USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

EXPERTISE MANAGEMENT: A PROMISING APPROACH FOR SUCCESSION PLANNING

Document Series
Research Results
Author
Federal Railroad Administration
Report Number
RR 23-22
Office
RDI-24
Subject Human Factors
Keywords
succession planning, training, education, cognitive task analysis, expertise, knowledge management, leadership skills, emotional intelligence
Document

The railroad industry is facing a significant loss of expertise that succession planning programs alone cannot adequately mitigate, largely due to shifting demographics and an aging employee population. In 2022, FRA’s Office of Research, Development, and Technology’s Human Factors Division sponsored TrueSafety Evaluation to demonstrate an innovative Expertise Management (EM) Framework to identify, capture, and transfer critical areas of expertise for safety leadership positions in the U.S. railroad industry. The EM Framework is a set of processes and methods for managing expertise, scaffolded by the collective experience of experts in the organization applied in specific organizational contexts. This work builds upon previous, FRA-sponsored Cognitive Task Analysis initiatives. The project applies the EM Framework to the domain of safety-critical rail operations to strengthen highly skilled areas of technical expertise, such as train-track interactions, and Key Impact SkillsSM within the railroad industry.


DOT is committed to ensuring that information is available in appropriate alternative formats to meet the requirements of persons who have a disability. If you require an alternative version of files provided on this page, please contact FRADevOps@dot.gov.