Annual Survey and Employee Feedback (Pierce Transit)
For the past 2 years, Pierce Transit has sent out an annual survey to employees asking them where the company can most improve. However, this survey is fairly infrequent and also not accessible to those employees whose emails Pierce does not have. Because of this, the survey has been supplemented with quarterly meetings and weekly updates from the Pierce Transit CEO. Pierce is also experimenting with other ways of gathering feedback, including terminals that could be located in public spaces in the agency and allow employees to submit comments.
Contact: Samantha Einarson
Employee Promotability Program (Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority)
Training program focusing on job search and professional skills. Employees can go to this training in order to develop the skills they would need to apply to higher positions within GCRTA or at other transit agencies or businesses. Subsequent sessions of the program are planned to focus on skills such as interviewing and writing cover letters. Two sessions of the program have been held so far, both with a high rate of participation.
Contact: George F. Fields, SPHR, Director, Training & Employee Development
Employee Recognition Programs (Pierce Transit)
Pierce Transit operates several engagement programs that are less directly related to gathering feedback. These are designed to emphasize how employees at all levels are integral parts of the agency and include a daylong program honoring operators, an “operator of the month” program, and other rewards and recognition for employees. These programs have run since late 2014.
Contact: Samantha Einarson
Engagement Survey (Orange County Transportation Authority)
PT Pro E-Learning (Pierce Transit)
PT Pro is an online portal used by Pierce Transit as a way of organizing employees’ professional development and certifications. Staff can use this portal to sign up for a variety of online and in-person courses, including both mandatory regulatory compliance trainings and management skills training. the program serves all levels, from agency executives to frontline staff, and Pierce is currently working to officially incorporate succession planning into PT Pro.
Contact: Samantha Einarson
Quarterly Networking Events (Chicago Transit Authority)
In order to engage employees and provide an opportunity for professional development, the CTA offers quarterly events at which employees can network with people both inside and outside the agency. These events include both various departments of the CTA and several private companies. One recent event was a “Professional Organization Fair”
Contact: Geisha Ester, Director, Training and Professional Development
Social Media Recruitment Campaign (Blacksburg Transit)
Recently, Blacksburg Transit had a problem with attracting enough applicants for bus operator positions. In order to address this problem, they raised hourly wages and created a social media advertising campaign designed to attract more applications for each open position. The campaign went out over Facebook, Twitter, and Google AdWords, with the Facebook campaign being especially successful. These campaigns were divided into messaging aimed at students and potential employees under 25, potential employees between 25 and 55 looking for a second job, and retirees and near-retirees over 55 who may want to work part time at a less demanding job. Each of these groups was targeted with multiple pieces of creative, with Facebook’s ad data used to make sure that people received the ads targeted to them. After the initial success of this campaign, the advertisements were expanded to print and poster ads as well. The advertisements took a long time to develop, but were eventually clearly successful and the number of applications dramatically increased from roughly 200 per year to 200 every 2-3 months.
Contact: Fiona Rhodes, Communications & Customer Support Specialist
