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8
Perspectives on Priorities and Next Steps
This chapter includes materials from two closing panels from the
September 2011 workshop and some comments from the sponsor. A
multidisciplinary panel was tasked with summarizing the key points from
the workshop. The summary panel included experts from different fields
related to resilience: Brian Flynn, associate director of the Center for
Studies of Traumatic Stress at Uniform Services University; Joseph
Hurrell, editor of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology; Kevin
Livingston, deputy associate director for the Washington Operations for
the Federal Law Enforcement Center; and Bryan Vila, professor at the
Sleep and Performance Research Center at the University of Washington,
Spokane.
The second panel included representatives from various Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) component agencies. Representatives from
the DHS components discussed resilience issues relevant to their specific
component and resilience or resilience-supportive initiatives they are
currently undertaking. The panelists were Sean Byrne, Transportation
Safety Administration (TSA); Keith Hill, U.S. Secret Service (USSS);
Mark Tedesco, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG); Shelia Clark, Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency (FEMA); Linda Gray, Customs and Border
Protection (CBP); and Laronna Bell, Immigration and Customs En-
forcement (ICE).
In each panel, speakers made individual remarks and then participat-
ed in a panel discussion. The panel discussions were moderated by the
planning committee chair James Peake. Throughout the two panel dis-
cussions, speakers shared common concerns and issues (see Box 8-1).
167
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168 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
BOX 8-1
Themes from Individual Speakers from the Panel Discussions
Role of chronic fatigue and poor physical health on resilience
Consequences of frequent deployment and relocation on stress
and resilience
Challenge of DHS workforce diversity for creating department-
wide resilience programs
Role of leadership in resilience interventions
Role of evidence and performance measurement in developing
and improving interventions
Relationships among individual, family, organizational, and
community resilience
Effects of preventing occupational stressors on resilience efforts
KEY COMMENTS FROM THE SEPTEMBER WORKSHOP
Each panelist was asked to distill the key messages from the work-
shop proceeding from their perspective. The panel was designed to draw
upon the experiences and expertise from different fields related to resili-
ence as well as the target populations—operational and law enforcement
personnel. The individual presentations by Flynn, Hurrell, and Livingston’s
are summarized below. Vila’s presentation concentrated on the role of
sleep and fatigue on resilience, which he felt was missing from the work-
shop discussions, and has been moved to Chapter 4, which focused on
factors that influence resilience. All four of the summary panelists partic-
ipated in a panelist discussion and addressed questions and comments
from workshop participants.
The Community Health and Resilience Perspective
Brian Flynn focused his comments on those issues he considered key
based upon the presentations and discussions. He suggested there were sev-
eral keys points that arose from the workshop presentations and discussions:
Resilience is a process.
Resilience has been considered for a long time using different
terminology.
There is a need to focus on function.
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PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS
Stress management does not equal resilience promotion.
Both stressors and rewards/positives must be emphasized.
It is important to define “rewards.”
Resilience involves individuals, families, organizations, and the
community.
There are several ways to look at interactions and trajectories.
It is important to integrate health/safety and resilience.
Resilience efforts should begin early through task design.
Moving Beyond Definitions
It is important to further tease out the similarities and differences be-
tween individual, resilience, and organizational resilience, commented
Flynn. Resilience is applied to all these different areas and is often used
interchangeably. He asserts that it is probably not necessary to concen-
trate further on defining resilience; it is now time to focus on how these
things get evaluated and operationalized.
Resilience Programs
Based upon the presentations, many programs and potential models
appear to be already out there for DHS to explore. Flynn commented that
program designs that include postadversity growth in response to stress
and critical incidents may be the most useful to DHS. The presentations
made clear that resilience promotion begins before the incident or stress-
or. He quoted workshop presenter Col. Carl Castro, who stated, “Ideally
they come to us resilient.”
Flynn suggested that, for programs to succeed, both individuals and
organizations must be responsible for resilience promotion and stress
reduction. This responsibility starts with the leadership. Flynn noted that
although he is very impressed by the Department of Defense (DOD) pro-
grams, it is unclear, because of legal and administrative differences, how
that model can be applied intact to DHS.
Leadership
Flynn noted that the role of leadership is critical. There are various
aspects to consider in leaders. Leadership can be seen as a means rather
than an end. Leadership occurs at many levels and takes many forms.
Key leadership characteristics include strength and honor. He also noted
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170 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
that one of the key components of leadership is the ability to sustain ef-
forts and resilience. He added that it is possible to train leaders.
