National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: Chapter 6 - Tenure and Performance
Page 74
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - The Cost of Turnover." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14415.
×
Page 74
Page 75
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - The Cost of Turnover." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14415.
×
Page 75
Page 76
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - The Cost of Turnover." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14415.
×
Page 76
Page 77
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - The Cost of Turnover." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14415.
×
Page 77
Page 78
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - The Cost of Turnover." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14415.
×
Page 78
Page 79
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - The Cost of Turnover." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14415.
×
Page 79
Page 80
Suggested Citation:"Chapter 7 - The Cost of Turnover." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2010. Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14415.
×
Page 80

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

74 As part of the study, research was conducted to document the full cost of vehicle operator recruitment and training. The cost of recruitment and training is one of the elements of the model developed in Chapter 4 (see Figure 4-7). A more com- plete understanding of the cost of recruitment and training will allow managers of ADA paratransit operators to make more informed workforce decisions—particularly the trade- offs between better compensation and recruitment and train- ing costs. Documentation on the full cost of recruitment and training was developed by studying three selected ADA paratransit operations. The three paratransit operations included in the research and analysis are the following: • Charlotte Area Transit System’s (CATS) Special Trans- portation Service (STS); • The MV Transportation contract operation in Denver (under contract to the Denver RTD, Regional Transporta- tion District); and • The Veolia Transportation contract operation in Balti- more (under contract to MTA, the Maryland Transit Administration). Thesethreeoperationswereselected forthefollowingreasons: • They reflected mid-sized to large paratransit operations: CATS has a fleet size of 85 vehicles (72 peak pullout) and 84 vehicle operators; MV in Denver has a fleet size of 157 vehicles and 196 operators; and Veolia in Baltimore has a fleet size of 160 vehicles and 213 operators. • They had variation in annual turnover rates: CATS at 14%, Veolia at 52%, and MV at 57%. • They had variation in service design, with MV in Denver and Veolia in Baltimore representing private contracted operations, and CATS’ STS representing an in-house, pub- lic operation. Methodology A spreadsheet tool was first developed to gather cost data and operator applicant/trainee data. The spreadsheet was designed to capture both labor and other direct costs in four general areas: (1) recruitment, (2) interviewing, (3) screen- ing, and (4) training. Examples of the types of costs incurred in each area are presented in Table 7-1. Contact persons were identified at each of the three systems. The spreadsheet tool was sent to them and follow-up calls were made to review and answer questions about the spread- sheet and information needed. Once initial data were pro- vided, a second call was made to review and clarify the infor- mation provided. Revisions were made as needed. Revised spreadsheets were then sent back to the system contacts for a final review and verification. In the case of CATS, a member of the research team also visited the STS staff in Charlotte to help gather data from the city. For recruitment and advertising, data was gathered on any staff time spent on job fairs, including preparation and/or atten- dance and time spent on composing advertisements seeking vehicle operators. Direct costs in the recruitment and advertis- ing category included ad placement fees or other advertising costs, such as placing stickers on buses. Signing bonuses for new operators and referral bonuses for current operators were also included in this cost category. Data gathered for the applicant interviewing cost category included staff time for application review, interview schedul- ing, and the time spent conducting the interviews themselves, both at the management and supervisory levels. For screening, labor hours associated with processing the screening paperwork were included. Direct costs in this cat- egory included DMV driving record check fees, criminal background checks, drug testing, and physicals. The training category included labor costs for all staff members participating in training for new vehicle operators, including primary classroom instructors, specialized training C H A P T E R 7 The Cost of Turnover

