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Guidance on Establishing an Annual Leadership
Talent Management and Succession Planning Process
INTRODUCTION
OPM is providing this guidance to help agencies implement an annual talent management and succession
planning process for successfully assessing and supporting the developmental needs of all Senior
Executive Service (SES) members, and Senior Level (SL) and Scientific or Professional (ST) employees.
Talent management and succession planning are essential to ensure effective human capital management
– ensuring organizations take a planned, deliberate and holistic approach to the cycles of selection,
development, and engagement of their workforce.
Talent management refers to a process for organizations to address competency gaps, particularly in
mission critical positions and occupations, by implementing and maintaining programs to attract, acquire,
develop, promote, and retain quality talent. Succession planning refers to a proactive and systematic
process where organizations identify those positions considered to be at the core of the organization – i.e.,
too critical to be left vacant or filled by any but the best qualified persons – and then create a strategic
plan to fill those positions with qualified and capable employees.
Executive talent management processes focus on individual executive needs to cultivate the potential of
each executive, while succession planning processes focus on organizational needs and organizational
readiness – pipeline talent prepared to move into vacated critical positions. A strategic Talent
Management and Succession Planning (TM&SP) program enhances organizational agility by leveraging
an organization’s current information on the capabilities and talents of its workforce to meet the demands
of the evolving political and business environment. Meanwhile, an integrated TM&SP program enables
an organization to: sustain efficient operational requirements; empower knowledge management; and
optimize leadership talent at all organizational levels.
This guidance and supplemental infographic will outline key steps and activities to assist agencies as they
develop and implement an integrated TM&SP program. The guidance is intended to provide agencies
with flexibility in customizing TM&SP processes to their organizational needs and to executives’
developmental needs.
ANNUAL LEADERSHIP TALENT MANAGEMENT & SUCCESSION
PLANNING PROCESS INFOGRAPHIC & GUIDANCE
The below TM&SP infographic and supplemental guidance provide agencies direction to implement an
effective annual leadership TM&SP process to optimize the success and growth of both individual
executives and organizations. The process consists of five main stages: (1) determine future executive
resources needs; (2) evaluate current talent state; (3) align talent to agency needs; (4) finalize executive
development plans; and (5) implement and update plans. Through this process, agencies can successfully
forecast executive resources needs, assess and develop the needs of current SES members, and create a
pipeline of high-quality successors for the full range of executive positions within an organization. To
achieve success, organizations should bear in mind the importance of patience and continual perseverance
because TM&SP programs often require several years to fully and effectively implement.
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STAGE 1: DETERMINE FUTURE EXECUTIVE RESOURCES NEEDS
Objective: The objective of Stage 1 is to develop a strategic workforce plan as part of mission strategy
that outlines agency priorities based on future succession needs, anticipated organizational challenges,
and projected turnover. Organizations should analyze current and future mission requirements, define
core competencies for leadership success, and identify critical leadership positions.
Output: Succession Plan with: (1) identified targets that include the number of critical leadership
positions across the organization, and (2) the core leadership competencies required for those
positions.
Stage 1 Activities
1. Conduct a comprehensive workforce analysis to identify potential gaps between the
organization’s current state and its desired future state. Table 1 highlights key workforce
information to review and analyze.
Table 1. Sample: Workforce Analysis Information
Current State Future State
Executive workforce size (e.g., levels in
the leadership pipeline)
Executive workforce deployment by
locations, function, occupation (e.g.,
positions in mission critical occupations
versus all occupations)
Leadership competencies needed for
mission accomplishment
Attrition, program dynamics, legislative
changes, organizational performance
plan, and budget on existing executive
position structure
Executive resources requirements and
changes (e.g., biennial and interim
allocation requests, restructuring of
executive positions)
2. Identify the critical leadership positions, if vacant, would have a significant impact on the
organization’s ability to effectively function. Conduct a position risk assessment for each
position to determine the level of effort and impact to replace the position incumbent. Positions
with a high and moderate level of risk and impact should be identified as critical leadership
positions. Assess the succession management risks
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(see Table 2) for each critical leadership
position.
1
Krishna, Shatrunjay. Succession Planning: The Answer to Leadership Crisis. Asian Management Review, July-
September 2014.
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Table 2: Sample: Succession Management Risks
Position Incumbent for X position:
Low Risk,
Minimal Impact
Moderate Risk,
Moderate Impact
High Risk, High
Impact
Vacancy Risk – What’s the risk and
impact of this being vacant over a
longer period of time?
Readiness Risk – What’s the risk and
impact of unprepared successors for
this position?
Transition Risk – What’s the risk
and impact of failure for an external
successor in this position?
Portfolio Risk – What’s the risk and
impact of poor deployment of talent
against organizational needs?
