LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22
HUMAN RESOURCES | JUNE 2018

ONE OF THE THINGS WE OFTEN MISS
IN SUCCESSION PLANNING IS THAT IT
SHOULD BE GRADUAL AND THOUGHTFUL,
WITH LOTS OF SHARING OF INFORMATION
AND KNOWLEDGE AND PERSPECTIVE, SO
THAT IT’S ALMOST A NON-EVENT WHEN
IT HAPPENS.
ANNE M. MULCAHY

2 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

TABLE ... See more

OF CONTENTS

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05

For LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND
SUCCESSION PLAN Resources:

MESSAGE FROM DIRECTOR OF HR

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05 / A Message from CalSTRS Director of HR

06
INTRODUCTION
06 / Foreword

07
WORKFORCE OVERVIEW
07 / Current Workforce Profile
08 / Retirement Risk
09 / CalSTRS Competencies and
Professional Development Plan
10 / Growth/Movement
12 / Competencies & Performance Management
13 / Workforce Challenges

13
WORKFORCE GAP ANALYSIS
13 / Future Workforce Profile
13 / Mission Critical Positions
14 / Knowledge Transfer and Transitions
14 / Senior Leader Transition Plan
14 / Mentorship
14 / Specialist Usage
14 / Talent Acquisition
15 / Student Internships – Pipelining
15 / Workforce Gap Risks/Implications

16

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SUCCESSION PLAN on Central
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The CalSTRS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND
SUCCESSION PLAN is printed on environmentally
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RECOMMENDATIONS AND NEXT STEPS

18
APPENDICES
18 / Appendix I - Accomplishments from Previous Plan
21 / Appendix II - Professional Development Pipeline
23 / Appendix III - Related Resources

TABLE OF CONTENTS |

3

4 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

A MESSAGE FROM CALSTRS
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System

variabilities. The success of these efforts is reflected

recognizes that strategic planning for the

in the nearly 87 percent of recommendations

ever-evolving workforce is critically important to

accomplished from the previous plan.

the organization’s success. In this pursuit, the
CalSTRS Leadership Development and Succession
Plan for Fiscal Years 2018-22 focuses on human
resources strategies that strengthen our leadership
team, develop our talent pipeline and mitigate
leader turnover risks. With senior leaders at or
near retirement age, planning for the transfer and
transition of leadership is a priority. This plan
provides the direction to identify, develop or select

Investing in leadership and staff development
and succession planning is crucial to our
long-term performance, growth and continued
success in fulfilling our mission. Leadership
development continues to be a key component in
fostering CalSTRS leaders to achieve enterprise-wide
strategic goals, maintain optimal business operations
and cultivate an engaged and diverse workforce.

the next generation of prepared, capable and

Our most valuable asset is our employees. With the

engaged leaders.

organization’s mission at the forefront, this plan

The foundation of this plan closely aligns with the
six recommendations from the 2018-22 Workforce
Plan and CalSTRS long-term strategic and annual
business plans. The six recommendations outlined
in this plan build upon the previous 2013-17
Leadership Development and Succession Plan’s

refreshes CalSTRS commitment to deliver a culture
that invests in our employees’ growth so that we may
secure the financial future and sustain the trust of
California’s educators.
MELISSA NORCIA
Director of Human Resources

efforts to develop and execute strategies that
prepare the organization for future workforce

A MESSAGE FROM CALSTRS DIRECTOR OF HR |

5

INTRODUCTION

Why Is Succession Planning important?

Foreword

Succession planning is vital for safeguarding the organization
against unplanned and unexpected change; it is a type of risk
management that ensures the functions of the organization’s
critical positions are well understood. The ultimate goal of
succession planning is that every key or mission critical
position within an organization has at least one person ready
to successfully assume the roles and responsibilities of the
position.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System Leadership
Development and Succession Plan is an analysis of the
organization’s workforce to address and support current
and future needs and ensure adequate staffing. Sustaining
development and succession planning, particularly for
leadership, supports the accomplishment of the organization’s
strategic initiatives included in CalSTRS Strategic Plan for fiscal
years 2016–19.

What Is involved?