Flynn commented that leadership buy-in is essential to the programs
and their objectives. DHS has an overwhelming challenge, which is fur-
ther complicated by the need to promote and sustain positive leadership
in an organization where the top leadership changes every 4 years. Flynn
offered several thoughts to promote buy-in:
What are the strategies and the paths to access leadership?
Building and maintaining credibility is important.
Are there issues with the staff versus line personnel? Are there
issues with employees versus contractors?
DHS is not alone. Potential partners exist within other federal
agencies and academic institutions.
Flynn felt it was important to point out to DHS that collaborating
with other organizations could have many benefits. Partnerships poten-
tially reduce costs and increase transparency. Flynn’s final thought about
how to promote buy-in is the importance of reminding people of the con-
sequences of not acting.
Resilience-Related/Supportive Programs
Flynn noted that both wellness programs and EAPs must make a
business case for the positive effects of employee supportive programs.
Although Flynn observed that wellness programs appear to be more
broadly evaluated than EAPs, both have potentials solutions and strate-
gies that can be applied to resilience programs.
Flynn cautioned that perception is everything. DHS must understand
that the staff’s and management’s perceptions are as important as the
services offered. Therefore, whether it is a resilience, wellness, or an
EAP, it is necessary that the services are relevant to the employees and
have strong quality-control mechanisms in place.
Evidence Base and Program Evaluation
Many methods are available to evaluate the evidence base to develop
and evaluate the effectiveness of a program. Flynn noted that, at this
point, almost any level is sufficient as long as the program designers are
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PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS
clear and honest about the strengths and weakness of the evidence base
underlying the program.
It is the nature of government to crave consistency in all things, in-
cluding program design. However, there are negatives as well as posi-
tives inherent in consistency. Consistency is good if it ensures access to
needed services and programs across the organization. It is not good if it
does not respect and recognize differences in mission and culture. DHS
should work not to be caught in defining consistency all positively or all
negatively.
Program Resources
Funding programs is always an issue. Flynn noted that funding was a
theme in DHS’s discussions about how to move the program forward. He
believes that significant changes can be made with limited resources,
particularly in terms of policy and communications changes. However,
the reality is that there is no free lunch. DHS needs to assess whether it is
making appropriate funding choices regarding stress reduction and resili-
ence enhancement, and whether these decisions reflect stigma regarding
behavioral health. Flynn suggest that DHS ask itself, “If DHS found that
25 percent of the uniform workers were developing some kind of trans-
missible rash and it was adversely impacting many of their family mem-
bers, because of X, would they still say, ‘there is not enough money to
address the problem or to delay an attempted solution?’” An approach
such as this helped DHS assess whether it is approaching parity in ad-
dressing behavioral health concerns with the same seriousness as it
would other medical or public health challenges.
Importance of Culture
Flynn noted that it is important to recognize the effect of culture at
all levels with DHS. Throughout the workshop, there were discussions
about how to change the culture to support resilience for issues such as
stigma. Given the diversity of cultures, DHS should be careful in consid-
ering changes in the culture that may result in unintended consequences.
In developing a general strategy and approach to culture change, DHS
should look at the extent of these efforts and whether they should be
department-wide or specific to the individual components. DHS should
also look at the role of isolation and job fit.
Flynn suggested that perception is everything in behavioral health.
What role does perception play in stress and resilience, both on the indi-
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172 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
vidual level and among the components, in Congress, the administration,
and in the public? How does DHS deal with perception as a factor in re-
silience? Flynn noted that the workshop did not include information on
making stress management and resilience promotion a required job skill.
He suggested that people are certified in many things, so there may be
some opportunities to do the same here, for instance.
Flynn also pointed out that DHS must determine if and how it is go-
ing to make a business case for these programs. Flynn stated that in order
to advance these programs, it will be essential to develop a business case
for the effect of operational readiness and subsequently cost-effectiveness.
Expectation Management
Flynn advised DHS that the success and survival of its resilience ini-
tiative may be more dependent on management of expectations than on
the end accomplishments. The challenge becomes balancing hope and
optimism with reality. The reality is that DHS is a huge, diverse, and
young organization. As part of the federal government, DHS faces signif-
icant restrictions that limit some of the options that would be possible in
the private sector. Additionally, the current environment is defined by
declining resources, a poor general economy, and the public’s antigov-
ernment sentiment.
