RFP for HR Services

TOWN OF HOLLISTON
703 Washington Street 508-429-0608
Holliston, MA 01746 September 18, 2026
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)
HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTING SERVICES AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
OVERVIEW
The Town of Holliston is seeking proposals from qualified firms, consultants, or organizations to provide
professional human resources consulting and interim HR services to support the Town's municipal government
operations.
The Town's primary objective is to obtain practical, hands-on HR capacity while also strengthening the Town's
overall human resources systems, practices, policies, and organizational structure. The selected consultant should
be capable of assisting the Town with immediate HR needs while identifying opportunities to improve
consistency, efficiency, compliance, employee service, and organizational effectiveness.
SCHEDULE & TIMELINE
This Request for Proposals (RFP) is being issued through the Select Board's Office, Room 103, 703 Washington
Street, Holliston, MA 01746 on Friday, September 18, 2026. This RFP will also be available on the Town's
website at https://www.townofholliston.us/town-links/pages/procurement-legal-notices. Updates, amendments, or
answers to questions to the RFP will be posted to the website, and proposers should check the website prior to
submitting proposals.
Inquiries involving procedural or technical matters, and/or questions related to the Request for Proposals shall be
submitted in writing to the Select Board's Office and received no later than three (3) business days prior to the
time the proposals are due.
Proposals will be received until Noon (EST) on Monday, October 5, 2026.
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Projected/Desired Timeline:
Interviews (if necessary) with selected proposers may be scheduled the week of October 12, 2026 (via Zoom)
Contract award is anticipated on or before Monday, October 19, 2026.
Engagement is expected to begin as soon as possible thereafter.
Length of engagement will depend upon the Town's timeline for filling the vacancy on a long-term basis,
which will be informed by recommendations made by the vendor
Contact Information: James Keast, Deputy Procurement Officer (Facilities Director)
keastj@holliston.k12.ma.us
SCOPE OF WORK
The Town is seeking a qualified HR professional or team capable of functioning as an experienced, responsive
extension of the Town's administrative team during the engagement. The successful proposer will provide both
ongoing day-to-day HR technical assistance and higher-level professional guidance to Town leadership and
departmental staff. These interim services are expected to include, but may not be limited to:
Human resources administration and operations;
Employee and labor relations;
Development of personnel policies, procedures, and practices;
Leave and accommodation administration;
Recruitment, selection, hiring, and onboarding;
Personnel records and HR information management;
Classification and compensation matters;
Collective bargaining agreement administration and updates;
Employee relations matters and management coaching;
Performance management and disciplinary processes;
Support for supervisors and department heads on HR matters;
Training and development;
Compliance with applicable federal and Massachusetts employment laws and regulations;
Development, revision, and implementation of HR policies, procedures, forms, and practices;
Support to the Town Manager and other designated municipal officials on personnel matters; and
Other HR-related technical assistance reasonably requested by the Town
The Town also may also request the selected individual or firm to provide an assessment of its existing HR function,
including the allocation of HR responsibilities among the Human Resources department, Town Manager/Assistant
Town Manager's offices, finance departments, and other applicable municipal departments. The assessment should
identify opportunities to clarify responsibilities, improve processes, eliminate duplication, address gaps, and establish
a sustainable HR service model.
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The Town anticipates that the selected consultant will provide services on an as-needed, hourly basis, with the ability
to increase or decrease the level of support depending upon the Town's needs. The Town anticipates that some services
may be performed remotely, while regular in-person availability is strongly preferred, particularly during the initial
transition and for matters involving employee relations, management consultation, training, or other matters where
in-person interaction is beneficial.
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Failure to submit documents requested may result in the Town's determination that a proposal is non-responsive
unless the Town deems such a failure to be a minor informality. There are two components to the Proposal:
A) Technical Proposal, including information about the proposer, references, and the services to be provided; and
B) Sealed Price Proposal, including a staff level hourly rate for services to be rendered under the terms of the
contract.
A) TECHNICAL PROPOSAL
The following documentation must be contained in the Technical Proposal to prove responsiveness to each required
element. Technical Proposals received without the required documentation for each required element may be
deemed unresponsive. Technical Proposals must be arranged in the order specified below, with responses and
documentation separated by tabs or index dividers. Each page of the Technical Proposal must contain a footer with
the page number.
