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70 Strategies to Attract and Retain a Capable Transportation Workforce
9.3 Workforce Practices. Four workforce practices that were designed to assist in making the
process of "Anticipating and Managing Performance Issues" within transportation agencies efficient and
effective were reviewed, and we identified two workforce practices that were the most noteworthy within
this context:
Minnesota DOT Individual Competencies for All Positions
Virginia DOT Downsizing Substitution Program
For these two practices, we conducted a case study. Summaries of the two case studies are presented
below. The full case studies can be found on the TRB website at http://trb.org/Main/Blurbs/164747.aspx
as part of Volume II: Supplemental Materials. The full case study descriptions detail each practice's
background, implementation, maintenance, evaluation, and transferability.
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Anticipating and Managing Performance Issues 71
Minnesota DOT Individual Competencies for All Positions . Minnesota Department of Transportation
(Mn/DOT) employs 5,033 people in a variety of
employment conditions (i.e., temporary, Minnesota DOT Individual Competencies for
unlimited, full-time, part-time). Mn/DOT has All Positions
identified and defined seven individual
Job Type: All
competencies that describe how successful
employees perform on the job and help employees ROI: Short- to Mid-term
understand the actions or behaviors that are Generation: All
desired. The seven competencies include Key Program Highlights:
Leadership, Learning and Strategic Systems
o Describes performance standards and
Thinking, Quality Management, Organizational
helps employees understand desired
Knowledge, People Management, Technical
behaviors and actions
Knowledge, and Individual Characteristics.
Mn/DOT utilized a card-sorting process to narrow o Ensures a level of consistency across the
an initial list of 67 competencies down to 10 that organization
are most important to the agency and relevant to o Helps hiring managers quickly identify
an employee's success. and evaluate more qualified applicants
The implementation of these competencies required minimal costs and produced great benefits for the
agency. Aside from the cost of hiring a consultant initially, the implementation of the seven
competencies has only required HR personnel time and effort to successfully incorporate them into all HR
functions and tools including position descriptions, performance appraisals, career planning, succession
planning, recruitment, and selection. Mn/DOT's leadership has explained that the individual
competencies provide greater accountability for employees and their performance because the
competencies serve as a reference point for employees to help them understand what is expected in the
job. From the staffing perspective, rolling the competencies into position descriptions and minimum
qualifications has ensured a level of consistency across the organization in how the competencies are
utilized. While the competencies have helped make Mn/DOT more unified, the competencies have also
made it easier for hiring managers to identify and evaluate more qualified applicants.
The approach was designed to serve as a foundation for Mn/DOT's Succession Planning effort in the
early 1990s. The intent was to align the competencies, positive behavior, and values with the
organization's vision and goals. Mn/DOT has found the program to be successful in unifying the agency,
establishing expectations, and giving managers tools to use in performance management and during initial
probation periods after hires. The state's bargaining units were involved throughout development of the
program. In 2009, Mn/DOT went through the process of refreshing and updating the competencies for
the next decade.
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72 Strategies to Attract and Retain a Capable Transportation Workforce
Virginia DOT Downsizing Substitution Program. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)
has a workforce of roughly 7,600 full-time employees with an average age of 48 years. VDOT's
substitution practice falls under the Commonwealth's
layoff policy. As of 2008, VDOT employed roughly Virginia DOT Downsizing Substitution
8,400 full-time, classified employees, but mandates Program
require the agency to be at 7,500 staff by July 1, 2010.
Job Type: All
The state of Virginia has a Department of Human
Resource Management responsible for overseeing all ROI: Short-term
HR departments for the entire Commonwealth and for Generation: All
providing policy oversight regarding layoff mandates. Key Program Highlights:
Within the state's downsizing policy, there is a
o Allows retirement-eligible employees
"substitution rule." Most agencies in Virginia have
the opportunity to serve as substitutes
not utilized the substitution rule and instead
for employees whose positions were
implement strict layoffs. VDOT wanted to invoke the eliminated as a result of layoffs
substitution rule to help provide staff with a choice in
the layoff process. VDOT requested and was o Reduces the risk of losing majority of
permitted to exercise full flexibilities in the retirement-eligible employees at once
implementation of the substitution rule during the o Of 370 employees who would have been
mandated reduction of staff. Full flexibilities allow laid-off, 333 were retained through the
VDOT to identify substitutes based on minimum program
qualifications as opposed to being restricted to make
placements within the same role (e.g., engineer has to be substituted for engineer).
The substitution program was used to help temper morale and ease the process of terminating staff based
on the mandate. Retirement-eligible employees may serve as substitutes for employees whose positions
were eliminated. To coordinate the substitution program, the agency developed and maintains a database
where retirement-eligible employees can apply to be substitutes for junior employees who were given
initial notice of layoff. If an employee was planning on leaving the agency, this layoff process allows
him/her to leave sooner with an enhanced severance package if their position was directly eliminated or if
they were able to serve as a substitute for another employee. If VDOT did not apply the substitution rule,
they would have to lay off many of their junior staff and then face the risk of a large population of more
senior employees retiring soon after, leaving the agency with a future cost and recruitment burden.
This system allows those whose jobs are in jeopardy to be placed into the jobs of the substitutes. Those
individuals whose jobs are in jeopardy and want to stay are then matched according to minimum
qualifications with those ready to be substitutes. The cost of implementing the substitution program has
included a part-time programmer who spent 50% of his time for 3 to 4 months to develop the application
that is used to track applications to substitutes and for placements. Additional cost included the HR
placement team that spent 5 full-time weeks pairing junior-level employees who would have been laid off
with senior-level employees who offered to substitute. The cost of offering early severance packages was
substantial, yet it was predicted to be offset by the savings of avoiding costs that would have otherwise
been associated with future hiring and training.
The substitution program has been much more successful with VDOT's rounds of layoffs than the agency
originally anticipated. The agency provided an initial notice of layoff to 640 employees in July 2009.
VDOT had approximately 270 employees who elected not to seek placement leaving roughly 370
employees who wanted placement for only 109 vacancies that could be immediately filled. However, the
agency was able to successfully place 333 employees because 224 of the remaining 260 employees
seeking placement were able to be placed into a position using an employee substitute. The agency had a
number of employees, approximately 25, who identified opportunities outside the agency and were
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Anticipating and Managing Performance Issues 73
voluntary quits. As a result, VDOT was only unable to place approximately 12 employees who sought
placement and were laid off, a great morale saver.
Other Example Practices
To serve as an additional resource for agencies interested in "Anticipating and Managing Performance
Issues," we have included a list of other practices that transportation agencies have implemented for this
purpose. Additional information on each of the following practices can be found in one- to two-page
summaries within the supplemental materials.
Personality-Fit Recruitment Strategies Using Mentors to Socialize New Recruits
The practice summaries include information, such as the lead organization, practice description, practice
purpose, targeted participants, return on investment (ROI) timeline, influence of the economy,
innovativeness, and resources to find out more information on the individual practices.