Past Experience with the FEMA Stress Management Study
Flynn related his experience developing the FEMA Stress Manage-
ment Study, a program for FEMA in response to Hurricane Hugo. The
program was motivated by the need to evaluate some of the decisions
made during Hugo. Stress was a factor in bad organizational decisions.
The study was broad in its scope, and subsequent recommendations ad-
dressed policy and communication changes, as well as additional ser-
vices for the staff. Many of these changes could be made with very little
resources. However, because of funding limitations, the program was not
evaluated.
The Occupational Health Psychology Perspective
Joseph Hurrell began his comments by emphasizing that how an is-
sue is defined has enormous implications for how it is approached. De-
fining an issue can affect what interventions are developed and their
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PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS
success. For example, if you view how someone experiences job stress as
the result of individual vulnerability, then it is likely that you would fo-
cus on secondary interventions such as stress management to help them
cope with the conditions of a job. Alternately, if job stress is seen as an
organizational issue or related to the design of the job itself, then a pri-
mary intervention would focus on changing aspects of the job or the or-
ganization to alleviate the underlying conditions that create unnecessary
stressors.
Hurrell quoted Talcott Parsons, who wrote, “A wonderful concept is
stress, what it means is anyone’s guess. Though it is fun to be clinical
and rude to be cynical, operationally, it’s a mess.” Hurrell notes that the
same is true of resilience. How resilience is characterized is important
because it determines how one thinks about it, and it may dictate the kind
of intervention developed.
Primary and Secondary Prevention
Hurrell recalled his experience on a recent trip where there were de-
lays in the security lines because of breakdowns in the screening equip-
ment. The delays created a frustrated and hostile crowd for the TSA
screeners to screen. In this situation, secondary interventions such as
changing the culture, improving leadership, and training do not address
these types of stressors. Primary prevention such as fixing equipment
failures is a more appropriate response to the problem.
Hurrell suggested that the whole field of job stress and the term job
stress is very value laden. The same may be true about resilience. For
instance, TSA screeners might be offended if they are offered resilience
training but would probably welcome improvements to the equipment.
Primary prevention seeks to address the daily chronic issues people face
in their jobs.
Hurrell did not suggest that primary prevention could be the entire
solution, noting that one size does not fit all. However, he cautioned that
as DHS moves to design secondary interventions, it should be judicious.
After 35 years in government, Hurrell noted that regardless of how hard
it is to change federal jobs and environments, it might be a lot easier than
changing people or cultures.
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174 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
Using Other Fields of Research
Some of the issues in the job stress literature are analogous to the is-
sues within resilience. In the past, much of the research in job stress fo-
cused on identifying the bad conditions and eliminating them. Current
theories of job stress are much more positively oriented and think more
in terms of developing engagement among people. In particular, the job
demands–resources model includes both negative and positive indicators
and outcomes of employee well-being. The idea is that people face all
kinds of demands, and providing resources to cope with those kinds of
demands will mitigate the negative effects. These resources could in-
clude social support and giving workers more control over their work.
Employees will be more engaged in their jobs as a result. This engage-
ment among employees leads to lower levels of job stress and lower lev-
els of burnout. Hurrell noted that this sounds very similar to the whole
notion of resilience. Given the similarity in the concepts, it is possible
that the types of approaches used to develop an engaged workforce
would be quite similar to those developed to create a resilient workforce.
Although this is a slightly different approach, it offers current and reasona-
ble recommendations on how to positively change the work environment.
The Law Enforcement Perspective
Kevin Livingston started by saying that the workshop presentations
have reinforced for him many of the things he had learned through his
experiences in the military, Secret Service, and many years in federal law
enforcement. Although the term resilience is new to him, much of what
he has heard at the workshop boils down to what he thinks of as morale.
In his view, morale is affected by a broad number of factors including
physical health and wellness and leadership.
In particular, the presentations citing the effect of physical health on
resilience ring true with his personal views on wellness. As for the dis-
cussions about leadership and resilience, he joked that as a supervisor for
many years, he is used to being the person causing stress. It is his job to
get more out of his workers and to push them to do better, be successful,
and move up within the organization. In the Marine Corps, Livingston
learned that it was important to understand the jobs of the next two ranks
above yours. This was based on the idea that you never knew when you
would have to move up. Livingston noted that before there were resili-
ence and resilience-related programs, it was his role as a supervisor to
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PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS
work on these issues. He suggested that it takes knowing your employees
and understanding what is going on with them to be able to support them
when they need it. As a supervisor, he felt there are three areas worth
restating:
the role of the supervisors in supporting their staff,
the impact of fitness on overall well-being, and
the difficulty in having clear communication.
