Recruiting and Retaining Individuals in State Transportation Agencies (2003)

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NCHRP SYNTHESIS 323 Recruiting and Retaining Individuals in State Transportation Agencies A Synthesis of Highway Practice TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM

TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2003 (Membership as of October 2003) Officers Chair: GENEVIEVE GIULIANO, Director and Professor, School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California, Los Angeles Vice Chairman: MICHAEL S. TOWNES, President and CEO, Hampton Roads Transit, Hampton, VA Executive Director: ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board Members MICHAEL W. BEHRENS, Executive Director, Texas DOT JOSEPH H. BOARDMAN, Commissioner, New York State DOT SARAH C. CAMPBELL, President, TransManagement, Inc., Washington, DC E. DEAN CARLSON, President, Carlson Associates, Topeka, KS JOANNE F. CASEY, President and CEO, Intermodal Association of North America, Greenbelt, MD JAMES C. CODELL III, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet JOHN L. CRAIG, Director, Nebraska Department of Roads BERNARD S. GROSECLOSE, JR., President and CEO, South Carolina State Ports Authority SUSAN HANSON, Landry University Professor of Geography, Clark University LESTER A. HOEL, L.A. Lacy Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Virginia HENRY L. HUNGERBEELER, Director, Missouri DOT ADIB K. KANAFANI, Cahill Professor and Chairman, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley RONALD F. KIRBY, Director of Transportation Planning, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments HERBERT S. LEVINSON, Principal, Herbert S. Levinson Transportation Consultant, New Haven, CT MICHAEL D. MEYER, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology JEFF P. MORALES, Director of Transportation, California DOT KAM MOVASSAGHI, Secretary of Transportation, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development CAROL A. MURRAY, Commissioner, New Hampshire DOT DAVID PLAVIN, President, Airports Council International, Washington, DC JOHN REBENSDORF, Vice President, Network and Service Planning, Union Pacific Railroad Company, Omaha, NE CATHERINE L. ROSS, Harry West Chair of Quality Growth and Regional Development, College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology JOHN M. SAMUELS, Senior Vice President, Operations, Planning, and Support, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA PAUL P. SKOUTELAS, CEO, Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA MARTIN WACHS, Director, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California at Berkeley MICHAEL W. WICKHAM, Chairman, Roadway Corporation, Akron, OH MARION C. BLAKEY, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. DOT (ex officio) SAMUEL G. BONASSO, Acting Administrator, Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. DOT (ex officio) REBECCA M. BREWSTER, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA (ex officio) GEORGE BUGLIARELLO, Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering (ex officio) THOMAS H. COLLINS, (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard) Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard (ex officio) JENNIFER L. DORN, Federal Transit Administrator, U.S. DOT (ex officio) ROBERT B. FLOWERS (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ex officio) EDWARD R. HAMBERGER, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads (ex officio) JOHN C. HORSLEY, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (ex officio) ROGER L. KING, Chief Applications Technologist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (ex officio) ROBERT S. KIRK, Director, Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy (ex officio) RICK KOWALEWSKI, Acting Director, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. DOT (ex officio) WILLIAM W. MILLAR, President, American Public Transit Association (ex officio) MARY E. PETERS, Federal Highway Administrator, U.S. DOT (ex officio) SUZANNE RUDZINSKI, Director, Transportation and Regional Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (ex officio) JEFFREY W. RUNGE, National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator, U.S. DOT (ex officio) ALLAN RUTTER, Federal Railroad Administrator, U.S. DOT (ex officio) ANNETTE M. SANDBERG, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator, U.S. DOT (ex officio) WILLIAM G. SCHUBERT, Maritime Administrator, U.S. DOT (ex officio) NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Transportation Research Board Executive Committee Subcommittee for NCHRP GENEVIEVE GIULIANO, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Chair) JOHN C. HORSLEY, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials E. DEAN CARLSON, Carlson Associates, Topeka, KS LESTER A. HOEL, University of Virginia MARY E. PETERS, Federal Highway Administration ROBERT E. SKINNER, JR., Transportation Research Board MICHAEL S. TOWNES, Hampton Roads Transit, Hampton, VA Field of Special Projects Project Committee SP 20-5 GARY D. TAYLOR, CTE Engineers (Chair) SUSAN BINDER, Federal Highway Administration THOMAS R. BOHUSLAV, Texas DOT DONN E. HANCHER, University of Kentucky DWIGHT HORNE, Federal Highway Administration YSELA LLORT, Florida DOT WESLEY S.C. LUM, California DOT JOHN M. MASON, JR., Pennsylvania State University LARRY VALESQUEZ, New Mexico SHTD PAUL T. WELLS, New York State DOT J. RICHARD YOUNG, JR., Post Buckley Schuh & Jernigan, Inc. MARK R. NORMAN, Transportation Research Board (Liaison) WILLIAM ZACCAGNINO, Federal Highway Administration (Liaison) Program Staff ROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Manager, NCHRP DAVID B. BEAL, Senior Program Officer HARVEY BERLIN, Senior Program Officer B. RAY DERR, Senior Program Officer AMIR N. HANNA, Senior Program Officer EDWARD T. HARRIGAN, Senior Program Officer CHRISTOPHER HEDGES, Senior Program Officer TIMOTHY G. HESS, Senior Program Officer RONALD D. MCCREADY, Senior Program Officer CHARLES W. NIESSNER, Senior Program Officer EILEEN P. DELANEY, Managing Editor H ILARY FREER, Associate Editor TRB Staff for NCHRP Project 20-5 STEPHEN R. GODWIN, Director for Studies and Information Services JON WILLIAMS, Manager, Synthesis Studies DONNA L. VLASAK, Senior Program Officer DON TIPPMAN, Editor CHERYL Y. KEITH, Senior Secretary

