The transportation industry today faces significant workforce challenges, including labor shortages and struggles with recruitment and retention. These issues have become more complex since the COVID-19 pandemic, which reshaped workplace expectations and added further strain to organizations.
In a presentation at the 2024 CTS Transportation Research Conference, Professor Kenneth Bartlett from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development shared workforce management strategies for becoming an “employer of choice”—an organization that inspires potential employees to join and stay. To remain competitive, he said organizations must adopt new strategies to attract and retain talent. Bartlett advocated for a shift in workforce planning that prioritizes employee growth and long-term benefits over outdated approaches that rely on past data and treat workers solely as resources.
To address its workforce challenges and explore strategies for attracting and retaining talent, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) partnered with Bartlett and a group of faculty, researchers, and students at the U’s Workforce Development and Research Lab (WDRL). The team used data analysis, interviews, and scenario planning to better understand MnDOT’s workforce environment and identify ways to improve. The findings offered MnDOT a roadmap for becoming an employer of choice.
WDRL’s research highlighted some high-level challenges that MnDOT and other organizations are facing, including the retirement of baby boomers, growing infrastructure demands, fewer qualified candidates for technical roles, rising costs for employers, and increased competition for jobs. MnDOT also faces more specific obstacles, such as under-advertised job opportunities, hyper-specific minimum qualifications, and slow hiring processes due to a reduced human resources staff.
Despite these challenges, the WDRL team also identified key strengths that MnDOT could build on. These include good job stability compared to the private sector, innovative projects, a positive work environment, a sense of belonging, professional development opportunities, competitive benefits, and the chance to do meaningful work that serves Minnesota communities.
Bartlett emphasized that becoming an employer of choice involves more than just offering competitive compensation—it’s about creating a desirable employment experience that appeals to top talent. This requires employers to implement new recruitment and retention strategies and communicate the value of working at the organization to current employees and job seekers. By focusing on strengths and addressing weaknesses, organizations can make themselves more appealing.
After Bartlett’s presentation, Cindy Gross, MnDOT’s director of human resources, outlined the steps that MnDOT is already taking based on the findings of this project, such as:
- Strengthening partnerships with technical colleges to promote and generate interest in transportation careers.
- Embracing the concept and promotion of “total rewards,” which highlights both immediate and future career benefits beyond salary.
- Considering how to effectively market the long-term value of benefits plans.
- Highlighting the low-cost and no-cost services offered that support employees beyond the workplace.
“We can’t just hire our way out of this,” Gross explained. As industries like transportation face ongoing challenges, embracing a new, holistic approach to workforce planning may be key to becoming an employer of choice. This means focusing on long-term planning, aligning workforce strategies with employee needs, and engaging potential talent. By creating workplaces that value growth, support, and opportunity, organizations can attract and retain more employees while building a strong foundation for success.
—Krysta Rzeszutek, CTS digital editor
