Date

5-25-2023

Department

Graduate School of Business

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Chair

Scott Maltzie

Keywords

succession planning, contracting officer, learning and development, knowledge management, recruitment, retention, and Federal government

Disciplines

Business | Leadership Studies

Abstract

Succession planning is a term that refers to the systematic and methodological efforts an organization uses to plan for organizational stability and proficiency. Organizations must provide employees the training, experiences, and knowledge required to assume positions of increased responsibility when those jobs are vacated. Agencies should strive to create a diversified pool of qualified candidates to avoid a talent gap, workforce shortages, or a loss of agency knowledge. Over the past fifteen years, the Federal Government has continued to highlight the need to take a proactive approach to succession planning by first identifying the skill sets needed for critical positions and then developing their future leaders. With a limited number of new employees entering civil service and projected retirements over the next several years, it is essential that agencies quickly prioritize succession planning strategies to train and prepare employees to assume critical acquisition positions, such as the Contracting Officer (CO) role. COs are the only individuals with authority to procure goods and services on the Government’s behalf and therefore occupy positions classified as inherently governmental functions. This research study explored the lack of succession planning at DoN agencies in Southern MD and the impact of the failure to create a multi-generational pipeline of qualified candidates who can compete for CO positions as they are vacated.

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