This Leadership Development and Succession Plan is an
updated version of the original 2013-17 CalSTRS Leadership
Development and Succession Plan. Included in this version
are new and ongoing development and succession planning
strategies, as well as a recap of the objectives established in
the original plan and the many and varied accomplishments
CalSTRS has achieved in the intervening years.

Succession planning includes any effort designed to ensure the
continued effective performance of an organization, division or
unit by making a plan for the replacement of the organization’s
leaders over time. A plan is developed to bridge the gap
between available talent and the organization’s future
workforce needs.

Organization Overview

The CalSTRS Leadership Development and Succession Plan
supports the recommendations of the 2018-22 Workforce Plan
which is a high level workforce analysis.

CalSTRS was established by law in 1913 to provide retirement
benefits to California’s public educators from pre-kindergarten
through community college.
CalSTRS, with a portfolio valued at $208.7 billion as of
June 30, 2017, is the largest educator-only pension fund in
the world. CalSTRS administers a hybrid retirement system,
consisting of traditional defined benefit, cash balance and
voluntary defined contribution plans. CalSTRS also provides
disability and survivor benefits. CalSTRS serves California’s
914,000 public school educators and their families from the
state’s 1,700 school districts, county offices of education and
community college districts.

Purpose

The initiatives, strategies and recommendations described in
this plan are derived from an in-depth analysis of CalSTRS
internal workforce, in alignment with CalSTRS current and future
Strategic Plan Goals, the Human Resources division objectives,
leadership development opportunities in place or planned and
best practice research from both the private and public sectors.
The information in this plan provides a high level framework to
support leadership in developing and implementing succession
planning strategies to meet long-term organizational needs.
Highlights in this plan include the following:

Succession Planning

• CalSTRS demographics
• Succession planning initiatives, strategies

What Is Succession Planning?

and recommendations
• Next steps in succession planning

Succession planning is a deliberate and systematic effort by
an organization to identify and develop potential successors
to ensure leadership continuity in the organization’s key and
mission-critical positions.

This plan reflects CalSTRS commitment to a long-term,
sustainable and highly functioning organization by ensuring
that leadership is prepared with adequate information and
strategies to effectively manage the transition of:

6 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

•
•
•
•

Senior leaders into executive roles
Front-line leaders into senior leadership roles
Staff into leadership positions
Ongoing development of staff at all levels

Through these efforts, CalSTRS actively fosters leadership
continuity in critical positions affecting organizational
performance by encouraging the growth, retention and
development of all employees.
The Human Resources Division is committed to supporting the
CalSTRS workforce. The Training Services team has development
programs and offerings for employees at every stage of their
career. The Knowledge Transfer and Transition and Mentorship
programs are in their infancy, but both will be critical succession
planning strategies moving forward. From benefits counseling
to career counseling, from onboarding to critical position
mapping, from processing Requests for Personnel Action to
ergonomic evaluations, all of HR’s services are designed to
support CalSTRS’ greatest asset—our people. The HR division
will continue to engage and work closely with leadership and
staff on a wide variety of succession planning implementation
activities over the next five years, and beyond.

WORKFORCE OVERVIEW
Current Workforce Profile
The graphic below is a snapshot of CalSTRS workforce. As of
December 30, 2017, CalSTRS has 1158 total filled positions,
a 37 percent increase since the last plan in 2013. All
benefits-related member-facing staff are now under the Benefits
& Services Branch, including our decentralized Member
Service Center staff. A new division, Business Transformation,
was created to support the Benefits & Services branch as
well as the Pension Solution project. CalSTRS Investments
branch continues to bring externally managed assets in house,
which necessitates branch growth. The CalSTRS operational
and support branches, such as Technology Services and
Administrative Services, have also grown to support CalSTRS
staff, stakeholders and systems.
As the graphic below indicates, staff has, on average, 8.57
years of state service while Leadership has, on average, 14.88
years of service. CalSTRS currently has a staff to leader ratio of
approximately four to one.