NAT IONAL COOPERAT IVE H IGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP SYNTHESIS 323 Recruiting and Retaining Individuals in State Transportation Agencies A Synthesis of Highway Practice CONSULTANT THOMAS R. WARNE, P.E. Tom Warne and Associates, LLC TOPIC PANEL O.A. ELRAHMAN, New York State Department of Transportation KATHRYN HARRINGTON-HUGHES, ENO Transportation Foundation, Inc. CHRIS HATFIELD, California Department of Transportation BARBARA MARTIN, Montana Department of Transportation JOHN M. MASON, Penn State University MARK NORMAN, Transportation Research Board MARY SUSAN SPARLIN, National Highway Institute CLARK MARTIN, Federal Highway Administration (Liaison) DOREEN MCCARTHY, Federal Highway Administration (Liaison) SUBJECT AREAS Planning and Administration Research Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2003 www.TRB.org

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway ad- ministrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individu- ally or in cooperation with their state universities and others. How- ever, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway au- thorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full coopera- tion and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council was requested by the Association to administer the re- search program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communication and cooperation with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs iden- tified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Re- search projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. NOTE: The Transportation Research Board of the National Acad- emies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Admini- stration, the American Association of State Highway and Transporta- tion Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. NCHRP SYNTHESIS 323 Project 20-5 FY 2001 (Topic 33-08) ISSN 0547-5570 ISBN 0-309-06971-8 Library of Congress Control No. 2003113846 © 2003 Transportation Research Board Price $15.00 NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Co- operative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transporta- tion Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the Na- tional Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judg- ment that the program concerned is of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this pro- ject and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly com- petence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appro- priate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the Na- tional Research Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street Washington, D.C. 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. r. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. D The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of ngineering. E The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president f the Institute of Medicine. o The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the ational Research Council. N The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research. In an objective and interdisciplinary setting, the Board facilitates the sharing of information on transportation practice and policy by researchers and practitioners; stimulates research and offers research management services that promote technical excellence; provides expert advice on transportation policy and programs; and disseminates research results broadly and encourages their implementation. The Board’s varied activities annually engage more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

FOREWORD By Staff Transportation Research Board PREFACE Highway administrators, engineers, and researchers often face problems for which in- formation already exists, either in documented form or as undocumented experience and practice. This information may be fragmented, scattered, and unevaluated. As a conse- quence, full knowledge of what has been learned about a problem may not be brought to bear on its solution. Costly research findings may go unused, valuable experience may be overlooked, and due consideration may not be given to recommended practices for solving or alleviating the problem. There is information on nearly every subject of concern to highway administrators and engineers. Much of it derives from research or from the work of practitioners faced with problems in their day-to-day work. To provide a systematic means for assembling and evaluating such useful information and to make it available to the entire highway community, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials— through the mechanism of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program— authorized the Transportation Research Board to undertake a continuing study. This study, NCHRP Project 20-5, “Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Problems,” searches out and synthesizes useful knowledge from all available sources and prepares concise, documented reports on specific topics. Reports from this endeavor constitute an NCHRP report series, Synthesis of Highway Practice. The synthesis series reports on current knowledge and practice, in a compact format, without the detailed directions usually found in handbooks or design manuals. Each re- port in the series provides a compendium of the best knowledge available on those measures found to be the most successful in resolving specific problems. This report of the Transportation Research Board will be of interest to state depart- ments of transportation (DOTs) management and personnel, as well as to other profes- sionals in both the public and private sectors, who deal with the issue of recruitment and retention at the professional level. Work-force issues are at the forefront of discussions occurring within the ranks of public agencies and throughout corporate America. This Transportation Research Board synthesis contains information culled from sur- vey responses from transportation agencies and selected state employees. Surveys were sent to the 50 states and affiliate members of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and 13 Canadian provinces to assess the various strategies currently in practice, as well as gather data about a variety of agency characteristics. A second survey of state employees in Maryland, Nebraska, and Utah was undertaken in an attempt to validate, in both utility and effectiveness, the strategies identified by the states. This information is combined with and reviews applicable literature to yield a compendium of successful practice, including those that might have the greatest poten- tial for success and implementation in other state and province DOTs. A panel of experts in the subject area guided the work of organizing and evaluating the collected data and reviewed the final synthesis report. A consultant was engaged to collect and synthesize the information and to write this report. Both the consultant and the members of the oversight panel are acknowledged on the title page. This synthesis is an immediately useful document that records the practices that were acceptable within the limitations of the knowledge available at the time of its preparation. As progress in research and practice continues, new knowledge will be added to that now at hand.