Implementing Leadership Development and Succession Planning at the Aurora Water Department

摘要

The Aurora (Colo.) Water Department, with a staff of more than 400 employees, recently underwent a dynamic change in organizational direction by merging its water, wastewater, and storm drain divisions into a single entity: the Utility Operations Group. The utility's new structure required a strategic approach to take full advantage of the new organization. The overall plan embodies a distinctly holistic approach and consists of four phases: (1) organizational assessment, (2) strategic direction setting, (3) development of an organizational goal alignment system, and (4) leadership development and succession planning. The last phase, the development of a comprehensive leadership development and succession planning program, is the focus of this case study.