3. For each identified critical position, create a position inventory profile. The position inventory
profile may include:
• Key job functions
• Critical job duties
• Core competencies (see Stage 1, Activity 4)
• Experiences necessary to be successful in the position
• Developmental opportunities
4. Identify the core competencies (e.g., Executive Core Qualifications
(ECQ) competencies and
technical competencies) required to succeed in identified critical positions, and include this
information in the position inventory profile for each critical position. Integration of the core
competencies into the TM&SP process enables the agency to ensure the assessment and advance
development of potential successors, to mitigate transition risk.
5. Using the information collected from Activities 1-4, complete a bench strength analysis to
determine if the agency has sufficient potential leaders at various levels that are ready to fill key
leadership positions. These results will help identify agency leadership development and
recruitment needs, determine potential sources of talent for meeting succession targets (e.g., SES
Candidate Development Program (SESCDP) graduates or current SES members), and inform
talent acquisition decisions. For additional bench strength analysis information and resources,
please visit OPM’s Leadership Talent Management & Succession Planning Wiki page
.
6. Establish strategic alignment of the TM&SP process with the organizational strategy. Agencies
should use the workforce and bench strength analysis results to highlight how the TM&SP
process will support the agency’s mission, strategic goals, and operations. This alignment will
reinforce a business case to obtain stakeholder buy-in and support of dedicated resources for
succession management. It will also maximize the success of the agency’s recruitment and
hiring, pipeline development and preparation, current and future skills gap and training needs,
employee engagement and retention, and knowledge management and transfer.
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7. Use the information gathered from Activities 1- 6 to develop a succession management plan that
includes the following components
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:
• Strategic requirements
• Succession management targets and talent pool analysis
• Strategies for recruiting, developing, and retaining leadership capacity
For Stage 1 resources & templates, please visit OPM’s Leadership Talent Management & Succession
Planning Wiki page.
STAGE 2: EVALUATE CURRENT TALENT STATE
Objective: Gather information on executives’ career interests and retirement plans, and determine
existing executive competence against what is needed to strengthen executive performance and
organizational success. Feedback must include input from the executive and the executive’s supervisor.
Information will be used to recommend development activities.
Each executive provides information to support the agency’s talent management and
succession planning process, including career interests and retirement plans. Each executive
meets with his/her supervisor to discuss development needs and short-term and long-term
career goals.
Output: Comprehensive Talent Development Questionnaire Report for each executive,
including feedback from the executive’s supervisor.
Stage 2 Activities
1. Develop a talent development questionnaire to assess executive competencies, identify
strengths and weaknesses, and map out career paths. The talent development questionnaire may
include the following elements:
• Executive’s key strengths (executives may use recent 360-degree assessment or other
leadership assessment results)
• Executive’s growth opportunities
• Executive’s accomplishments for each past position which highlight the identified
core competencies
• Any factors that could limit the executive’s advancement
• Core competency assessment
• Career interests
o How long do you anticipate staying in your current role?
o What job role do you aspire to in the next one to two years? Three to five years?
o What development support do you need to reach your career goals?
• Expected retirement plans
• Number of years in current executive position
2. The executive completes and submits his/her talent inventory/development questionnaire.
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U.S. Office of Personnel Management. A Guide to the Strategic Leadership Succession Management Model,
March 2009
EXECUTIVE
ACTION
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3. The supervisor completes the talent development questionnaires to assess their executive
employees’ competencies, identify developmental opportunities, and help map out options for the
executives’ career path.
For Stage 2 resources and templates, please visit OPM’s Leadership Talent Management & Succession
Planning Wiki page.
STAGE 3: ALIGN TALENT TO AGENCY NEEDS
Objective: The Executive Review Board (ERB) or similar body determines each executive’s “readiness
status” and makes developmental and reassignment recommendations that align with the organization’s
workforce plan and the executive’s career goals. The ERB identifies a slate of internal candidates ready
to fill critical positions to meet agency succession needs.
Outputs:
• Thorough Talent Review Meetings conducted by the ERB
• Detailed Executive Feedback Reports highlighting executive readiness status and specific
developmental opportunities
• Internal Slate of Candidates with core competencies to fill critical positions
Stage 3 Activities
1. Conduct annual talent review meetings for each executive, with participation from the agency’s
ERB, to assess the future leadership capacity of the executive. Talent review meetings should be
forward-looking and should focus on the executive’s long-term capability and success in future
roles rather than his/her performance in a current position. Talent review meetings should not be
conducted simultaneously with performance appraisal reviews which focus on past performance
and actual accomplishments.
