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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

MBTA UNIVERSITY - CREATING A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is at a critical juncture in its 106-year history as it strives to remain a premier transportation organization dedicated to quality customer service. The average age of its 6,400 employees is 45 years with an average of 12 years of service. Of that number, 8.99% or 575 members of the workforce is eligible to retire. Some of the organizational pressures facing the MBTA include: (1) Designing employee development strategies to meet changing in technology; (2) Assuring best practices and lessons learned are codified and passed on by subject matter experts before they retire; (3) Upgrading workforce customer service skills to complement the acquisition of new equipment; (4) Equipping workers to better interact with increasingly diverse colleagues; (5) Ensuring managerial/supervisory employees model the behavior they are charged with enforcing; (6) Demonstrating the organization's commitment to providing a fair and equitable workplace that values diversity and respects the contributions of all of its employees; (7) Developing strategies aimed at the whole person, mind, body and spirit; (8) Introducing new CNG buses demands new skills from our maintenance crew, and (9) The Automatic Fare Collection system being implemented will create new challenges in the manner in which we do our work. As the organization continues to evolve, the MBTA must leverage technology with employee skills in order to remain competitive. There is a commitment to developing skill sets of the workforce as the organization recruits external expertise to assist with meeting the challenges. MBTA University or "T U" is a strategy designed by the organization to link company-wide education and development efforts. "A corporate university is the centralized strategic umbrella for the education and development of employees." (1) T U's vision is to create a culture of continuous learning and an environment that values and respects the contributions of all its employees. Its mission is to provide quality, on-time learning directly related to quality on-time service, organizational goals and challenges. MBTA University features six (6) institutes servicing the diverse needs of the employee population: (1) The Academy: Addresses critical issues facing the senior leadership, best practices and lessons Learned; (2) The Leadership Institute: Focuses on the competencies and skills necessary for leaders in a transportation agency; (3) The Management Development Institute: Dedicated to assisting managers with understanding and modeling policies and practices as they develop and strengthen core competencies necessary to take on more complex roles; (4) The Technical Institute: Provides skill based training and retraining to increase competency in working with and maintaining new technology and equipment; (5) The Employee/Career Development Institute: Provides career planning, skill development and self-improvement for fulfilling careers intransit; and (6) The Wellness Institute: Focuses on the whole person, mind, body and spirit for better performance on and off.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Features: References;
  • Pagination: 6p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00980160
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 1931594120
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Oct 14 2004 12:00AM