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TRAINING PROGRAMS, PROCESSES,
POLICIES, AND PRACTICES
SUMMARY State departments of transportation (DOTs) offer an impressive array of training products and
services to their very diverse workforces. Many have developed not only the more traditional
course offerings in workplace skills (e.g., planning, interpersonal skills, communications,
dealing with difficult people, and a great deal more), but also provide a wide variety of tech-
nical training, registration and certification programs, and assistance to their engineering,
information technology, and other technical and professional staff. State DOTs either directly
or through partnerships with colleges, vocational training organizations, and similar institu-
tions offer technical and workforce skills training for the road construction and maintenance
staff. Based on the information provided by survey responses and discussions with state DOT
training directors at their annual conference in August 2005, there appears to be a culture in
many agencies that values employees and understands that a successful organization must
make strategic investments in its workforce both to maintain current skills and knowledge and
to acquire new skills and knowledge. A number of the state DOTs have taken advantage of
new technology and new adult education learning tools and techniques. Thirteen of the 16 state
DOTs responding (of the 50 receiving the survey questionnaire) identified one or multiple
technology tools, including learning management systems, video conferencing, and web-
based training to enhance their training management and delivery capabilities. This level of
investment was reinforced by the directors of training and others from state DOTs who
attended the 2005 Training Directors conference. Finally, almost all of the DOTs responding
to the survey and attending the 2005 Training Directors conference reported that they have
either a strategic plan that clearly articulated the organization's programmatic goals and out-
comes or a similar document that guided the content of their training programs and the infra-
structure needed to support those programs. This direct correlation between the organizations'
strategic goals and outcomes and the content of training programs is an essential ingredient
for successful employee development in the first quarter of the 21st century.
These organizations also described being in the midst of major transformations that pre-
sent complex program and management challenges, especially with regard to developing the
workforce. In a number of state DOTs, parts of the agencies' training programs, particularly
in the areas of planning and execution, have gaps and missing links when it comes to com-
pleteness, integration, and specificity. The majority of the responding agencies has strategic
or business plans with measurable goals and outcomes and has identified some or all of the
competencies required in the workforce to accomplish the identified goals and outcomes.
However, fewer than half of these DOTs noted that they had assessed the competency level
of the workforce, and even fewer have well-developed and implemented succession plans for
occupations at any level of the organization. This proportional relationship was reinforced
by discussions with training directors and others who attended the 2005 Training Directors
conference. Therefore, although the training function understands the importance of ensur-
ing that the workforce has the competencies to produce the products, goods, and services
required, it does not yet have in place mechanisms to assess the presence or absence of those
competencies in the current workforce. Similarly, most of the training organizations have
evaluation methodologies that provide insight into the quality of the program and the learn-
ing that takes place for participants, but few then link the evaluation results with funding
requests or with the distribution of funds to ensure that the most critical needs are being met.
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The lack of strategic alignment and linkage is a significant issue for the state DOTs and one
which, if not addressed, can undermine much of the successful work and programs that are
currently in place.
Studies of public and private organizations have documented a direct relationship between
their performance and their effective management and development of employees. For exam-
ple, a recent study based on surveys of more than 400 U.S. and Canadian publicly traded
companies showed that those with effective human capital programs have more than three
times the shareholder value as do companies that do not have strong human capital programs.
The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) has replicated this kind of
finding in the winners of its BEST Awards. The ASTD Research Department's analysis of
organizations that have won ASTD BEST awards "has found that companies with best prac-
tices in learning functions are among those with high levels of financial performance. The
21 public companies that won ASTD BEST awards in 2003 and 2004 outperformed the S&P
2005 Index by 2 to 1 for the past 5 years."
Although the ASTD research focused primarily on private-sector organizations, there is a
clear translation between those findings for private-sector firms and similar results for public
organizations. However, for those results to occur and for public organizations to reap the ben-
efit, there must be a seamless alignment and linkage between and among training and all other
components of the human capital management program, and a similar linkage and alignment
between and among training programs and the funding mechanisms to support training.
Synthesis responses indicate that state DOTs are building from a solid base; however, sub-
stantial executive leadership and attention will be required to move the programs to the next
level of strategic alignment. This implies that directors of state DOTs will need to be directly
(implicitly) involved in setting the strategic direction for training programs based on the orga-
nization's strategic goals, objectives, and desired outcomes. It also means that the director must
hold accountable those individuals who are responsible for ensuring that training and develop-
ment activities--courses, developmental assignments, and the like--are viewed as essential
tools for ensuring a workforce that is qualified to accomplish the work of the organization effec-
tively and efficiently. Finally, it implies that training and development activities must be viewed
as "value added" activities that are on the critical path for organizational success.
