Federal Aviation Administration
Human Capital System Incorporates Many Leading Practices, but Improving Employees' Satisfaction with Their Workplace Remains a Challenge Gao ID: GAO-10-89 October 28, 2009Aviation is critical to the nation's economic well-being, global competitiveness, and national security. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) 48,000 employees guide aircraft, oversee safety, and maintain air traffic control equipment. FAA will need these skills and additional expertise to address evolving missions. As requested, GAO reviewed (1) how FAA's human capital system compares with practices of leading organizations and (2) how FAA employees' workplace satisfaction compares with that of other federal government employees. GAO reviewed documents and relevant studies, and interviewed FAA officials who implement human capital procedures and union representatives. GAO also reviewed survey data on workplace satisfaction.
FAA's human capital system incorporates many practices used in leading organizations, but the agency's placement near the bottom in best places to work rankings, published by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation, could pose challenges to employee recruitment, motivation, and retention. As part of strategic workforce planning, FAA determines the critical skills needed in its workforce and assesses individual worker skill levels. It also follows leading practices in performance management, but FAA officials and union representatives questioned the system's fairness, echoing concerns that they have raised in the past. FAA follows fewer leading practices in diversity management, but has an opportunity to strengthen its efforts as it updates diversity outreach plans. Despite these efforts, FAA ranked 214th out of 216 agencies in 2009 as the best place to work in the federal government, similar to its ranking in 2007. These low rankings could pose obstacles to FAA's efforts to retain its existing workforce and recruit staff with the requisite skills needed to implement the Next Generation Air Transportation System. By fiscal year 2013, FAA projects that 38 percent of its employees who perform work that is critical to FAA's mission will be eligible to retire. While FAA employee responses to governmentwide surveys indicate that they like their work, their responses are considerably less positive than the rest of the federal government regarding other factors that have an impact on employee recruitment, motivation, and retention. The percentage of FAA employees' positive responses regarding communications, involvement in decisions that affect their work, and respect for their leaders were up to 19 points below those of the rest of the federal government. FAA has developed an action plan to improve leadership and create a performance-based culture that could improve employees' workplace satisfaction. However, FAA has not established accountability for the plan's success.
RecommendationsOur recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director: Team: Phone:GAO-10-89, Federal Aviation Administration: Human Capital System Incorporates Many Leading Practices, but Improving Employees' Satisfaction with Their Workplace Remains a Challenge
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Report to the Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, House of Representatives:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
October 2009:
Federal Aviation Administration:
Human Capital System Incorporates Many Leading Practices, but Improving
Employees' Satisfaction with Their Workplace Remains a Challenge:
GAO-10-89:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-10-89, a report to the Ranking Member, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives.
Why GAO Did This Study:
Aviation is critical to the nation‘s economic well-being, global
competitiveness, and national security. The Federal Aviation
Administration‘s (FAA) 48,000 employees guide aircraft, oversee safety,
and maintain air traffic control equipment. FAA will need these skills
and additional expertise to address evolving missions. As requested,
GAO reviewed (1) how FAA‘s human capital system compares with practices
of leading organizations and (2) how FAA employees‘ workplace
satisfaction compares with that of other federal government employees.
GAO reviewed documents and relevant studies, and interviewed FAA
officials who implement human capital procedures and union
representatives. GAO also reviewed survey data on workplace
satisfaction.
What GAO Found:
FAA‘s human capital system incorporates many practices used in leading
organizations, but the agency‘s placement near the bottom in best
places to work rankings, published by the Partnership for Public
Service and American University‘s Institute for the Study of Public
Policy Implementation, could pose challenges to employee recruitment,
motivation, and retention. As part of strategic workforce planning, FAA
determines the critical skills needed in its workforce and assesses
individual worker skill levels. It also follows leading practices in
performance management, but FAA officials and union representatives
questioned the system‘s fairness, echoing concerns that they have
raised in the past. FAA follows fewer leading practices in diversity
management, but has an opportunity to strengthen its efforts as it
updates diversity outreach plans. Despite these efforts, FAA ranked
214th out of 216 agencies in 2009 as the best place to work in the
federal government, similar to its ranking in 2007. These low rankings
could pose obstacles to FAA‘s efforts to retain its existing workforce
and recruit staff with the requisite skills needed to implement the
Next Generation Air Transportation System. By fiscal year 2013, FAA
projects that 38 percent of its employees who perform work that is
critical to FAA‘s mission will be eligible to retire.
While FAA employee responses to governmentwide surveys indicate that
they like their work, their responses are considerably less positive
than the rest of the federal government regarding other factors that
have an impact on employee recruitment, motivation, and retention (see
figure). The percentage of FAA employees‘ positive responses regarding
communications, involvement in decisions that affect their work, and
respect for their leaders were up to 19 points below those of the rest
of the federal government (see figure). FAA has developed an action
plan to improve leadership and create a performance-based culture that
could improve employees‘ workplace satisfaction. However, FAA has not
established accountability for the plan‘s success.
Figure: FAA and Non-FAA Positive Responses to a 2008 Governmentwide
Survey:
[Refer to PDF for image: table with horizontal bar chart]
Selected impact item: I like the kind of work I do.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 85%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 84%.
Selected impact item: How satisfied are you with the information you
receive from management on what‘s going on?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 36%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 48%.
Selected impact item: How satisfied are you with your involvement in
decisions that affect your work?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 41%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 54%.
Selected impact item: I have a high level of respect for my
organization‘s senior leaders.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 33%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 52%.
Source: GAO analysis of Federal Human Capital Survey data.
[End of figure]
What GAO Recommends:
GAO makes recommendations in this report to the Secretary of
Transportation aimed at improving diversity management by incorporating
leading practices and establishing accountability for increasing
employees‘ satisfaction with their workplace. In commenting on a draft
of this report, the Department of Transportation generally agreed to
consider GAO‘s recommendations and provided technical corrections,
which GAO incorporated as appropriate.
View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-89] or key
components. For more information, contact Gerald Dillingham, Ph.D., at
(202) 512-2834 or dillinghamg@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Contents:
Letter:
Background:
FAA Incorporates Many Leading Human Capital Practices, but Its Low
Ranking in Best Places to Work Could Pose Challenges in Recruitment,
Motivation, and Retention:
FAA Is Considerably behind the Rest of the Federal Government in Key
Measures of Workplace Satisfaction, and Is Taking Steps Aimed at
Improvement:
Conclusions:
Recommendations for Executive Action:
Agency Comments:
Appendix I: Scope and Methods:
Appendix II: Key Leading Practices and FAA's Activities in Strategic
Workforce Planning, Training, Recruitment and Hiring, and Performance
Management:
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
Tables:
Table 1: FAA Human Resources Functions and Title 5 Exemptions:
Table 2: Retirement Eligibility Projections in FAA's Mission-Critical
Occupations:
Table 3: Key Leading Practices in Strategic Workforce Planning, and
Examples of FAA Activities:
Table 4: Key Leading Practices in Training, and Examples of FAA
Activities:
Table 5: Key Leading Practices in Recruitment and Hiring, and Examples
of FAA Activities:
Table 6: Key Leading Practices in Performance Management, and Examples
of FAA Activities:
Figures:
Figure 1: Percentage of Positive Responses to Impact Items on OPM's
Survey from Employees at FAA and the Rest of the Federal Government in
2008:
Figure 2: FAA's Leadership Competencies:
Abbreviations:
AFSCME: American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees:
ATO: Air Traffic Organization:
EEO: equal employment opportunity:
FAA: Federal Aviation Administration:
ISPPI: Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation:
MSPB: Merit Systems Protection Board:
NAPA: National Academy of Public Administration:
NATCA: National Air Traffic Controllers Association:
NextGen: Next Generation Air Transportation System:
OPM: Office of Personnel Management:
OSI: Organizational Success Increase:
PASS: Professional Aviation Safety Specialists:
SCI: superior contribution increase:
[End of section]
United States Government Accountability Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
October 28, 2009:
The Honorable John L. Mica:
Ranking Member:
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure:
House of Representatives:
Dear Mr. Mica:
Aviation is critical to the nation's economic well-being, global
competitiveness, and national security. The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) is tasked with ensuring that our nation's airspace
system operates safely and efficiently. FAA's 48,000 employees[Footnote
1] apply specialized skills to guide aircraft, ensure safety, install
and maintain air traffic control systems, and coordinate with other
countries. As significant portions of its employees retire in the
coming years, FAA will need to replace these skills and also recruit
employees with specialized acquisitions, systems integration, and
program management skills required to support the transition of the
current air traffic control system to the Next Generation Air
Transportation System (NextGen), which will rely more on satellites and
automation, than today's ground-based radars and aircraft-by-aircraft
control. Additionally, FAA will also need to hire several thousand air
traffic controllers to replace those who were hired in the years
following a strike in 1981 and will become eligible to retire in the
coming decade. A human capital system should provide the framework for
recruiting, motivating, and retaining a talented and diverse workforce
to enable an agency to achieve its missions and goals. However, FAA
placed near the bottom of the ranking of the Best Places to Work in the
Federal Government[Footnote 2] in 2007 and 2009. Additionally, FAA
employees' expressed dissatisfaction with many facets of their
workplace that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has determined
affect recruitment, motivation, and retention of employees. This raises
a concern about FAA's ability to recruit, motivate, and retain the
talented employees needed to accomplish its mission.
As you requested, this report reviews FAA's human capital system and
discusses some of its key human capital challenges. We address the
following questions: (1) How do FAA's human capital practices compare
with those of leading organizations? and (2) How does FAA employees'
workplace satisfaction compare with that of other federal government
employees, and what areas, if any, are most in need of improvement? To
address these questions, we compared the FAA's human capital practices
with leading practices--those that we have identified through previous
work as being present in public and private organizations that are
viewed as leaders in strategic human capital management and managing
for results. We reviewed FAA documents and regulations, and relevant
studies by other organizations, and interviewed key FAA operating
officials who have responsibility for implementing human capital
procedures within FAA's major organizational entities. We also
interviewed FAA's human resource management officials and obtained the
perspectives of organized labor through semistructured interviews with
union representatives. This report provides examples of FAA activities
that mirror leading practices and discusses leading practices that FAA
has not implemented. We did not evaluate the effectiveness of FAA's
implementation of its human capital system. To compare FAA employees'
workplace satisfaction with that of other federal government employees,
we analyzed the results of OPM's Federal Human Capital Survey. Appendix
I contains more detailed information on our scope and methodology.
We conducted this performance audit from June 2008 to October 2009 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives. We also conducted
reliability assessments of the data we obtained electronically and
determined those data to be of sufficient quality to be used for the
purposes of this report.
Background:
Human Capital Systems:
Federal agencies need effective human capital systems to support
enhanced performance, ensure accountability, and help achieve their
missions. Through our past work, we have identified five key components
of human capital systems.
