T develops wish list for biz group funding
10-20% performance bonuses part of hiring, retention initiative
MBTA OFFICIALS, looking to one of the state’s business groups for help in hiring and retaining staff, unveiled a wish list of initiatives on Monday that could end up costing between $750,000 and $1 million a year depending on participation.
The Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, a group of high-powered CEOs from some of the state’s top companies, offered last year to help the MBTA recruit, train, and retain top executives. MBTA officials on Monday unveiled eight different initiatives, some of which are in place now and others they would like to do in the future.
Jessie Saintcyr, the chief administrative officer and assistant secretary of human resources at both the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation,aid the T intends to continue using specialized recruiting firms ($477,000 cost last year to hire about 10 employees) and paying out signing bonuses ($20,000 to $30,000 per person) and relocation fees ($8,000 to $10,000 per person).
To retain workers once they are hired, Saintcyr said the T would like to issue performance bonuses and to pay the cost of employees obtaining or retaining professional licenses or certifications. She said the performance bonuses would be 10 to 20 percent of the individual’s salary, while the certification expenses could run to $1,000 to $1,500 per person.
The T also wants to hire an executive to oversee a program that would recruit companies to loan executives to the transit authority to serve as a “resource/coach/mentor” for existing staff.
Saintcyr’s presentation to the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board said “the majority of our initiatives will center around one-time expenses that drive change while having minimal or no longer-term recurring costs.”
State Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said the next step is to work with the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership to develop funding for the initiatives. “Now that we have a framework and a menu of investments, we’re going to be working with the Competitive Partnership to help raise money and hopefully their members will step up to the plate and we’ll be able to fund as many initiatives as possible,” she said.
The board of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership includes the chief executives of Raytheon Corp., Fidelity Investments, Suffolk Construction, State Street Corp., Eversource Energy, Partners HealthCare, Liberty Mutual, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.Robert Kraft, the CEO of the Kraft Group and the owner of the New England Patriots, is another member of the board. Kraft is working with the T already and providing some funding for a pilot program that would extend the existing Fairmount commuter rail line to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.