Workforce and succession planning – part 3: training and competitiveness

Workforce and succession planning is a continual process for government entities, public utilities, and not-for-profit organizations focused on supporting strategic success through human capital management.

Parts one and two of Baker Tilly’s three-part workforce and succession planning series describe how organizations should identify high-priority “critical” positions, pinpoint top talent and build a talent bench to support the critical positions.

That’s all great, but what happens if your public or not-for-profit organization doesn’t have sufficient internal candidates to fill all critical positions and not all internal candidates possess proficiency in the necessary core competencies?

In part three of the series, we dive into building a tailored training program to enhance skillsets and structuring your organization to optimize market competitiveness. The diagram below provides an overview of the workforce and succession planning process and the steps that tie into a successful program.

Step 1: Building a training program to support succession planning

Identify individual competency gaps

When you’ve filled your talent bench with top-performing candidates, it’s then time to identify any gaps between the competencies candidates currently have, and the competencies required to fill a critical position. Hiring managers should refer to both the job description of the critical position and the job description of the employee’s current position. It may also be helpful to reference job descriptions of any past positions the candidate has held.

Creating and using a talent profile form can help track development progress, the critical positions for which the candidate is eligible, and the employee’s aspirations, experience, and education. The form acts as a central tracking source of the employee’s progression and should be shared and updated with the employee. Additionally, having open and continued conversations with employees to understand their career goals and communicating career opportunities is critical for a successful workforce and succession plan. Government entities, public utilities, and not-for-profit organizations need to know if an employee’s aspirations align with potential succession planning candidacy; an employee may be content in their current position and have no intention to advance, or a candidate may wish to advance, but not into a position identified during the organization’s assessment. Open communication allows both parties to better understand how they can support each other’s goals.