* Strategic workforce planning: The steps an agency takes to (1) align
its human capital program with its current and emerging mission and
programmatic goals and (2) develop long-term strategies for acquiring,
developing, and retaining staff to achieve programmatic goals.[Footnote
3]
* Training: Developing a strategic approach to establish training
priorities and leveraging investment in training to achieve agency
results; identifying specific training initiatives that improve
individual and agency performance; ensuring effective and efficient
delivery of training opportunities in an environment that supports
learning and change; and demonstrating how training efforts contribute
to improved performance and results.[Footnote 4]
* Recruitment and hiring: Developing and implementing strategies to
advertise positions and attract top candidates; assessing applicants'
relative competencies or knowledge, skills, and abilities against job-
related criteria to identify the most qualified candidates; using a
variety of candidate assessment tools, such as interviews, to make a
selection; and coordinating the process of bringing a new hire on
board.[Footnote 5]
* Performance management: Planning work and setting individual
performance expectations, monitoring performance throughout the year
through ongoing feedback, developing individuals' capacities to
perform, and rating and rewarding individual performance.[Footnote 6]
* Diversity management: A process intended to create and maintain a
positive work environment where the similarities and differences of
individuals are valued, so that all can reach their potential and
maximize their contributions to an organization's strategic goals and
objectives.[Footnote 7]
An agency's human resources organization, the agency's leaders, and
staff have roles to play in implementing these components. For example,
the human resources organization, with the participation of agency
management, would develop performance management policies and
procedures, but the agency's leaders implement those policies and
procedures. Additionally the agency's leaders identify a requirement to
recruit and the skill set needed to fill a vacancy, but the human
resource organization performs the mechanics of posting the vacancy and
ensuring that agency procedures are followed in reviewing applications
and making the selection. The agency's staff may be involved in vetting
new system proposals or participating in process improvement teams. In
FAA, the Office of Human Resource Management has the primary
responsibility for developing and implementing the agency's human
capital system. However, senior officials in each of FAA's four major
entities, called lines of business, oversee the implementation of human
capital procedures within their respective organizations.
FAA's Human Capital Reform:
In September 1993, the National Performance Review concluded that
federal budget, procurement, and personnel rules prevented FAA from
reacting quickly to the needs of the air traffic control system. In
response to a congressional mandate resulting from this review, the
Secretary of Transportation prepared a report[Footnote 8] in 1995 that
concluded that the most effective reform would be to exempt FAA from
most federal personnel rules and procedures contained in title 5 of the
United States Code. On November 15, 1995, Congress exempted FAA from a
number of title 5 rules and procedures (see table 1) and directed the
FAA Administrator to develop and implement a new personnel management
system.[Footnote 9] The law also required that FAA's new personnel
management system address the unique demands of the agency's workforce
and, at a minimum, provide greater flexibility in the compensation,
hiring, training, and location of personnel. Subsequent legislation
added the requirement for FAA to negotiate with its labor unions any
changes made to its personnel management system.[Footnote 10] On April
1, 1996, FAA introduced its new personnel management system and, over
the next several years, initiated a number of efforts to address the
following reform objectives:
* FAA acquires, develops, and deploys required expertise (people) where
and when needed.
* Human resource systems support employees' achievement of goals.
* FAA has effective leadership and management.
* FAA is perceived as a desirable place to work.
* Human resource management systems are efficient and adaptable.
Table 1: FAA Human Resources Functions and Title 5 Exemptions:
Title 5 exempt:
* Staffing;
* Compensation;
* Performance Management;
* Training and Development;
* Reduction-in-Force;
* Employee Relations - Discipline and Removal;
* Executive Systems;
* Permanent Change of Station;
* Human Resource Information System Technology;
* Follow Merit System Principles (done voluntarily by FAA);
* Most Prohibited Personnel Practices.
Title 5 non-exempt:
* Labor Relations;
* Strike Prohibition;
* Whistleblower Protection;
* Veteran's Preference;
* Retirement Systems;
* Employee Relations - Appeals;
* Prohibition of Discrimination;
* Health, Life, Workers' Compensation and Unemployment Insurance;
* Restrictions on Certain Political Activities.
Source: Adapted from FAA.
[End of table]
In 2003, we reported that FAA had implemented many of its reform
initiatives, but changes to its compensation system, workforce planning
initiatives, and implementation of a new performance management system
remained incomplete.[Footnote 11] FAA had (1) developed a new
broadbanded, performance-based pay structure aimed at providing a wider
range of pay and greater managerial flexibility to recruit, retain, and
motivate employees and (2) implemented the pay structure in varying
forms for about 75 percent of its workforce. FAA had planned to cover
the remainder of the workforce under the new compensation plan as it
negotiated new labor agreements with unions representing those
workforces. As of July 2009, 88 percent of FAA's workforce was under
one or more components of performance-based compensation. However, FAA
and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)---the
union representing FAA's air traffic controllers--agreed to a new
contract in September 2009 that removed nearly 16,000 employees from
performance-based compensation, thereby reducing the percentage of the
workforce under performance-based compensation to about 55 percent.
[Footnote 12]
As part of its reform efforts, FAA also developed a new performance
management system consisting of a narrative evaluation of employees'
performance against performance standards combined with feedback and
coaching. FAA began developing its new performance management system in
1999 and first implemented it within segments of the agency in 2001. At
the time of our 2003 report, about 20 percent of FAA's workforce was
under the new performance management system. As of July 2009, FAA had
expanded the performance management system's coverage to more than 95
percent of its workforce. Under FAA's new contract with NATCA, air
traffic controllers continue to be covered by the new performance
management system. While the contract requires that controllers'
performance be evaluated against written standards, and that the
supervisor and controller discuss the evaluation, the contract does not
provide for interim or midpoint performance feedback during the
performance appraisal cycle.
FAA also sought, received, and implemented flexibilities in hiring,
relocating, and training employees. However, at the time of our 2003
report, FAA had not completed efforts to incorporate these
flexibilities into strategic workforce plans. Workforce planning should
include developing strategies for integrating hiring, recruiting,
training, and other human capital activities in a manner that meets the
agency's long-term objectives to ensure that appropriately skilled
employees are available when and where they are needed to meet an
agency's mission. We reported that FAA had established agencywide
corporate policies and guidance for developing workforce plans for
executives, managers, and supervisors and for specific occupations, but
these initiatives were at varying degrees of implementation. As we
discuss later in this report, FAA has developed workforce plans for its
major organizational segments and for specific workforces.
In 2003, we also noted that FAA lacked baseline data against which to
measure the impact of its initiatives, and that FAA had not adequately
linked initiative goals to the agency's mission goals. While FAA's
human resource officials maintained that the new compensation system
addressed recruitment and retention objectives, FAA could not support
this assertion with data because the agency did not establish any
baseline data from which to measure improvements. Consequently, we were
unable to evaluate the effectiveness of FAA's reform efforts. We
recommended that FAA develop empirical data and establish performance
measures, develop linkages between human capital reform initiatives and
program goals, establish time frames for data collection and analysis,
and hold managers accountable for the results of human capital
management efforts. FAA has implemented these recommendations.
FAA's Workforce Demographics and Expertise Requirements:
In the coming years, FAA risks losing significant amounts of
institutional knowledge as its employees retire. The dramatic shifts
that are occurring in the nation's population are reflected in FAA's
workforce, where more than three-fourths of its employees are age 40 or
older. By fiscal year 2013, FAA projects that 38 percent of its
employees who perform work that is critical to FAA's mission will be
eligible to retire (see table 2).[Footnote 13] For example, in the next
5 years, 42 percent of air traffic controllers, who ensure the safe and
smooth movement of air traffic in the air and on the ground at
airports; 31 percent of airway transportation system specialists, who
install and maintain air traffic control systems; and 48 percent of
aviation safety inspectors, who perform critical safety oversight of
the aviation industry and air operators, are projected to be eligible
to retire.[Footnote 14] However, the current economic downturn could
affect FAA's retention and recruitment. FAA's losses from retirement
and other causes, for all occupations, declined by 27 percent during
the first 4 months of fiscal year 2009, compared with the corresponding
months of the prior fiscal year. Additionally, a July 2009 vacancy
announcement for controllers attracted nearly 9,000 applications and a
recruitment fair for people with disabilities was successful.
Table 2: Retirement Eligibility Projections in FAA's Mission-Critical
Occupations:
Title: Air traffic controllers;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 15,381[A];
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 6,447;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 42%.
Title: Airway transportation system specialists;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 6,084;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 1,886;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 31%.
Title: Aviation safety inspectors;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 4,162;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 1,991;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 48%.
Title: Engineers;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 2,893;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 845;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 29v
Title: Information technologists;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 1,845;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 485;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 26%.
Title: Security/Certification/Compliance inspectors;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 452;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 154;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 34%.
Title: Human resources specialists;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 420;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 176;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 42%.
Title: Contract specialists;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 244;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 90;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 37%.
Title: Community planners;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 29;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 9;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 31%.
Title: Total;
Employees (end of fiscal year 2008): 31,510;
Employees eligible to retire by 2013: 12,083;
Percentage of employees eligible to retire by 2013: 38%.
Source: FAA.
[A] This number does not include about 4,000 air traffic controllers
who do not actively control aircraft. These employees are traffic
management coordinators, supervisors, instructors at the FAA Academy,
and staff specialists and those in leadership positions in headquarters
and regions.
[End of table]
In addition to replacing institutional knowledge, FAA will need to
obtain expertise to support the transition of the national airspace
system to NextGen. NextGen envisions a fundamental change in air
traffic management by moving to a structure that is adaptable to growth
in operations as well as shifts in demand, and that is network-centric,
meaning everyone using the system has easy access to the same
information at the same time. NextGen will entail a number of
transitions--from ground-based to satellite-based navigation and
surveillance; from voice communications to digital data exchange; from
a fragmented weather forecast delivery system to a system that uses a
single, authoritative source; and from limited operations in poor
visibility conditions to more operations that can proceed in adverse
weather. While FAA plays a central role in these transitions, the
Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Homeland Security; the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration; and the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy also participate. In previous work, we
questioned whether FAA had the required systems integration expertise,
given the complexity of this effort.[Footnote 15] FAA responded by
engaging the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to
identify (1) the skills needed to accomplish the transition to NextGen
and (2) strategies for acquiring the necessary workforce competencies.
NAPA assembled a panel of experts (NAPA Panel) to perform the study and
reported on the panel's findings in September 2008.[Footnote 16]
The NAPA Panel found that acquisitions will be an important element in
NextGen. FAA defines its acquisition workforce broadly, following the
Office of Management and Budget's guidance, to include program and
project managers, researchers and engineers, business and financial
analysts, contracting officers and specialists, contracting officer's
technical representatives, integrated logistics specialists, test and
evaluation personnel, and other specialized support. Consequently, the
acquisition workforce includes individuals who determine requirements;
plan acquisition strategies; establish business relationships to obtain
needed goods and services; and ensure that the government's needs are
met by testing, evaluating, and monitoring contractor performance.
FAA's acquisition workforce also includes experts in subject matter
areas, such as finance, who support the business process. FAA recently
estimated that it will need to hire several hundred additional staff to
implement NextGen, and most of these staff will be part of the
acquisition workforce. However, as FAA attempts to hire these staff, it
will be competing with a projected governmentwide hiring surge. For
example, the Partnership for Public Service's survey, "Where the Jobs
Are 2009," indicates that from fiscal years 2010 through 2012, the
federal government could hire more than 16,000 employees to fill needs
in general administration/program management; engineering (electrical,
aerospace, and computer); finance; and contracts.[Footnote 17] FAA is
developing a 5-year acquisition workforce plan that the agency expects
will address, among other things, challenges and strategies to address
workforce requirements. FAA expects to complete the plan in October
2009.
