Background

Disclaimer: This Web site is a demonstration site produced under NCHRP project 20-72. It is not an official NCHRP site.

State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have been facing significant workforce challenges for the last five to seven years. These challenges are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. The issues are well-known: attracting and retaining staff that can successfully meet changing expectations for the DOT, while simultaneously addressing significant instability due to retirements, competition from the private sector and an increasingly mobile workforce.

Several recent research projects have explored these issues, addressing a variety of strategies for recruitment, retention, succession planning, training, and change management. In addition to research reports available from the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), there are web sites for peer exchange of information related to workforce challenges, resources available from organizations outside of the transportation sector on techniques to improve public sector management and a wide range of methodologies and tools developed by private sector companies. However, there are no integrated tools available to state DOTs for matching workforce-related needs to available and appropriate resources.

For more information on the Workforce Toolkit see www.trb.org/TRBNet/ProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=658