兰德-美国国防部知识工作者的人才管理（英文）-2021.4-98页_826kb

Talent Management for U.S. Department of Defense Knowledge Workers: Summary

Core Content

This report synthesizes findings from 31 publicly available RAND Corporation studies on talent management for knowledge workers in the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) published between 2013 and mid-2020. It maps these findings onto four key pillars of talent management: build and organize, train and develop, motivate and manage performance, and promote and retain the right talent. The report also highlights potential research gaps and areas for future exploration.

---

Main Pillars of Talent Management

1. Build and Organize

• Workforce Requirements:

  • DoD faces challenges in defining the required number and types of knowledge workers for critical areas like cyber, data science, software, and security cooperation.
  • There is a lack of clarity in determining the necessary KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics) and competencies for these roles.
  • Some DoD agencies struggle with estimating the correct size of the workforce, especially for cyber and information security roles.
  • Researchers identified the need for better definitions of STEM and business-related knowledge to improve workforce planning.

• Recruiting and Hiring:

  • Pay-related concerns are a significant barrier in attracting STEM and cyber personnel.
  • DoD can benefit from private-sector strategies such as employee referral bonuses, company branding, and social media engagement.
  • Hackathons and other screening tools may help assess technical talent and passion.

• Workforce Composition:

  • Diversity gaps exist in the DoD civilian workforce, particularly in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity.
  • Women and minorities are underrepresented, with factors like veteran status and geographic location contributing to these disparities.
  • Retention rates for women and Hispanics are lower than for their male and non-Hispanic counterparts, even within the AcqDemo project.

2. Train and Develop

• Training and Development (T&D):

  • T&D opportunities for knowledge workers in data science, software, and cyber are limited and often not well-evaluated.
  • External educational activities, such as university courses, professional certifications, and industry-based rotations, are seen as beneficial.
  • However, capacity constraints and lack of clear competency metrics hinder the effectiveness of these programs.

• Evaluation of T&D:

  • There is a need for more robust methods to evaluate the effectiveness of T&D initiatives.
  • Researchers suggest identifying specific measures for competencies like adaptability, critical thinking, and problem-solving to improve evaluation practices.

---

3. Motivate and Manage Performance

• Financial Incentives:

  • Spot bonuses and merit-based awards can be effective in motivating performance, but DoD may not be utilizing them optimally.
  • Compensation alone, such as high pay or retention bonuses, may not be sufficient to retain talent.

• Nonfinancial Incentives:

  • Meaningful work, opportunities for lifelong learning, and career development are powerful motivators for knowledge workers.
  • Affinity groups and employee resource groups are also cited as effective tools for engagement and performance.

• Additional Strategies:

  • Ongoing check-ins and decentralized organizational structures can help sustain performance.
  • Improving supervisors' use of performance management tools and policies is crucial for addressing poor performance and retaining high performers.

---

4. Promote and Retain the Right Talent

• Promotion Outcomes:

  • High contribution scores in the AcqDemo project correlated with higher likelihood of promotion and retention.
  • In the GS system, higher performance ratings were associated with lower retention rates.

• Retention Strategies:

  • Nonfinancial factors such as career development, mentoring, and meaningful work are key to retention.
  • A pay freeze, especially one of uncertain duration, could negatively impact retention, particularly for STEM personnel.
  • Addressing poor performance through better supervision and policy implementation is also essential for retention.

---

Diversity Management

• Gender Diversity:

  • Women are underrepresented in DoD civilian STEM roles compared to the overall U.S. STEM workforce and other federal agencies.
  • Women in AcqDemo experience fewer promotions than their male counterparts, though gender was not a predictor of promotion to the Senior Executive Service (SES).

• Racial and Ethnic Diversity:

  • Hispanics are underrepresented in DoD civilian roles and tend to work in lower-promotion fields.
  • Black and Asian personnel in AcqDemo are retained at higher rates than their white counterparts.
  • Barriers to Hispanic employment include geographic constraints, language and citizenship concerns, and a complex hiring process.

---

Key Findings and Recommendations

• Challenges Identified:

  • Lack of clarity in defining workforce requirements and KSAOs.
  • Inadequate T&D programs and limited evaluation of their effectiveness.
  • Insufficient focus on performance management and motivation strategies.
  • Limited research on supervisors and team-level practices.
  • Gaps in evaluation-oriented studies.

• Promising Practices:

  • Adoption of private-sector strategies for recruitment and talent attraction.
  • Development of competency models and position descriptions for emerging fields like data science and cybersecurity.
  • Use of nonfinancial incentives such as career development and meaningful work to improve performance and retention.

---

Future Research Opportunities

• Expand research on performance evaluation and its impact on talent management.
• Investigate the role of supervisors and team dynamics in workforce management.
• Focus on strategies to improve diversity and inclusion in the DoD civilian workforce.
• Explore the effectiveness of alternative workforce models, such as outsourcing and reserve component involvement.

---

Conclusion

RAND research provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for managing knowledge workers in the DoD. While the DoD has made strides in some areas, such as developing competency models and exploring private-sector practices, there is a clear need for more comprehensive and data-driven approaches to talent management. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing diversity issues, improving T&D and performance evaluation systems, and adopting more proactive and flexible management strategies.