FAA Incorporates Many Leading Human Capital Practices, but Its Low
Ranking in Best Places to Work Could Pose Challenges in Recruitment,
Motivation, and Retention:
FAA's human capital system employs many leading practices in strategic
workforce planning, training, recruitment and hiring, and performance
management. FAA has implemented few leading diversity management
practices, but is developing a diversity outreach plan. The agency's
consistent placement near the bottom in published best places to work
rankings could pose challenges in recruiting, motivating, and retaining
employees to replace those retiring and to meet current and future
mission requirements.
FAA Incorporates Many Leading Human Capital Practices in Strategic
Workforce Planning, Training, Recruitment and Hiring, and Performance
Management:
FAA's human capital system mirrors many leading human capital practices
in strategic workforce planning, training, recruitment and hiring, and
performance management, but FAA officials with responsibility for
implementing human capital procedures in major segments of the agency
and union representatives criticized FAA's practices in performance
management. Union representatives also criticized FAA's training
practices. Pending legislation to reauthorize FAA contains provisions
related to a number of these practices.
Strategic Workforce Planning:
This practice focuses on developing long-term strategies for acquiring,
developing, and retaining an organization's total workforce to meet the
needs of the future. Such planning is essential to ensure that an
agency's human capital program uses its workforce's strengths and
addresses related challenges in a manner that is clearly linked to
achieving missions and goals. Table 3 lists the key leading strategic
workforce management practices that we identified in our past work and
examples of FAA's activities. See appendix II for an expanded list of
FAA's activities that align with key leading practices.
Table 3: Key Leading Practices in Strategic Workforce Planning, and
Examples of FAA Activities:
Key leading practice: Involve top management, employees, and other
stakeholders in developing, communicating, and implementing the
strategic workforce plan;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA executives sign workforce planning
documents for the workforces under their purview. Executives were
actively engaged in developing and leading implementation of the plans
for the controller and acquisition workforces.
Key leading practice: Determine the critical skills and competencies
that will be needed to achieve current and future programmatic results;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA has identified 16 leadership
competencies and is using these competencies to, among other things,
select employees for leadership development programs. FAA also
contracted with NAPA to help determine the workforce competencies
needed to transition to and implement NextGen.
Key leading practice: Develop strategies that are tailored to address
gaps in number, deployment, and alignment of human capital approaches
for enabling and sustaining the contributions of all critical skills
and competencies;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA assesses the skill levels of its
nonsupervisory and supervisory workforces to identify gaps between
target and actual skill levels and formulates strategies to close the
gaps. FAA establishes its goals in its strategic plan, known as the
"Flight Plan," and develops workforce plans for major organizational
segments and specific workforces, such as air traffic controllers.
These plans detail the demographics of the workforce and strategies to
address agency goals and missions and future workforce challenges.
Key leading practice: Build the capability needed to address
administrative, educational, and other requirements important to
support workforce planning strategies;
Examples of FAA activities: Building capability includes providing
clear and transparent guidelines and holding managers accountable for
following them. FAA has a Human Capital Planning Council that serves as
an internal community of practice for workforce planning in the agency
and a focal point for sharing best practices and disseminating
guidance. FAA has established a system of accountability that holds the
organization, managers, and human resource officers accountable for
efficient and effective human resource management. Accountability and
measurement is one of FAA's leadership competencies.
Key leading practice: Monitor and evaluate the agency's progress toward
its human capital goals and the contribution that human capital results
have made toward achieving programmatic results;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA has established performance metrics for
human capital goals, tracks performance, and posts the results on its
Web site.
Sources: GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic
Workforce Planning, GAO-04-39 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003) and GAO
analysis of FAA practices.
[End of table]
FAA has made progress in strategic workforce planning since 2003, when
we issued our previous report. FAA has established an agencywide
strategic human capital plan that lays out human capital goals, and
strategies and initiatives under each goal. FAA annually updates its
strategies and initiatives to maintain alignment with the strategic
plan--the Flight Plan--and to reflect emerging or changing mission
demands. FAA has also established workforce plans for each of its four
major entities, called lines of business--the Air Traffic Organization
(ATO), Aviation Safety, Airports, and Commercial Space Transportation--
and has established plans to manage specific workforces, such as air
traffic controllers, and technical operations.
The House has passed and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation has reported out FAA reauthorization bills that would
require the agency to undertake additional workforce planning.[Footnote
18] For example, the bills would require FAA to (1) study and prepare a
report to Congress on the frontline manager staffing requirements at
air traffic control facilities, taking into account, among other
things, the facility type and complexity of air traffic handled and
managerial responsibilities, and (2) develop a staffing model for
safety inspectors. Additionally, the bills would require FAA to make
the appropriate arrangements with the National Academies of Science for
studies of the assumptions and methods used to determine the staffing
needs for controllers and airway transportation systems specialists.
Training:
Training and development programs can assist the agency in achieving
its mission and goals by improving individual and, ultimately,
organizational performance. In our past work, we identified numerous
leading training practices, which we have segmented into the four key
components shown in table 4, along with examples of FAA's activities
that align with these key components. See appendix II for an expanded
list of FAA's activities that align with key leading practices.
Table 4: Key Leading Practices in Training, and Examples of FAA
Activities:
Key leading practice: Planning/Front-End Analysis: Strategically link
training and development programs to agency goals and to the skills and
competencies needed for the agency to perform effectively;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA requires that training be based on a
systematic analysis of knowledge, skills, and abilities required to
achieve the organization's mission. FAA determines gaps between desired
and current organizational performance; determines if training is the
appropriate solution; and, if so, addresses those learning needs in
annual business plans. For example, FAA's Human Resource Management
business plan has a strategic initiative to identify leadership skill
gaps for managers on the basis of the FAA Managerial Success Profile
and to promote continuing managerial training to address these gaps.
Key leading practice: Design: Conduct the appropriate analyses when
designing training and development efforts;
Examples of FAA activities: To determine whether to design training
programs internally or use an external source, FAA developed criteria
on the basis of industry Instructional Design Standards. Additionally,
consistent with the standards, FAA conducts analyses to choose among
different mixes of training delivery mechanisms. FAA officials noted
that FAA is moving to a more "blended approach" to training delivery,
including the use of computer-based training where possible.
Key leading practice: Implementation: Agency leaders communicate the
importance of training and developing employees and foster an
environment conducive to effective training and development;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA's leadership promotes participation in
training programs by encouraging employees to develop annual learning
plans--identifying occupational performance requirements, job-and
career-related learning needs, and learning strategies for meeting
them--in conjunction with their annual performance plans. Additionally,
FAA has communicated its commitment to ensuring that adequate funds
will be set aside for position-essential training.
Key leading practice: Evaluation: Systematically plan for and evaluate
the effectiveness of agency training and development efforts, using the
appropriate analytic approaches and performance data;
Examples of FAA activities: According to FAA officials, the agency
evaluates training at several levels. First, FAA evaluates the
satisfaction of the training participant. Second, FAA evaluates whether
the training improved the participant's skill, knowledge, or abilities
by comparing pre-and posttraining test scores. According to FAA
officials, the agency is working toward evaluating how the training
affected the use of learning on the job.
Sources: GAO, Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training
and Development Efforts in the Federal Government, GAO-04-546G
(Washington, D.C.: March 2004) and GAO analysis of FAA practices.
[End of table]
In 2005, we reviewed FAA's technical training for aviation safety
inspectors and found that the program followed some leading practices.
For example, the training efforts are intended to support FAA's goals
for improving aviation safety, and FAA has established clear
accountability for ensuring that inspectors have access to technical
training. Additionally, the technical training program contains an
evaluation component. However, we made several recommendations aimed
at, among other things, improving the timeliness of training, improving
FAA's identification of gaps in inspectors' technical knowledge, and
developing measures of the impact of training on achieving
organizational goals. FAA has implemented most of these
recommendations. For example, FAA has taken steps to deliver training
in a more timely manner, such as developing new Web-based courses that
inspectors can complete when the training is needed. Additionally, in
2007, FAA conducted a feasibility analysis that explored different
methods to measure training's impact on achieving organizational goals.
In August 2009, FAA was working to address the remaining
recommendations by providing more guidance on when accepting training
for in-kind services is appropriate and revising inspector guidance to
clarify that free training does not preclude FAA from fulfilling its
oversight and enforcement role. The Senate's FAA reauthorization bill
would require FAA to report on the training provided to safety
inspectors.
Union representatives provided comments regarding how FAA designs and
implements training. The President of the Professional Aviation Safety
Specialists (PASS)--the union representing, among others, FAA employees
who maintain air traffic control equipment--said that the technical
training for airway systems specialists is often unnecessarily time-
consuming and costly, because FAA customizes the training to make it
unique to FAA and then requires that employees travel to the FAA
Academy to receive technical training. The union President said that
FAA could streamline the process by allowing staff to take training
courses from private vendors who offer the same training at locations
closer to their home office. FAA noted that the academy is the only
location that replicates every piece of equipment that aviation systems
safety specialists use, and that equipment in air traffic control
facilities cannot be taken off-line for training. However, FAA's
Director of Technical Training and Development told us that FAA is
exploring how to validate locally provided courses for equivalency to
the training provided at the FAA Academy. Additionally, FAA is
increasing the availability of Web-based training, simulations, and
other alternative training methodologies that will allow greater
opportunities for on-site training, according to another FAA training
official. We are currently reviewing airway transportation system
specialist training under another engagement.
NATCA representatives criticized how FAA implements controller
training. In their opinion, FAA relies too much on memorandums and
other impersonal methods, rather than in-person training that would
allow staff to directly pose questions to instructors and engage in
open discussion on topics that require clarification. FAA's Director of
Technical Training and Development believes this criticism to be an
overstatement, and noted that FAA offers many specialized courses at
the FAA Academy and fills the spaces allocated.
NATCA representatives also believe that controllers have fewer
opportunities to attend training because there are not enough
experienced controllers to handle air traffic while others attend
training. A 2008 report from the Department of Transportation Inspector
General questioned whether FAA had sufficient numbers of experienced
controllers to train the large numbers of new controllers that it was
hiring. The report noted that the hiring process was outpacing the
capabilities of many air traffic facilities to efficiently process and
train new hires. The Inspector General made a number of
recommendations, and FAA agreed or partially agreed with most of them.
[Footnote 19] FAA notes that the agency continues to monitor its hiring
and training programs to achieve a balance between a facility's
trainees and the facility's training capacity,[Footnote 20] and to help
ensure that trainees progress through each stage of training while
ensuring safety. The House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills would
require that FAA study the adequacy of training provided to air traffic
controllers.
Recruitment and Hiring:
In a highly competitive job market, having an effective hiring process
can help an agency compete for talented people who have the requisite
knowledge and up-to-date skills to accomplish missions and achieve
goals. Table 5 lists the key recruitment and hiring practices that we
have identified in our past work and provides examples of FAA's
activities. See appendix II for an expanded list of FAA's activities
that align with key leading practices.
Table 5: Key Leading Practices in Recruitment and Hiring, and Examples
of FAA Activities:
Key leading practice: Evaluate recruitment strategies to attract
applicants;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA sets performance targets in the
strategic planning process and reports on the extent to which these
targets have been met in annual performance and accountability reports.
Key leading practice: Ensure that the best candidates are selected by
refining assessment tools;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA refined vacancy announcements for
aviation safety inspector positions to better incorporate key
competencies against which officials evaluate applicants.
Key leading practice: Use an automated hiring process, including
computerized systems to prescreen, rate, and rank applicants;
Examples of FAA activities: For most externally advertised vacancies,
FAA uses its Automated Staffing and Application system. The system
automates vacancy announcement posting, the application process,
applicant rating and ranking, and the selection process.
