Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners (2021)

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42 Workforce Development and Talent Management Healthy and successful corporations usually spend between 5 and 8 percent of their net earnings on strategic planning and market research. This is done to help position their com- pany for future challenges and to take advantage of market opportunities. In rapidly changing markets, the companies that survive will be those that anticipate future opportunities and chal- lenges, and that put in place a strategy for thriving in an uncertain environment. The need for such a strategic perspective (based upon a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis) becomes even more apparent when organizations face what the literature calls “volatile” change, or when an industry is facing heavy competition from other sectors in attracting talent. A key dimension of this strategic approach is workforce development. In an era of information generation, digitalization, and automation, where technology and innovation excite and promise handsome rewards, public agencies are often slow to respond to rapidly changing labor markets and are particularly vulnerable in terms of hiring and retaining the “best and brightest” workforce. This is especially true where public and private sectors may be competing for the same talent. Globally, public agencies have realized the need to reshape how they approach knowledge reten- tion, workforce skills, and talent management and are adopting ways to improve their current approaches to talent management. This chapter discusses the talent management process and how talent profiles can be used to enhance the capability of an agency’s planning staff. 4.1 The Talent Management Process and Talent Profiles Understanding the core competencies that are needed for a particular position or role in an organization is considered by human resource officials as a basic requirement for defining staff positions. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), for example, has created a “building block model” based on the desired competencies for positions in 10 industries and numerous subindustry spe- cializations. [14] As shown in Figure 4, DOL classifies the competencies in three levels that build off of one another: foundational, industry-related, and occupation-related. Based on this concep- tual foundation, the DOL developed a competency model that allows a user to collect multiple competencies for a defined work setting. As noted by the DOL, “the goal of the effort is to promote an understanding of the skill sets and competencies that are essential to educate and train a globally competitive workforce.” [14] The industries included in this model were from the private sector; no public sector applications were included although many of the competencies in the model are relevant to public agency staff positions. As part of the FHWA-sponsored NNTW described earlier, the workforce centers used the DOL model construct to examine the desired competencies for different functional areas, including transportation planning. [13] The researchers examined competency standards for C H A P T E R 4

Workforce Development and Talent Management 43   planning-related industry types and clusters as defined in the DOL model, for example, Trans- portation and Logistics and Geospatial Technology. These were then augmented with an organi- zational scan of the staffing in the MPO for the Los Angeles region and input from professional competency information from the APA. Based on these inputs, the competency model shown in Figure 5 was developed by the researchers for position-level descriptions in a planning agency. Job descriptions have been the traditional way of defining staff roles and expertise needs. As has been demonstrated in private firms, staff recruiting and the professional development of employees are now moving beyond position descriptions. They are relying on talent profiles or sometimes referred to as staff performance models. Talent profiles incorporate job-related combinations of the KSAs needed for various planning functions. Talent profiles are used for workforce development, inventory of staff capabilities, KSA gap analysis, career management, recruiting, and training/professional development. They can also assist with retention. In the context of this research, the talent profile approach can be more directly keyed to emerging trends and needs so as to better reflect needed planning expertise. The KSA components of talent pro- files are discussed in the following paragraphs. The EE requirements, which are more related to basic credentials for being considered for a job, are added separately after the talent profile is created to create job descriptions if an agency so desires. There are three ways of looking at KSAs for their relevance to a transportation planning function. Knowledge—The Topical/Subject Focus The underlying knowledge base for the full scope transportation planning is potentially very large. The KSAs for a typical planning function in a transportation agency will likely vary depending on the substantive focus of the planning issues facing the agency (e.g., transportation systems development, land-use, environmental impacts, economic development, etc.), planning technical activities (e.g., analysis, forecasting, and evaluation), scale and complexity of the pol- icy mandates, requirements for data collection and use, and the particular roles of staff positions (e.g., supervisors and managers). For example, regional planning agencies will likely have land-use modeling or forecasting within their mandate in order to produce a long-range plan. Very few state DOT planning func- tions have such responsibilities (although some do). As another example, many transportation planning agencies are becoming more involved with freight planning, which requires a different knowledge base and skills set of knowledge areas. Source: [14] Figure 4. DOL competency levels.

