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

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48 This chapter discusses the Tool, developed based on the results of the information collection described earlier, that can be used by transportation officials to assess their current planning staff capability. Given gaps in capabilities between what is desired and what exists, Chapter 6 discusses different types of strategies agencies can consider to improve their planning capabilities. The QRG combines material from both Chapters 5 and 6 to provide a step-by-step process for conducting a staff assessment as well as an assessment of the talent management process in the agency. The QRG, provided also as a stand-alone document, is found in Appendix C. 5.1 Tool Logic Figure 7 shows the steps in the Talent Management Assessment Tool, which reflect the overall talent management process presented in the previous chapters. As indicated, the Tool can be used by both agency managers wanting to enhance the capabilities of the planning unit and by employees/new hires for professional development needs and for use in promotion. Two Tools were developed. The Agency Talent Profile Tool and the Employee Talent Profile Tool are avail- able as separate, downloadable, stand-alone programs. The Employee Talent Management Tool uses the same material for KSAs available in the Agency Talent Profile Tool. Both Tools present options for KSAs that can be selected by Tool users, but also provide the ability to add other KSAs if the user wants to reflect specific or unique planning contexts. The Agency Talent Profile Tool also allows the user to develop a job description by adding the requirements for education/ certification and years of experience (EEs). For purposes of the remaining portions of this report, only the Agency Talent Profile Tool (hereafter referred to as the Tool) is described given that the Employee Talent Profile Tool uses the same input information. The following sections provide an overview of the steps for using the Tool. Much more detail is found in Appendix C and in the QRG document. Tool Steps The steps for using the Tool include the following. Step 1: Identify External and Internal Forces A dropdown menu provided in the Tool presents possible external and internal forces that could affect the desired KSAs in an agency. The forces were identified from the information collection task as part of this research. Table 14 illustrates how these forces are presented in the Tool (the QRG has the complete list). Recommended corresponding KSAs to each of these forces are provided in the Tool. C H A P T E R 5 Talent Management Tool

Talent Management Tool 49   With respect to internal forces, Table 14 illustrates how the table can be used. In this case, possible KSAs for an agency facing an aging staff focus on the need to understand and be sensi- tive to the characteristics of those they supervise. Note that the user of the Tool can choose other KSAs and forces that might be appropriate for a planning unit. Step 2: Select Position(s) Type This step allows the user to define what staff position type is being assessed. Six position types are available in the Tool: General Planner, Planning Supervisor, Planning Manager, Planning Director, Senior Director, and Specialist. If the Specialist category is selected, a dropdown menu is offered that permits further characterization by mode, for example, specialist in active trans- portation, transit, or multimodal transportation; or by planning context, for example, air quality, cultural resources, or equity analysis. Step 3: Select Planning Context This step allows the user to define the organizational context or area of responsibility a posi- tion will experience or be responsible for. Five such contexts are provided with an option to add another. The contexts include MPO, State Agency, City Agency, County Agency, and Munici- pality. Thus, for example, if a state DOT is assessing a position for its planning unit, one would select State Agency; likewise an MPO would select MPO. Note that an agency could incorporate their own name for the planning context by adding “xxxx Department of Transportation” in the Other option. Step 4: Identify Key Knowledge Areas Ranking needed knowledge areas allows the planning manager to think about what is really desired for an overall planning unit staff capability or for a particular position. The user selects Figure 7. Talent management assessment tool.

50 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners External Forces for Change (generally societal) If you are concerned with this force for change….. Then consider the following: Knowledge Areas Skills Abilities Changing demographics • Cultural awareness • Equity • Impacts and consequences of transportation projects and programs • Planning data inputs • Socioeconomic trends and behavioral relationships • Travel behavior • Collaboration with external groups • Cultural competency • Data collection • Data analysis • Meeting facilitation • Public engagement • Understanding customer needs/desires • Use of models • Attend meetings in off-work hours • Listening and public speaking Changing concept of the workplace Constrained finance and funding resources for public sector investment Continuing support for economic development goals Emphasis in equity concerns (e.g., mobility for disadvantaged populations, rural vs urban, racial, gender, and the like) Emphasis on community livability (e.g., land-use, urban design, and the role of infrastructure) Emphasis on environmental quality Emphasis on public health and contributing factors The full chart is available in the Tool. Internal Forces for Change (generally affecting internal staffing and other resources) If you are concerned with this force for change….. Then consider the following: Knowledge Areas Skills Abilities Aging staff • Diversity, equity, and inclusion • Cultural competency Commitment to learning Knowledge transfer Mentoring Motivating staff Multitasking Working within team/collaboration Working independently/taking initiative Changing data and analysis capabilities (and the technologies thereof) Changing institutional relationships among levels of government and the private sector Diverse staffing that reflects community characteristics Emphasis on managing the current transportation system (e.g., systems operations) Expanding planning linkages to other planning efforts and policy areas (e.g., transportation system resilience/climate change and freight planning) Focus on stakeholder engagement Increased interest in system preservation and asset management (including system resilience) New land-use and travel demand forecasting theory and methods Performance-oriented planning and program management Policy emphasis on integrated mobility (e.g., MaaS and Complete Streets) The full chart is available in the Tool. Table 14. External and internal forces affecting desired talent capabilities.