Key leading practice: Use available flexibilities to recruit, hire, and
manage workforces;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA's hiring flexibilities include on-the-
spot hiring and monetary incentives for recruitment, retention, and
relocation.
Sources: Merit Systems Protection Board, Reforming Federal Hiring:
Beyond Faster and Cheaper, (Washington, D.C.); GAO, Human Capital:
Transforming Federal Recruitment and Hiring Efforts, GAO-08-762T
(Washington, D.C.: May 8, 2008) and Human Capital: Additional
Collaboration Between OPM and Agencies Is Key to Improved Federal
Hiring, GAO-04-797 (Washington, D.C.: June 7, 2004); and GAO analysis
of FAA practices.
[End of table]
In recent years, FAA has used its flexibilities mostly to hire,
relocate, and retain air traffic controllers. However, FAA also has
used flexibilities to hire expertise in other fields, such as program
management, aerospace engineering, and environmental protection. The
House and Senate FAA reauthorization bills would require FAA to
increase the number of safety-related positions, such as safety
inspectors, commensurate with available funding.
Performance Management:
An effective performance management system can be a strategic tool to
drive internal change and achieve desired results. Our work has
identified numerous leading practices in performance management, which
we summarize in table 6. The table also provides examples of FAA's
activities that align with these key leading practices. See appendix II
for an expanded list of FAA's activities that align with key leading
practices.
Table 6: Key Leading Practices in Performance Management, and Examples
of FAA Activities:
Key leading practice: Align individual performance expectations with
organizational goals;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA requires that each supervisor and
employee develop a performance plan that describes employee tasks and
responsibilities and provides a line of sight from those items to the
goals in FAA's Flight Plan.
Key leading practice: Define competencies that individuals need to
effectively contribute to organizational results;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA uses performance standards--which
include necessary skills and supporting behaviors--to describe each
employee's major responsibilities and expected outcomes.
Key leading practice: Provide and routinely use objective performance
information to track progress toward achieving organizational
priorities;
Examples of FAA activities: At the organizational level, FAA tracks
progress toward multiple agency performance targets, as outlined in the
Flight Plan, and reports its performance in annual performance reports.
FAA officials told us that each organizational unit rolls up
subordinate levels of individual performance progress to ultimately
determine organizational progress toward meeting the agency's
performance targets, and reports the status annually in performance and
accountability reports, which FAA posts on its Web site.
Key leading practice: Make meaningful distinctions in individual
performance;
link pay to organizational and individual performance;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA uses a two-phased process to make
distinctions in performance and distribute performance-based
compensation linked to organizational and individual performance.
However, FAA and union officials told us that implementation of the
performance management system does not make meaningful distinctions in
performance.
Key leading practice: Involve employees and other stakeholders in the
development of the performance management system;
Examples of FAA activities: During the development of its current
performance management system, FAA involved its employees to verify
employee survey results and obtain employee suggestions for
improvements in the system.
Key leading practice: Employ safeguards to ensure the transparency of
the performance management system;
Examples of FAA activities: FAA publishes information on internal Web
sites about the results of pay decisions, such as the average pay
increase.
Sources: GAO, Results-Oriented Cultures: Creating a Clear Linkage
between Individual Performance and Organizational Success, GAO-03-488
(Washington, D.C.: Mar. 14, 2003) and GAO analysis of FAA practices.
[End of table]
FAA officials responsible for implementing human capital procedures
within the lines of business, as well as representatives of several
unions, criticized components of FAA's performance management system.
For example, because FAA's system calls for a performance rating of
either "meets expectations" or "does not meet expectations," an
official from FAA's largest line of business and union officials
characterized the system as "pass/fail." Because nearly everyone is
rated "meets expectations," they believe that the system does not make
distinctions above the "meets expectations" level.[Footnote 21]
For employees who have met expectations, FAA further distinguishes
performance by distributing performance-based "superior contribution
increases" (SCI). FAA distributes the SCI based on supervisors'
summaries of employee performance that are based on (1) personal
observations of employees' performance and contributions and (2) the
employees' self-assessments. The supervisor's summary focuses on three
areas: collaboration, customer service, and impact on organizational
success. A fourth area, management and leadership, applies only to
managers. Up to 65 percent of employees who meet expectations can
receive either a 1.8 percent or 0.6 percent SCI.
FAA's practice of awarding pay increases based on employee
contributions aligns with its reform objective that human resource
systems support employees' achievement of organizational goals, but FAA
officials with responsibility for implementing human capital procedures
in the ATO, Aviation Safety, and Airports lines of business, as well as
union representatives, expressed fairness concerns about the impacts of
these increases, similar to the concerns on which we reported in 2003.
[Footnote 22] The FAA officials believe that the SCI is not large
enough to motivate performance, and because more than one-half of the
employees receive the increase, it creates morale problems among those
employees whom officials believe are solid performers, but received no
SCI. Union representatives said that, from the employee's perspective,
it is not clear how supervisory recommendations are translated into
decisions about which employees receive these increases. Union
representatives also expressed fairness concerns in saying that, in
some cases, the same employees receive the increases every year and
that, in other cases, increases appear to be given on a rotating basis,
without respect to level of performance.
All employees who meet expectations also receive an Organizational
Success Increase (OSI), which FAA provides when the agency has met at
least 90 percent of its performance targets. The total funding pool for
the OSI consists of the amount of the governmentwide General Schedule
increase for a given year, plus an additional 1 percent. As with the
SCI, the OSI aligns with the reform objective of supporting employees'
achievement of organizational goals. However, FAA and union officials
criticized the OSI component of performance pay because, in their
opinion, it rewards or penalizes employees for organizational
performance that they cannot influence. For example, FAA may withhold a
portion of the OSI because the agency did not achieve its target for
reducing operational errors, even though there are many employees, such
as contract specialists, whom FAA officials and union representatives
believe have no influence over such activities.
FAA has taken actions to improve the implementation of its performance
management system. For example, in 2008, FAA issued a memorandum to
senior leadership and managers emphasizing policy requirements for, and
reiterating the importance of, midcycle progress reviews. Additionally,
one FAA organization is developing guidance for managers on providing
feedback and, according to FAA officials, managers receive automatic
notifications that midpoint feedback and end-of-cycle reviews are due
to help ensure that these activities take place. FAA also recently
initiated a series of briefings for employees and managers regarding
the performance management and pay for performance systems.[Footnote
23] Additionally, FAA is assessing the percentage of employees who
receive midterm feedback to identify whether corrective action is
needed. Recently, FAA developed an action plan aimed, in part, at
creating a performance culture within the agency. The plan contains
steps to improve managers' use of the performance management system. We
discuss this action plan in more detail later in this report.
FAA Has Implemented Few Leading Diversity Management Practices:
Diversity management is a process intended to create and maintain a
positive work environment where the similarities and differences of
individuals are valued, so that all can reach their potential and
maximize their contributions to an organization's strategic goals. The
concept of managing diversity focuses on inclusion, which involves
engaging the talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and capabilities of
individuals and groups working toward common goals and therefore serves
as a complement to equal employment opportunity (EEO). Implementing
effective diversity management helps an organization foster a work
environment in which people are enabled and motivated to contribute to
mission accomplishment and provide both accountability and fairness for
all employees. Through our past work, we identified the following key
practices that experts agree are leading diversity management
practices.[Footnote 24]
* Develop a diversity strategy and plan that are developed and aligned
with the organization's strategic plan.
* Establish a recruitment program that attracts a supply of qualified,
diverse applicants for employment.
* Encourage employee involvement to drive diversity throughout the
organization.
* Ensure that top leadership provides a vision of diversity that it
demonstrates and communicates throughout an organization.
* Conduct diversity training to inform and educate management and staff
about diversity.
* Establish a set of quantitative and qualitative measures of the
impact of various aspects of an overall diversity program.
* Establish a means to ensure that leaders are held accountable for
diversity by linking their performance assessment and compensation to
the progress of diversity initiatives.
* Include in succession planning an ongoing, strategic process for
identifying and developing a diverse pool of talent for an
organization's potential future leaders.
* Link diversity to performance by understanding that a more diverse
and inclusive work environment can yield greater productivity and help
improve individual and organizational performance.
Rather than emphasizing the broad range of these leading practices,
FAA's diversity plans and activities more narrowly focus on recruitment
activities and compliance with EEO. In response to a congressional
concern about diversity in FAA's controller and aviation safety
workforces, FAA has prepared plans and annual updates aimed at
increasing diversity in these workforces.[Footnote 25] FAA's recruiting
efforts, as described in these plans and other FAA documents, focus on
attracting a supply of qualified, diverse applicants for employment and
FAA has implemented efforts that could serve to expand its applicant
pool. Additionally, FAA officials told us that they have partnered with
the League of United Latin American Citizens through which information
pertaining to FAA careers can be forwarded throughout the league's
leadership network, and that they have reached out to other groups,
such as the Professional Society of Black Engineers. FAA also provides
training to newly appointed managers on EEO-related topics such as
antidiscrimination laws, sexual harassment awareness and prevention,
and the administrator's policy on nondiscrimination.
FAA's actions are important steps toward creating a more diverse
workforce, but they fall short of the full range of leading diversity
management practices that we have observed in high performing
organizations. For example, rather than focusing training on EEO-
related topics, diversity training would provide employees with an
awareness of their differences--including cultural, work style, and
personal presentation--and an understanding of how diverse perspectives
can improve organizational performance. Diversity training would also
teach employees about the importance of the organization's diversity
goals and the skills required to work effectively in a diverse
workforce. Without diversity training, FAA is missing an opportunity to
maximize performance by drawing on the strengths of employees at all
levels and of all backgrounds. Insights from the efforts of agencies
that we profiled in our diversity management report,[Footnote 26] as
well as the nine leading practices that we have previously listed,
could be instructive to FAA as it develops annual updates to its plans
to increase diversity in its controller and aviation safety workforces.
FAA's Low Ranking in Best Places to Work Could Pose Challenges in
Recruitment, Motivation, and Retention:
FAA's ranking near the bottom in Best Places to Work in the Federal
Government in 2007 and 2009, as published by the Partnership for Public
Service (the Partnership) and American University's Institute for the
Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI), could present a barrier
to recruiting, motivating, and retaining the talented employees that
FAA needs to meet future mission requirements. The Partnership and
ISPPI develop their ranking on the basis of analysis of OPM's biannual
Federal Human Capital Survey results. The survey contains over 80 items
that gauge employee satisfaction with pay, leadership, and
collaboration, among other things. The Partnership and ISPPI ranked FAA
204th out of 222 agencies in 2007 and 214th out of 216 agencies in
2009.[Footnote 27]
These published rankings are important to FAA because an agency's
reputation is a key factor in recruiting and hiring applicants. A
recent Partnership report noted that a good reputation is the most
frequently mentioned factor in choosing potential employers, and
agencies with high satisfaction and engagement scores were seen as
desirable by college graduates seeking employment.[Footnote 28] The
Partnership report also noted that college students are rating some
government agencies as ideal employers.
