Agency Snapshot: 
Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation has a workforce of 57,802 employees and hired 2,119 employees in the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2011. Like other agencies, the Department of Transportation is streamlining and improving the end-to-end hiring process to create a better experience for applicants, managers, and human resources specialists. The agency is also working to create appropriate training opportunities, promote work-life balance tools, provide appropriate benefits, and recognize excellent performance for its workforce. This website shows the different initiatives underway and progress being made in pursuit of the government-wide human resources agenda.

Applicant Satisfaction with the Application Process

Applicant satisfaction with the application process is about more than the speed of hiring. It also depends on how cumbersome and long the application is, whether the application questions appear relevant, and applicant awareness of their status during the process. To learn more about these factors, the Chief Human Capital Officers developed an applicant survey that asks applicants to assess the application process on a 1-10 point scale. The results of this survey for applicants, by agency, are shown here only for agencies with a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter. As of the end of Q2 FY11, the applicant satisfaction survey is now being sent to a randomly selected 50 percent sample of USAJOBS applicants who complete and submit their application. This is an increase from a randomly selected 5 percent sample size in previous quarters. As a consequence, agencies should see a significant increase in their number of applicant responses.

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Manager Satisfaction with Applicants

While speeding and easing the application process is critical, a well-functioning hiring process needs to find the best match for open positions in the government. To assess the quality of that match, the Chief Human Capital Officers also developed a survey to ask Federal managers how satisfied they are with the applicants referred to fill an opening. The Chief Human Capital Officers’ Managers’ Satisfaction Survey asks about the managers’ experience on a 1-10 point scale of their perception of workforce planning, interaction with and level of support from Human Resources, their involvement with reviewing applications, interviewing applicants and selecting final candidates, applicant quality, and their knowledge and use of hiring flexibilities. The chart presented here shows the average manager satisfaction based on applicants being referred with the skills to perform the job by agency, only for those agencies with a minimum of 30 responses in a given quarter.

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Time to Hire

 

The Department of Transportation is committed to continually improving its hiring process in order to hire the right employees. Reducing the time to hire remains an indicator of how quickly vacancies are filled. While speed is important, DOT’s primary focus is ensuring the appropriate hire is made as our employees often stay in their job for long periods of service. DOT’s mission-critical positions are comprised of highly-skilled, technical experts who are in limited supply. Often these positions require constant travel or are based in small offices in every state. Recruiting and hiring for these positions will often take longer than 80 days, especially when a new hire must relocate. 
 
DOT is continually looking for ways to improve time to hire. Reporting on all 14 steps for every new hire, DOT has demonstrated constant improvement. Between 2009 and 2012, almost two months has been eliminated from the average hire. DOT met its annual time to hire goals. Managers are more involved in recruiting, assessing and selecting applicants. DOT’s new hire retention rate surpasses the government-wide average; almost all surveyed managers would select the same hire six months later. DOT has also dramatically increased the number of veterans and individuals with disabilities working within the agency. 
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Building an Inclusive Workplace

Agencies are continuing to work to recruit people of all backgrounds and create an inclusive environment. Agencies are promoting policies and practices to ensure all segments of society, including people with disabilities and veterans, have an opportunity for employment and advancement. The table here shows information on the agency workforce as well as new hires in the third quarter of FY11.