Livingston stated that fitness is critical and includes mental and emo-
tional health. He also mentioned the importance of job design. He sug-
gested that a job is supposed to challenge an employee because otherwise
work will be routine and boring. That is not healthy for the employee,
and it kills productivity.
Livingston commented that the workshop was incredibly helpful for
him and validated many of the things he believed before. The question he
posed for the group was “What is next?” He added that while it is pri-
marily the Office of Health Affairs’ challenge, it is also his and all the
other DHS staff’s as well. He added that it is the nature of law enforce-
ment to always want a solution. He suggested that DHS move forward,
like the Army, and do a pilot program. Take a port, a TSA airport, a Se-
cret Service office, or any area of opportunity, and apply the lessons
from the workshop. DHS should try to replicate other programs’ suc-
cesses. Figure out what works and keep going. The employees are DHS’s
most valuable asset, and everyone should help to do their job better.
Summary Panel Discussion
Planning committee chair James Peake noted that it was not clear
how well the problem is defined. This could be due to the diversity of
organizations, personnel, and cultures. While there are differences, there
are also a lot of commonalities between these groups, principally because
of the shared core mission. There are effectively two types of resilience
in this situation. Everybody faces stress on the job because these are
high-stress jobs. How does DHS help employees build resilience to cope
with the ongoing stressors from a normal day? The next level is when the
situation goes beyond the normal day due to an event. How does DHS
help employees bounce back from an unknown stressor?
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176 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
Defining the Problem
Flynn noted that because resilience is multidimensional, a matrix
might be a way to conceptualize the issues. It would need to include in-
dividual challenges, different events and stressors, and a third dimension
with information about the types of people such as policy and line per-
sonnel. Given all of the complexities, there may need to be more than
one strategy used to address the issues.
Hurrell pointed out that if there were a reduction in the chronic levels
of stress that people experience every day, then people would be much
better prepared to face the unknown situations. The evidence suggests
that people with lower levels of day-to-day stress caused by the job are
also much less likely to develop PTSD.
Vila noted that the military has specialized in adaptability. U.S. Ar-
my Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) has worked in this area
for several years and recently updated its training. The training is focused
on teaching individuals to navigate the rules and environment and adjust
their behavior if either or both changes. Adaptability seems like one of
the pieces of building resilience at the organizational level, which links
back to management style and policies. He commented that there are as-
pects of law enforcement’s and first responders’ missions and jobs that
are intrinsically difficult. For the most part, managers and employees
deal with the day-to-day issues. When someone gets knocked down by
an event, the ability to come back has to do with how healthy and cen-
tered that person is and how well he or she is supported by his or her
family, community, or organization. At an organizational level, it is pos-
sible to promote both physical and mental wellness through health pro-
motion, EAPs, and, most importantly, strong day-to-day management.
Livingston added that having a strong base is important, which in-
cludes a sound and healthy employee, as well as a supervisor that is in
tune with his or her people. Once these two pieces are in place it is pos-
sible to train for change and adaptability.
Planning committee member Joseph Barbera pointed out that not all
stress is bad. Some stress is like lifting weights. When managed correct-
ly, stress can build character. Much of how stress is managed is based
upon how it is interpreted.
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PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS
Job Fit as Primary Prevention
Flynn noted that getting resilient people into the job is a part of pri-
mary prevention. While the workshop has included discussions about
task design and job description, there has not been much discussion
about matching temperament to the job. A possible part of the solution is
a clear understanding of what type of person is needed for a particular
job. That requires more attention to DHS’s recruitment and selection
process.
Kathryn Brinsfield from DHS’s Office of Health Affairs added that
the type of psychological screenings used in the private sector to match
personality and jobs are not possible within the federal agencies. Flynn
responded that there does not need to be a formal evaluation but rather an
informal set of questions relevant to the position. From a clinical point of
view, Flynn suggested asking about difficult situations that the person
has encountered on the job and how he or she dealt with them would be a
good place to see how adaptable a person can be and under what conditions.
Hurrell commented that screening presents some significant chal-
lenges, not only legally but also empirically. To his knowledge there is
no solid empirical evidence supporting pre-hire screening. The tools and
the science are not at a place where he feels comfortable supporting
them.
Vila noted that within law enforcement there is a lot of screening.
