perfecto - Case Study—TSA

CASE: Can the TSA Secure Top-Flight Performance?

If you’ve flown in the United States recently, you’ve passed through security checkpoints

staffed by the Transportation Security Administration, a federal agency created in

November 2001 to protect all modes of transportation. TSA agents are best known for

scanning baggage and screening persons headed for gates in the nation’s airports. Most

travelers appreciate the concern for safety following the 2001 terrorist attacks, but many

also grumble about times they have encountered a TSA employee who was unpleasant or

seemed capricious in enforcing rules.

For its part, TSA management has been challenged to maintain a workforce that is

knowledgeable, well qualified, ethical, and vigilant about identifying risky persons and

behavior. Occasional news reports have identified lapses such as items stolen from

luggage (perhaps when TSA agents are inspecting checked bags) and claims that security

screeners have cheated on tests of their ability to spot smuggled weapons.

In a recent year, TSA received an average of 1,443 claims for lost, stolen, or damaged

items, affecting a small share of the 65 million passengers who travel each month. Geoff

Rabinowitz, a business traveler whose laptop computer disappeared from one of his bags,

worries that theft by TSA or airline employees could signal a huge security risk: “If they

can get away with taking something out of bags, what can they put in bags without

getting caught?” Lauren Suhre lost jewelry and sees theft as a sign of poor management:

“I can’t imagine working for them.” TSA responds to such complaints by noting that it

has a zero-tolerance policy for employees caught stealing and investigates charges

aggressively.

Cheating on security tests is another problem that raises ethics questions. One report said

agents at airports in San Francisco and Jackson, Mississippi, allegedly were tipped off

about undercover tests to be conducted. According to the allegations, TSA employees

described to screeners the undercover agents, the type of weapons they would attempt to

smuggle through checkpoints, and the way the weapons would be hidden.

What is the TSA doing to improve the professionalism of its employees? Many of the

efforts involve human resource management. One practice involves the design of jobs.

TSA wants employees to see themselves not just as “screeners” who sit in airports but as

part of a larger law enforcement effort. So that job title was eliminated and replaced with

the term security officers, and career paths were developed. The agency also improved its

training in job tasks such as interpreting X rays and searching property. It added

performance-based pay to its compensation plan, so high-performing employees are

rewarded in a practical way. Such changes have helped reduce employee turnover

substantially. A survey also found greater job satisfaction among TSA workers.

These improvements are no small achievement, considering that government agencies

have tended to lag behind many businesses in creating a focus on high performance. In a

government agency, which is not ruled by sales and profits, it can be difficult to develop

measurable performance outcomes—measuring what individuals and groups actually

achieve, rather than merely tracking their day-to-day activities. As a result, employees

may not always see how their individual efforts can help the agency achieve broader

goals. Without this vision, they have less incentive to excel.

TSA, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has tried to become an

exception, a performance-oriented government agency. Marta Perez, chief human capital

officer of DHS, says TSA defined its overall objective as “to deploy layers of security to

protect the traveling public and the nation’s transportation system.” To achieve that

objective, the agency set specific goals for individual airports, including goals to improve

the efficiency and effectiveness of airport screening, as well as safety targets. For

example, one goal is that the wait time for 80 percent of the passengers going through

airport security should be 10 minutes or less. Individuals at each airport have specific

goals aimed at achieving the airport’s overall goals. According to Perez, the goals help

employees and managers talk about what is expected and how they will be evaluated.

SOURCES: Mark Schoeff Jr., “TSA Sees Results from Revamped People

Practices,” Workforce Management, December 11, 2006, p. 20; Bill Trahant,

“Realizing a Performance Culture in Federal Agencies,” Public Manager, Fall

2007, pp. 45–50; Tom Belden, “Reports of Thefts from Luggage at PHL,”

Philadelphia Inquirer, August 27, 2007, downloaded from General Reference

Center Gold, http://find.galegroup.com; and Thomas Frank, “Investigation Looks

at Airport-Screener Testing,” USA Today, October 5, 2007,

http://find.galegroup.com.

Questions

1. Which, if any, of the HR practices described in this case do you think

can contribute to greater efficiency and effectiveness of TSA employees?

What other practices would you recommend?

2. Which, if any, of the HR practices described in this case do you think

can contribute to ethical behavior by TSA employees? What other

practices would you recommend?

(Noe, 09/2008, pp. 23-24)

Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., Wright, P. (09/2008). Fundamentals of

Human Resource Management, 3rd Edition [VitalSource Bookshelf version].

Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/007-7376544

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