WWW.THEPUBLICMANAGER.ORG 58 SUCCESSION PLANNING Succession planning is an investment in leadership training, and must begin in lower levels of the workforce. Leaders must prepare for succession to harness workforce costs and national security. Connecting the Dots Among People, Budgets, and Missions by Raymond Marbury and Roger Mayer Managing human capital in the federal workforce is a challenge that has plagued presidential administrations and Congress for the past three decades. Signiicant issues such as homeland security threats, iscal imbalances, gen- erational diferences, and disruptive technologies have caused senior leaders to rethink the traditional management approaches in use since the industrial age. In addition to these human capital issues, reports by the Partnership for Public Service indicate that nearly half the federal workforce is eligible for retirement in 2016. Experts have described these impending retirements as “the perfect storm,” a “workforce tsunami,” and a “brain drain” to name a few. Benjamin Franklin said it best when he stated, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” By tapping into knowledge management and understand- ing the distinctions among generation cohorts, managers can connect the dots between succession planning, human capital management, strategic planning, and iscal responsibility. Succession planning is about having the right people in the right jobs at the right time, and having successors in place with the ability to lead and develop competence. Management consultant William J. Rothwell suggests that the discipline is “a deliberate and systematic efort by an organization to ensure