Workforce Development and Intelligence Analysis for National Security Purposes Proceedings of a Workshop (2018) / Chapter Skim
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2 Building a Workforce
2 Building a Workforce
Pages 9-24
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From page 9... ...
Presenters addressed how to select and recruit those best suited to intelligence analysis, how to foster analysts' ongoing skill development through autonomous learning, and how to motivate and support the workforce through effective leadership. SELECTING AND RECRUITING THE WORKFORCE Nancy Tippins, The Nancy T
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From page 10... ...
• Work samples • Biographical data • Situational judgment inventories • Structured interviews • Scored application blanks • Experience requirements • Resumé reviews • Unstructured interviews • Educational requirements • Grade-point average requirements • Reference checks • Credit checks • Drug tests • Background investigations • Physical requirements • Appraisals of job performance • Estimates of advancement potential important for ensuring that carefully selected and validated tests are used as intended. She identified the final step in the selection process as completing technical documentation of the process.
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From page 11... ...
She stated that concurrent validation studies have special challenges because they use current employees to provide test data and often provide criterion data (e.g., job performance ratings)
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She believes, for example, that structured interviews are fair only in predicting job success and relatively poor in predicting turnover. However, she added, there is usually little adverse impact associated with these interviews, and most job applicants expect to be inter BOX 2-2 Factors to Consider in Selecting Measures for a Candidate Assessment Program • Predictive power/validity • Feasibility of appropriate validation strategy • Coverage of job domain • I ntegration of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteris tics to perform the tasks of the job • Alignment of the assessment process with the context of the job • Costs • T ime (development and validation of assessment; the assessment itself)
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From page 13... ...
Tippins went on to observe that different assessment approaches are also associated with different costs. She noted that structured interviews, cognitive ability tests, and personality tests are relatively low cost, whereas approaches that involve creating biographical data or situational judgment items or work simulations are more complex and costly.
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From page 14... ...
You are selecting people for what they need to know how to do on their very first day of the job [after training] ." Tippins then turned to the subject of recruitment, explaining that it is the process of identifying candidates, getting them interested in the organization, influencing their job choice, and ultimately bringing in the right people for the job.
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From page 15... ...
Ted Clark, CENTRA Technology, Inc., explained that internships have also proven useful in identifying personality traits that are and are not well suited to the intelligence analyst position. TRAINING THE WORKFORCE: AUTONOMOUS LEARNING Jill Ellingson, University of Kansas, described autonomous learning as one approach to workforce training that may meet the needs of the IC.
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From page 16... ...
She added that employees are more likely to be motivated to pursue autonomous learning when they can see its benefits, either in advancing their career or improving their work environment: "They can understand why what they are learning today is going to allow them to better their career or further their career in some way tomorrow." Ellingson then pointed out that various aspects of how intelligence analysts work and learn make autonomous learning a potentially useful approach for them. First, she observed, analysts' skills are honed during real-time experiences through practice and mentoring.
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From page 17... ...
family is the number one constraint against informal or autonomous learning," adding that learning during work hours is often more acceptable to employees and that autonomous learning can be integrated into the analyst's work day. She suggested that organizations can foster learning by allowing employees to identify times in their day when they have the most attentional energy.
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• Is the risk of failing to learn from feedback greater when the feed back source is a senior colleague relative to a peer? Following Ellingson's presentation, workshop participants discussed the challenge of motivating or encouraging employees who are not natu
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Nancy Cooke, Arizona State University, expressed the view that whether autonomous learning is a job requirement remains an open question, and that identifying measurable behaviors associated with autonomous learning would enable further study of its components and its validity. Zaccaro suggested that creating a work climate that encourages learning and talking to people about their interests or provides a structure or incentives for learning might help motivate those who do not pursue autonomous learning automatically.
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Finally, he said, at the organizational level, psychological safety becomes a major factor. Organizations also can have a sense of efficacy, he noted, and particular organizational climates contribute to motivation.
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He added that theories about shared cognition have also been supported by research; for example, research shows that when members of a group have high-quality mental models -- ideas or representations of how something works -- collective efficacy increases.3 Communicating strategic intent helps foster these high-quality models, he stated, which can prove especially important for persistence in the face of challenging circumstances.4 Finally, he pointed to self-regulation theory, which suggests that strategic and operational clarity supports better time management and planning for contingencies, both of which are linked to higher employee engagement.5 Zaccaro went on to observe that, in addition to setting direction, leaders can take steps to facilitate engagement among members of their teams. Although he acknowledged debate about the term "engagement" in the leadership literature, he interprets it as "exerting your whole self into the organizational work." Research indicates, he said, that engagement fosters creativity and innovation.
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From page 22... ...
"That kind of state is crucial for what we call knowledge work," he asserted, "where the work consists primarily of thinking." Research focused on how groups think collectively, he noted, indicates that psychological safety is linked to individual voice behavior, organizational commitment, and job engagement. At the team level, he added, the psychological safety of the team's climate has been linked to team effort, information sharing, and learning.
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From page 23... ...
His research on this topic countered the common belief that individuals with high cognitive capacity in the army left the army for better opportunities.8 Instead, he reported, people with high cognitive capacity and creative thinking and complex problem-solving skills tended to stay in the army longer because they were more likely to receive assignments that promoted their development. He pointed out that more recent research supports these conclusions, indicating that supportive leadership that includes assignments tailored to personal needs, feedback, and coaching, coupled with novel tasks, fosters personal learning and growth.9 Other research, he added, suggests that feedback may be especially important to reaping the benefits of developmental assignments.10 Zaccaro also noted that collective leadership -- individuals working together to accomplish leadership functions -- can foster workforce motivation beyond the influences of leadership functions.
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From page 24... ...
He identified collective leadership and leadership networks as an intriguing avenue for future research on leadership and workforce motivation. During the discussion following his presentation, Zaccaro spoke to generational differences in motivation in the workforce, noting that there are generational differences in what individuals expect from leadership in the workplace.
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