Summary
This project documents and shares insights from a comparative study of workforce co-design initiatives in other regions. The main objective is to enhance hiring, retention, and leadership promotion within job areas and positions at regional transit agencies that are currently the hardest to staff and keep full. The research is designed to assist regional transit agencies in determining where there is the greatest potential for worker-informed co-design processes to make an impact on hiring and retention, and to support implementation of high-impact processes within regional transit organizations and partner organizations contracted for workforce hiring.
Co-design efforts recognize that current and prospective workers hold the key to unlocking access to new generations of workers because of their lived experience, cultural and social connections, and career awareness. Their involvement is helping to elevate public organizations and their hiring partners as "employers of choice," ensuring more diverse populations recognize and benefit from the quality of the jobs and career opportunities being offered. Equally, by giving workers a voice in workforce development design, these organizations amplify the dignity of work, ensuring employees gain a greater sense of purpose and meaning from their daily work and thus feel empowered to improve the work lives of others.