75 instructors (i.e., wheelchair-lift instructors, defensive driving instructors, and sensitivity instructors), and in-vehicle instruc- tors. Any time spent by management staff in the classroom was also included as was staff time spent developing curriculum for training. Training wages for new operators were also included in labor costs for this category. Direct costs for training included any contracted operator training with outside organizations and purchase of course materials, if external. All cost data was then subtotaled by category, giving the subtotal spent on recruitment, interviewing applicants, screening applicants, and training. These figures were divided by the number of applicants, applicants screened, applicants interviewed, trainees, and graduates hired to result in the cost per individual in each category. All costs and applicant/trainee/operator information was based on the first 9 months of Calendar Year 2009. This infor- mation and cost was then annualized. Labor costs (where needed) were annualized based on a 2,080 hour, 52-week work year. Similarly, direct costs were gathered for each unit and multiplied by the number of units per year. For example, the cost of one ad placement was recorded and multiplied by the number of ads placed per year. And finally, some costs were reported on a per-applicant basis. In order to annualize applicant/trainee/operator figures collected and get a handle on unit costs (per applicant and per operator), average annual numbers were collected in the following categories: • Average total number of applicants recruited per year, • Average number of applicants interviewed per year, • Average number of applicants screened per year, • Average number of trainees per year, and • Average number of operators (trained graduates) hired per year. Costs per applicant/trainee/operator were multiplied by the average annual figure to produce the average annual cost for a certain line in the budget. For instance, costs per interview, computed using the hours of staff time multiplied by hourly wage, were then multiplied by the number of applicants inter- viewed per year to reach the annual total spent. Case Study Summaries The following is information about each ADA paratransit system studied. Included in this section is information about the system structure and size, recruitment and retention efforts, and the cost and turnover data collected. Charlotte Area Transit System Special Transportation Service Introduction The Charlotte Area Transit System’s Special Transporta- tion Service (CATS STS) has a fleet of 85 vehicles used in rev- enue service, with a peak pull-out of 72. Annual ridership totaled 239,400 trips in FY2009. Service is provided to Meck- lenburg County residents living in the STS service area. STS currently employs 61 full-time, 21 part-time, and 2 full-time temporary operators, for a total of 84 operators. Vehicle operator starting pay was recently increased from $12.80 per hour to $14.41 per hour. Operators receive 10 days paid vacation to start, plus 9 paid holidays. Individual health care coverage is available with a $14.76 employee contribution per week, and family coverage is provided with an employee contribution of $96.17 per week. During this past year, CATS received 250 operator appli- cations and interviewed 25 of them (10%). These 25 were narrowed down to 20 after the interviews took place. As a result of the screening activities, the number of applicants was then reduced to 12. These 12 operators were trained and suc- cessfully completed the training, and all 12 were eventually hired as vehicle operators. The calculated attrition rate for this operation is hence 14% (12 new operators divided by 84 total operators). Recruitment and Advertising STS does not advertise or recruit, except to place a job ad on the city’s website. Individuals can apply on the city’s web- site or walk in to CATS or STS facilities. The STS telephone number is on all CATS STS buses, and STS typically main- tains a large pool of applicants. Labor Costs Direct Costs Recruitment Costs Attending job fairs Composing ads Ad placement Advertising stickers Signing/referral bonuses Interviewing Costs Reviewing applications Interviewing applicants Screening Costs Processing checks Drug testing DMV/background checks Initial Training Costs Classroom trainer BTW trainer Trainee wages Trainer (contracted) Course material Table 7-1. Examples of recruitment and training cost elements.

76 The City of Charlotte Human Resources (HR) handles the website and forwards applications for STS operators. Since Charlotte Human Resources manages all city hiring, the time spent solely on STS job postings per year was considered neg- ligible. Further, the HR department was not able to separate out the time for STS listings from all other job postings. Applicant Interviews STS receives an average of 250 applicants per year for vehi- cle operator positions, based on FY2008 and FY2009 data. The General Manager’s assistant reviews the applications, and the Assistant General Manager narrows this pool of applicants, typically to twice the number of available operator positions. Annually, this averages to approximately 25 appli- cant interviews. Reviewing applications takes up approxi- mately two hours of time each week for the General Manager’s assistant. The General Manager’s (GM) assistant schedules the inter- views and spends time with each interviewee reviewing the basics of driving an STS bus. All of this takes approximately 45 minutes