Similarly, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reported that
employees' willingness to recommend the federal government or their
agency as a place to work can directly affect an agency's recruitment
efforts, the quality of the resulting applicant pool, and the
acceptance of employment offers.[Footnote 29] In 2005, compared with
1989, MSPB found that considerably more federal employees would
recommend the government as a place to work, and that more federal
employees reported satisfaction with their pay. Moreover, the job
security that federal employment offers is a major selling point in the
current economic downturn. While FAA generally follows leading
recruitment and hiring practices, FAA may be able to take only limited
advantage of these favorable trends, since only about one-half of FAA
employees' responses to the OPM survey item, "I would recommend my
organization as a good place to work," were positive in 2008.[Footnote
30] About 65 percent of the employees in the rest of the federal
government responded positively, putting FAA about 15 percentage points
behind other agencies. Moreover, MSPB noted that prospective employees
would rather work for an agency billed as one of the best places to
work as opposed to an agency at the bottom of the list. Clearly, when
Congress passed legislation allowing FAA to implement a new personnel
management system, FAA recognized the importance of this point by
establishing the reform objective that FAA be perceived as a desirable
place to work. However, FAA's low rankings in 2007 and 2009 would not
indicate to prospective applicants that FAA is perceived as a desirable
place to work.
FAA Is Considerably behind the Rest of the Federal Government in Key
Measures of Workplace Satisfaction, and Is Taking Steps Aimed at
Improvement:
FAA employee responses to OPM's 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey
placed the agency well behind the rest of the federal government in
overall job and organizational satisfaction, as well as satisfaction
with their leaders and their leaders' competencies in communications
and building teamwork and cooperation. FAA is taking steps that could
improve employee satisfaction, but has not established accountability
for improvements.
FAA Employees Indicated Less Satisfaction Than the Rest of the Federal
Government with Their Jobs; Organization; and Items That Affect
Recruitment, Motivation, and Retention:
Compared with employees in the rest of the federal government, FAA
employees indicated less satisfaction with key items in OPM's 2008
Federal Human Capital Survey. FAA employees provided 59 percent
positive responses regarding overall job satisfaction--9 percentage
points lower than employees in the rest of the federal government, and
41 percent positive responses regarding overall satisfaction with their
organization--17 percentage points lower than employees in the rest of
the federal government. Moreover, FAA employees were less positive
concerning many of the items that OPM has identified as indicators of
an agency's ability to recruit, motivate, and retain employees. On the
basis of its analysis of its past two Federal Human Capital Surveys,
OPM determined that responses to 16 items--called "impact items"--
really make a difference in whether people want to come, stay, and
contribute their fullest to an agency. FAA's percentage of positive
responses to these impact items and the difference between FAA's
percentage of positive responses and that of the rest of the federal
government appear in figure 1.
Figure 1: Percentage of Positive Responses to Impact Items on OPM's
Survey from Employees at FAA and the Rest of the Federal Government in
2008:
[Refer to PDF for image: table with horizontal bar chart]
Impact item: I like the kind of work I do.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 85%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 84%.
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: not statistically significant.
Impact item: My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 70%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 73%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: not statistically significant.
Impact item: My talents are used well in the workplace.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 57%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 62%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -5%.
Impact item: My workload is reasonable.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 54%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 60%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -6%;
Impact item: Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your
pay?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 54%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 61%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -7%.
Impact item: How satisfied are you with the training you receive for
your present job?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 48%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 55%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -7%.
Impact item: I am given a real opportunity to improve my skills in my
organization.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 55%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 64%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -9%.
Impact item: How satisfied are you with your opportunity to get a
better job in your organization?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 29%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 39%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -10%;
Impact item: How good a job do you feel is being done by your immediate
supervisor/team leader?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 56%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 66%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -10%;
Impact item: How satisfied are you with the recognition you receive for
doing a good job?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 40%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 51%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -11%.
Impact item: Employees have a feeling of personal empowerment with
respect to work processes.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 33%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 44%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -11%.
Impact item: Managers communicate the goals and priorities of the
organization.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 48&;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 60%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -12%.
Impact item: How satisfied are you with the information you receive
from management on what‘s going on?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 36%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 48%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -12%;
Impact item: How satisfied are you with your involvement in decisions
that affect your work?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 41%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 54%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -13%;
Impact item: How satisfied are you with the policies and practices of
your senior leaders?
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 28%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 43%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -15%;
Impact item: I have a high level of respect for my organization‘s
senior leaders.
Percentage of positive responses, FAA: 36%;
Percentage of positive responses, Non-FAA: 48%;
Difference between percentage of FAA positive responses and the rest of
the federal government: -19%.
Source: GAO analysis of Federal Human Capital Survey data.
Note: All percentage estimates have 95 percent confidence intervals of
within +/-3.1 percentage points of the estimate. Percentage differences
between FAA and the rest of government are statistically significant,
except where noted.
[End of figure]
FAA responses to the top two items in figure 1 indicate that FAA
employees said they like the work they do and derive considerable
satisfaction from it; and FAA employees' satisfaction on these topics
was close to that of employees in the rest of the federal government.
However, for the remainder of the items, FAA employees expressed less
satisfaction than employees in the rest of the federal government.
These lower levels of workplace satisfaction represent potential
hurdles when competing for talent with other federal agencies. FAA's
strained labor-management relations could be contributing to the low
percentages of positive responses. Several bargaining units have had
contract negotiations stretch over many years with no settlement. For
example, nearly 4,000 employees, represented by PASS, remain under the
provisions of contracts that date back to 1988 and 1993, while new
contracts are under negotiations. Additionally, in 2006, FAA
encountered difficulties in negotiating a new labor contract with
NATCA, which represents about one-third of FAA employees.[Footnote 31]
In May 2009, FAA and NATCA began mediated bargaining to reach agreement
on a new contract. In September 2009, FAA and NATCA signed a new 3-year
contract. FAA and NATCA reached agreement on most contract items, but
required binding decisions from the mediators for some items, including
compensation. FAA views the new contract as a framework for helping to
meet the challenges of implementing NextGen.
While improvement in any of the impact items that OPM identified could
help FAA improve its attractiveness as an employer of choice, the items
for which FAA is farthest behind the rest of the federal government
provide a focus for FAA to target its improvement efforts. Those items
revolve around employee perceptions of their leaders and the leadership
competencies of communication and building teamwork and cooperation.
Research has shown that employees who are led by strong leaders are
more satisfied, engaged, and loyal than employees with weak leaders.
[Footnote 32]
FAA employees provided 28 percent positive responses regarding
satisfaction with the policies and practices of senior leaders, and 33
percent positive responses regarding having a high level of respect for
senior leaders. These two items were the farthest behind the positive
responses to impact items from the rest of the federal government.
Additionally, positive responses to "How good a job do you feel is
being done by your immediate supervisor or team leader?" were 10
percentage points behind the positive responses from the rest of the
federal government.
Consistent with FAA's reform objective, FAA has identified 16
leadership competencies grouped under 4 dimensions (see figure 2).
[Footnote 33]
Figure 2: FAA's Leadership Competencies:
[Refer to PDF for image: illustration]
Achieving Results[A]:
* Managing organizational performance;
* Accountability and measurement;
* Problem solving;
* Business acumen;
* Customer focus.
Building Relationships:
* Communication;
* Building alliances;
* Interpersonal relations and influence;
* Integrity and honesty.
Leading People:
* Building teamwork and cooperation;
* Building the model equal employment opportunity program;
* Developing talent.
Leading Change[B]:
* Vision;
* Strategy formulation;
* Agility;
* Innovation.
[A] Listed as "Achieving Operational Results" in the Executive Success
Profile.
[B] Listed as "Leading Strategic Change" in the Executive Success
Profile.
[End of figure]
FAA's assessed the competency levels of its leaders in 2005, 2007,
2008, and 2009. The results showed that the communications competency
approached or slightly exceeded the agency target level each year.
However, as figure 1 shows, employee perceptions of communications from
managers remained 12 percentage points behind the rest of the federal
government, suggesting that further work remains. The senior executives
who assisted the NAPA Panel[Footnote 34] also perceived a need for
FAA's leaders to improve communications about NextGen. They pointed out
that FAA's leaders will need to better communicate a clear vision for
NextGen, better define what it is, and get support and buy-in from
staff at all levels of the organization. FAA officials believe that the
NextGen Implementation Plan, issued in January 2009, addresses these
concerns.[Footnote 35] In developing the plan, FAA's objective was to
allow a broad audience to gain a common understanding of NextGen. The
plan provides technical information in its appendixes, which officials
said address the needs of specific stakeholders.
The way leaders communicate with their employees can impact employees'
perceptions of leaders' honesty and integrity, which, in turn, can
affect the level of employees' respect for their senior leaders--
another impact item among those for which FAA's responses were farthest
behind the rest of the federal government. The president of a local
union of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME) provided an example that he believes demonstrates
the relationship between these competencies.[Footnote 36] The union
representative said that FAA provided little information to employees
between 2003 and 2004 as FAA planned for and implemented a sweeping
reorganization that created the 36,000 employee ATO. After the
reorganization, FAA management characterized ATO as a model
organization, but after the first Chief Operating Officer departed, FAA
reorganized the responsibilities of ATO's Vice Presidents.[Footnote 37]
The representative believes that FAA's lack of communications regarding
these reorganizations likely contributed to a decline in trust of FAA
management.
FAA employees also provided fewer positive responses for impact items
related to the supervisory competency, building teamwork and
cooperation. The survey items related to teamwork and cooperation are
"How satisfied are you with your involvement in decisions that affect
your work?" and "Employees have a feeling of personal empowerment with
respect to work processes." We and others have reported on this as an
area of governmentwide concern under topics such as empowerment,
collaboration, teamwork, and employee engagement. For example, we have
reported that empowering employees plays a crucial role in establishing
a results-oriented culture. Additionally, as we previously noted in
this report, a leading diversity management practice is to understand
that a more diverse and inclusive workforce can yield greater
productivity, and that diversity training could provide an awareness of
how diverse perspectives can improve organizational performance.
Moreover, MSPB has concluded that further engaging the federal
workforce is critical as agencies attempt to improve their operations
within budget constraints, and as they face increasing numbers of
retirement-eligible employees in a labor market where there is intense
competition for top talent.[Footnote 38] MSPB found that engaged
employees have less intention to leave their current agency, use less
sick leave, and work in agencies that produce better programmatic
results. For the purposes of this report, we use collaboration to
include teamwork, cooperation, employee engagement, and employee
empowerment.
Improving collaboration has implications for FAA's successful
implementation of NextGen, because 98 percent of FAA's employees who
are eligible to be members of a bargaining unit are represented by a
union. The NAPA Panel noted that although FAA's labor-management
relations had been strained for years, FAA had no clear strategy to
engage the unions. In the past, FAA's failure to collaborate with the
ultimate users early in a system's design contributed to cost growth
and schedule delays.[Footnote 39] The panel concluded that FAA's
success in leading the transition to NextGen will depend, in part, on
its willingness to review its past efforts and learn from challenges
and mistakes.
Although controllers will be end users of NextGen's technology, NATCA
representatives told us they perceive that FAA management has little
interest in collaboration. NATCA testified to Congress (1) that NextGen
will only be successful if it is done with complete participation and
agreement from government, labor, and industry groups and (2) that
collaboration will help FAA to identify and address potential issues
early on in the process, thereby saving time, money, and resources and
avoiding safety risks.
In FAA's view, the agency has always desired to include end users in
developing NextGen technology and procedures. According to FAA, a
dispute arose over whether FAA or NATCA would make the final
determination concerning the specific union members who would serve as
subject matter experts. At the present time, FAA is using controllers
as subject matter experts in testing and developing new technology and
procedures, but NATCA has not endorsed their participation, according
to a senior FAA official.
