Principle 3: Develop Strategies Tailored to Address Gaps and Human
Capital Conditions in Critical Skills and Competencies That Need
Attention:

Our March 2002 strategic human capital model stressed the importance of
agencies developing human capital strategies--the programs, policies,
and processes that agencies use to build and manage their workforces--
that are tailored to their unique needs. Applying this to strategic
workforce planning means that agencies (1) develop hiring, training,
staff development, succession planning, performance management, use of
flexibilities, and other human capital strategies and tools that can be
implemented with the resources that can be reasonably expected to be
available and (2) consider how these strategies can be aligned to
eliminate gaps and improve the contribution of critical skills and
competencies that they have identified between the future and current
skills and competencies needed for mission success. For example, we
reported that to manage the succession of their executives and other
key employees, agencies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the
United Kingdom are implementing succession planning and management
practices that protect and enhance organizational capacity.[Footnote
15] Specifically, their initiatives identify high-potential employees
from multiple organizational levels early in their careers as well as
identify and develop successors for employees with critical knowledge
and skills. In addition, because they are facing challenges in the
demographic makeup and diversity of their senior executives, agencies
in other countries use succession planning and management to achieve a
more diverse workforce, maintain their leadership capacity as their
senior executives retire, and increase the retention of high-potential
staff.