The looming retirement of Baby Boomers is on everyone’s mind, raising such issues as how to replace them and how to replenish the workforce.

These and other issues were the motivating factors for three agency leaders—Gary C. Thomas, APTA chair and president/executive director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART); Arthur T. Leahy, chief executive officer, Los Angeles Metro; and Phillip Washington, general manager, Regional Transportation District, Denver—who met last year and developed an innovative, cooperative, inter-agency program to develop their mid-level managers. They shared their insights at a June 5 General Forum, “Mid-Level Manager Development: An Executive Roundtable.”

As Faye Moses-Wilkins, DART board member who moderated this freewheeling informal session, pointed out: “We need to be sure we do the best job we can to ensure they move forward. At some point in the near future, the Baby Boomers of the industry will retire—or consult.”

Thomas began the session by explaining the thinking behind the development of this program. “People stay in organizations because they feel like they are growing, engaging, learning, part of the team, accomplishing something,” he said. “How do we engage our team members and make sure they feel like they are part of what it’s all about?”

Leahy added: “We face an expanding set of projects with expanding service across the country, but we have a rapidly aging workforce. In Los Angeles we’ve been wrestling with this, asking ourselves: what do we do to prepare? We have a great task before us to get the next generation of professionals and blue-collar workers ready.”

Each of the three leaders selected eight mid-level managers who then spent a week visiting the other two agencies, taking the opportunity, as Thomas said, “to see what the other folks in the industry are doing—what they’re doing right, and what they’re not doing right.”

The specific areas of focus in the program were safety, bus operations, rail operations, human resources, labor, and capital programs. The idea was to minimize the learning curve and talk about best practices and lessons learned.

One challenge, Thomas noted, was figuring out how these groups could share what they’d learned once they returned. “How do we capture that, learn from that, engage those thoughts and ideas?” he asked. His DART solution was to include the team in executive management meetings. “From an agency perspective, that’s great. From an employee perspective, they have the opportunity to grow. They develop peer relationships with their counterparts in Los Angeles and Denver,” he explained.

A point made repeatedly was that if this program enhances the marketability of the participants, other agencies might try to hire them. In rebuttal, Leahy said: “It is healthier for the organization if you prepare your people to compete for jobs than if you try to hide from the problem. We aren’t preparing people for jobs, we’re preparing them to compete for jobs.”

“I don’t think there’s any greater responsibility as managers than taking care of our people—and right up there is training and professional development,” said Washington.

But, he added, before he sent his team out, he talked to them about the critical importance of “implementing innovation.” He said they are putting information from the team on their internal Internet and tracking the progress of the implementation of what’s been learned. He cited one of the Los Angeles participants who talked about a best practice he’d learned and could implement that would save $145,000.

“That statement and that action,” Washington said, “made the whole program worth it for me.”

Next Steps
In an earlier conversation with Washington, FTA Administrator Peter M. Rogoff suggested that agencies add a fourth, older one to their effort so the teams can understand more about state of good repair and maintenance. He and Washington also discussed the possibility of a regional approach to this program.

Another lesson learned, Thomas said, concerned the selection process. Should they match disciplines, for instance lining up a systems person with other systems people, or should they just select promising mid-level managers regardless of the positions they hold?

“Rather than matching people,” said Washington, “I will weigh in on transit in general and leadership. We need well-rounded folks. I want someone who understands all of transit, from finances to bus and rail operations.”

Washington commented that some consultants have talked to him about taking part in the program: “I don’t know what that looks like right now. Would they be a part of the team or do we just spend a day with them?”

They are also contemplating slightly increasing the size of a team, from eight to 10 participants, and trying a one-day exchange with nearby agencies. And should budgets allow, they will try an international set of exchanges.

Speakers at the General Forum, from left: Faye Moses-Wilkins, presiding; Gary C. Thomas, Arthur T. Leahy, and Phillip Washington.