Succession Planning, Mentoring and Coaching:

The Key to Staff Development

Cathy Standiford, City Manager

City of La Palma

Staff Development

What’s the Problem?

What Generation Are You?

Silent Generation - 58+ Baby Boomers - 39-57 Generation X - 26-38 Generation Y - 18-25

Who’s Behind You?

Fewer college students are selecting public administration

Public administration/public policy students are currently more attracted to jobs in the nonprofit sector

There has been limited effort to groom professionals already in the pipeline

Why Should You Care?

What Happens When People Leave?

Impact on the work group?

Impact on the Division/Department?

Impact on the organization as a whole?

Impact on…..YOU?

Succession Planning

A strategy for minimizing the impact of departures

Why Isn’t Succession Planning More Common?

Time Consuming Important, but Not Urgent No Immediate Results Resistance from Managers and Directors

(threatened) Political Instability Mentality that Employees are short-term

Why Succession Planning SHOULD be a Common Practice Leaders/potential leaders want to work for

quality organizations Limited talent pool Provides an opportunity to identify potential

leaders and groom them for advancement Helps the organization prepare for the

future

What is Succession Planning?

“Constant Change” Planning An Organizational Journey with No End Ensuring Continuity of Leadership Identifying Gaps in Existing Talent Pool Identifying/Nurturing Future Leaders

Action Steps to Succession Planning

Identify the desired leadership skills and attributes

Identify potential leaders Share vision with each

employee Assess each individuals’ goals

Action Steps, continued Identify gaps in skills Assign “growth tasks”

& training Mentor and coach so

that they’re ready to ascend into leadership

Don’t let those who are not interested in advancement hold you back!

Small Group Discussion

What CPRS Professional core competencies are essential for your job?

Who on your staff currently has them? What strategies can you think of that would

help you help them develop those competencies?

CPRS Core Competencies

Business Acumen Communications and Marketing Planning and Evaluation Community Relations Leadership and Management

Mentoring/Coaching

The Value of Mentoring/Coaching

An important part of succession planning Builds long-term, organizational loyalty Customized “on the job” development Inexpensive – primarily “soft costs” Flexible: formal or informal, same or

different organizations A good mentor-protégé relationship can be

beneficial throughout a career

Mentoring/Coaching Is:

A relationship between two people Focused on career development through

– Skill and experience building– Sharing of insights and ideas– Evaluation and constructive feedback– Candor, trust, and confidentiality

Given the Limited Number of People Following Behind…

Everyone has a responsibility to coach or mentor someone else

Everyone has the capacity to be a good protégé.

Creating a Great Coaching Relationship

Even one hour of your time can make a big difference to someone

It’s not necessary to have a “relationship” before starting the dialogue

Be a mirror, not a sponge! Let the protégé do the work

Coaching Practice!

Final Thoughts…

People quit people before they quit organizations– What are you doing to inspire your best and

brightest to stay with you?– How much do you know about your employees,

their goals and aspirations?– What are you doing to help them achieve their

dreams?

Final Thoughts…

Develop your action plan before you get into a crisis– What steps can you take today to grow

leadership for tomorrow?

Hire tough– The most important asset in your organization

is having the RIGHT people on your team– Never lower your standards just to fill a

position!

Final Thoughts…

Model staff development by developing yourself!– Get out of your comfort zone– Read 10 minutes a day– Listen to people– Set specific goals for yourself and your team– Stay positive– Give back—your legacy is what you leave with

others

Take the Coaching Challenge!

1. Develop a Succession Plan for your Division or work group

2. Create a coaching relationship with at least one of your subordinates

3. Ask someone else to be your coach and schedule time to talk with them

Additional Resources

Monday Morning Leadership (Cottrell) Coaching & Mentoring for Dummies

(Brounstein) Cal-ICMA Website: www.cal-icma.org Preparing the Next Generation Resource

Guide (downloadable from the Cal-ICMA website)

Succession Planning, Mentoring and Coaching:

The Key to Staff Development

Questions? Comments?