Required Elements of the Technical Proposal are as follows:
Table of Contents, showing where required information may be found by section and page.
Letter of Interest, including the firm's history and the name of the principal or "lead consultant" who will be
assigned to work directly with the Town on this engagement.
An Organizational Chart, if the Proposer is a firm or corporation, indicating the name and position of all
consultants who will work with the Town on this search. If the Proposer is not a firm or corporation, the
Proposer should so state in this section.
Current Resume(s), including summaries of credentials and number of years of experience providing
executive municipal search services for the lead consultant assigned to Holliston and any additional
consultants who will be assigned to work with the Town on this search.
Description of the Proposers Approach and Plan for performing services outlined in the Scope of Work (see
above)
List of recent contracts, including name, address and telephone numbers of all communities for which the
firm has provided similar interim and/or human resources assessment services during the past five (5) years
and specific persons to contact:
- References, for a minimum of three (3) comparable projects completed in the past five (5) years;
- Signed Certificate of Non-Collusion (Included as Attachment B in the RFP);
- Signed Certificate of Payment of Taxes (Included as Attachment C in the RFP);
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B) PRICE PROPOSAL
The Price Proposal form, included as Attachment A must be completed and included as the proposer's price.
The Price Proposal shall be submitted without conditions or exceptions.
Price Proposals shall remain in effect for a period of 60 (sixty) calendar days from the date of proposals
submitted or until it is formally withdrawn, a contract is executed, or this Request for Proposals is canceled,
whichever occurs first.
Price proposals submitted without the required form or including other conditions of pricing may be deemed
unresponsive.
Price proposals must be submitted in a separate sealed envelope.
PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL
Technical and Price Proposals shall be submitted electronically to keastj@holliston.k12.ma.us with the email title:
"Holliston Human Resources Services 2026". Three (3) hard copies and One (1) Priced Proposals may be
submitted by the deadline at 703 Washington Street, Holliston, MA, 01746 Room 105. If electronically submitted,
applicants must complete and combine each Proposal separately in single, unrestricted PDF formatted files.
Applicants must fill in all required fields and signatures either digitally or manually (print, fill-in, and scan to
PDF). If physically submitted, the price and non-price proposals must be in separately sealed envelopes.
Any amendment to the RFP shall be issued through written addenda and posted to the Town's website
accompanied by email notification to every individual or firm on record as having received the RFP documents.
Hard copies of addenda will not be mailed or faxed. It shall be the sole responsibility of the Applicant to ascertain
the existence of any and all addenda. Failure of any Applicant to receive any addendum shall not relieve such
Applicant from any obligation imposed by such addendum.
Timely submission of Proposals shall be the full responsibility of each Applicant. It is also the Applicant's
responsibility to ensure that their Proposals are 100% true, complete, and accurate.
It is the proposer's sole responsibility to submit the proposal before the deadline.
EXAMINATION OF DOCUMENTS
Each Proposer shall be satisfied as to the requirements of the contemplated services to enable the intelligent
preparation of this proposal. The Proposer shall be familiar with all submittal and RFP requirements before
submitting the proposal in order that no misunderstanding shall exist in regard to the nature and character of the
contemplated services to be performed. No allowance will be made for any claim that the proposal is based on
incomplete information as to the nature and character of the area or contemplated service.
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EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS
Technical Proposals will be evaluated by the procurement team and/or its designees who will individually rate the
proposals. Evaluation of Technical Proposals will be based on weighted, comparative criteria described in this
section. The following scale will be used to evaluate each criterion, as well as to determine a composite rating for
each proposal:
Highly Advantageous (3 points)
Advantageous (2 points)
Not Advantageous (1 point)
Unacceptable (0 points)
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Evaluation Criteria
1. Firm & Consultant Experience (Municipal HR)
Evaluates the firm's and the assigned consultants' direct experience working within municipal government
frameworks, civil service (if applicable), and public sector labor relations.
Highly Advantageous
The firm has 10+ years of demonstrated experience providing HR consulting and interim
management specifically to municipal governments.
The primary consultant assigned to the Town has served as a Municipal HR Director or
senior HR leader for a public entity within the last 3 years.