for each interviewee. The Assistant GM spends about an hour and a half with each interviewee. Interviews include a discussion with the Assistant GM and a written test. In total, STS spent $5,400 in labor costs on interviewing applicants, averaging $216 per applicant interviewed and $450 per graduate hired. Applicant Screening Following the interview, the General Manager’s assistant conducts screening. STS requires a CDL permit before an interview. They also conduct DMV driving record checks— any applicant with 6 or more points on their record is elimi- nated from the pool. They pay for physicals for potential hires, and also pay for required drug testing, which cost $128.50 and $15, respectively. STS uses the website Hiring Ease to conduct all other background checks, including look- ing at North Carolina and other states criminal records, fed- eral criminal records, national sex offender listings, and social security numbers. These checks total $45.50 per applicant screened. During screening, the staff spends approximately 45 min- utes on each applicant on background checks and accompa- nying paperwork. Of the 25 applicants interviewed each year, only 20 are screened. Total costs for applicant screening, including labor costs and background check fees, are approx- imately $4,747. With 20 applicants screened, the cost per applicant screened is $237.37. Included under this heading is additional paperwork required in the hiring process, including medical benefits, tax forms, and various other required forms. This paperwork is all completed before training begins, and the assistant to the GM helps each new hire with its completion. Approximately 1.5 hours is spent per new hire. With 12 new hires per year, approximately 18 hours are spent per year. Training STS reported that it has not had a trainee drop out of train- ing in recent years. STS does use a 6-month probationary period for new operators, and two operators have been dis- missed during this period in the last 2 years. Since this is after the completion of initial training, it was considered part of post-training turnover. Therefore, the number of graduates hired per year is considered equal to the number of new oper- ators trained (trainees) per year. In STS’s case, this figure is 12. STS holds approximately three training sessions per year with between three and five trainees per session. During the average 4 weeks of training, trainees spend nearly all of the first week in the classroom. Approximately one-third of the second week is spent in the classroom, and the third and fourth weeks are spent almost entirely on the road with operator trainers. STS staff reported spending just under 25 hours in the classroom training new operators. An additional 1.5 hours of training per session comes from the Metrolina Council for the Blind, which provides disability sensitivity instruction at no cost. There is an additional eight hours of Smith System defensive driving, given by the Safety and Security division of CATS. Though the wages for this staff member do not come from the STS budget, they are included here as part of the total training costs. The training hours do not include a 6-hour city orientation course given by the City of Charlotte to all new employees. Charlotte Human Resources conducts this training in large groups, and the training occurs whether or not there are STS employees attending. Therefore, STS operator trainees do not add additional costs to the City for their attendance. STS does not pay for this instruction. STS conducts the entirety of its behind-the-wheel operator training on regularly scheduled routes, with operator trainees transporting the passengers during their first time behind the wheel. Also in the vehicle for approximately 80 hours of behind-the-wheel training is an operator trainer, who sub- mits daily evaluations to the primary instructor marking a trainee’s strengths and areas for improvement. This method results in no additional instruction costs, since operator train- ers are operating their regularly scheduled routes. Operator trainees are paid wages for their training hours on the road. Operator trainers are not paid more than other operators and do not work any hours for training beyond their regularly scheduled routes. Finally, the primary instructor rides along with the opera- tor trainees at the end of their behind-the-wheel training.

Approximately six staff hours are spent, in addition to the operator trainee wages, during this supervisor release testing. Operator trainees are paid their regular wages during train- ing. Approximately 120 hours are spent in training. With approximately 12 trainees per year, the total trainee wage cost is $20,750. The primary instructor is also the primary staff member who updates and adds to the training manual, as well as spends time thinking of ways to tweak the style or set-up of the train- ing. The instructor discusses any changes with the GM, but the GM reported not spending any regular amount of time on training curriculum. STS does not purchase books or other course materials. The primary instructor does use videos and other materials to support the primary training documents. Often, the instructor exchanges training materials with instructors