44 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners Planning Skills and Abilities Talent profiles describe transportation planning in terms of a set of skills necessary to accom- plish any given planning function. Skills might include data collection and analysis, travel demand modeling, program and project evaluation, and public engagement. Abilities, on the other hand, are viewed as inherent personal capabilities that characterize an individual’s values and work ethic. For example, the literature review identified many abilities desired for employees, such as willingness to learn, exhibiting professional ethics, timeliness in producing work, and the like. Position skills and abilities based on the results of this research are presented in Chapter 5. Many of these skills and abilities are generic to any level of planning or for any topic focus, for example, whether one is doing statewide transportation planning, metropolitan transportation planning or a freight planning. Source: [13] Note: This research has indicated the importance of cultural competency and equity with respect to planner competency. As such, cultural competency would be added to Tier 4 and equity added to Tier 5 in this figure. Staffing Informing Networking Monitoring Entrepreneurship Supporting Others Motivating & Inspiring Developing & Mentoring Strategic Planning/Action Preparing Budgets Clarifying Roles/Objectives Managing Conflict Developing Vision Monitoring Resources Site Plan Analysis Scenario Planning Travel Demand Analysis Adoption of Mandates Activity-based Modeling Origin/Destination Analysis ITE Trip Generation Components of Finance Management Competencies Occupation-specific Requirements GIS Highway Principles Public Outreach Public Transit Transport Transport of Planning & Communication Ground Transp. Modelling Figure 5. Competency model for transportation planning.

Workforce Development and Talent Management 45   Roles In addition to KSAs, planning talent can also be defined in terms of the various roles performed by the planning staff. Roles reflect not only the organizational function of the planning unit within the overall enterprise, but also the responsibilities of individual staff members. For example, plan- ning might be closely related to programming and funding, or link to other agency functions concerned with asset management. Within each functional area, talent profiles must differentiate among staff roles in terms of position level in the agency hierarchy, reporting relationships, authority, and span of control. A usual role hierarchy includes agency executives, planning managers, supervisors, general staff, and specialists. Figure 6 shows an example of a talent profile used by an MPO for a senior transportation planner position. The figure clearly shows the types of knowledge areas expected for a senior transportation planner in this organization as well as the desired skills and abilities. Interviews with DOT planning managers and the results from the surveys conducted for this research suggested that there is some confusion about the concept of talent profiles, how they can be used, and how they differ from job descriptions. A job/position description specifies func- tions, tasks, duties, and responsibilities associated with a specific position, a general description KNOWLEDGE OF: • Principles and practices of program administration and management. • Principles and practices of planning analysis. • Principles and practices of urban and regional planning and planning analysis. • Principles and applications of critical thinking and analysis. • Principles and methods of qualitative and quantitative research. • Best practices, trends and emerging technologies. • Project management principles. • Applicable federal, state and local laws, codes, regulations (based on assignment). • Customer service principles. • Specialized equipment relevant to area of assignment. • Modern office technology. SKILLS AND ABILITIES IN: • Coordinating deadlines, prioritizing work demands and monitoring programs/projects. • Gathering data, analyzing findings and applying logic and reason. • Applying urban and regional planning practices and principles. • Researching industry trends, solutions and best practices. • Interpreting, monitoring and reporting data and statistics. • Organizing, preparing and maintaining reports, schedules, records and files. • Exercising political acumen, tact and diplomacy. • Working effectively under pressure, with multiple deadlines and changing priorities. • Authoring and preparing original reports, mapping products, technical documents and presentations. • Interpreting and applying applicable laws, codes, regulations and standards (based on assignment). • Providing customer service. • Utilizing a computer and relevant software applications. • Utilizing communication and interpersonal skills as applied to interaction with coworkers, supervisors, the general public and others to sufficiently exchange or convey information and to receive work direction. Figure 6. Example KSAs for senior transportation planner position, MPO.