Demonstrates extensive, proven experience in municipal classification/compensation,
public sector labor unions, and municipal civil service laws.
Advantageous
The firm has 5-9 years of experience providing HR services to municipal or public sector
organizations.
The primary consultant has solid public sector HR management experience, but may not
have served directly as a Municipal HR Director.
Demonstrates general familiarity with municipal labor relations and public sector
compliance.
Not Advantageous
The firm has less than 5 years of experience, or its experience is primarily rooted in the
private or non-profit sector with limited municipal exposure.
The assigned staff have minimal experience dealing with municipal unions or public sector
budgeting/governance.
Unacceptable
The firm or assigned personnel have no prior experience with municipal government or
public sector HR operations.
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2. Technical Approach and Methodology
Evaluates the firm's plan to balance immediate, hands-on interim operational capacity with long-term
systemic upgrades (policies, structure, and compliance).
Highly Advantageous
The proposal provides a comprehensive, clear, and highly practical work plan that details
exactly how they will handle immediate daily HR operations while concurrently auditing
and updating Town policies.
Includes specific, innovative methodologies for identifying systemic gaps, improving
workflow efficiencies, and transitioning knowledge back to the Town.
Advantageous
The proposal includes a logical work plan addressing both interim operational support and
systemic improvements.
The approach is realistic and meets all basic requirements of the scope, though it relies on
standard, boilerplate templates rather than a highly customized Town strategy.
Not Advantageous
The proposed approach focuses heavily on either interim staffing or consulting/auditing,
failing to adequately integrate both needs.
The methodology lacks clear timelines or details on how efficiency and compliance goals
will be achieved.
Unacceptable
The proposal fails to provide a clear methodology or work plan, or shows a fundamental
misunderstanding of the Town's dual need for hands-on capacity and systemic
improvements.
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3. Capacity, Staffing, and Availability
Evaluates the firm's ability to immediately deploy qualified personnel to handle day-to-day HR duties and
their backup resources.
Highly Advantageous
The firm guarantees immediate deployment of a primary consultant within 7 business days
of contract award.
Provides a robust, dedicated project team with a clearly identified backup consultant of
equal caliber to ensure zero disruption in service due to illness or turnover.
Advantageous
The firm can deploy a primary consultant within 14 business days of contract award.
Provides a backup plan for coverage, though the backup staff may have less experience than
the primary consultant.
Not Advantageous
The firm requires more than 14 business days to deploy staff or cannot guarantee a fixed
schedule.
No clear backup or transition plan is provided in the event that the primary consultant
becomes unavailable.
Unacceptable
The firm cannot guarantee immediate or consistent availability, or lacks the internal staffing
depth to fulfill the contract reliably.
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4. References & Proven Track Record
Evaluates the quality of past performance based on feedback from comparable clients.
Highly Advantageous
All provided references (minimum of 3) are from comparable municipal governments for
whom the firm successfully provided both interim HR management and system/policy
updates within the last 5 years.
References universally report exceptional satisfaction with responsiveness, communication,
and lasting organizational impact.
Advantageous
References are from municipal or public sector entities, but the scope of work was limited
to either interim staffing or policy updates, rather than both combined.
References report satisfactory or good performance.
Not Advantageous
References are primarily from private sector clients or are older than 5 years.
References report mixed reviews regarding responsiveness or project timelines.
Unacceptable
The firm fails to provide references, or references report poor performance, missed
deadlines, or failure to deliver required services.
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CONTRACT AWARD
The contract will be awarded to that Proposer deemed by the Town Manager and/or its designees to have submitted
the most advantageous proposal taking into consideration all of the Technical Proposal criteria and Proposers
interviews (if conducted) in addition to the Price Proposals. The selected Proposer shall sign the contract presented
by the Town, which shall be substantially in the form of Attachment D to this RFP. In accordance with the
provisions of M.G.L. c.30B, sections 5 and 9, the Town of Holliston reserves the right to waive any informalities in
any or all proposals, or to reject any or all proposals, if it be in the public's best interest to do so.
TERM OF CONTRACT
The contract is expected shortly after it has been awarded. The length of engagement will depend upon the Town's
timeline for filling the vacancy on a long-term basis, which will be informed by recommendations made by the
vendor
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