EMPLOYEE COUNT AND YEARS OF STATE SERVICE

WORKFORCE OVERVIEW |

7

Retirement Risk
Retirement risk is calculated using a combination of age
and years of state service. The term immediate risk includes
employees who are 55 or over with 20 years or more of state
service. The five-year risk category includes those who are
immediately eligible to retire all the way to those who are five
years away from being immediately eligible. These individuals
are 50 or over with 15 years or more of state service. There are
always employees in our workforce with unknown retirement risk
meaning they have been employed by the state less than five
years, but meet the age factor for retirement—these employees
are not reflected in the retirement risk table below. We group
CalSTRS staff into the following three groups for retirement risk.
CalSTRS Retirement Risk Definitions:
• Immediate risk: 55 years of age or more + 20 years or
more of state service.
• Five-year risk: 50 years of age or more + 15 years or
more of state service.
• Unknown risk: 50 years of age or more with limited
state service and unknown other retirement savings.

The senior leader group, comprised of our Leader 4 and
Executive, will always be an important focus for retirement risk
by nature of the depth and breadth of experience typically
required of senior leader positions. It is also our
smallest group so the average age is not normalized and the
risk is more obvious.
Our overall retirement risk has decreased as many members
of our workforce have retired over the past several years. These
retirements were anticipated and successfully managed through
knowledge transfer activities to reduce the impact and business
continuity risk to the organization.
As of June 30, 2017, senior leaders were at 29 percent
immediate risk and 48 percent five-year risk. The manager/
supervisor (Leader 1, 2 and 3 level) group was at six percent
immediate risk and 23 percent five-year risk. The staff group
(including staff and specialists) has only three percent
immediate risk and 11 percent five-year retirement risk.

CALSTRS RETIREMENT RISK

* INCLUDES SPECIALISTS

TOTAL FIVE YEAR RETIREMENT RISK

8 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

% AT IMMEDIATE RISK

CalSTRS Competencies and Professional Development Pipeline
Competency pipelines were developed for CalSTRS as a way to show how the classification families build on each other and
reveal a clear path from staff all the way to executive. Competency bridging pipelines were created for the leadership levels,
Investments classifications, and analyst and specialist paths.
The professional development pipeline (see Appendix II) reflects CalSTRS competency development for upward mobility
classifications up through executive development.
CalSTRS training programs flow from Pre-Analyst Academy (entry-level academy) to the Masters Series/Executive Development
Program (series for seasoned or senior leaders by application).
• 44 employees have graduated from the Pre-Analyst Academy since its inception in 2012.
• 173 employees have graduated from the Analyst Academy since its inception in 2012.
• The Lead person training – released in 2016, has already trained 37 employees.
• 39 employees have participated in the Emerging Leaders Series since its inception in 2014.
• 98 employees have completed the Manager Academy since its inception in 2012.

The Masters Series—This is the sustainable series for senior leaders interested in development. The program was established in
2016 and launched with a cohort of 20 employees. The first cohort is in progress with graduation scheduled for April 2018. The
second cohort will be accepted to the program in fall fiscal year 2018-19.
ASPIRE—Investments’ Leadership Development Program was released in 2017, and is the last in the pipeline to be implemented.
The program is underway with its first cohort of 18 employees. The program model is based on the Masters Series framework.
One full round of the Executive Development Program was very successful. Of the 11 cohort participants who finished the
program, seven have been promoted to executive or director level positions. This offering is being replaced by the sustainable
Masters Series.
Employee Life Cycle
The employee life cycle pipeline shows how each stage is connected to the next with engagement, diversity and inclusion, and
competencies tying it all together and affecting every aspect of the employee lifecycle from pre-hire to retire.

WORKFORCE OVERVIEW |

9

Growth/Movement
CalSTRS regularly hires and promotes internal staff. In fiscal year 2016-17, 80 percent of the leadership hires made were internal staff
either moving within leadership via promotion or transfer, or internal staff promoting into leadership for the first time. The chart below
shows CalSTRS’ success through succession planning and leadership development, as well as our successful ability to attract and
recruit fresh talent externally to fill our leadership roles.

