Introduction

The Civil Cargo Protection Bureau (CCPB) is an agency that has authority over the security of transportation of non-military cargo. Headquartered in Arlington, VA, CCPB was created as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The organization was charged with developing policies to protect US transportation channels, especially facility infrastructure and preventing unlawful access of transported materials. In 2014, nearly 85% of CCPB’s 60,000 workers were stationed at airfields, train depots, and bus terminals scattered across the country as security screeners.

Business situation

Despite its important mission, CCPB has recently experienced significantly bad press as a result of security lapses by screeners, unchecked cargo manifests, and employees who were hired despite criminal records and/or questionable ties to overseas organizations. Over the course of six months, employee morale dropped nearly 25%, the head of CCPB was asked to step down, and Congress recently installed CCPB’s new Chief Administrator, a retired three-star Army General.

Upon entering office, the Chief Administrator’s first task was to review and revamp the current human capital operational practices of the agency, given the intense scrutiny.

Problem statement

CCPB has tasked Deloitte to perform a current state analysis to identify and address risks in the current cargo security screening processes, as well as the present hiring practices for security screeners. Along with the current state analysis, Deloitte must also create a human capital strategy that identifies cost-effective and streamlined approaches to security screener recruitment, training, and employee engagement initiatives. This strategy should include insights for CCPB senior leadership about how to create a cohesive and unified culture of security awareness.

Key considerations:

• Current CCPB field officers undergo only 6 weeks of on-the-job training and are not required any hours of continuing education.
• CPB currently has limited access to a counterterrisom database managed by another agency due to current interagency data-sharing policies.
• The Chief Administrator has only previously worked in military agencies and thus has no experience with civil service organizations; most CCPB field officers are not former military members and are civil servants.
• The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) is excited about upcoming changes while the Chief Information Officer (CIO) is hesitant to make any changes.