46 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners of needed knowledge areas, and usually the minimum levels of EEs necessary to perform the functions of the position. Talent profiles, however, are different as illustrated by the example in Figure 6 in that they include a full accounting of KSA relevant to the planning position. They can be used for a wide range of talent management purposes. The following are key observations on talent profiles emphasized in the products of this research. 1. Talent profiles are used as part of a larger talent management process consisting of recruiting, training, professional development, and retaining employees. Key concepts include: a. An assessment of external and internal forces acting on the planning function can be used to determine what types of core competencies and KSAs are needed as part of the planning function. b. Desired talents are defined at a higher level of aggregation as they relate to the core compe- tencies desired for a planning position. The assessment of desired KSAs allows a planning manager to determine what KSAs are needed in the planning function for the agency, that is, across all staff members. c. The talent management process is designed to ensure that the hiring process and the pro- fessional development of existing staff are responsive to changing agency needs in terms of changing KSAs. This has obvious value for larger agencies that may be making multiple hiring decisions. However, it is also useful for smaller agencies given that the needs profile can be used to indicate systematically the changing talent needs as external forces and internal agency characteristics change. d. A focus on KSAs, rather than the functional description of specific positions, allows a man- ager to assess the capabilities of staff members to assume other responsibilities (positions) or assume multiple roles as agency needs evolve. e. Employee-developed talent profiles can be related to the desired KSAs of the planning unit as a whole to determine gaps between desired staff KSAs and those that exist with the current staff. If existing employees are to receive training or participate in professional development opportunities, the employee talent profiles can be used to create an Indi- vidual Development Plan (IDP) to match training/professional development needs with employees and to track progress. f. The use of KSAs makes it easier for agencies to determine the relative pros and cons of uti- lizing consultant outside expertise, hiring new employees, or providing training and pro- fessional development opportunities to existing employees along with many other agency strategies discussed in Chapter 6. g. An agency talent profile template can be used by candidates as part of their application pro- cess, allowing the agency to quickly screen a large number of potential hires to identity the best match with desired KSAs. Note that the process does not replace the need for interviews with candidates. Such interviews are still necessary to determine other candidate attributes, for example, communication skills that are not easily determined via the talent profile. h. For defining new positions, talent profiles and desired KSAs can be used in the development of job descriptions. As noted earlier, additional information would be needed, for example, minimum educational and certification requirements, or years of experience. i. The talent profiles are designed to be updated as employees gain experience or education. The talent profile can then be used on an ongoing basis to determine professional and promotional opportunities to enhance employee retention. 2. A standard talent profile template can be designed to accommodate specific agency talent needs by combining key substantive KSAs as identified by planning unit managers with other human resource requirements. 3. A talent profile follows transportation planners throughout their career with updates occur- ring as KSAEEs change. It thus becomes a useful means of indicating a planner’s professional evolution over a career.

Workforce Development and Talent Management 47   Pandemics and Possible Impacts on KSAs for Transportation Planning Pandemics more generally and COVID-19 specifically could have very significant impacts on KSAs related to transportation planning talent profiles. These changes are on top of, and in addition to, the changes induced by the perceived alterations in the external environment for planning such as the impact of transformational technologies. As an example, the impact of COVID-19 could either directly or indi- rectly accelerate, postpone, or alter the implications of some of these trends. These implications could include: 1. External impacts of COVID-19 on the planning agenda. Some perceived future impacts of COVID-19 will affect the planning agenda, and therefore the type of planning talent required. Considerations include impacts on: • Modal use (e.g., transit ridership declines, increase in SOV use in commuting, impact on microtransit, bike/ped use) • Ridesharing/ride hailing and related TNC entities • Future land-use patterns (especially related to density, suburbanization) • Global and domestic supply change and related logistics and freight use • Rate of change related to greenhouse gases, pollution, and energy sustainability • Need for specialists 2. Internal impacts of COVID-19 on transportation organizations and their constituent units. Some future impacts of COVID-19, in particular relating to financial and institutional implications, include: • Reductions in state DOT revenues and consequent impact on staffing levels and slots available for planning units • Implications of overall employment levels for state agencies and possibly relating to outsourcing • Focus on the cost-effectiveness of acquiring planning capabilities. This would imply a need to define the need for permanent core capabilities versus those capabilities that can be outsourced and used on an as-needed basis, thus providing reduced costs, improved staff utilization, and increased flexibility to respond to changes in work load factors • Relative costs of acquiring episodically needed specialist capabilities, e.g., in-house versus outsourced capabilities Of the characteristics of talent profiles listed, perhaps the most useful to an agency is that they allow planning managers to identify the complete range of desired agency talent needs in response to an evolving planning context, and then relate these needs to gaps in existing planning staff capabilities. One can then match desired KSAs with those of existing employees to develop employee professional development plans to enhance an individual’s career while at the same time improving the agency’s overall staff capabilities. These efforts are described in more detail in the QRG developed for this project. Illustrative talent profiles for different transportation planning positions are found in Appendix B. The next chapter describes the Tool that was developed as part of this research to help trans- portation agencies enhance their planning capabilities.