Talent Management Tool 51   the desired knowledge areas and ranks each in terms of importance to the position. The rankings for each knowledge area (and those for skills and abilities in the next steps as well) are: 0 = Not important or relevant 1 = Somewhat important; desirable 2 = Very important 3 = Required The Tool only uses the knowledge areas ranked as a 2 or 3 in developing the overall talent profile. The inclusion of 0 or 1 permits the Tool user to compare different positions at the same classification level in a planning unit. For example, if the Tool user is assessing all General Planner positions in a staff, it is likely that certain positions would require knowledge areas considered not important or irrelevant for other General Planner positions. Note that once the assessment is done for the staff and for a particular position, the rankings will stay the same for subsequent uses of the Tool for that position until changed by further use by the planning manager. The knowledge areas available in the Tool are shown in Table 15. A link is available to Table 14 to review the suggested knowledge areas for external and internal forces that will likely affect the planning function over the next 5 to 10 years. Notice also that five Other options are available for the Tool user to add other desired knowledge areas. Step 5: Identify Key Skills Ranking needed skill areas allows the planning manager to think about what is really desired for overall staff capability or for a particular position. Similar to Step 4, the user selects the desired skills and ranks in terms of importance to the position. The skills areas included in the Tool are shown in Table 16. As in Step 4, a link is available to review the suggested skills for external and internal forces that will likely affect the planning function over the next 5 to 10 years. Basic Knowledge Targeted Planning Knowledge Targeted Planning Application Knowledge Executive • Principles of planning, plan development, and other typical products • Alternative modes and multimodal plan development • Community development/planning/social networks • Finance/funding • Governmental structure for transportation decision-making • Land-use/economic development • Socioeconomic trends and behavioral relationships • Travel behavior • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other • Economics • Environmental impacts • Equity • Impacts and consequences of transportation projects and programs • Marketing • Modal operational and infrastructure characteristics • Sustainability • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other • Automated/connected vehicle technologies • Data collection/analysis technologies • Geographic information systems (GIS) • Policy/program practices • Planning data inputs • Project development process • Project programming • Related regulations and legislation • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other • Legislation • Policymaking • Decision-making • Risk management • Budgeting • Personnel management • Strategic visioning • Governmental relations • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other Table 15. Candidate knowledge areas.

52 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners Step 6: Identify Key Abilities Similar to Step 5, ranking needed abilities allows the planning manager to think about the abilities desired for an overall staff capability or for a particular position. The user selects the desired abilities and ranks each in terms of importance to the position. The abilities included in the Tool are shown in Table 17. As in Steps 4 and 5, a link is available to review the suggested abilities for external and internal forces that will likely affect the planning function over the next 5–10 years. Step 7: Create Job Description If the agency wants to create a job description based on a talent profile for a specific position, three additional pieces of information can be added in the Tool. The user can designate required education levels, for example, undergraduate or graduate degree; professional certification, for example, ITE’s PTP certification; and the number of years of experience, for example, less than 5 years or 11 to 15 years. Administrative/Project Development Targeted Planning Application Interpersonal Skills • Budget preparation and monitoring • Collaboration with other agency staff • Collaboration with external partners and groups • Consultant administration • Cultural competency • Grant administration and compliance • Preparation of reports, memoranda, and presentations • Quality assurance/quality control procedures • Team-building • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other • Knowledge • Problem-solving • Data collection • Data analysis • Data visualization & presentation • Performance metrics • Problem resolution • Review of policies, plans, and regulations • Synthesis of information sources • Understanding customer needs/desires • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other • Direction setting • Meeting facilitation • Mentoring of team members • Negotiation • Public engagement • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other Table 16. Candidate skills areas. Administrative/Project Development Targeted Planning Application Interpersonal Skills • Analytical & creative thinking • Attend meetings in off-work hours • Commitment to learning • Effectively interacting with agency and other professional leaders/managers • Effectively interacting with elected officials • Listening • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other • Public speaking and presentations • Motivating staff • Multitasking • Participating in staff hiring • Preparing and monitoring agency unit budgets • Punctual and timely in response • Representing agency at meetings • Satisfying agency and Human Resources reporting requirements • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other • Strategic thinking • Working within team/collaboration • Working independently/taking initiative • Other • Other • Other • Other • Other Table 17. Candidate abilities areas.