Other union representatives discussed collaboration in more general
terms. A PASS representative described a culture in which employees
speak only when asked, and said that speaking up and suggesting
solutions to problems is not encouraged. The representative also said
that many supervisors feel frustrated because they would like to change
this culture, but FAA does not provide any encouragement to do so. A
representative of the American Federation of Government Employees said
the union had been optimistic years ago about a 1996 contract that had
an emphasis on partnership, but nothing materialized in subsequent
years.
The following section of this report describes several actions that FAA
is taking to improve elements of workplace satisfaction, including
collaboration. Additionally, the Senate FAA reauthorization bill
contains provisions aimed at increasing collaboration with employee
groups. For example, the bill would require FAA to establish a process
for collaborating with employees, who are selected by the bargaining
unit, in planning and developing projects that would affect them.
FAA Is Working to Address Workplace Satisfaction, but Has Not
Established Accountability for Improvement:
FAA is taking actions that could improve employee satisfaction with
their leaders over time. In 2007, FAA established its Senior Leadership
Development Program to provide a pipeline of senior managers qualified
to fill executive-level vacancies. To identify emerging leaders among
its nonsupervisory employees, FAA initiated the Program for Emerging
Leaders in 2009. FAA evaluates applicants for these programs on the
basis of their demonstration of the leadership competencies shown in
figure 2. Over time, as more of FAA's leaders graduate from these
programs, perspectives of employees about their leaders could change
for the better.
Evaluating the outcome of FAA's leadership development programs will
help FAA assess its progress in meeting its reform objective to improve
leadership and management. To evaluate the outcome of its leadership
development programs, FAA collects evaluations of participants'
satisfaction with the training and the classroom experience and obtains
progress reviews that focus on the demonstrated achievement of
developmental objectives. FAA is also measuring overall programmatic
outcomes tied to succession planning goals, such as the ratio of
candidates in development to projected vacancies, number of graduates
appearing on best-qualified lists, and graduates placed in leadership
positions. However, because FAA has so far graduated 1 cohort of 16
participants from its leadership development programs, substantial data
are not yet available. To measure the impact of these programs on
leadership within the agency, FAA is beginning to track movement in the
results of its periodic leadership competency assessments.
FAA also has recently taken some steps to create a more collaborative
climate. For example, in February 2009, FAA invited NATCA to
collaborate on the implementation phase of the En Route Automation
Modernization system--a key component of the NextGen transition.
According to NATCA, FAA and the union have held several constructive
negotiation sessions on the system's implementation. In another
example, FAA agreed, in collaboration with NATCA, to provide immunity
from discipline for employees who report safety issues under certain
conditions, through program implementation by a joint union-management
committee. FAA credits this agreement for allowing significant strides
toward a safety management culture, with the support of organized
labor. FAA also used a collaborative approach to reach agreement in
2008 on a contract covering headquarters employees represented by
AFSCME. This was the first successful contract negotiation since the
units were first certified in 1999. A representative of PASS also noted
some positive initiatives. He said the union recently attended a few
meetings regarding development of ATO's 5-year strategic plan,
suggesting that FAA management is starting to embrace the idea that
collaboration with union groups results in a better product.
Additionally, FAA's new Administrator is emphasizing employee
engagement.[Footnote 40] FAA has established an Employee Engagement
Steering Committee comprised of FAA executives. According to FAA, these
executives will engage, listen to, and act upon the issues, ideas,
suggestions, and recommendations made by employees to improve the FAA
work environment, management practices, and organizational culture,
with the goal of becoming one of the best places in government to work.
Moreover, the Administrator has expressed his commitment to employee
engagement in a speech to one of the agency's largest unions and sent
an e-mail to all FAA employees describing a number of initiatives aimed
at hearing what employees are thinking. According to FAA Human Resource
Management officials, the Administrator also plans to provide monetary
awards to individuals and teams that make significant contributions to
improving workplace satisfaction.
FAA's actions, as we have previously described, align with
governmentwide initiatives to improve workplace satisfaction. OPM, in
collaboration with the Office of Management and Budget, has requested
agencies to develop action plans to increase employee satisfaction in
areas where the Federal Human Capital Survey indicated low
satisfaction, and to include their plans as part of their fiscal year
2011 budget submissions. FAA has developed a Federal Human Capital
Survey 2009-2010 Action Plan, which it intends to include with its 2011
budget submission.
FAA's action plan focuses on improving FAA's positive response rates to
selected survey items related to leadership and creating a performance
culture. Some of these items are among those that OPM has identified as
affecting an agency's recruitment, motivation, and retention. FAA has
included the activities envisioned for the Employee Engagement Steering
Committee, as we have previously described, as part of its plan to
improve leadership. These activities could help increase positive
responses regarding employee empowerment and employees' involvement in
decisions that affect their work. FAA's positive responses for these
items were, respectively, 11 and 13 percentage points behind the rest
of the federal government in the 2008 Federal Human Capital Survey.
Additionally, the section of the plan focused on creating a performance
culture contains actions aimed at improving the performance management
system's effectiveness, which FAA officials and union representatives
criticized. For example, the plan includes providing training on
effectively applying the performance management system, with the
expectation of achieving a better understanding of how to use the
system so that employees and managers establish clear performance
expectations as a basis for ongoing performance feedback and coaching.
The plan also includes improving FAA's policies and evaluation process
to better ensure that the performance management system is used
effectively.
These efforts represent a good start. MSPB noted that among the steps
that agencies can take to improve collaboration is recruiting
supervisors on the basis of their supervisory abilities, something that
FAA has already begun to do. FAA is also striving to create a line of
sight between an employee's work and the goals of the agency, which is
another step toward increased employee engagement, according to MSPB.
Also, MSPB encourages agencies to ensure a good person-to-job fit.
Based on survey responses, FAA appears to have achieved some success in
this area. As figure 1 shows, the impact items "I like the kind of work
I do," "My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment," and "My
talents are used well in the workplace" received the three highest
percentages of positive responses from FAA employees and were the
closest to the percentage of positive responses from employees in the
rest of the federal government.
However, FAA has not established accountability for the plan's success.
Although the action plan sets a goal of a 7 percent improvement in
positive response rates to the eight selected survey items, FAA has not
made successful achievement of this goal a performance expectation for
managers, according to FAA Human Resource Management officials. Because
strong leadership is key to creating a performance culture, adding an
expectation for improvement in survey responses could increase chances
for success. Disclosing the plan and its actions, goals, and outcomes
in publicly available reports to Congress, such as the annual
performance and accountability report, would also help to ensure
accountability.
Conclusions:
FAA has made good progress in developing a human capital system that
addresses many of its reform objectives and has structures and
processes that exhibit leading practices. FAA's efforts to increase its
workforce diversity by developing an expanded applicant pool are
important, but they do not embrace the full range of leading diversity
management practices. FAA could take steps to move beyond recruitment
activities and toward diversity management by incorporating leading
practices in future updates of its congressionally directed plans to
increase diversity in the controller and aviation safety workforces.
FAA employees' dissatisfaction with their workplace, expressed in their
responses to OPM's Federal Human Capital Survey, suggests that FAA has
not achieved the reform objective to be perceived as a desirable place
to work, and could hinder FAA's effort to recruit, motivate, and retain
the workforce it needs for current and future missions. FAA's Federal
Human Capital Survey Action Plan represents a positive step to reach
beyond the structures and processes of its human capital system and
address the underlying causes of employee dissatisfaction with their
workplace. Establishing accountability within FAA, and externally to
Congress and the American people, represents the next step to increase
the probability of the plan's success.
Recommendations for Executive Action:
To ensure that FAA can hire, motivate, and retain the talented staff it
needs to operate the national airspace system and implement the
transition to NextGen, we recommend that the Secretary of
Transportation direct the FAA Administrator to take the following three
actions:
1. ensure that key leading practices in diversity management are
incorporated in future updates of FAA's plans to increase diversity in
the controller and aviation safety workforces;
2. hold its managers accountable for the outcomes of the Federal Human
Capital Survey Action Plan by establishing a performance expectation
that FAA managers will achieve the plan's stated increases in positive
responses to designated survey items; and:
3. hold the agency accountable to Congress and the American people by
disclosing the plan, actions, goals, and outcomes in publicly available
reports to Congress, such as the annual performance and accountability
report.
Agency Comments:
In commenting on a draft of this report, the Department of
Transportation generally agreed to consider GAO's recommendations and
provided technical corrections that GAO incorporated as appropriate.
As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents
of this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 14 days
from the report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report
to interested congressional committees, the Secretary of
Transportation, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration, and other parties. In addition, the report will be
available at no charge on the GAO Web site at [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov].
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please
contact me at (202) 512-2834 or dillinghamg@gao.gov. Contact points for
our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found
on the last page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions
to this report are listed in appendix III.
Sincerely yours,
Signed by:
Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph.D.
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues:
[End of section]
Appendix I: Scope and Methods:
To determine how the components and practices of the Federal Aviation
Administration's (FAA) human capital system compare with those of
leading organizations, we reviewed FAA documents and regulations--which
detailed FAA policies and practices in the functional areas of
workforce planning, training, recruiting and hiring, performance
management, and diversity management. We also reviewed relevant studies
by other organizations, including the National Academy of Public
Administration. We discussed the structure and processes of FAA's human
capital system, and how the system is addressing FAA's challenges, with
officials from the Office of Human Resource Management and the Office
of Civil Rights, and with FAA officials who have responsibility for
implementing human capital procedures within each line of business--
Commercial Space Transportation, Aviation Safety, Airports, and the Air
Traffic Organization. We conducted our interviews with FAA officials at
FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and, via teleconference, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma. Additionally, we obtained perspectives of organized
labor on the human capital system through semistructured interviews
with representatives of FAA's four largest unions--the National Air
Traffic Controllers Association (about 19,000 members); the
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (about 11,100 members); the
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (about
2,200 members); and the American Federation of Government Employees
(about 1,800 members)--which, collectively, represent about three-
fourths of FAA's workforce. We conducted a high-level comparison of
FAA's practices to leading practices. More detailed comparisons could
disclose specific leading practices that FAA is not following, beyond
those discussed in this report. We did not assess the effectiveness of
FAA's human capital system, because other factors--outside of FAA's
human capital system--may also affect FAA's performance.
To determine how FAA employees' workplace satisfaction compares with
that of other federal government employees, and what steps FAA is
taking to improve workplace satisfaction, we reviewed FAA employee
responses to the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) biennial
Federal Human Capital Surveys for 2004, 2006, and 2008. We specifically
analyzed the responses to 16 "impact items" that, according to OPM,
make a difference in employee recruitment, motivation, and retention.
Through document review and interviews with FAA officials, we
determined FAA's actions and plans to improve employee satisfaction for
those items for which FAA employee satisfaction was the farthest behind
the rest of the federal government.
We conducted this performance audit from May 2008 to October 2009 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our
findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that
the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives. We also conducted
reliability assessments of the data we obtained electronically and
determined those data to be of sufficient quality to be used for the
purposes of this report.