The police psychology section of the International Association of Chiefs
of Police has about 500 members and has been focused for the past 10
years on research. There are almost 800,000 law enforcement personnel
in the United States. All of them take an oral and written interview, about
90 percent of them get a preemployment psychological evaluation, and a
large proportion have had a polygraph test. The oral interview is focused
on challenging the applicant to see if he or she is mentally flexible and
how he or she responds to stress.
Planning committee member Karen Sexton noted that there has been
a shift to value-based interviewing within nursing that looks at the de-
mands of being a nurse and the ability to advocate for patients. While
this is not a perfect solution, there has been some success in that area.
The Military Model
Brinsfield noted many DHS components are paramilitary in the way
they think. She asked the speakers if they think of the military programs
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184 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
Tedesco noted that the Coast Guard struggles with the rapidity of
communications and information flow. Managing the intake of infor-
mation and responding at all levels within the organization to keep that
operational tempo at top speed is difficult.
The Coast Guard’s mission shifts, and while the security of the
homeland is paramount the guard also has a lifesaving service. Since
9/11 the homeland security mission has gone from about 10 percent to
about 40 percent of the workload, but none of the other responsibilities
has gone away. As a military service, there is constant turnover of per-
sonnel leaving the service or transferring through the regular change in
assignments.
The guard also is currently made up of a higher than normal percent-
age of younger personnel. In the past, the Coast Guard has been able to
count on the more senior master chiefs to bring the junior staff up to
speed. However, as new platforms are brought onboard the master chiefs
are inexperienced with them. Tedesco noted that he was in his 40s when
9/11 happened, but 50 percent of today’s Coast Guard was between the
ages of 7 and 15 years old. Reaching out to this different demographic is
challenging. It responds to different stimuli and has different cultural
norms. There is a target-rich environment of information flow for that
younger population, and the Coast Guard must learn how to use those
kinds of opportunities as part of the solution set.
There is a constant pressure to become more efficient and do more
with less. Given the budget pressures, it is not going to be rosy for any
department in the government for a while. However, it is important to
have perspective on these issues. The Coast Guard’s programs are mi-
nuscule compared to DOD’s programs. On the other side of the coin, the
Coast Guard’s programs are far more expansive than those in the rest of
DHS.
The Coast Guard started participating in a DOD behavior-related
health survey in 2008. For 30 years the DOD has conducted a survey
every 3 years looking at a variety of health risk behaviors. Through this
process the Coast Guard has found some compelling information. The
2008 survey indicated that the Coast Guard has a substance abuse prob-
lem. It also indicated that a significant minority who engaged in sub-
stance abuse behaviors also screened positive for depression and anxiety.
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Coast Guard Health Infrastructure
Tedesco oversees 43 clinic and 150 sick-bay direct health care pro-
grams that he can leverage for effect. Tedesco noted that he and his staff
are focused on how to best synergize the safety, health, and work-life
offices together.
For primary prevention the safety staff can ensure that the work envi-
ronment is in compliance through inspections and incident response.
Their efforts are focused on being proactive and preventing future mis-
haps. Every mishap is a health risk. Tedesco asserted that the more peo-
ple are invested in the safety culture, the more they are invested in
themselves and shipmates, which helps resilience.
For many of the work-life programs in a military population, it is
possible to order personnel to do things or to strongly recommend that
they do them. However, it is not possible to order morale. It has been
mentioned several times in the workshop that physical fitness underlies
resilience. The Coast Guard is going to institute a mandatory exercise
program similar to those in the DOD services; it will use an individual-
ized program in the beginning in order to make sure that everybody par-
ticipates in physical fitness at his or her own pace each week.
Tedesco recently signed a request for a group to explore the Navy’s
operational stress control. While addressing stress does not necessarily
build resilience, it is one of the underlying factors. The operational stress
control program trains leaders how to view their unit, and how to assist
their units in dealing with the day-to-day ebb and flow of operational
pace. The Coast Guard is also revising the EAP contract. The EAP over-
sees benefits for both the civilian and military population and their fami-
lies. The Coast Guard intends to increase the amount of visits and
include the reserve population. The reserve population can be hard to
reach because its members are not in the Coast Guard most of the time.
They are, however, called upon during disasters and have to mobilize
quickly. In the past, they would not benefit from the Coast Guard ser-
vices and programs.
Tedesco concluded that there are two significant issues he would like
addressed in this effort. He would like to learn how to reduce stigma and
make asking for help a strength, rather than a weakness. He would also
like to know how to promote the services and programs that are available
so people will take advantage of them.
