| An ongoing challenge for organizations is developing consistent methods of ensuring leadership continuity and reinvestment in their talent pool. Currently, the City of Philadelphia has over 25,000 employees who work in different agencies and quasi agencies to serve the citizens of Philadelphia. In 1999, the City of Philadelphia introduced an early retirement program called the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), which allows employees to start collecting their pensions in interest-bearing accounts over the last four years of their employment. The city's goal for the DROP program was to retain skilled workers past their pension program retirement date, and thereby allow for greater succession planning. The total percentage of employees who sign up for this program is approximately 20% every fiscal year. Additional employees are actively signing into the program as soon as they become eligible for retirement. Given the unsustainability of DROP as a stand-alone succession-planning tool, there is a need to ensure the continuing success within the Philadelphia City government agencies. This continuation is achievable by preserving if not enhancing performance standards, by identifying important leadership positions, by strengthening individual advancement, and by having the right leaders prepared for the right positions at the right time. Drawing on various definitions of succession planning, this study defines succession planning as a proactive approach to managing talent, and the development of a leadership pipeline to meet an organization's need-based demand for business growth and innovation. |