in other municipalities, but it is a free exchange of materials. Total training costs for instruction and trainee wages are $30,990 annually. With an average of 12 trainees per year, the average cost per trainee for STS is $2,582.50. Total Costs Charlotte’s STS spent a total of $41,137 on operator appli- cant interviews, screening, and training, with three quarters of this total spent on training ($30,990). With an average of 12 graduates hired from this process, this total figure equates to $3,428 per graduate hired. MV Transportation, Denver, CO Introduction MV Transportation is the largest contractor in Denver RTD’s ADA paratransit system, called Access-a-Ride. MV operates 157 revenue vehicles with 196 full- and part-time vehicle operators. Operators receive a $9.00 per hour training wage, $11.00 to start, and a 2% increase every 6 months. Fringe benefits include 1 week of paid vacation to start, individual health care cover- age ($28.50 contribution every 2 weeks), individual and spouse coverage ($341 contribution every 2 weeks), and family health care coverage ($603.50 contribution every two weeks). Opera- tors also are eligible for a performance bonus of $150 every two months if they are free of preventable accidents, preventable passenger injuries, and have a perfect attendance record. During this past year, MV attracted 1,496 operator applica- tions as a result of its recruitment efforts. Of these, 308 (21%) were interviewed. As a result of the interviews, the applicant pool was narrowed down to 224 applicants. DMV checks, criminal background checks, and drug testing of these 224 applicants resulted in 197 applicants being selected for train- ing. Of the trainees, 111 (56%) successfully completing the training and were hired as vehicle operators. The calculated attrition rate for this operation is hence 57% (111 new operators divided by 196 total operators). Recruitment and Advertising MV’s recruitment and advertising activities in Denver include placing “operators wanted” ads in local newspapers, putting “operators wanted” stickers on each revenue vehi- cle in the fleet, and giving $250 referral bonuses to staff who bring MV applicants who are eventually hired. The monthly cost of advertising in newspapers is approximately $322 per month and $3,864 per year. The vehicle stickers each cost $7.50. Putting a sticker on each of the vehicles thus cost $1,178. Given that these stickers need to be periodically replaced because of wear and tear, they were treated as an annual cost, assuming that all stickers need to be replaced one per year. And, in the past year, 8 referral bonuses were awarded totaling $2,000 for the year. The total recruiting cost thus adds up to $7,042. The cost per applicant recruited works out to $4.71. The recruitment cost per operator hired is $64. Applicant Interviews Both of MV’s senior managers review applications and interview applicants who “make the cut.” MV estimates that an average of 4 hours per week (208 hours per year) were spent reviewing the 1,496 applications and that an average of 6 hours per week (312 hours per year) were spent interviewing the 308 applicants. At a wage rate of $31.25, this equates to an annual cost of $16,250. The cost per applicant interviewed works out to $53. The interviewing cost per operator hired is $147. Applicant Screening Following the interviews, 84 applicants were dropped from the process, leaving 224 applicants for whom screening is conducted. Screening consists of accessing DMV and crimi- nal background checks and drug testing the applicants. The DMV checks cost $2.20 each. The criminal background checks cost $60 each. The drug testing costs $25.00 each. Col- lectively, these expenses total $87.20 per applicant, which when multiplied by 224 applicants yields an annual total direct cost of $19,533. Staff labor to process the checks and drug test results averaged about 1.5 hours per applicant, and hence 336 hours for the year. At a wage rate of $15.00 per hour, staff labor involved in the screening process totals $5,040 for the year. Together, the labor and direct costs total $24,573. The cost per applicant screened works out to $110. The screening cost per operator hired is $222. 77

78 Training As a result of the screening process, the number of appli- cants who are selected to be trained was narrowed down from 224 to 197, with 27 failing the screening checks or drug tests. MV has an operator trainer providing classroom training 8 hours a day, every weekday of the year. At a wage rate of $23.29 per hour, this works out to an annual total of $48,443. Twenty-four hours of behind-the-wheel (BTW) training is provided to each trainee, followed by an additional 38 hours of BTW training in revenue service (accompanied by a trainer). The hourly cost of the trainer for BTW is $12.25 per hour. In revenue service, the marginal cost is $1.00 per hour. Together, the BTW training costs a total of $65,404 for the 197 applicants. And most significantly, training wages were derived by multiplying the 102 hours of total training at $9.00 per hour for each trainee. This comes to a total of $180,846 for the year for all 197 applicants. The sum of the annual training costs thus total $294,693. The cost per applicant