Talent Management Tool 53   Example of Talent Profile and Related Job Description As an example, assume a state DOT planning manager is developing a talent profile for an entry- level General Planner position. The manager selected the following options and rankings in the Tool: Position: General planner Context: State agency Knowledge areas rated 3 or 2: Required Knowledge (rated 3) Desired Knowledge (rated 2) • Modal operational and infrastructure characteristics • Principles of planning, plan development, and other typical products • Alternative modes and multimodal plan development • Impacts and consequences of transportation projects and programs • Data collection/analysis technologies • Planning data inputs • Socioeconomic trends and behavioral relationships • Travel behavior • Equity • Sustainability • GIS • Project development process Skills areas rated 3 or 2: Required Skills (rated 3) Desired Skills (rated 2) • Collaboration with other agency staff • Cultural competency • Preparation of reports, memoranda, and presentations • Data collection • Data analysis • Data visualization & presentation • Synthesis of information sources • Public engagement • Performance metrics • Review of policies, plans and regulations • Understanding customer needs/desires Abilities areas rated 3 or 2: Required Abilities (rated 3) Desired Abilities (rated 2) • Analytical & creative thinking • Commitment to learning • Listening • Punctual and timely in response • Working within team/collaboration • Working independently/taking initiative • Effectively interacting with agency and other professional leaders/managers • Public speaking and presentations • Multitasking The resulting talent profile from the Tool is shown in Figure 8. Assume that the agency wants to turn the talent profile into a position description. One does this by clicking on a “create job description” tab. For this particular position, a graduate degree and less than 5 years’ experience are required, and there is no certification requirement. The job posting is then produced as shown in Figure 9. 5.2 Tool Validation The agency and employee Tools went through several iterations of development, with the project panel providing feedback and input on Tool structure and substance. The research design also included pilot studies of the Agency Talent Profile Tool with three state DOTs and

54 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners Position Type: General Planner Planning Context: State Agency Required Knowledge • Modal operational and infrastructure characteristics • Principles of planning, plan development, and other typical products • Alternative modes and multimodal plan development • Impacts and consequences of transportation projects and programs • Data collection/analysis techniques • Planning data inputs Desired Knowledge • Socioeconomic trends and behavioral relationships • Travel behavior • Equity • Sustainability • Geographic information systems (GIS) • Project development process Required Skills • Collaboration with other agency staff • Cultural competency • Preparation of reports, memoranda, and presentations • Data collection • Data analysis • Data visualization • Synthesis of information sources • Public engagement Desired Skills • Performance metrics • Review of policies, plans, and regulations • Understanding customer needs/desires Desired Abilities • Effectively interacting with agency and other professional leaders/managers • Public speaking and presentations • Multitasking Required Abilities • Analytical & creative thinking • Commitment to learning • Listening • Punctual and timely in response • Working within team/collaboration • Working independently/taking initiative Abilities Skills Knowledge Talent Profile: Start Over Create Job Description Print Figure 8. Example general planner talent profile. an MPO. The original intent was for these pilots to be in-person transportation agency meet- ings along with interaction with others in the metropolitan area or city where the pilot study was undertaken to provide a broad perspective of its potential use. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many government agencies locking down access to their buildings through much of 2020, resulting in most of the planning staff and managers that would be part of a pilot study working from home. In addition, the pandemic caused many agencies to reorient their priorities in terms of staff resources and allocation. The implication of this was that the original plan to conduct in-person pilot studies had to be changed to a distance-based strategy. The MnDOT, MDOT, NJDOT, and ARC agreed to participate in the on-line pilot study focusing on the possible uses and benefits of the Tool. The format for these pilot studies included (1) sending the Tool to the agency contact 1 week prior to the interactive webinar so that agency representatives could test it, and (2) holding a 1-hour interactive webinar that consisted of a pre- sentation of the Tool with the remaining time devoted to comments and suggestions. The webinar was intended primarily to solicit feedback on the Tool, but interactions with agency officials also provided an opportunity to identify strategies or actions that they had taken to recruit, profession- ally develop, and retain planning staff, which were then considered for inclusion in the QRG.

