FAA has effective leadership and management. FAA has implemented these recommendations. By fiscal year 2013,  FAA projects that 38 percent of its employees who perform work that is  critical to FAA’s mission will be eligible to retire (see table 2). FAA Incorporates Many Leading Human Capital Practices in Strategic Workforce Planning, Training, Recruitment and Hiring, and Performance Management

FAA’s human capital system mirrors many leading human capital practices  in strategic workforce planning, training, recruitment and hiring, and  performance management, but FAA officials with responsibility for  implementing human capital procedures in major segments of the agency  and union representatives criticized FAA’s practices in performance  management. FAA’s Low Ranking in Best Places to Work Could Pose Challenges in Recruitment, Motivation, and Retention

FAA’s ranking near the bottom in Best Places to Work in the Federal  Government in 2007 and 2009, as published by the Partnership for Public  Service (the Partnership) and American University’s Institute for the Study  of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI), could present a barrier to  recruiting, motivating, and retaining the talented employees that FAA  needs to meet future mission requirements. FAA Employees Indicated Less Satisfaction Than the Rest of the Federal Government with Their Jobs; Organization; and Items That Affect Recruitment, Motivation, and Retention

Compared with employees in the rest of the federal government, FAA  employees indicated less satisfaction with key items in OPM’s 2008  Federal Human Capital Survey. FAA Is Working to Address Workplace Satisfaction, but Has Not Established Accountability for Improvement

FAA is taking actions that could improve employee satisfaction with their  leaders over time. These activities could help increase positive responses  regarding employee empowerment and employees’ involvement in  decisions that affect their work. These efforts represent a good start. Recommendations for Executive Action

To ensure that FAA can hire, motivate, and retain the talented staff it  needs to operate the national airspace system and implement the  transition to NextGen, we recommend that the Secretary of Transportation  direct the FAA Administrator to take the following three actions:  1.  ensure that key leading practices in diversity management are  incorporated in future updates of FAA’s plans to increase diversity in  the controller and aviation safety workforces;  2.  hold its managers accountable for the outcomes of the Federal Human  Capital Survey Action Plan by establishing a performance expectation  that FAA managers will achieve the plan’s stated increases in positive  responses to designated survey items; and  3.  hold the agency accountable to Congress and the American people by  disclosing the plan, actions, goals, and outcomes in publicly available  reports to Congress, such as the annual performance and  accountability report. We also reviewed relevant  studies by other organizations, including the National Academy of Public  Administration. To determine how FAA employees’ workplace satisfaction compares with  that of other federal government employees, and what steps FAA is taking  to improve workplace satisfaction, we reviewed FAA employee responses  to the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) biennial Federal Human  Capital Surveys for 2004, 2006, and 2008. Developed an instructional guide for employees on the performance management  system.
Why GAO Did This Study

Aviation is critical to the nation's economic well-being, global competitiveness, and national security. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) 48,000 employees guide aircraft, oversee safety, and maintain air traffic control equipment. FAA will need these skills and additional expertise to address evolving missions. As requested, GAO reviewed (1) how FAA's human capital system compares with practices of leading organizations and (2) how FAA employees' workplace satisfaction compares with that of other federal government employees. GAO reviewed documents and relevant studies, and interviewed FAA officials who implement human capital procedures and union representatives. GAO also reviewed survey data on workplace satisfaction.

What GAO Found

FAA's human capital system incorporates many practices used in leading organizations, but the agency's placement near the bottom in best places to work rankings, published by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation, could pose challenges to employee recruitment, motivation, and retention. As part of strategic workforce planning, FAA determines the critical skills needed in its workforce and assesses individual worker skill levels. It also follows leading practices in performance management, but FAA officials and union representatives questioned the system's fairness, echoing concerns that they have raised in the past. FAA follows fewer leading practices in diversity management, but has an opportunity to strengthen its efforts as it updates diversity outreach plans. Despite these efforts, FAA ranked 214th out of 216 agencies in 2009 as the best place to work in the federal government, similar to its ranking in 2007. These low rankings could pose obstacles to FAA's efforts to retain its existing workforce and recruit staff with the requisite skills needed to implement the Next Generation Air Transportation System. By fiscal year 2013, FAA projects that 38 percent of its employees who perform work that is critical to FAA's mission will be eligible to retire. While FAA employee responses to governmentwide surveys indicate that they like their work, their responses are considerably less positive than the rest of the federal government regarding other factors that have an impact on employee recruitment, motivation, and retention. The percentage of FAA employees' positive responses regarding communications, involvement in decisions that affect their work, and respect for their leaders were up to 19 points below those of the rest of the federal government. FAA has developed an action plan to improve leadership and create a performance-based culture that could improve employees' workplace satisfaction. However, FAA has not established accountability for the plan's success.