2. Use the agency workforce plan, succession management targets, and talent inventory
questionnaire responses to facilitate the talent review meetings involving each executive and the
ERB. ERB members should provide specific examples to support their comments and
observations. At the conclusion of each meeting, the ERB will reach consensus on the following:
• Readiness rating for each executive:
o Ready for increased challenge
o Ready for career broadening
o Build tenure/experience
o Contribute in place
• Individual strengths and areas of improvement, with specific examples illustrating each
identified strength and area of improvement
• Recommended developmental opportunities
Review Table 3 for a list of key questions and considerations to facilitate ERB talent review
discussions.
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EXECUTIVE
ACTION
Table 3. Sample: Annual Talent Review Questions & Considerations
Questions to Ask
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Considerations
What is the executive’s likely next move?
• Added responsibilities
• Move into a lateral role
• Expanded responsibilities with significant
change in scale/scope
When should it happen?
• Immediate
• Within the next year
• Next 1-2 years
What does the executive need to develop
before making the move?
• Review core competencies list
• Additional experiences
3. Complete internal slate of candidates that includes a sufficient number of qualified executives to
fill critical leadership positions. Each career path should highlight development and upward
mobility opportunities. Remember succession plans inform but do not dictate selection decisions
to fill executive positions in ways that benefit agency programs and each executive’s
development.
4. Complete individualized talent review meeting feedback reports for each executive that includes
specific development actions the executive must take to prepare for future roles with a higher
level of responsibility and/or difficulty.
For Stage 3 resources and templates, please visit OPM’s Leadership Talent Management & Succession
Planning Wiki page.
STAGE 4: FINALIZE EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Objectives: Present feedback, from the ERB or similar body, to each executive on current career growth
status, future career possibilities, and recommended development activities. The executive’s supervisor
works with the executive to update and finalize an Executive Development Plan (EDP). Collect final
EDPs.
Each executive works with his/her supervisor to include recommendations from the ERB or
similar body in his/her final EDP. Each executive submits his/her finalized EDP to the
designated agency contact and makes preparations to complete the developmental activities
outlined in his/her plan.
Outputs:
• Comprehensive Talent Review Meeting Debriefs with all executives
• Finalized EDPs for all executives
Stage 4 Activities
1. The supervisor of an executive conducts talent review meeting debrief with individual executives
to provide developmental feedback. Talent review meeting debriefs should emphasize the
executive’s potential based on the ERB’s talent review meeting feedback report and the talent
development questionnaire responses.
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Society for Human Resource Management. Succession Planning. 2015.
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•Facilitated by an instructor either online or in a classroom setting
•Allows for learners and instructors or facilitators to interact and discuss the training material, either
individually or in a group setting
•Examples: degree programs, courses, seminars, workshops, case presentations and discussions,
distance learning, and passive computer-based instruction
Instructor-led
•Developmental tasks that occur in immersive environments and allow learners to naturally generate
questions
•Hands-on learning and conversation are key; either virtually or in face-to-face interaction
•Examples: rotations, on-the-job training, action learning, service learning, cross agency task forces,
intergancy task forces, team projects, simulations and games, and scenario planning
Experiential activities
•Either formal or informal relationships that involve one individual taking an active interest in and
initiating actions to advance another’s development
•Serve as key sources of assessment, challenge, and support.
•Examples: coaching, mentoring, networking, supervisor support, peer-to-peer learning partners, and
shadowing
Developmental
relationships
•Process of acquiring performance feedback from multiple rates and sources, including a leader's
superiors, peers, and subordinates. Leaders also provide self-ratings.
•Feedback is intended to foster greater self-understanding and facilitate the construction of effective
individualized development plans
Multisource feedback
•Any self-initiated and proactive learning process where learners are responsible for (a) assessing their
own strengths and developmental needs, (b) designing and completing their instructional curriculum,
and (c) evaluating their own learning progress
•Examples: executive development plans, and self-guided learning activities
Self-development
EXECUTIVE
ACTION
2. The executive and his/her supervisor determine specific development opportunities that address
organizational and individual needs, and may use the following five types of leadership development
interventions and learning activities
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:
3. The executive completes and submits a finalized EDP to the designated agency contact, and for
ERB review.
For Stage 4 resources and templates, please visit OPM’s Leadership Talent Management & Succession
Planning Wiki page.
STAGE 5: IMPLEMENT AND UPDATE PLANS
Objective: Use recommendations from the ERB or similar body to fulfill agency succession needs and
strategically fill vacant positions. Monitor and evaluate talent management and succession plan as
appropriate to meet changing organizational needs.
Each executive completes the developmental activities outlined in his/her EDP. Each executive
revises his/her EDP as appropriate to meet changing career goals and development needs.
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https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/training-and-development/leadership-development/effective-
learning-interventions-for-developing-ecqs.pdf
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Outputs: Comprehensive list of metrics for periodic evaluations of TM&SP plan.
Stage 5 Activities
1. Monitor the implementation process by identifying key implementation milestones to measure
interim results.