Talent Management Tool 55   Although the number of agency staff and respective roles varied by pilot study, in general, the types of positions represented in the pilots included planning office director, planning program supervisor, district planner, top tier transportation planners, and human resource staff. In one pilot study, the planning director included young planners to get their perspectives on the ques- tions being asked. The following observations on the Tool and potential talent management strategies resulted from these pilot studies: 1. Participants in each pilot study agency concluded that the Tool would not likely replace the current human resource process, which is often dictated by government or, if present, union requirements. However, participants in the pilot studies suggested that the Tool would give planning managers and supervisors a desirable opportunity to think about current and needed future planning capabilities in their agency. Position Type: General Planner Planning Context: State Agency Professional Certification: None Experience: < 5 years Required Knowledge • Modal operational and infrastructure characteristics • Principles of planning, plan development, and other typical products • Alternative modes and multimodal plan development • Impacts and consequences of transportation projects and programs • Data collection/analysis techniques • Planning data inputs Desired Knowledge • Socioeconomic trends and behavioral relationships • Travel behavior • Equity • Sustainability • Geographic information systems (GIS) • Project development process Required Skills • Collaboration with other agency staff • Cultural competency • Preparation of reports, memoranda, and presentations • Data collection • Data analysis • Data visualization • Synthesis of information sources • Public engagement Desired Skills • Performance metrics • Review of policies, plans, and regulations • Understanding customer needs/desires Desired Abilities • Effectively interacting with agency and other professional leaders/managers • Public speaking and presentations • Multitasking Required Abilities • Analytical & creative thinking • Commitment to learning • Listening • Punctual and timely in response • Working within team/collaboration • Working independently/taking initiative Abilities Skills Knowledge Job Posting: Start Over Print Figure 9. Example general planner job posting.

56 Attracting, Retaining, and Developing the Transportation Workforce: Transportation Planners 2. With respect to desired planner KSAs, there was a sense among participants that the plan- ning staff should have a broad perspective on how transportation contributes to and impacts society. As one state DOT official noted, the agency has seen a steady increase in the technical proficiency of new employees, but a disappointing understanding of policy making, sustain- ability, and importantly, cultural diversity. 3. Several useful suggestions were made concerning the substance of the Tool. For example, one state agency suggested that an additional position type, a senior executive, be added to the Tool to reflect the fact that planning directors report to individuals above them who are not planners or who have no background in planning. It was suggested that the Tool would provide some useful insights on what background or information such positions might need in order to better understand planning unit needs. In response to this suggestion such a position role was added to the Tool along with KSAs that might be appropriate to this posi- tion such as knowledge of legislation, policy making, risk management, strategic visioning, and the like. 4. Some examples of creative or successful agency efforts identified via the pilot studies included: a. One state recently removed the requirement for the Director of Planning to be a regis- tered professional engineer. This was viewed positively in two ways. First, it provided possible upward mobility for senior planning staff. Second, it sent a message to the agency and others outside the agency that planning is different from engineering, often needing different types of skills and abilities. b. Having a well-established career path that shows employees how they can progress through the agency’s professional ranks was considered an important foundation for creating stable planning staff capability. As noted by one state DOT official, her agency has a professional development path for the first 8 years of an employee’s career with the agency. After that there is no clear upward career trajectory. As a result, the agency has lost many of its mid- level planning supervisors, which the official felt was now the most pressing staffing need in the agency’s planning unit. c. Tuition reimbursement was offered for courses taken to advance an employee’s education. d. Targeted outreach to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) was under- taken by several agencies to provide internships and opportunities for employment. One DOT paid the living expenses and local transportation costs for summer interns from HBCUs located in other states. e. Support for student summer internships has been very successful in attracting new employees. One state hired approximately 30 interns per year, of which about one-third became perma- nent employees upon graduation. f. DOT staff participation at unemployment centers has helped those looking for a job by aiding in filling out applications for DOT positions. g. Planning staff have participated in university/college job fairs illustrating the range of projects the agency has been involved in. h. Extensive social media outreach has been used to highlight the benefits and excitement of working in the transportation planning field. i. In one state, competitive salary levels are not an issue with prospective employees, but job stability was the most important employee concern. The DOT has established a guaran- teed 6-month and 2-year advancement steps in salary for new employees (assuming all other job requirements are satisfactory). 5. Other observations relating to the challenges of a talent management process and attracting/ retaining planning employees included: a. Newer employees seem to want a lot of personal interaction and transparency in career advancement in the agency. b. Office designs have trended toward more open space with designated areas for meetings and personal interactions. Young planners have liked this office design.

Talent Management Tool 57   c. COVID-19 has accelerated the work-from-home office model. The consensus of the pilot study participants was that it is not clear at this point whether the work-from-home levels seen during the pandemic will last in their agency post-COVID-19. d. Elevating transportation planning as an exciting and appealing job in a transportation agency needs to come from the top of the organization. Top officials are often the ones that establish the organizational culture. e. Creating a broader set of KSAs in a planning staff needs a champion within the organization. f. In most states, civil service and, if present, union requirements, often dictate how employees are recruited and progress through their careers. Suggested changes to the Tool were incorporated into the final version. The creative strategies for recruiting, developing, and retaining staff are included in the next chapter’s discussion on strategies to enhance planning staff capabilities.