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186 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Sheila Clark is Chief Component Human Capital Officer at FEMA.
FEMA currently has approximately 53,000 permanent full-time employ-
ees and approximately 13,000 reservists that support their disaster re-
sponse and recovery efforts. About 3 or 4 years ago, vacancy
announcements started to include a statement that all employees are sub-
ject to deployment. The reality of this change did not hit until this year.
Because of the number of recent events, FEMA has had to tap into its
permanent full-time workforce to meet some of the needs in the field.
During the response to Hurricane Irene, FEMA found that members of
the permanent full-time workforce were resistant to being deployed even
though it was a clear possibility when they were hired. Employees are
required to be deployed for a minimum of 3 weeks. Deployment condi-
tions are often not ideal and include some hardships such as infrequent
access to showers and living in tents. When people took the position,
they often did not consider the impact of being deployed on their fami-
lies.
Once employees are deployed, FEMA has a stress-management pro-
gram working the disaster site. The counselors provide counseling in-
formation and offer referrals to programs and EAP providers.
To respond to the issue of increased deployments, FEMA has an ini-
tiative under way looking at the impact of deploying the permanent full-
time workforce. The initiative will look at family responsibilities, the
stress of being deployed, and transitioning after an extended deployment.
The imitative will examine the effects of these factors on the attrition rate
and increase in worker’s compensation claims. Employees and managers
from different parts of FEMA, such as the response and recovery, human
capital management, and equal employment offices, are all participating
in the initiative. Additionally FEMA is working on a workforce surge
initiative that will reach out to other DHS components seeking volunteers
from their full-time workforce to support FEMA during major disasters
similar to Katrina.
Clark noted that the agency now makes it very clear to people inter-
viewing for positions that they are subject to deployment and what that
entails. The FEMA administrator is very open to all employees having
the opportunity to be deployed and visit a Joint Field-Office Operation
(JFO). FEMA is working to address the issue of deployment on the per-
manent full-time workforce and is (1) making sure that employees are
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PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS
secure where they are deployed and (2) ensuring their families are secure
while the employees are deployed.
Customs and Border Protection
Linda Gray is the director for CBP’s retirement benefits and medical
work-life division. The CBP has started a new but aggressive program to
address workforce resilience. The CBP is largely a law enforcement
agency and has to deal with many of the conditions discussed by earlier
presenters. The organization has experienced a spike in suicides. One of
the first things the CBP is focused on is erasing the stigma associated
with mental and emotional health concerns. To change attitudes and re-
duce stigma, the CBP looked at how to change the culture. In the past,
representatives from the agency visit families after any type of death, and
if the death was a suicide the CBP honorary flag would not be given to
the family. About a year ago, with the support of the senior leadership
that policy was changed.
In the past, suicide was not discussed. The senior leadership weighed
in and has been very actively involved in erasing that stigma, and there is
now a campaign on the web. Four different series of suicide prevention
workshops take place every Wednesday, and September is mental health
awareness month. There has also been a branding effort looking at
healthy body, mind, and spirit. It seeks to emphasize that mental well-
being is just as important as physical fitness. Additionally, the CBP has
seen a spike in EAP use, so people are in fact calling in to get help.
The CBP faces several challenges in promoting resilience in its
workforce. The CBP has a mix of different cultures. When the CBP was
formed there were three different organizations pulled together with two
different cultures. The pace and type of work is very different for the
border patrol and uniform officers working at the ports of entry. There
are language and culture barriers, so the CBP is looking at the increasing
use of EAP services by providing Spanish-speaking counselors.
Gray pointed out that the border patrol already has a physical fitness
program. However, for the ports entry workforce, the workload is con-
stant, and there is no time for work-mandated physical fitness training.
When Gray visited the ports of entry, officers commented to her that it is
not possible to get a workout in when employees are only given two 15-
minute breaks that they combine for lunch. Officers have to choose be-
tween eating, family, sleeping, and working out. Also, pulling officers
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188 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
off the line to work out would have people complaining because of the
increased wait times
The CBP is starting a pilot a program that will include a fitness com-
ponent. It will work to find ways to get the officers off the line long
enough to work out. There will be a monthly campaign dealing with
some area of physical fitness and mental health assistance.
It is difficult to get messages out to personnel who are working in
very different environments. There will be displays with information in
the duty station, and the CBP will be coordinating with the mission-
support people in the field to get information out. Gray noted that she
was discouraged to see the suicide rate stay the same after the efforts of
the first year. The CBP has looked at trends and found that most of the
cases are different and that there are a number of contributing factors.
