TRB’s Workforce Development & Organizational Excellence Committee Provides Insights on ACB Framework & Guidance
Blog Content
- Social, Economic and Technology Trends Expected to Affect Transportation Agency Workforces
- Incorporating Workforce Development and Organizational Excellence to Respond to the Challenges
- Helpful Information and Guidance
- Conclusion and Next Steps
At the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting January 7-11, 2024, in Washington, D.C., information on the Agency Capability Building (ACB) framework and guidance was shared at several meetings and a session including:
- Standing Committee on Strategic Management (TRB AJE10) Meeting
- Standing Committee on Workforce Development & Organizational Excellence (TRB AJE15) Meeting
- Standing Committee on Performance Management (TRB AJE20) Meeting
- Standing Committee on Information & Knowledge Mgmt Mtg (TRB AJE45)
- Innovation Community of Practice Meeting
- TRB Lectern Session 3010: Workforce Development: Challenges & Solutions
Below are insights provided by TRB’s Standing Committee on Workforce Development & Organizational Excellence (TRB AJE15). This valuable input focused on enhancing the ACB Portal resource base for building agency capabilities to respond to critical transportation issues. The portal is publicly available at https://www.agencycapability.com/
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1. Social, Economic and Technological Trends Expected to Affect Transportation Agency Workforces
Top trends identified by TRB AJE15 included:
- Artificial intelligence and automation
- Funding
- Succession planning
- Retirements
- Workforce shortages
- ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) services
- Remote work
- Retention
Transportation agencies are preparing for these trends by focusing on leadership development, training, workforce planning, partnerships, employee engagement, and knowledge management.
2. Incorporating Workforce Development and Organizational Excellence to Respond to the Challenges
Meeting attendees provided input on how transportation agencies can incorporate workforce development including:
- Developing strategic workforce plans
- Creating a new office for focus on workforce issues
- Resilience training
- Scenario planning
- Multi-discipline training
- Competency modeling
- Strong leadership support
- Having new hires in place prior to employees separating
- Partnering with state education planning
- Required professional development goals
Participants also suggested ways to incorporate organizational excellence to respond to the challenges.
- Clearly defining excellence
- Risk assessments
- Reorganizations
- Business process improvement
- Prioritizing continuous improvement
- Measurable goals for personal professional development
- Resource management focus
Common roadblocks to implementing workforce development and organizational excellence strategies are lack of decision making, funding, and resources. Factors that influence strategy are costs, time and political environment.
3. Helpful Information and Guidance
The Workforce Development & Organizational Excellence Committee provided input on possible information and guidance that would be helpful when creating a plan to develop or enhance capabilities. The following options are listed in order of preference:
- Events like peer exchanges or workshops
- Written guidance, articles, job aids
- Written or video case studies/testimonials
- Online information like blogs or micro-learning
- Participating in pilots
- Other
4. Conclusion and Next Steps
The Workforce Development & Organizational Excellence Committee’s insight during the implementation phase of this project will strengthen the resource base and help agencies respond to a rapidly changing environment by identifying, creating, capturing, and sharing relevant intellectual assets needed to advance transportation agency objectives.
The project team will continue to keep interested stakeholders informed about the project’s progress. Virtual peer exchanges will be occurring this spring and there will be a workshop later this year.