trained works out to $1,497. The train- ing cost per operator hired is $2,655. Total Costs MV in Denver spent $7,042 on recruiting, $16,250 on interviewing, $24,573 on screening, and $304,171 on initial training for a grand total of $352,036 per year. With 111 oper- ator “graduates” hired from this process, this total figure equates to $3,181 per operator hired. Veolia Transportation, Baltimore, MD Introduction Veolia Transportation is the largest contractor in Balti- more for the MTA’s ADA Paratransit program, called Mobil- ity. For this program, Veolia operates 160 revenue vehicles with 213 full- and part-time vehicle operators. Veolia operators receive an $8.00 per hour training wage, and a $10.25 starting wage. Operators are also eligible for an extra $1.25 per hour that is paid each pay period if they have perfect attendance (no unscheduled call-outs or tardiness) during the period. Fringe benefits include 1 week of paid vaca- tion to start and health care coverage (with a 25% employee contribution for individual or family coverage). Teams of operators are also eligible to earn performance bonuses that can be up to $375 per operator every 3 months (described in more detail in Chapter 8). Veolia also offers unlimited $250 referral bonuses, paid after the new hire completes 90 days on the job. During this past year, Veolia received 1,800 operator appli- cations as a result of its recruitment efforts. Of these, 415 (23%) were interviewed. As a result of the interviews, the applicant pool was narrowed down to 208 applicants. Screening activ- ities, which involved a review of DMV records, criminal back- ground checks, and drug testing results, resulted in a further reduction of 6 applicants, leaving 202 for training. Of the trainees, 110 (54%) successfully completing the training, and were hired as operators. The calculated attrition rate for this operation is hence 52% (110 new operators divided by 213 total operators). Recruitment and Advertising The only approach with any significant cost used by Veo- lia to recruit in Baltimore is recruitment bonuses. Veolia gives a $250 referral bonus to any staff member who brings Veolia applicants who are eventually hired. In this past year, 10 refer- ral bonuses were awarded, totaling $2,500 for the year. The cost per applicant recruited works out to $1.39, based on the 1,800 applicants. The recruitment cost per operator hired works out to $23. Applicant Interviews Veolia reported that the total cost of reviewing applications and interviewing applicants was $105,000. Based on this total annual cost, the cost per applicant interviewed works out to $253. The interviewing cost per operator hired is $955. Applicant Screening Following the interviews, approximately half of the appli- cants were dropped from the process, leaving 208 applicants for whom screening is conducted. Screening consists of review- ing the DMV record brought to the interview by the applicant and then conducting criminal background checks and a drug testing for each applicant. The criminal background checks cost $30.50 each. The drug testing costs $130 each. Together, these expenses total $160.50 per applicant, which when mul- tiplied by the 208 applicants yields an annual total direct cost of $33,384. Staff labor to process the checks and drug test results was not reported. The reported cost per applicant screened works out to $161. The screening cost per operator is $303. Training As a result of the screening process, the number of appli- cants who are selected to be trained is winnowed down from 208 to 202, a reduction of only 6 applicants. Veolia reported annual training costs at $129,000. An addi- tional $193,920 in operator trainee wages was based on 24,240 hours multiplied by a wage rate of $8.00. No additional direct expenses were reported.

Together, these two costs total $322,920 for the year. The cost per applicant trained works out to $1,599. The training cost per operator hired is $2,936. Total Costs Over the course of last year, Veolia in Baltimore spent $2,500 on recruiting, $105,000 on processing applications and interviewing, $33,384 on screening, and $322,920 on ini- tial training for a grand total of $463,804 per year. With 110 operator “graduates” hired from this process, this total figure equates to $4,216 per operator hired. As indicate above, this does not include any costs associated with operator trainer wages, training materials, or management/administrative time to arrange and review screening results. Summary of Findings Tables 7-2 and 7-3 provide a summary of the information collected and costs estimated for each system studied. Table 7-2 shows the number of applicants recruited, interviewed, screened, trained, and ultimately hired (placed in service). Table 7-3 shows the estimated costs of recruiting, interview- ing, screening, and training, as well as the total cost for each system. Table 7-2 also shows the unit costs per applicant and per operator hired. Observations The low number of applicants that CATS needs to recruit to fill the 12 job openings it had in the study year is strikingly small. It appears that, because CATS has a comparatively high wage scale—$14.41 per hour plus comprehensive benefits, CATS does not have to invest in