[End of section]
Appendix II: Key Leading Practices and FAA's Activities in Strategic
Workforce Planning, Training, Recruitment and Hiring, and Performance
Management:
Strategic workforce planning:
Key leading practices: Involve top management, employees, and other
stakeholders in developing, communicating, and implementing the
strategic workforce plan;
FAA activities:
* Works with stakeholders in annually reviewing and updating the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Human Capital Plan;
* Has executives sign workforce planning documents for the workforces
under their purview.
Key leading practices: Determine the critical skills and competencies
that will be needed to achieve current and future programmatic results;
FAA activities:
* Develops workforce plans for major organizational segments and for
specific workforces, such as air traffic controllers;
plans provide workforce demographics and strategies to address
workforce challenges;
* Strives to achieve strategic alignment among people, goals, and
mission accomplishments when annually updating workforce plans;
* Examines human capital challenges to determine the extent to which
the current workforce, systems, and practices meet future business
requirements and determines where challenges exist;
* Developed a 16-competency leadership success profile and revalidates
it every 2 years through a managementwide survey;
* Mandates annual skill assessments for all managers and establishes
recurring management training requirements;
* Uses a competency model for human resource specialists that includes
numerous technical and general competencies;
* Enlisted the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) for
assistance in determining the workforce competencies needed to lead and
implement NextGen;
* Bases its human capital planning framework on guidance from the
Office of Management and Budget, GAO, and the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM);
* Developed an acquisition workforce plan that officials said will
include acquisitions competencies, based in part on information from
the NAPA Panel's review;
* Partnered with agencies across the federal government to establish a
federal certification program for program and project managers based on
recognition of common, essential competencies.
Key leading practices: Develop strategies that are tailored to address
gaps in the number, deployment, and alignment of human capital
approaches for enabling and sustaining the contributions of all
critical skills and competencies;
FAA activities:
* Established a Senior Leadership Development Program to provide a
pipeline of candidates to compete for leadership positions;
uses leadership competencies to evaluate candidates for the program;
* Established a Program for Emerging Leaders to assess, develop, and
demonstrate candidates' management potential; provide structured
training; and provide a corporate perspective of FAA; uses leadership
competencies to evaluate candidates for the program;
* Participates in several governmentwide competency analysis efforts
for mission critical workforces, such as information technologists,
engineers, community planners, and human resource specialists;
* Identifies gaps in workforce competencies and formulates closure
strategies.
Key leading practices: Build the capability needed to address
administrative, educational, and other requirements important to
support workforce planning strategies;
FAA activities:
* Established a Human Capital Planning Council to serve as an internal
community of practice for workforce planning and to provide a focal
point for sharing best practices and disseminating guidance;
* Engages in knowledge transfer by partnering with OPM, the Department
of Transportation, the Chief Human Capital Officers Council, NAPA, GAO,
and other government agencies; learning institutions; and the private
sector to ensure that the best possible decisions are made through
shared lessons learned, feedback, and expertise;
* Uses a six-stage process that includes aligning human capital
policies, practices, and initiatives with the Flight Plan;
scanning external trends to identify those that can affect the
organization; scanning trends in workforce supply; and establishing and
measuring progress against human capital goals;
* Established a system of accountability that holds the organization,
managers, and human resource officers accountable for efficient and
effective human resources management;
* Included accountability as a leadership competency.
Key leading practices: Monitor and evaluate the agency's progress
toward its human capital goals and the contribution that human capital
results have made toward achieving programmatic results;
FAA activities:
* Established performance metrics in the Flight Plan for the time to
fill vacancies, workplace injury rates, grievance processing time, and
meeting staffing targets for air traffic controller and safety
workforces;
* Uses an automated system to track performance;
* Administrator reviews progress on initiatives against performance
targets and goals in monthly meetings;
* Posts performance results against the human capital goals on its Web
site;
* Analyzes the results of employee surveys and takes action to improve
specific areas.
Training:
Key leading practices: Planning/Front-End Analysis: Strategically link
training and development programs to agency goals and to the skills and
competencies needed for the agency to perform effectively;
FAA activities:
* Establishes training programs that align with agency goals;
* Requires that training be based on a systematic analysis of the
knowledge, skills, and abilities required to achieve the organization's
mission;
* Determines gaps between desired and current organizational
performance, determines if training is the appropriate solution, and,
if so, addresses those learning needs in annual business plans;
* Incorporates training strategies as a significant part of workforce
planning efforts by, for example, establishing corporate employee
training programs to build leadership competence within the FAA
workforce, support professional development, and promote continuous
learning.
Key leading practices: Design: Conduct the appropriate analyses when
designing training and development efforts;
FAA activities:
* Developed criteria based on industry Instructional Design Standards
to determine whether to design training programs internally or use an
external source. FAA officials stated that these criteria also capture
FAA's processes for developing training internally;
* Uses a mixed approach to centralizing management of training
programs;
- Conducts managerial and leadership training on an agencywide basis to
enable consistent training across the agency;
- Conducts technical or professional training on a decentralized basis
to accommodate subordinate organizations' unique requirements. For
example, officials from the Commercial Space line of business noted
that, because much of its work is very technical and different from
that of other lines of business, it designs and conducts much of its
training internally;
* Conducts analyses to choose among different mixes of training
delivery mechanisms. For example, FAA officials noted that FAA is
moving to a more "blended approach" to training delivery, using
computer-based training where possible, which can help ensure that an
agencywide audience receives the same message.
Key leading practices: Implementation: Agency leaders communicate the
importance of training and developing employees and foster an
environment conducive to effective training and development;
FAA activities:
* Encourages employees to work with their supervisors in creating
individual development plans--identifying occupational performance
requirements, job-and career-related learning needs, and learning
strategies for meeting them--in conjunction with their annual
performance plans;
* Communicates management team commitment to ensuring that adequate
funds will be set aside for position-essential training and has noted
that funding for training in support of employees' career development
will be provided when possible;
* Vests accountability for the enhanced performance of the workforce in
the Office of Corporate Learning and Development and with line of
business executives;
- The Office of Corporate Learning and Development is responsible for
managerial/leadership training and is accountable for improvements in
that area;
-The lines of business are responsible for developing technical and
professional training and are accountable for employee technical
performance. The Air Traffic Organization, for example, has several
layers of training accountability for air traffic controller technical
training, starting with the Vice President of Technical Training, who
is responsible for Air Traffic technical training.
Key leading practices: Evaluation: Systematically plan for and evaluate
the effectiveness of agency training and development efforts using the
appropriate analytic approaches and performance data;
FAA activities:
* Evaluates learning and development activities to determine how well
these activities meet short-and long-range program needs;
* Establishes standards that address the quality of learning and
development activities and delivery systems, achievement of learning
objectives, impact on performance, accomplishment of organizational
requirements and expectations, and written end-of-activity evaluation;
* Uses performance data from end-of-course evaluations to assess
participant reaction, vendor and instructor performance, transfer of
learning, learning outcomes, and the effectiveness of participatory
learning techniques;
* Compiles training evaluation results for use in future planning;
* Assesses leadership skills every spring and uses the results of these
assessments to refine the leadership curriculum for the following year;
* Requires lines of business and staff organizations to plan and
justify their training needs as part of the regular budget process;
* Lines of business are responsible for maintaining records of all
training activities, expenditures, and plans;
* Manages costs through electronic delivery of Web-based courses.
Recruitment and hiring:
Key leading practices: Evaluate recruitment strategies to attract
applicants;
FAA activities:
* Monitors the effectiveness of the Air-Traffic Selection and Training
tool--the screening test for air traffic controller applicants--and has
commenced a study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the tool over
the long term;
* Uses the Chief Human Capital Officers Council Management Satisfaction
survey to obtain hiring manager feedback on the hiring process and the
quality of applicants;
* Evaluates the success of its strategies by setting performance
targets and reporting on its success in meeting them in annual
performance and accountability reports.
Key leading practices: Ensure that the best candidates are selected by
refining assessment tools;
FAA activities:
* Refines vacancy announcements so that they better incorporate key
competencies and evaluates applicants against these competencies;
* Uses feedback collected from job applicants to redesign its systems
to improve usability.
Key leading practices: Use an automated hiring process, including
computerized systems to prescreen, rate, and rank applicants;
FAA activities:
* Uses its Automated Staffing and Application system for most
externally advertised vacancies to post vacancy announcements, obtain
applications, rate and rank applicants, and complete the selection
process.
Key leading practices: Use available flexibilities to recruit, hire,
and manage workforces;
FAA activities:
* Uses on-the-spot hiring authority based on factors such as the number
of applications received and the adequacy of job advertising efforts;
* Uses recruitment incentives when extreme difficulty has existed for a
prolonged period of time in attracting an adequate number of
candidates, or when necessary to attract a candidate with unique
competencies critical to an important agency mission;
* Pays retention incentives when the unique qualifications of the
employee or a special need for the employee's services makes it
essential to retain the employee and the employee would be likely to
leave the federal service in the absence of a retention incentive.
Performance management:
Key leading practices: Use performance management system to improve
performance by helping individuals see the connection between their
daily activities and organizational goals and encouraging individuals
to focus on their roles and responsibilities to help achieve these
goals;
FAA activities:
* Aligns individual performance expectations with organizational goals
by requiring that each supervisor and employee develop a performance
plan that describes employee tasks and responsibilities and provides a
line of sight from those items to the goals in the Flight Plan;
* Clearly defines and widely communicates FAA's performance
expectations for the organization in FAA's Flight Plan and business
plans, and for individuals in employee performance plans;
* Ties performance-based pay increases to an employee's "Impact on
Organizational Success";
- Rates employees on their ability to successfully set priorities and
complete work that directly affects the ability of the organization to
meet its performance objectives and deliver high-quality products and
services.
Key leading practices: Use competencies to examine individual
contributions to organizational results. Competencies, which define the
skills and supporting behaviors that individuals are expected to
exhibit to carry out their work effectively, can provide a fuller
picture of an individual's performance;
FAA activities:
* Uses two types of performance standards to describe employee's major
responsibilities and expected outcomes;
- Uses "common" or "generic" performance standards when the work is
repetitious in nature and is characterized by consistent processes,
standard outcomes and expectations, and is task-or procedurally based.
These plans contain standardized outcomes and expectations that apply
to all employees doing the same or similar job(s). For example, all air
traffic controllers are expected to recognize adverse and emergency
situations and take timely corrective actions;
- Uses a customized plan that applies to specific individuals for their
specific duties when work is programmatic in nature and is
characterized by unique processes and diverse outcomes, and
expectations are project-oriented.
Key leading practices: Provide objective performance information to
individuals to show progress in achieving organizational results;
FAA activities:
* Tracks progress toward multiple agency performance targets, as
outlined in the Flight Plan, and issues periodic performance reports;
* Reports the status quarterly on the agency Web site and annually in
performance and accountability reports.
Key leading practices: Create pay, incentive, and reward systems that
clearly link employee knowledge, skills, and contributions to
organizational results. A key aspect of implementing such a system is
making meaningful distinctions in individual performance and
appropriately rewarding those who perform at the highest level;
FAA activities:
* Uses a two-phased process to appraise the performance of most
employees and distribute performance-based pay increases;
* Uses a secondary pay decision process to make more meaningful
performance distinctions in determining performance-based pay
increases;
* Provides monetary awards for outstanding performance in categories
such as ensuring safety, customer service, and leadership;
- Granted over $5 million in cash awards and over 64,000 hours of time
off under the incentive awards program in fiscal year 2007.