2. Create a list of metrics to track progress and results. Possible metrics include:
• Number of critical positions filled with internal versus external candidates
• % of critical positions with multiple identified successors
• % of executives with signed and completed EDPs
• % of executives participating in at least one developmental activity
• % of executives with completed developmental needs assessments
• Time-to-fill critical positions
• Executive retention and turnover percentage
• Executive satisfaction with TM&SP process
• Diversity metrics of SES corps (gender, race, ethnicity)
For a comprehensive list of metrics, please review the Logic Model Template for Leadership
Talent Management and Succession Planning (TM&SP) Process in the Appendix.
3. Revise TM&SP plan as needed to meet organizational needs and political climate. Periodic
evaluations should take the following into account:
• Extent to which the organization has successfully accomplished its succession targets and
talent management objectives
• Changes in program priorities and emphasis, as reflected in budget or legislative
developments, the vacancy attrition rate, or other indicators
• The number of vacant SES positions in the organization, and the length of time they have
been vacant
• SES position review to either reaffirm or adjust the distribution of executive resources so
as to be most responsive to the agency’s current requirements
4. Communicate TM&SP process progress to all stakeholders.
For Stage 5 resources and templates, please visit OPM’s Leadership Talent Management & Succession
Planning Wiki page.
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ESTABLISHING & SUSTAINING A LEADERSHIP TALENT MANAGEMENT
AND SUCCESSION PLANNING PROCESS AT YOUR AGENCY
Currently, Federal agencies are implementing TM&SP processes with varying degrees of maturity. On
one end of the spectrum are agencies with fully developed and goal-based TM&SP processes that occur
on a regular basis (e.g., annually). On the other end are agencies with nonstrategic and unplanned
processes and activities. It takes a couple of years to fully develop and implement a strategic TM&SP
program. As part of continuous improvement efforts, agencies should also consider the alignment of the
following factors with the organizational strategy:
• Inclusive Succession Plan – Is your succession plan operational? Is the current approach to
succession planning only focused on identifying immediate replacements? It’s important to
assess all potential gaps in the immediate and emerging needs of the organization (e.g., legislative
changes, budget, new programs, new SES positions/allocations, and attrition). Strategic
succession plans will address short-term, intermediate and long-term executive staffing needs. A
strategic succession planning process enables an organization to seamlessly merge executive
capability with organizational talent needs and strategy. For more information on succession
planning visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/human-capital-
management/talent-management/#url=Overview.
• Talent Acquisition Strategy – Is the time-to-hire metric unknown or perceived by executive
supervisors as too long? Are you using appropriate Qualification Review Board (QRB)
submission methods that are most effective for the agency’s successful SES hiring and
accomplishment of mission? Time-to-hire is a critical metric for planning purposes, and
reporting of this metric is required by
OPM
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. In addition to time, the method in which an
executive is hired (e.g., Resume, Accomplishment Record, or ECQ write-up) will influence
recruitment of exceptional leaders. Strategic talent acquisition decisions will attract the right
talent and increase the percentage of executive supervisors reporting satisfaction with new hires.
For more information on SES Hiring Reform, please review OPM’s Guidance on Qualifications
Review Board Submission Methods.
• Executive Development Accountability – How many executives are completing executive
development plans (EDPs)? How are executives held accountable for implementing EDPs? Are
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https://www.chcoc.gov/content/time-hire-reporting-requirements
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EDPs linked to the agency’s performance management system? A strategic EDP process
produces executives capable of “re-tooling” themselves to meet the demands of constant
organizational and enterprise-wide change. All effective TM&SP processes incorporate
executive development plans (EDPs) that support the executive and help the organization achieve
its mission, vision, and strategic goals. For EDP help and guidance visit OPM’s Executive
Learning and Development Wiki page.
• Human Capital Ownership – Who is (or would be) responsible, accountable, consulted, and
informed in the development and implementation of TM&SP? How are stakeholder roles and
responsibilities determined (e.g., Agency Head, Executive Resources Board (ERB), Executive
Resources (ER), etc.)? Senior leadership support is critical to the success of the TM&SP process.
The best processes, include and clearly define, in writing, all representatives from the various HR
elements critical to ensuring appropriate linkages in the process (e.g., performance management,
learning, recruitment, staffing). Please review OPM’s Job Aid: Creating a Participatory
Succession Management Infrastructure for more information on how to identify key stakeholder
roles and responsibilities.
At a minimum, agencies must develop a program with a structured succession planning process, talent
acquisition strategy, and executive development process. Agencies must also ensure leadership have
awareness, participate, and are held accountable for results in these three areas. Where deficits exist,
these areas must be strengthened before embarking on full TM&SP program implementation, which will
make the activities easier in the following years of this annual process.
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Appendix