Change Forces

Technology Advancement. Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and other emerging technologies are creating a gap between our current skills and future needs. Our current staff don’t have the skills required to engineer, manage, analyze and operate an autonomous system or perform the data analysis required to make data-formed planning and programming decisions.
Workforce Evolution. With the increase in workforce transitions and retirements, we are challenged to provide an attractive work environment for a new generation of workers with increased expectations for alternative work arrangements and other benefits that the public sector can provide, at the same time that public sector benefits are declining. We are also challenged by the loss of institutional knowledge when tenured employees transition to new jobs or retire. Our documentation of processes and succession planning is inadequate.
Shift in Role and Focus. As the organization shifts away from highway construction to focus on system maintenance and operations goals, we need to develop a management system and workforce that can be resilient through change and quickly adjust to new strategies, goals and objectives. This includes finding new ways to work together regardless of organizational boundaries and changes.

What Capabilities Are Needed?

Aligning Skills to Needs. agencies must put processes in place to identify and address current and likely future gaps in workforce skills. Enhanced tracking of skillsets and use of creative strategies for providing access to specialized skills (e.g. centers of excellence) may be part of establishing this capability.
Attracting and Retaining. agencies must strengthen their capability to attract and retain the next generation of employees. This may require an overhaul to recruiting strategies as well as staff management, recognition and reward systems.
Technology Adoption. to meet expectations of newer, “born digital” employees, agencies will need to improve their capability to adopt and integrate new technologies supporting process automation, information sharing and collaboration.

What can you do about it?

• Organizational Culture – to create a more collaborative work environment.

• Strategic Workforce Planning – to ensure that the agency is building the right skillsets as workforce transitions occur.
• Recruitment and Retention – to create effective strategies for attracting new talent, and for keeping new employees motivated.
• Succession planning – to smooth transitions as employees leave the agency or change jobs, and use these transitions as an opportunity to build both hard and soft skills in new areas.
• Employee engagement – to ensure there is two-way communication between employees and agency managers and that employees’ concerns are heard and addressed (where feasible).
• Professional development – to build skills in needed areas and provide a growth path for employees.

• Knowledge Audits – to sources of specialized expertise within the agency as well as gaps in critical areas.
• Social and Learning Communities – to establish opportunities for learning and collaborative problem solving.
• Knowledge Capture and Transfer – to facilitate onboarding of new staff and avoid loss of important knowledge when current staff change jobs or leave the agency.
• Learning Organization – to promote a culture in which employees are challenged to improve the agency’s internal processes and services.
• Mentoring – to provide opportunities for newer employees to learn from more experienced employees.

• IT Strategic Planning – to ensure that expectations of newer employees are considered within decisions about IT investments to facilitate internal communication and collaboration.

What resources will help?