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American Society for Public Administration - Vol. 28 No. 7 - July 2005 |
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Dealing With The Imminent Retirement Crisis, Part 4-- Feeding The Leadership Pipeline
Bob Lavigna
In my last column, I described some results from a just-completed research project sponsored by my organization, CPS Human Resource Services. This project is the second part of a long-term strategy to help public agencies address the imminent retirement crisis facing all levels of government. (CPS is an independent government agency that provides HR services to other public agencies.)
In 2003, CPS published "The Aging-and-Retiring Government Workforce: How Serious Is the Challenge? What Are Jurisdictions Doing About It?" We did this study in cooperation with the Council of State Governments, the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR), the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE) and others.
In this initial study, we highlighted government agencies--federal, state and local--that are already preparing for the upcoming worker shortage. Many of these organizations are using workforce planning as the fundamental tool to dig deep into their organizations, root out vulnerabilities and trouble spots and deal with them.
The current follow-up study, again conducted by independent researcher Mary B. Young, focuses on a key aspect of the dealing with the aging workforce-- leadership development. Our research question was, "What are jurisdictions at the local, state and federal levels doing to build their leadership pipelines to ensure they have a supply of experienced talent for the future?" This time, we again collaborated with NASPE and IPMA-HR, but also added another partner--the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
In my last column, I described the two leadership development models we uncovered--the "just-in-time" (JIT) approach and the "integrated" approach. The former focuses on developing new leaders quickly. We compare this approach to an inoculation you receive if you're traveling abroad, just before you leave for the trip. The JIT model usually focuses on a relatively small segment of the workforce, such as middle managers who are likely to be promoted to senior management, or brand new senior managers.
In our view, the second model--the "Integrated Leadership Pipeline"--is a more effective way to develop leaders strategically, over time. This approach integrates an organization's full range of HR practices around a framework such as workforce planning and/or a leadership competency model. The ideal result is a set of HR practices that work together seamlessly to move talented people through the leadership pipeline. The integrated approach also widens the leadership pipeline by enabling more employees to develop leadership skills.
In our soon-to-be-released report, we highlight 15 public jurisdictions/agencies that are aggressively building their leadership pipelines. Following are summaries of five of the 15 case studies we highlight in the report.
Attracting New MPAs to Local Government
One interesting local government case is a two-year internship program developed cooperatively by three Florida cities (Port Orange, South Daytona Beach and Daytona Beach Shores) to attract new MPAs to city management careers. This program is designed specifically to attract young talent to city government. Interns serve eight-month rotations in each city, starting with the smallest city and ending with the largest. Along the way, interns work with three city managers and city councils and deal with three sets of local government issues. They also build their networks and résumés to prepare for public management jobs and careers. This program, in addition to being a great way to introduce new graduates to city management, is cost-efficient because the three cities split the interns' salary costs.
Growing Our Own" Leaders in State Government
The "Leadership Academy" in the Michigan Department of Human Resources is a comprehensive leadership pipeline program. All eligible Department middle and senior managers (over 2,600) can apply. Candidates first review an online "realistic job profile" and take an online "ideal job inventory" self-assessment to help them decide if they really want to advance to leadership positions. After that, there is a competitive selection process that produces 20 Academy participants. Even though only 20 are selected, all candidates receive formal, personalized feedback on their strengths and weaknesses, at each stage of the assessment process. That means that all candidates benefit, not just the 20 selected for the program.
Another key aspect of the Leadership Academy is the Department's commitment to assessing program impacts, to show return on investment. These evaluations include:
At the local government level, the fast-growing city of Roseville, CA, (population 100,000) successfully put in place a "Management Development Assessment Center" (MDAC) to help managers develop the core competencies critical to the city's success. First, the city identified the competencies through interviews with its managers. These interviews produced eight "management dimensions" that all department heads must master to be effective. Each dimension--communication, decision-making, interpersonal effectiveness, leadership style, administrative effectiveness, flexibility, planning/organization and developmental orientation--was clearly defined. Department directors also described what each dimension "looks like" in action and gave examples of actual situations that require mastering one or more of the eight dimensions.
Then the city put in place an integrated process to develop the competencies. This process has six elements:
Each participant receives individual formal feedback and is expected to use the feedback to construct a development plan. In addition, Roseville uses the MDAC data to develop citywide training and development programs. The cost to the city for the MDAC? A surprisingly modest $850 per participant.
Building the Leadership Pipeline from the Entry-Level
In the federal government, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) takes a very broad view of leadership development that starts by grooming entry-level professionals. Each year, GAO puts up to 325 new hires through a structured program designed to quickly assimilate new professionals, eliminate organizational silos, boost retention of new hires and accelerate development to full capacity through training, job rotations, coaching and performance management.
A key aspect of this program is that it wasn't developed in a vacuum by baby boomer managers who think they know what young professionals want. Instead, the program is grounded in empirical research on what new analysts need and want, and how these needs/wants can contribute to GAO's effectiveness.
Targeted Development
A final example comes from a large city--Anaheim, CA--that has carefully identified key leadership competencies and strategies to develop these competencies. While this approach is by no means unique, Anaheim takes this a step further by targeting specific approaches to specific groups of employees, as shown below.
These are just a few of the examples that will be highlighted in the upcoming report. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership development. The best approaches incorporate key factors such as organizational culture, business strategy, budget and political environment.
One very critical key to success is basing leadership development on the competencies that leaders must master to help their organizations succeed. In our discussions with thought leaders and managers from 35 public agencies, these competencies were identified most often:
In my next column, I'll describe practical steps all organizations can take to build their leadership pipelines.
"Building the Leadership Pipeline" will be published in July. For a free copy, please contact me at 608-385-9744 or rlavigna@cps.ca.gov.
ASPA member Bob Lavigna is a client services manager with CPS Human Resource Services in Wisconsin. E-mail: Bob@cps.ca.gov
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