Improving resilience of DHS work force
force has a resilience deficit, but it noted that the work force has demonstrated a high level of resilience by executing its duties admirably in the face of numerous organizational and morale challenges. DHS has used the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) as a surrogate for measuring resilience, and the survey’s data have demonstrated issues with morale, engagement, and leadership at DHS — all of which may affect work-force resilience. However, it has not been tested or proved whether the FEVS data are a surrogate for resilience.
To improve resilience efforts in DHS, the committee recommended that the agency adopt, commit to, and promote a unified strategy to build and sustain work-force readiness and resilience department-wide. DHS needs more than a simple program; it needs an overarching effort that is embedded in the culture of DHS, the report says. The committee recognized that this task is not a quick fix, but a long-term, sustained effort. To accomplish this, the agency should centralize strategic direction and resource investments, identify core best practices, create overarching policies, and develop measures of effectiveness from the departmental level. However, due to the varied needs of the DHS work force, it is crucial to obtain input from each component agency within the organization — from those working on the frontlines to those in top leadership positions. The work-force readiness and resilience efforts need to have unified policies, but should also be flexible to meet the individual needs of its varied work force.
The release notes that the roles and responsibilities for the work-force readiness and resilience effort should be clarified and expanded, the committee said. It recommended that the DHS secretary review these and make any needed changes to ensure the effort’s success, including asking the operational components and headquarters offices for input, feedback, coordination, and development of programmatic content.
In addition, the committee stressed that a strong leadership is essential for building and sustaining a ready and resilient work force. A leadership development program should be established for all levels of management throughout the agency. The program should include mentorship, sponsorship, and objective mechanisms for identifying high-potential employees, creation of leadership opportunities, and evidence-informed measurement of leadership performance.
The committee also recommended improving organizational communication by developing a communications strategy to build and promote an organizational identity that increases a sense of pride in the agency, enhances commitment to its mission, and moves toward a culture of readiness and resilience. The strategy should encourage bottom-up communication that ensures frontline input into decision making and idea generation.
In addition, DHS should implement a five-year strategic plan to establish a systematic agency-wide approach to the report’s recommendations. The committee recommended DHS develop an ongoing measurement and evaluation process to support planning, assessment, execution, and evaluation of the long-term strategic plan. If the strategic plan is embraced and implemented, the committee envisions that DHS will be regarded as one of the most desirable places to work in the federal government at its twentieth anniversary in 2023.
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
— Read more in A Ready and Resilient Workforce for the Department of Homeland Security: Protecting America’s Front Line (National Research Council, 2013)
