trade press has lit up recently with a long list of senior federal CIO’s and similar individuals who are leaving government service.  This has the potential to disrupt business, especially if the relationships a company has are limited.  Maintaining a broad list of contacts inside a customer agency is an established best practice, even if your firm ends up hiring one of the retiring officials.  Contractors, especially larger firms, typically look at HR issues only from an internal standpoint. Looking outward to see how your customer’s HR practices are changing on both the customer and acquisition fronts are important to continued success as well.