Rather than respond to each event and try to fix that particular area, the
CBP is instead looking at systemic issues. With everyone pushing the
mission, it is important to make sure they are also checking the pulses
and attending to the individuals who have to carry out that mission.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Laronna Bell works with Immigration and Custom Enforcement
(ICE) on a number of services including the EAP, health and wellness,
and work-life program management. She noted that in the ICE, most re-
quests for or about EAP services come from management seeking infor-
mation and guidance on helping their employees. The ICE has been
working with the staff at the CBP to develop and implement a fitness
program for the operational and administrative employees. The ICE has
started to address the challenge of communicating with the field offices
about various programs and making sure that managers are supported
in knowing how to identify and help employees who are experiencing
problems.
Department of Homeland Security
Components Panel Discussion
Peake noted that there were several themes in the discussions, in-
cluding the role of physical fitness and leadership, the need to train lead-
ers and managers, and the need to manage employee expectations about
the job, such as the possibility for deployment or the realities of shift
work. Peake added that changing how the organization functions can
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introduce different stressors and potentially affect resilience in other
ways. One of the potential consequences would be an increase in turno-
ver. Have the components considered how to measure these types of con-
sequences? Are there potential interventions that might mitigate the
negative impacts?
Changes to the Workforce
Several things have the potential to improve the situation for the
Coast Guard, Tedesco noted. The guard has recognized that training is an
issue and that it is expensive to move personnel. As budgets tighten,
costs are a growing constraint. As a result, the Coast Guard is investing
more resources into training and is working to move people less fre-
quently. Some new initiatives are going into place for the upcoming as-
signment season to try to keep people on station up to 6 years, which is
previously unheard of in certain mission sets but can create stability for
the employees.
Byrne repeated that about three-quarters of TSA employees are in
the process of being unionized, and this might create a morale issue. The
TSA has been very adamant that it will not treat union employees differ-
ently from non-bargaining employees. All employees will have the same
disciplinary or grievance issues process. The hope is that this will help
manage expectations. He added that the TSA is continuing to develop a
security, risk-based organizational culture, and working to empower em-
ployees to make positive changes in the workplace is part of that culture.
Attrition
Gray noted that the poor economy has helped reduce attrition. There
has been an increase in EAP services related to relationship issues. The
CBP is examining how it can build families and relationships as well as
promotional messages around those issues. The CBP has released a se-
ries of messages on relationships, and it is trying to reach out to families
and encourage employees to work on balancing life and work. The CBP
is also trying to look at how to better manage the workload of employees
that are struggling with their schedules.
Hill agrees that the poor economy has reduced attrition rates. He not-
ed that the 1811 population (gun-carrying agents) is expected to move to
a new detail every 4 to 5 years. He has found that even when recruits go
in with the knowledge they will have to move, it is difficult when it actu-
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190 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
ally happens. People are facing additional issues when it is time to move
because of the decline in the housing market. They may lose money
when they have to sell their home. As a result, the agency is trying to
adjust and be flexible with moving for a year or so. Although it is impos-
sible to predict if a year will help with the housing market it helps with
morale when employees know that management is flexible.
Deployment
Clark commented that at this point deployment is still voluntary.
Although it is in the vacancy announcements, employees currently do not
sign a statement saying that they understand being deployed is a condi-
tion of employment, nor has FEMA negotiated this issue with the union.
FEMA is moving toward making it mandatory, however. FEMA is con-
sidering how it will affect the ability to hire new people and the attrition
rate. Vila asked if FEMA has incentives such as step increases for sign-
ing the deployment promise. Clark responded that currently it does not.
Planning committee member David Sundwall reflected that during
the 1980s, Surgeon General Koop worked to revitalize the U.S. Public
Health Commission Corps. Although the corps is a uniformed service,
there had been no expectation that it would be deployed for many years.
When the policy was in place, the commissioned officers at the National
Institutes of Health or those who had a career in research were most re-
sistant. It took a great deal of leadership and persistence to establish that
commissioned officers and researchers would be deployed at some point
during their career in the commissioned corps.
Training
Sundwall asked Hill to describe in more detail the skill sets he men-
tioned in his presentation, in particular how the Secret Service addresses
shift work and how shift work affects circadian rhythms. Hill agreed that
the effects of the changing shifts are a challenge. The Secret Service
found that it was better to have 2-week rotation where agents have the
opportunity to work the various shifts and get 2 weeks of training. Travel
issues are generally driven by the mission. If the trip is going to be in
three different cities, the Secret Service will alternate individuals so
agents do not necessarily travel to every city. It is difficult to manage,
and there is no way to fix it or prepare or train for it. The Secret Service
monitors employees using a formula that has worked for a long time.
