Just as local governments often develop a 10-year capital plan to address the physical needs of their communities, agencies must also craft a comprehensive long-term human capital plan. A talent strategy should be a written document (just like any strategic plan) that needs to address all talent issues identified in this report, guide decisions, and shape organizational practices. In terms of key elements, such a talent strategy should:

• Identify key organizational challenges and oppor­tunities now and in the future with a focus on the external environment
• Highlight pivotal positions and indispensable competencies given the external challenges and opportunities
• Incorporate practices and approaches to attract and retain A and B players, including employee engagement and other re-recruiting efforts
• Consciously design different employee value propositions for different groups of talent, including A and B players and early, mid-, late-, and post-career employees
• Promote continuous learning through new stretch assignments; debriefing of all significant experi­ences, especially missteps; and informal and for­mal coaching
• Retool organizational practices that do not align with the values and needs of key talent segments
• Create knowledge transfer tools
• Develop approaches for connecting with alumni and retirees as well as attracting young people into local government careers
• Align all organizational systems--including recruit­ment, on-boarding, learning and training, job clas­sification schemes, compensation and rewards, and promotional practices—to support the talent strategy
• Develop metrics to judge success
•  Identify roles for leading and managing the strategy.

In local government, we find clusters of positive employee development activities and programs. Some local government agencies emphasize training; others focus on work-life balance initiatives; still others use employee branding in their recruitment and retention efforts. However, all of these elements and more must be integrated in a comprehensive, long-term talent strategy.

To learn more about creating a talent strategy, visit our online bookstore to see this IQ Report: Creating a Multidimensional Talent Strategy to Avert Brain Drain and Other Future Disasters.