LEADERSHIP HIRES
50%

46.7%
43.5%

40%

36.0%

40.7%
33.3%

34.8%

30%
18.6%

20%

17.4% 16.7%

10%
4.7% 4.3%
3.3%
INTERNAL NEW LEADER

INTERNAL LEADER TO LEADER

EXTERNAL NEW LEADER

10 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

EXTERNAL LEADER TO LEADER

Additionally, we continue to balance our hiring between internal promotions, internal transfers and external hires (either new to
state service or new to CalSTRS from another state department) as can be seen in the graphic below.

APPOINTMENTS

Prior to 2017, entry level staff had the option to go through the
pre-analyst academy. Many of our staff successfully graduated
from this academy and went on to promote into analyst roles.
Now, with the Upward Mobility program in place, there is even
more support and resources dedicated to assisting entry
level staff who want to promote into entry-level technical,
professional or administrative jobs.
Each employee should fill out an Individual Development Plan
each year to plan and track their learning and development.
IDPs are no longer required to be completed, but they are the
best way for an employee to focus on their own development. If
an employee is interested in furthering their career and would
like help with completing their IDP Career Counseling services
,
are available. CalSTRS has a dedicated space just for career
counseling where individuals or groups can meet face to face
with the counselor. Staff can request career counseling via the
Administrative Services SharePoint site.

Over the past three years, the vast majority of people who
attended an academy or series also submitted IDPs. Of those
who attended academies or series, many also enrolled in and
received career counseling. Of the 75 employees who attended
an academy/series, submitted an IDP and received career
counseling, nearly half have been promoted at least once.
The Professional Development Program has supported our
internal staff in their development and growth. It includes our
Upward Mobility program through Pre-Analyst Academy, Analyst
Academy, Lead Person Series, Emerging Leadership Series,
Manager’s Academy, Masters Series, the ASPIRE program and
the Executive Development Program. Using hands-on and
experiential learning, cohorts, strengths-based leadership
and more, these development opportunities now flow for a
comprehensive and complete development pipeline.

WORKFORCE OVERVIEW |

11

Competencies and Performance Management
Over the duration of the previous plan, we made changes and
upgrades to our competency model and the way competencies
are used at CalSTRS. HR redesigned the annual performance
review and probationary report forms for staff by incorporating
our competencies into the forms. Additionally, HR updated the
leadership appraisal forms to be competency-based as well to
support consistency in evaluations for all CalSTRS employees.
CalSTRS has been measuring competencies as part of
the annual review process for several years and now has
baseline data to use to compare from year to year. HR tracks
performance ratings and leverages strengths and weaknesses
in individual employee performance to support enterprisewide priorities and development strategies. Since strong
communication is a key driver for employee engagement,
increased focus on improving communications through learning
opportunities, board updates, Central TV and QPR updates
offered to staff and leadership have been implemented.
Through the analysis of this data, we have also determined
that there is an opportunity to better prepare the leader groups
in vision and strategic thinking. To improve organizational
performance and understanding of the value of strategic
thinking, the Enterprise Strategy Management division has
implemented quarterly performance management reviews

for several areas of the organization. Business area leaders
and data stewards work with ESM to set, track and report
performance goals to executive staff. These quarterly reporting
meetings drive improvements at the operational level. Regular
meetings are held to manage performance resulting in
expanded understanding of strategic goals and in continuous
improvements to all aspects of the business.
HR established a employee performance management
specialist to be a dedicated resource to leaders for employee
performance management. The specialist ensures performance
reviews, probationary reports and other related documents
are appropriately completed and properly documented. Each
performance review or probationary report is read and reviewed
to proactively respond to any performance problems that arise
or become apparent during the review process. In addition
to tracking and reporting of performance and probationary
reporting, development plans are submitted to the Training
Services team for tracking and review.
CalSTRS is heavily focused on ensuring business areas are
fully compliant with providing timely, meaningful, documented
feedback to every employee. The performance and development
cycle of individuals plays a pivotal role in improving
organizational performance. This cycle supports the succession
planning process by formally preparing and building a pipeline
of highly qualified, skilled and ready individuals to take on more
complex and higher level roles.

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEW RETURN RATES

12 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

Workforce Challenges

WORKFORCE GAP ANALYSIS

Succession planning efforts have successfully identified
workforce gaps and challenges that now are monitored and
strategically addressed. Our internal pipelines are successfully
transitioning staff at all levels of the organization.

