Building a Resilient Workforce Opportunities for the Department of Homeland Security: Workshop Summary (2012) / Chapter Skim
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8 Perspectives on Priorities and Next Steps
8 Perspectives on Priorities and Next Steps
Pages 167-194
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From page 167... ...
The summary panel included experts from different fields related to resilience: Brian Flynn, associate director of the Center for Studies of Traumatic Stress at Uniform Services University; Joseph Hurrell, editor of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology; Kevin Livingston, deputy associate director for the Washington Operations for the Federal Law Enforcement Center; and Bryan Vila, professor at the Sleep and Performance Research Center at the University of Washington, Spokane. The second panel included representatives from various Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
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From page 168... ...
All four of the summary panelists participated in a panelist discussion and addressed questions and comments from workshop participants. The Community Health and Resilience Perspective Brian Flynn focused his comments on those issues he considered key based upon the presentations and discussions.
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From page 169... ...
He quoted workshop presenter Col. Carl Castro, who stated, "Ideally they come to us resilient." Flynn suggested that, for programs to succeed, both individuals and organizations must be responsible for resilience promotion and stress reduction.
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From page 170... ...
Evidence Base and Program Evaluation Many methods are available to evaluate the evidence base to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a program. Flynn noted that, at this point, almost any level is sufficient as long as the program designers are
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From page 171... ...
'" An approach such as this helped DHS assess whether it is approaching parity in addressing behavioral health concerns with the same seriousness as it would other medical or public health challenges. Importance of Culture Flynn noted that it is important to recognize the effect of culture at all levels with DHS.
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From page 172... ...
Flynn noted that the workshop did not include information on making stress management and resilience promotion a required job skill. He suggested that people are certified in many things, so there may be some opportunities to do the same here, for instance.
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From page 173... ...
For instance, TSA screeners might be offended if they are offered resilience training but would probably welcome improvements to the equipment. Primary prevention seeks to address the daily chronic issues people face in their jobs.
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From page 174... ...
Although this is a slightly different approach, it offers current and reasonable recommendations on how to positively change the work environment. The Law Enforcement Perspective Kevin Livingston started by saying that the workshop presentations have reinforced for him many of the things he had learned through his experiences in the military, Secret Service, and many years in federal law enforcement.
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From page 175... ...
Summary Panel Discussion Planning committee chair James Peake noted that it was not clear how well the problem is defined. This could be due to the diversity of organizations, personnel, and cultures.
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Adaptability seems like one of the pieces of building resilience at the organizational level, which links back to management style and policies. He commented that there are aspects of law enforcement's and first responders' missions and jobs that are intrinsically difficult.
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There are almost 800,000 law enforcement personnel in the United States. All of them take an oral and written interview, about 90 percent of them get a preemployment psychological evaluation, and a large proportion have had a polygraph test.
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From page 178... ...
There is evidence about the impact of some of these factors on health and long-term performance, Vila noted, and the Buffalo study of law enforcement personnel provides data on a similar population. Norris commented that many of the ways resilience is framed is seen as a problem with the individual worker.
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From page 179... ...
He asked speakers to identify program gaps and focus on outcomes and how to improve them. Transportation Security Agency Sean Byrne, Assistant Administrator for Human Capital for the TSA, stated that the TSA believes that a more resilient workforce is a more effective workforce.
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They are primarily retired Secret Service and retired military. As a result, no one grew up in this organization, and there are sometimes issues with the junior leadership.
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Bryne was impressed by this and noted that the employees recognize that the TSA is transforming and want to be involved in the process. Part of the TSA's solution to building a more resilient workforce is to build a more engaged workforce.
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The agency is also going to implement a preemployment physical fitness test. With just less than 7,000 employees the Secret Service is a small agency.
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From page 183... ...
Although some of the other law enforcement components have some paramilitary characteristics, the Coast Guard is unique among the DHS components because it is the only military service within the department. The Coast Guard operational personnel may not have law enforcement duties, but Tedesco suggested that they struggle with many of the same pressures and stresses.
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From page 184... ...
The Coast Guard's mission shifts, and while the security of the homeland is paramount the guard also has a lifesaving service. Since 9/11 the homeland security mission has gone from about 10 percent to about 40 percent of the workload, but none of the other responsibilities has gone away.
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From page 185... ...
It has been mentioned several times in the workshop that physical fitness underlies resilience. The Coast Guard is going to institute a mandatory exercise program similar to those in the DOD services; it will use an individualized program in the beginning in order to make sure that everybody participates in physical fitness at his or her own pace each week.
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From page 186... ...
Employees and managers from different parts of FEMA, such as the response and recovery, human capital management, and equal employment offices, are all participating in the initiative. Additionally FEMA is working on a workforce surge initiative that will reach out to other DHS components seeking volunteers from their full-time workforce to support FEMA during major disasters similar to Katrina.
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From page 187... ...
There are language and culture barriers, so the CBP is looking at the increasing use of EAP services by providing Spanish-speaking counselors. Gray pointed out that the border patrol already has a physical fitness program.
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From page 188... ...
Department of Homeland Security Components Panel Discussion Peake noted that there were several themes in the discussions, including the role of physical fitness and leadership, the need to train leaders and managers, and the need to manage employee expectations about the job, such as the possibility for deployment or the realities of shift work. Peake added that changing how the organization functions can
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Attrition Gray noted that the poor economy has helped reduce attrition. There has been an increase in EAP services related to relationship issues.
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Training Sundwall asked Hill to describe in more detail the skill sets he mentioned in his presentation, in particular how the Secret Service addresses shift work and how shift work affects circadian rhythms. Hill agreed that the effects of the changing shifts are a challenge.
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It cannot just be a proclamation. Clark noted that the FEMA administrator communicates the importance of the work by reinforcing that all FEMA employees are emergency management officials, and they are expected to be ready, able, and
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In particular, he cited the presentations outlining the importance of physical fitness and its contribution to mental health. He agreed with several of the presenters' comments about the importance of program measurement, but added that it is very difficult to measure people's or component's stress or resilience levels at any given time.
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From page 193... ...
Kathryn Brinsfield closed the November meeting by noting the workshops answered many questions and brought up new ones for DHS to consider. She added that the dedication of the DHS workforce is unquestioned and is evident in the difficult work it does to accomplish its mission.
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