	Other Countries’ Succession Planning and Management Practices

Leading organizations engage in broad, integrated succession planning and  management efforts that focus on strengthening both current and future  organizational capacity. As part of this approach, these organizations identify, develop, and select successors who are the right people, with the  right skills, at the right time for leadership and other key positions. We  identified specific succession planning and management practices that agencies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom are  implementing that reflect this broader focus on building organizational  capacity. Link to Strategic Planning. For RCMP, succession planning and management is an integral part of the  agency’s multiyear human capital plan and directly supports its strategic  needs. The program places participants in a series of jobs designed to  provide experiences, each of which is linked to strengthening specific  competencies required for admission to the Senior Civil Service. In addition, leading organizations use succession planning and  management to identify and develop knowledge and skills that are critical  in the workplace. Faced with the urgent need  to capture and pass on the inspectors’ expertise, judgment, and insights  before they retire, the agency embarked on a major knowledge  management initiative in 1999 as part of its succession planning and  management activities. Agencies in other countries have developed several approaches to respond  to this challenge. Government  agencies around the world, including in the United States, are facing  challenges in the demographic makeup and diversity of their senior  executives. Achieve a More Diverse Workforce. Leading organizations recognize that  diversity can be an organizational strength that contributes to achieving  results. Preparing future leaders who could help the organization successfully  adapt to recent changes in how it delivers services is one of the objectives  of the FCA’s Leadership, Excellence, Achievement, Progression program.
Why GAO Did This Study

Leading public organizations here and abroad recognize that a more strategic approach to human capital management is essential for change initiatives that are intended to transform their cultures. To that end, organizations are looking for ways to identify and develop the leaders, managers, and workforce necessary to face the array of challenges that will confront government in the 21st century. The Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, House Committee on Government Reform, requested GAO to identify how agencies in four countries--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom--are adopting a more strategic approach to managing the succession of senior executives and other public sector employees with critical skills.

What GAO Found

As part of a reexamination of what the federal government should do, how it should do it, and in some cases, who should be doing it, it is important for federal agencies to focus not just on the present but also on future trends and challenges. Succession planning and management can help an organization become what it needs to be, rather than simply to recreate the existing organization. Leading organizations go beyond a succession planning approach that focuses on simply replacing individuals and engage in broad, integrated succession planning and management efforts that focus on strengthening both current and future organizational capacity. As part of this broad approach, these organizations identify, develop, and select successors who are the right people, with the right skills, at the right time for leadership and other key positions. Governmental agencies around the world anticipate the need for leaders and other key employees with the necessary competencies to successfully meet the complex challenges of the 21st century. To this end, the experiences of agencies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom can provide insights to federal agencies, many of which have yet to adopt succession planning and management initiatives that adequately prepare them for the future.