Future Workforce Profile

Some of the workforce areas of concern that we will monitor
throughout the duration of this plan are:
Senior Leader Retirement Risk—48 percent of our senior
leaders are eligible for retirement within the next five years.
As leaders retire, it is important that knowledge transfer and
transition strategies are in place to support business continuity.
Technology—as we hire more digital natives (people for whom
computers have always been part of their lives) any antiquated
systems we have may detract from our mission and make
recruitment and retention of quality talent more difficult.
Conversely, as we update our technology, existing staff may feel
less valued or effective without proper upskilling or training
in the use of these tools. Additionally, the long-term Pension
Solution project may be taxing to our subject matter experts;
however, CalSTRS must sustain both human and capital
resources through the longevity of the project.

As CalSTRS focuses on modifications and replacements
of technological systems, and continues to bring assets in
house in Investments, CalSTRS permanent workforce and its
contingency and contract staff will increase. These increases in
staffing will continue to impact space usage, support function
needs, the complexity of operational and administrative
support, and costs involved with successfully recruiting,
onboarding and training new members of the workforce.
Mission-Critical Positions
Mission-critical position mapping is a succession planning best
practice with the intent to mitigate organizational risk. Mission
critical risk mapping encompasses a small percentage of
positions, only those deemed critical to the successful pursuit
of the organization’s mission. It includes identifying potential
temporary successors who can step in to the mission critical
position in the event of crisis and/or unexpected departure of
the incumbent.
Mission-critical positions are positions that:
• Exert critical influence on the operational activities or

the strategic objectives of the organization.
• Have characteristics unique to the organization making

it difficult to fill.
• Put CalSTRS operations immediately at risk if vacated.

The loss of an incumbent in a mission-critical position can
generally be considered influential enough to slow or stop the
operation of a unit, division, branch or the organization. That
impact would continue to be felt until another person was hired
and effectively trained or learned the nuances of the position.
The mission-critical position mapping exercise, which requires
regular maintenance by staff, will help CalSTRS maintain
business continuity and ensure that all identified positions have
documented succession and/or recruitment plans in place.
A list of key mission-critical positions and potential temporary
successors was originally identified in 2009. The list has been
dramatically adjusted, added to and updated several times in
the intervening years.

WORKFORCE GAP ANALYSIS |

13

Although CalSTRS has not yet experienced an unexpected
vacancy of a mission-critical position, the potential for major
knowledge gaps or the inability to complete projects remains a
true threat to our organization.
Knowledge Transfer and Transition
The Knowledge Transfer and Transition program is evolving.
Although the use of the program will be driven primarily by
business areas and their needs, all parts of the organization will
be asked to create functional org charts, to fill out knowledge
transfer and transition forms to share explicit knowledge within
their business areas, and to organize policies and procedures in
an accessible way.
The KTT program’s SharePoint site is built and being tested
for efficacy with pilot participants. This site offers all of the
tools necessary for a robust program available to the entire
organization. HR will be introducing the knowledge transfer/
transition concepts to the organization by facilitating roadshows,
brown bag lunches and meetings with groups of managers
about how the tools in the SharePoint site can best be used
and to the benefit of their current and future workforce.
Senior Leader Transition Plan
The Senior Leader Transition Plan initiative provides CalSTRS a
basis to outline strategies for addressing developmental gaps
and to ensure support for staff stepping into senior leadership
roles. The Senior Leader Transition Plan is based on CalSTRS
leadership competencies, Executive Key Drivers for competency
bridging, and information gathered during interviews with
current senior leaders.
Mentorship
The CalSTRS Mentorship Program objectives have been created
and a framework has been established to execute and maintain
the program. The framework is aligned with CalSTRS business
and culture. Best practices research indicates that it is crucial
to have a strong framework in place before launching or piloting
a mentorship program to ensure success and sustainability.
The Leadership Development Team has conducted alignment
and discovery meetings, creating a program purpose statement,
and creating a common language regarding mentorship and
what it entails. These meetings also included planning

