Supplemental Training and Organizational Development Services Partnership

The City of Cleveland Department of Human Resources has identified a need for Training and Organizational Development Professionals Services to augment the skills and resources of the HR/Talent Management Department. While the Talent Management team drives the strategy and sets the culture of continuous learning, meeting the specialized technical and leadership needs of 8,000 personnel requires a broader range of expertise than a single small division can maintain. Securing an external Professional Services contract(s) allows the City to leverage the scale and specialized expertise of external training partners. This hybrid approach maximizes the impact of our internal resources while efficiently delivering modern, expert-led training across all departments.

PROJECT DETAILS

The City is seeking proposals from qualified Professional Training and Organizational Development providers to establish a pool of external resources. This hybrid approach is designed to supplement internal capabilities, allowing the city to leverage the scale, specialized expertise, and modern methodologies of external training partners. Services will be requested on an as-needed basis.

Vendor Consultation and SOW Submission: If external resources are necessary, the selected vendor(s) will meet with the HR/Talent Management team to understand the specific request. The vendor will then submit a detailed Scope of Work (SOW) outlining the engagement details, project timeline, and total pricing.

TARGET AUDIENCE and DELIVERY SCALE

The training/OD programs will serve a diverse workforce, including frontline staff, technical personnel, mid-level managers, and executive leadership. The city intends to deliver training across multiple departments, requiring a partner capable of scaling operations to accommodate varying group sizes, shifts, and operational constraints.

Background

Talent Management is responsible for maximizing employee potential and future growth. This is obtained through several key objectives, with the primary objective being developing an employee’s skillset through industry training programs, soft skills development, career pathing, leadership coaching, mentorship programs, management training, self-guided learning, skill assessments and online tools, such as skill advancement certifications.

We value the individual growth and progression of every team member, all 8,000 employees, as well as the bench strength of the City of Cleveland. Our commitment to fostering an environment of continuous learning is an intrinsic part of our organization’s culture. By investing in the professional and personal development of our teams, we are building a stronger, more adaptable, and innovative workforce who will be equipped to serve the citizens of Cleveland and our stakeholders today and in the future.

Today, delivering much of the individualized training and organizational services is accomplished through a small, internal Talent Management (TM) team which provides strategic, small-scale, targeted organizational and professional development support on an as-needed basis. The TM team also provides learning and development support services through a Learning Management System, with a diverse library of content.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 2025-RFP-145
• Department: Personnel and Human Resources
• Department Head: Matthew J. Cole (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-08-12T21:00:00.000Z

Evaluation Criteria

• Quality of Proposal (30 pts) —

  Quality of Proposal includes Organization of the Provider, Capacity to Perform Work, including consideration for current City project workload, and Special Accommodations.

• Credentials of Key Personnel and Provider (20 pts) —

  Credentials of Key Personnel includes Qualifications of the Provider Team, particularly the project manager who will be the lead person on this project, and their prior experience and demonstrated ability to provide the scope of services.

• Demonstrated Ability (30 pts) —

  Demonstrated prior experience providing similar services and examples of past related work completed by the Provider.

• Compensation/Fee: 20 points (20 pts) —

  This item will be reviewed after the evaluation of qualifications has been completed.

Submission Requirements

• Technical Proposal (required)
• Price Proposal (required)
• Vendor Background Information
• Provide information about any local branch offices or support centers that might serve an account in Cleveland, OH, including number of employee and type of services provided (required)
• Provide name of each principal. (required)
• Provide the year the company was established and any former firm names (required)
• Type of Company (required)
• Provide the state and type of incorporation (required)
• Provide information on related services offered by the company (required)
• Provide the total number of FTEs in the company. (required)
• Provide average years of experience of professional staff. (required)
• Vendor Client References
• VENDOR CLIENT REFERENCE #1 (required) —

  Please include the following information: 

  • Proposing Vendor Name
  • Reference Company/Organization Name
  • Reference Address
  • Reference Contact Name
  • Contact’s Position
  • Contact’s Telephone Number
  • Type of Company/Organization (Industry)
  • Number of Employees
  • Services Performed
  • Sub-contractors used
  • Identify any vendor staff that worked on this reference company's project, that are proposed for City
  • Original Cost Estimates
  • Actual Final Costs
  • Comments
• VENDOR CLIENT REFERENCE #2 (required) —

  Please include the following information: 

  • Proposing Vendor Name
  • Reference Company/Organization Name
  • Reference Address
  • Reference Contact Name
  • Contact’s Position
  • Contact’s Telephone Number
  • Type of Company/Organization (Industry)
  • Number of Employees
  • Services Performed
  • Sub-contractors used
  • Identify any vendor staff that worked on this reference company's project, that are proposed for City
  • Original Cost Estimates
  • Actual Final Costs
  • Comments
• VENDOR CLIENT REFERENCE #3 (required) —

  Please include the following information: 

  • Proposing Vendor Name
  • Reference Company/Organization Name
  • Reference Address
  • Reference Contact Name
  • Contact’s Position
  • Contact’s Telephone Number
  • Type of Company/Organization (Industry)
  • Number of Employees
  • Services Performed
  • Sub-contractors used
  • Identify any vendor staff that worked on this reference company's project, that are proposed for City
  • Original Cost Estimates
  • Actual Final Costs
  • Comments
• City Required Forms
• NOTICE TO BIDDERS AND OEO SCHEDULES (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• NON-COMPETITIVE BID CONTRACT STATEMENT FOR 2026 (required) —

  Please download the below documents, complete, and upload.

• Northern Ireland Fair Employment Practices Disclosure —

  INSTRUCTIONS: Pursuant to Codified Ordinance Sec. 181.36, the information requested on this page must be supplied by all contractors and any subcontractors having more than a fifty percent (50%) interest in the proposed contract prior to any contract being awarded by the City of Cleveland.  Any contractor or subcontractor who is deemed to have made a false statement shall be declared to have acted in default of its contract and shall be subject to the remedies for default contained in its contract.  For failure to cure such a default, the contractor or subcontractor shall be automatically excluded from bidding for the supply of any goods or services for use by the City for a period of two (2) years.

• CHECK WHICHEVER IS APPLICABLE: (required)
• By confirming, the proposer affirms that they are in compliant Northern Ireland Fair Employment Practices. (required)
• Pricing (required)
• Applicable Language for Goals for Subcontractors (required)
• Is this RFP for Airport? (required)
• Insurance Requirements (for Airport RFP only) (required)
• Do you require insurance from the awarded vendor for this RFP? (required)