The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) recently announced that it has sponsored TrueSafety Evaluation, LLC, in partnership with Perigean Technologies, to conduct research on Expertise Management (EM), a knowledge-management approach centered around Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) that uses a suite of methods to “elicit, analyze and represent expertise so that it can be reintroduced into the organization.”
As part of this effort, the research team developed and implemented an EM framework to “identify, capture and transfer critical knowledge from experienced railroad employees to newer staff.” This research was conducted from September 2022 to February 2024.
“The U.S. railroad is facing critical knowledge loss of invaluable safety leadership expertise due to employee separations and a retiring workforce,” FRA noted.
According to FRA, the EM Framework methodology involved three stages:
- “Knowledge Identification: The systematic identification and prioritization of undocumented tacit knowledge from safety leaders.
- “Knowledge Capture: The use of CTA methods to articulate internalized mental models and critical decision paths.
- “Knowledge Transfer: The reintroduction of captured expertise into the organizational knowledge-sharing ecosystem through various EM products.”
The research team produced a suite of EM products tailored for railroad organizations, including:
- “Decision Games: Interactive training scenarios based on real-life situations.
- “Job Aids: Guides offering strategies and details for challenging tasks.
- “Expert Content: Stories and in-depth material on specific topics (e.g., Vehicle/Track Interaction).
- “Decision Requirements Tables (DRTs): Summaries of critical decision points.”
Researchers, FRA says, demonstrated that the EM Framework can be a “valuable tool for mitigating knowledge loss in the railroad industry.” Key findings include:
- “Identification of crucial areas of technical expertise at risk of being single points of failure.
- “Recognition of the significance of non-technical leadership impact skills for safety and organizational strength.
- “Validation of the EM approach and products through stakeholder engagement and demonstration.”
According to FRA, lessons from the project “underscored the importance of engaging current experts for deeper knowledge capture; addressing the barriers to developing expertise, such as technology dependence and organizational structure; ensuring scalability and adaptability of EM products for diverse railroad operations; and recognizing the need for skilled facilitation in the delivery of EM products, particularly Decision Games.”
The report (download below) concludes with recommendations for future roll-out strategies, emphasizing the development of “train the trainer” programs, customization of EM products for specific railroad needs, and the creation of small “bite-sized” EM products for integration into regular training schedules.
“A well-formulated and robust EM strategy that identifies, articulates, and provides strategies for engaging critical expertise requires careful and continuous planning and execution,” FRA noted. “The EM Framework provides the necessary steps to implement a successful EM strategy in the railroad industry. The approach and the stages outlined in this framework should encourage organizations to consider seriously where their expertise lies and how to keep it in their organization, especially as those experts approach retirement. Integrating an EM approach to preserve and disseminate critical expertise–before it is lost–should be a high priority across the railroad industry,” FRA concluded.