recruitment/advertising, compared to the two contractors who spend between $2,500 and $7,042 per year in recruitment costs. When the number of eventual hires is compared to the number of applicants recruited, there is a narrow range among the three systems: between 5% and 7%. This becomes a useful number for budgeting. If managers of ADA paratransit systems know the historic attrition rate, they can estimate how many applicants they will need to attract by dividing the number of operators needed by between 0.05 and 0.07. There is a relatively narrow range of screening costs per operator hired, ranging from $222 per operator hired in Den- ver to $396 per operator hired in Charlotte. There is a relative narrow range of initial training costs per operator hired, ranging from $2,583 in Charlotte to $2,936 per operator hired in Baltimore. Interestingly, if one looks at training costs per trainee, a comparison between the two con- tractors in Baltimore and Denver shows that these unit costs are almost equivalent—$1,541 in Denver versus $1,599 in Baltimore. The biggest difference appears to be in interviewing costs per operator hired, ranging from a low of $147 per operator hired in Denver to a high of $955 per operator hired in Balti- more. Note that Veolia’s total cost of reviewing the 1,800 applications and interviewing the 415 operator candidates in Baltimore at $105,000 is significantly higher than the $16,250 spent by MV in reviewing roughly 1,500 applications and interviewing 308 operators. Applicants Recruited Applicants Interviewed Applicants Screened Applicants Trained Operators Hired CATS/Charlotte 250 25 20 12 12 MV/Denver 1,496 308 224 197 111 Veolia/Baltimore 1,800 415 208 202 110 Table 7-2. Numbers of applicants recruited, interviewed, screened, trained, and hired. Recruiting Interviewing Screening Training Total CATA/Charlotte Total Costs $0 $5,400 $4,747 $30,990 $41,137 Per applicant $0 $216 $237 $2,583 NA Per Operator Hired $0 $450 $396 $2,583 $3,428 MV/Denver Total Costs $7,042 $16,250 $24,573 $304,171 $352,036 Per applicant $4.71 $53 $110 $1,541 NA Per Operator Hired $64 $147 $222 $2,749 $3,181 Veolia/Baltimore Total Costs $2,500 $105,000 $33,384 $322,920 $463,804 Per applicant $1.39 $253 $161 $1,599 NA Per Operator Hired $23 $955 $303 $2,936 $4,216 Table 7-3. Total and unit costs of recruiting, interviewing, screening and training applicants. 79

80 Overall, the total cost per operator hired is a fairly narrow range. The total cost per operator hired by MV in Denver ($3,181) and by CATS in Charlotte ($3,428) are nearly iden- tical, while the total cost per operator hired by Veolia in Baltimore ($4,216) is not that much higher, again with the major difference being the substantially higher application review/interviewing costs. Paratransit managers can utilize this narrow range for more accurate budgeting as well as to make appropriate workforce decisions and balance the trade- off between investing in the workforce versus spending on recruitment and training. The Other Costs of Turnover While this portion of the research focused narrowly on the direct financial costs of turnover, it is important to recognize that a high turnover rate has many other significant impacts— some of which also have a monetary cost. High turnover can result in workforce shortages, which in turn can lead to closed runs and lowered service quality. The operational problems created by high turnover and workforce shortages can also have an impact on other operations personnel who must address and resolve these problems. This can lead to turnover in other job categories such as dispatchers and reservation agents. High turnover can also be taxing on system managers. A significant amount of time can be diverted to recruitment and hiring, which may detract from time needed to properly man- age the systems and supervise all employees. A very insightful comment made during the focus group discussions by an operator from a “challenged” system was that the manage- ment was “so used to managing turnover, they have forgotten how to manage people.” The operating problems caused by turnover and workforce instability can also take a toll on man- agers. High turnover of managers is often evident in ADA paratransit systems that are “challenged.” In general, if not managed properly, vehicle operator turnover impacts the entire operation and organization. It can create a poor and difficult workplace environment for all employees and poor service quality for riders.

Next: Chapter 8 - Examples of Reported Practices and Tools »
Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations Get This Book
×
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Report 142: Vehicle Operator Recruitment, Retention, and Performance in ADA Complementary Paratransit Operations provides guidance for understanding the relationships that influence and enhance operator recruitment, retention, and performance in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary paratransit services.

Appendixes to TCRP Report 142 were published electronically as TCRP Web-Only Document 50: Survey Instrument, Productivity Charts, and Interview Protocol for Case Studies for TCRP Report 142.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!