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Everyone’s stress level is calibrated differently because people handle
stress differently.
Program Engagement
Workshop speaker Ann Mirabito commented that although almost all
of the workshop presentations addressed the importance of leadership
being fully engaged it is also critical that rank and file be fully engaged.
Different stakeholders have different objectives. She noted that it may be
helpful to think about the way those programs are framed for the differ-
ent stakeholders. The private sector has the same issue. The private sec-
tor has chosen to call these programs wellness programs. Byrne
commented that it would be helpful if a best practices document could be
developed to inform the development of programs for the components.
Byrne noted that it is a key point that in any diverse organization com-
munication is always going to be difficult.
Communications
Planning committee member Scott Mugno noted that his company
struggles with the same issues of dealing with the stigma of using EAPs
and how to better promote their use. He asked how the different organi-
zations are addressing stigma and communication issues.
Tedesco responded that the involvement of the most senior leader-
ship has helped. For example, the commandant sent an e-mail to every-
one in the Coast Guard explaining that he wants everyone to be engaged
with safety and suicide prevention. The core of the message is that the
Coast Guard’s personnel are all shipmates, and this is a shared concern.
He challenged everyone to be a part of the solution, and then directed
people to the health safety and work-life program resources. That type of
message is very rare; when the commandant speaks, people are more
likely to pay attention then they would to a message from someone else.
Byrne added that the TSA has a similar communication mechanism.
However, communications from the top leadership are used sparingly for
only the most critical issues. He added that most people listen to the sen-
ior leadership, but the senior leadership has to be engaged and sincere. It
cannot just be a proclamation.
Clark noted that the FEMA administrator communicates the im-
portance of the work by reinforcing that all FEMA employees are emer-
gency management officials, and they are expected to be ready, able, and
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192 BUILDING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
available to be deployed at a moment’s notice. Whether they are a GS-5
or at the senior executive level, FEMA employee IDs all include the la-
bel “Federal Emergency Response Official” and every employee has a
laptop, a blackberry, and a memory key so they can be deployed at a
moment’s notice.
Gray noted that everyone is inundated with communications from the
different areas, and it is hard to get people’s attention as a result. The
CBP human resources office is at the forefront of using podcasts and
webinars in DHS. The new messaging from the deputy commissioner
will be released in September 2011 in video format.
CLOSING COMMENTS
In closing, Peake commented that the goal of the workshops was to
create a productive environment to explore the issues and concerns DHS
has in developing a workforce resilience strategy. He added that the dis-
cussions at both workshops highlighted the overlapping nature of the
issues and shaped some possible institutional approaches that recognize
the importance of all the various elements.
At the September workshop, Alexander Garza, Assistant Secretary
for Health Affairs and chief medical officer for DHS, commented that
several of the presentations from the workshops resonated with him. In
particular, he cited the presentations outlining the importance of physical
fitness and its contribution to mental health. He agreed with several of
the presenters’ comments about the importance of program measure-
ment, but added that it is very difficult to measure people’s or compo-
nent’s stress or resilience levels at any given time. Altough these things
are ambiguous and difficult to measure, it is not prudent to just focus on
suicide rates or EAP numbers. It is important that all the information is
put together in a meaningful way.
The anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11 reminded the nation to
“never forget” and laid the mission of ensuring that something like this
never happens again. Over the past decade, DHS made significant strides
in securing the nation against disasters, whether man-made or naturally
occurring. This mission creates a tremendous amount of stress on DHS’s
employees and their families. Garza stated that it is not possible to ensure
national security unless we secure the health of the workforce, and that
includes mental health. Garza pointed out that DHSTogether has made
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extraordinary progress in the past 2 years. The information shared at the-
se workshops will help inform where it goes in the future.
Kathryn Brinsfield closed the November meeting by noting the
workshops answered many questions and brought up new ones for DHS
to consider. She added that the dedication of the DHS workforce is un-
questioned and is evident in the difficult work it does to accomplish its
mission. However, after a decade it is time for DHS to shift the view of
how to accomplish the mission away from a sprint and instead to see it as
a marathon and understand that protecting the workforce ensures that it
can carry out the mission in the long run.
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