Succession Planning for the Future of Intergovernmental Organizations in the U.S.
Suzanne Leland (University of North Carolina-Charlotte) & George W. Dougherty, Jr. (University of Pittsburgh)
Intergovernmental organizations play a pivotal role in America’s regions in important areas like transportation planning, Area Agencies on Aging services, and economic development, to name a few. These organizations serve as conveners and coordinators among local governments in their regions and represent their members to state and federal agencies. Given their importance, how can they ensure continuity and sustainability during leadership changes or staff turnover?
Our recent study uses survey responses from 226 region organization executive directors to assess their succession planning practices. Specifically, we looked at whether they engage in any succession planning at all and whether they use executive coaching, a more intensive succession planning effort. Our results show a limited level of preparedness for leadership turnover and highlight an urgent need for strategic planning with respect to personnel.
The Need for Succession Planning
Despite how important intergovernmental organizations are to regions and their outsized role in key policy areas, these organizations and their members often underestimate the risks of failing to plan for future personnel needs, especially at the highest levels. This is evidenced by the low levels of succession planning activity, the age of executive directors, and the percentage of executive directors who say they plan to retire or move on within the next five years.
The practice of strategic planning goes beyond simply staffing organizations but is a practice allowing for continuity of leadership and talent development. It is simply good practice, especially for planning organizations. Despite all the arguments for succession planning, survey results indicate that only 32% of intergovernmental organization boards had discussed succession planning in the previous two years and only 14% had engaged in executive coaching. We wanted to know why.
Exploring Organization Characteristics and Succession Planning
We reviewed a number of organizational characteristics to determine which are associated with boards talking about succession planning or engaging in executive coaching. Consistent with Hall’s (2017) argument that best practices like succession planning are work and require resources, our analysis found that organizations boasting larger budgets were significantly more likely to have board discussions about succession planning. Further, well-funded organizations were far more likely to engage in executive coaching. This confirms that financial resources are key to organization investments in leadership and talent development.
Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) are a special class of intergovernmental organizations that operate across a wide range of policy areas, represent entire regions to state and federal governments, and combine the functions of Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Councils of Governments. We found that RIGOs were more likely to engage in both measures of succession planning. These findings suggest an acknowledgment of RIGOs importance given their multi-functionality and visibility that increase the importance of succession planning.
Interestingly, two other measures were not related to increased succession planning practice. Organization age, a measure of longevity and long-term value to members was not a significant influence on succession planning activities. Older organizations, expected to have more experience with leadership change and staff turnover, were no more likely to talk about or engage in executive coaching than newer organizations. Similarly, the number of FTE employees, a measure of capacity, had no influence on either succession planning measure.
Addressing the Challenges
Our results suggest some recognition of the importance of succession planning. However, many lack the resources to engage in these key practices. Those without financial resources do not even talk about succession planning, much less engage in executive coaching. Small organizations are most at risk due to limited budgets and a limited “bench” of potential successors.
Given the risks of staff turnover and leadership changes to organization stability, intergovernmental organizations must prioritize succession planning as a strategic practice. Securing financial resources necessary and communicating an organization’s value to their members are key first steps to enable building a culture of leadership and preparation for future transitions.
Building a Sustainable Future
Succession planning is an important practice for the long-term success of intergovernmental organizations and the members and areas they serve. Investments in staff development and leadership continuity allow intergovernmental organizations to remain healthy and able to help solve cross-jurisdictional problems that require coordination and cooperation. These organizations must engage in succession planning to be successful over time.
Our findings demonstrate that few intergovernmental organization boards discuss succession planning and far few intergovernmental organizations engage in executive coaching. However, the sustainability of these organizations requires the right people with the right skills be available during leadership and staff transitions. As regional challenges become more complex, it is imperative that these organizations prepare by engaging in succession planning.
Suzanne Leland is an MPA Director and professor of public administration and public policy at University of North Carolina-Charlotte. She received the 2019 Donald Stone Distinguished Scholar Award (American Society of Public Administration) and the 2020 Harshini de Silva Graduate Mentor Award (UNC Charlotte). Her research focuses on intergovernmental relations and urban service delivery. She is co-author of American Cities and the Politics of Party Conventions (2017) and Research Methods for Public Administrators (2021).
George W. Dougherty, Jr. is an Associate Professor, Director of the Master of Public Policy and Management, and Public Service Degree Coordinator in the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public & International Affairs. He holds a bachelor's degree in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Masters and Doctoral degrees in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Georgia. His current research interests include public participation in local government, regional governance, and municipal budgeting and finance.