Best Practices in Talent Management: How the World's Leading Corporations Manage, Develop, and Retain Top Talent

LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION PLANNING—THE CHALLENGES

Succession planning is defined as the ability to identify qualified candidates for a position prior to the position becoming vacant. By creating a leadership succession environment, organizations are better able to maintain internal continuity and sustainability of operations.

Leadership succession is crucial for the federal government and the IRS for two reasons. First, many of the federal government’s leaders will soon be eligible to retire. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) projects that more than 550,000 federal employees—almost one-third of the entire full-time permanent workforce—will leave the federal government by the end of 2012. Although the majority of attrition is expected ...