Key leading practices: Provide the necessary information and
documentation to deal with poor performers;
FAA activities:
* Established procedures to deal with unacceptable performers, which
require that supervisors provide employees with an opportunity to
improve before taking performance-based action. Employees are placed on
a performance improvement plan, called an "Opportunity to Demonstrate
Performance," for a period of time as specified in the governing labor
agreement and, if the employee remains on the plan at the end of the
performance cycle, the employee does not receive a performance-based
increase[A].
Key leading practices: Provide candid and constructive feedback to help
individuals maximize their contribution and potential in understanding
and realizing the goals and objectives of the organization;
FAA activities:
* Requires that supervisors conduct meetings with their employees
halfway through the performance cycle and provide ongoing, informal
feedback on the employee's progress against the performance plan and
identify opportunities for improvement;
* Provides automatic notifications to managers that midpoint feedback
and end-of-cycle reviews are due, to help ensure that these activities
take place;
* Disseminated a broadcast message to all FAA managers to remind them
of the midcycle review requirement, the due date, and the reasons for
the review.
Key leading practices: Actively involve employees and stakeholders,
such as unions or other employee associations, when developing results-
oriented performance management systems in order to help improve
employees' confidence and belief in the fairness of the system and
increase their understanding and ownership of organizational goals and
objectives;
FAA activities:
* Involved employees in Performance Management System design by
conducting over 50 focus groups with more than 500 total participants
across all lines of business, unions, and pay grades to verify employee
survey results and to obtain employee suggestions for improving the
system;
* Provided training for supervisors, managers, and employees when
originally implementing its performance management system, by
developing a variety of classroom training modules and interactive
video sessions;
* Developed an instructional guide for employees on the performance
management system;
* Developed a desk guide for managers on distributing superior
contribution increases;
* Recently conducted a series of briefings regarding the pay for
performance system.
Key leading practices: Provide adequate safeguards that help to ensure
transparency, which can improve the credibility of the performance-
based pay system by promoting fairness and trust;
FAA activities:
* Established a process for handling disputes in its performance
management system. The process is designed to be collaborative in
nature, beginning with the jointly developed performance plans. FAA
uses a grievance procedure or bargaining unit contracts, whichever
apply, to resolve disputes and/or disagreements that are not resolved
through the initial efforts;
* Publishes information for employees on internal Web sites about the
results of performance pay decisions.
Sources: GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic
Workforce Planning, GAO-04-39 (Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003);
Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and Development
Efforts in the Federal Government, GAO-04-546G (Washington, D.C.: March
2004); Human Capital: Transforming Federal Recruitment and Hiring
Efforts, GAO-08-762T (Washington, D.C.: May 8, 2008); Human Capital:
Additional Collaboration Between OPM and Agencies Is Key to Improved
Federal Hiring, GAO-04-797 (Washington, D.C.: June 7, 2004); Results-
Oriented Cultures: Creating a Clear Linkage between Individual
Performance and Organizational Success, GAO-03-488 (Washington, D.C.:
Mar. 14, 2003); Merit Systems Protection Board, Reforming Federal
Hiring: Beyond Faster and Cheaper (Washington, D.C.); and GAO analysis
of FAA practices.
[A] The performance tool option does not apply to temporary employees
or to employees in a probationary period. However, supervisors are
encouraged to use the other elements of the system to mentor or counsel
these employees or supervisors early in the process if their
performance declines.
[End of table]
[End of section]
Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments:
GAO Contact:
Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph.D., (202) 512-2834 or dillinghamg@gao.gov:
Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to the contact named above, Maria Edelstein, Assistant
Director; Edmond Menoche, Senior Analyst; Sherwin Chapman; Peter
DelToro; Jessica Evans; Colin Fallon; Cynthia Heckmann; Bert Japikse;
Janice Latimer; Steven Lozano; Grant Mallie; Belva Martin; Sara Ann
Moessbauer; Carol Petersen; Colleen Phillips; Mark Ramage; Beverly
Ross; and Kiki Theodoropoulos made significant contributions to this
report.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] FAA's total employee count, including temporary employees, as of
September 12, 2009.
[2] The Partnership for Public Service and American University's
Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation publish
rankings of the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government using
data from the Office of Personnel Management's biennial Federal Human
Capital Survey.
[3] GAO, Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic
Workforce Planning, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-39]
(Washington, D.C.: Dec. 11, 2003).
[4] GAO, Human Capital: A Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and
Development Efforts in the Federal Government, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-546G] (Washington, D.C.: March
2004).
[5] Merit Systems Protection Board, Reforming Federal Hiring: Beyond
Faster and Cheaper (Washington, D.C.) and GAO, Human Capital:
Transforming Federal Recruitment and Hiring Efforts, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-762T] (Washington, D.C.: May 8,
2008); and Human Capital: Additional Collaboration Between OPM and
Agencies Is Key to Improved Federal Hiring, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-797] (Washington, D.C.: June 7,
2004).
[6] GAO, Results-Oriented Cultures: Creating a Clear Linkage between
Individual Performance and Organizational Success, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-488] (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 14,
2003).
[7] GAO, Diversity Management: Expert-Identified Leading Practices and
Agency Examples, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-90]
(Washington, D.C.: Jan. 14, 2005).
[8] Federal Aviation Administration, Background Paper: Personnel
Management Reform for the Federal Aviation Administration (Washington,
D.C.: August 1995).
[9] Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations
Act, Pub. L. No. 104-50, § 347.
[10] 49 U.S.C. § 40122(a).
[11] GAO, Human Capital Management: FAA's Reform Effort Requires a More
Strategic Approach, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-156]
(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 3, 2003).
[12] This percentage is based on FAA's total employee count, including
temporary employees, as of September 12, 2009.
[13] FAA's projections are based on end of fiscal year 2008 data.
[14] FAA's operational air traffic controllers--those who are actively
involved in the separation and control of aircraft--are eligible to
retire at age 50 with 20 years of service and cannot control air
traffic after age 56 without a special waiver.
[15] GAO, Next Generation Air Transportation System: Progress and
Challenges Associated with the Transformation of the National Airspace
System, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-25] (Washington,
D.C.: Nov. 13, 2006).
[16] National Academy of Public Administration, Volume 1: Identifying
the Workforce to Respond to a National Imperative...the Next Generation
Air Transportation System (NextGen) (Washington, D.C.: September 2008).
The report states that the views expressed are those of the panel and
do not necessarily reflect the views of NAPA as an institution.
[17] Partnership for Public Service, Where the Jobs Are 2009: Mission-
Critical Opportunities for America, available at [hyperlink,
http://data.wherethejobsare.org/wtja/home] (last accessed on Sept. 9,
2009).
[18] The House passed H.R. 915, titled "FAA Reauthorization Act of
2009." The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
has reported out S. 1451, titled "FAA Air Transportation Modernization
and Safety Improvement Act."
[19] Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General,
Review of the Air Traffic Controller Facility Training Program, AV-
2008-055 (Washington, D.C.: June 5, 2008).
[20] A facility's training capacity is affected by the number of
experienced controllers, training contractors, and simulators.
[21] During fiscal year 2008, 33 of about 45,000 FAA employees did not
meet expectations.
[22] The ATO, Aviation Safety, and Airports lines of business include
about 43,000 of FAA's 48,000 employees.
[23] The sessions will be offered at headquarters, in each of the nine
regions, and at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical and William J. Hughes
Technical Centers.
[24] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-90].
[25] House Report 110-238, which accompanied the Departments of
Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Bill, 2008, contained an expectation that FAA would
prepare plans to increase diversity in the controller and aviation
safety workforces, submit these plans to the House and Senate
Committees on Appropriations, and provide annual updates of the plans.
See Federal Aviation Administration, Aviation Outreach Plan, Air
Traffic Controller Workforce, Fiscal Year 2008 (Washington, D.C.: Apr.
23, 2008); and Aviation Safety Diversity Plan, Fiscal Year 2008
(Washington, D.C.: undated). As of October 19, 2009, the 2009 updates
of these plans were being reviewed by the Secretary of Transportation.
[26] [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-05-90].
[27] In 2005, the Partnership and ISPPI did not publish the rankings of
subagencies (e.g., FAA), that ranked in the bottom half of all ranked
subagencies. FAA was in the bottom half in the 2005 subagency rankings,
according to a Partnership official.
[28] Partnership for Public Service, Great Expectations: What Students
Want in an Employer, and How Federal Agencies can Deliver It
(Washington, D.C.: January 2009).
[29] Merit Systems Protection Board, The Federal Government: A Model
Employer or a Work in Progress? Perspectives from 25 Years of the Merit
Principles Survey (Washington, D.C.: September 2008).
[30] Positive responses, as discussed in this report, are aggregates of
the top two most positive responses, such as strongly agree and agree;
very good and good; and very satisfied and satisfied.
[31] 49 U.S.C § 40122 (a)(2) provides that if FAA and labor cannot
reach an agreement, and mediation is not successful, FAA's proposed
changes to the human capital system may not become effective until 60
days after FAA sends the proposed change to Congress, along with
labor's objections and the reasons for the objections. After an
unsuccessful period of mediation, FAA sent its proposal to Congress,
and it became legally effective 60 days later, in June 2006. However,
FAA did not implement the terms until September 3, 2006, due to the
programmatic changes necessary to effectuate them. The changes resulted
in lower pay bands for newly hired controllers. Incumbent controllers
retained their pay levels, but if their pay levels were above the
maximum of the new pay bands, they received performance pay as a bonus,
rather than as a permanent pay increase.
[32] P. Bernthal and R. S. Wellins, Leadership Forecast: 2003-2004
(Bridgeville, Pa.; Development Dimensions International, Inc.: 2004),
cited in Robert M. Fulmer, Ph.D., and Jared L. Bleak, Pepperdine
University, Graziadio School of Business and Management, Strategic
Leadership: Part 1: Applying Lessons Learned from Research about
Strategic Leadership Development, [hyperlink,
http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/072/leadership.html] (downloaded June 3,
2009).
[33] Although the dimensions and competencies are essentially the same
for managers and executives, the behavioral indicators listed for each
competency differ somewhat between those for managers and those for
executives.
[34] NAPA held two colloquia to seek advice from senior executives with
broad experiences in the public and private sectors about the knowledge
requirements, skills, and leadership competencies needed to deliver
NextGen. The participants included government executives, executives
from aerospace and information technology industries, as well as
academia.
[35] Federal Aviation Administration, FAA's NextGen Implementation Plan
2009 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30, 2009).
[36] At the time of our interview, AFSCME had a number of local unions
that represented different groups of FAA employees. The representative
who provided this information was president of one of those local
unions. Since that time, AFSCME consolidated several local unions. As
of October 5, 2009, the former president was designated as a local
point of contact, pending establishment of a structure within the
consolidated unit.
[37] FAA's Chief Operating Officer is the head of the ATO.
[38] Merit Systems Protection Board, The Power of Federal Employee
Engagement (Washington, D.C.: September 2008).
[39] We reported that FAA's failure to include stakeholders during the
development phase of the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement
System, also known as STARS, contributed to unplanned work, which, in
turn, contributed to cost growth, schedule delays, and eventually a
reduction in the number of systems to be deployed. See GAO, National
Airspace System: Transformation will Require Cultural Change, Balanced
Funding Priorities, and Use of All Available Management Tools,
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-06-154] (Washington, D.C.:
Oct. 14, 2005).
[40] J. Randolph (Randy) Babbitt was sworn in as FAA's 16TH
Administrator on June 1, 2009.
[End of section]
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