BACKGROUND

Airport operators face ongoing challenges in recruiting, developing, and retaining employees. The range of positions at airports for employees and tenant personnel is diverse, and this diversity offers many challenges. One challenge is that some jobs require certain staff to be on-site, while others offer hybrid and remote working opportunities. This situation can create feelings of unfairness among workers with differing work requirements. To address these challenges, airport operators need to think beyond traditional benefits and consider supplemental practices and innovative techniques to attract and retain employees.

Research is needed to identify nontraditional practices that incentivize airport workers to pursue and maintain careers in the airport environment while also considering the broader implications of workplace dynamics and employee satisfaction.

 OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop a compendium of nontraditional practices for airport operators and the businesses operating at their facilities to recruit, develop, and retain employees.

Each practice should include at a minimum:

• A description of the challenge(s) being addressed;
• A description of the practice and an explanation of how it is used to address the challenge(s);
• A description of any necessary training and associated costs;
• The methods and costs of implementation;
• A description of successful implementation and recommendations on how to measure success;
• Identification of potential risks or negative implications;
• Identification of the stakeholders affected within the organizational structure;
• Any usage restrictions based on governance type; and
• An explanation of how practices can be scaled for airports of all sizes, if applicable.

RESEARCH PLAN

The research plan shall include the following interim deliverables for ACRP review and approval at a minimum:

• An annotated bibliography;
• A data collection plan, to include an equal mix of organizations with features of varying sizes, such as budget, model, or number of employees;
• A case study plan; and
• An interim report with a summary of the research to date, to include research results to date, analysis of results, next steps, and potential follow-on research ideas to be developed into problem statements.

The research plan shall include the following checkpoints with the ACRP panel at a minimum:

• A kick-off web meeting to be held within 1 month of the Notice to Proceed; and
• One in-person interim deliverable review meeting, as well as a web meeting tied to the panel review and ACRP approval of other interim deliverables deemed appropriate. 

The final deliverables will include: 

• The compendium;
• A Contractor’s Final Report documenting all research steps, results, and analysis;
• The Summary of Key Findings; (b) the Further Recommended Research Memo; and (c) a technical memo titled “Implementation of Research Findings and Products”.

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP. The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work.