for sustainability and scalability, stakeholder involvement,
sponsorship and feedback.
Human Resources launched the CalSTRS Mentorship Pilot
Program in February 2018. The pilot is limited to leadership
participation. The pilot will span six months with a total time
commitment of 10-12 hours and will include a cross-section of
leaders throughout the organization.
After the pilot, a broader launch of the program will be
rolled out to the entire organization in fiscal year 2018-19.
Mentorship information sessions are offered to inform leaders,
mentors and mentees about the program. A SharePoint site is
available with mentorship resources and tools.
Specialist Usage
Specialists work at a higher level than analysts, demonstrate
expert level business knowledge and are highly skilled.
As CalSTRS continues to get sophisticated with the use of
technology, assessing enterprise-wide performance, and related
process improvements, staff members across the organization
are being tasked with supporting the change in work, sometimes
resulting in the need of higher skill sets. To meet this demand,
many in-house staff members have been promoted into
manager/specialist roles. Manager/specialist positions are
desirable roles for staff because they provide a career path for
the analyst levels and include higher compensation that aligns
with higher level duties and responsibilities.
As a retention and project strategy, the specialist option has
been a major asset to the organization. It allows the promotion
and retention of knowledgeable, competent employees and
recognizes their hard work, diligence and subject matter
expertise.
Talent Acquisition
Talent Acquisition is the strategic function of finding and hiring
staff that meets the organization’s unique needs and workforce
goals. Talent Acquisition works collaboratively with Workforce
Planning to develop a recruitment strategy based on position
projection and forecasting, strategic development and a need
for a pipeline for potential candidates. The Talent Acquisition
Strategy document includes options for CalSTRS to meet the
strategic function of talent acquisition on an annual basis. In
order for CalSTRS to recruit the most qualified and diverse

14 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

candidates, our recruitment and outreach efforts need to reach
a broad range of applicants from all geographical areas, work
and educational backgrounds. HR will continue working with
business area partners, hiring managers and HR liaisons to
implement and adhere to best practices in recruitment and
selection. Once these highly skilled employees are onboard, it is
the responsibility of the organization to grow and mentor them,
thus maintaining the internal pipeline and continuing to grow
an engaged, highly skilled, and diverse workforce.
Student Internships—Pipelining
CalSTRS efforts at internal pipelining have proven very
successful. However, there continues to be a gap in the form of
student internships or student service learning. HR has been
exploring ways to reach out to the community to catch the
interest of promising students early in their career exploration.
The goal is to build interest in career fields that students may
not yet have considered, such as finance, investments and
technology.
CalSTRS student internships and service learning provides
students from high school through graduate and professional
school levels with unique opportunities to gain exposure to
the many career possibilities in state service at CalSTRS. Both
programs are being piloted now in select business areas.
The design of internship and service learning opportunities
are flexible in nature to accommodate students pursuing
their educational goals in a professional setting, as well as
the business area’s needs and schedules. The goals of these
programs are to pipeline high school, undergraduate and
graduate students into the organization and to pilot both
programs in every business area throughout the organization.
Ideally, students participating in these programs will opt to
pursue technical or academic coursework that prepare them to
compete for and secure future roles at CalSTRS.
The student internship program targets undergraduates and
recent graduates of community colleges, universities and other
qualifying educational institutions. Students in this track will
have the opportunity to explore CalSTRS careers while being
paid for their work.
The service learning program targets high school students in
Yolo County. High school students in the Washington Unified
School District in Yolo County are required to complete 32
hours of volunteer work, eight hours per year. In this track, high

school students are introduced to working professionals to help
the students understand career opportunities and the skills that
are essential in today’s workforce. Service learning is unpaid,
volunteer work.
Workforce Gap Risks/Implications
The risks due to gaps in our current workforce as it relates to
succession planning are as follows:
Mission-critical position mapping—Without technology, this
exercise will continue to be an extremely arduous and manual
process, and difficult to track and manage in real time.
Knowledge Transfer and Transition—Ensuring early adoption
by the business areas is an important part of a successful
succession planning strategy ensuring continued success
of the organization. Senior leaders who have participated in
the pilot of the Knowledge Transfer and Transition Program
demonstrated hesitation in completing the SharePoint Intake
Profile documenting pertinent information regarding internal
and external contacts, resources, educational tools, etc. More
education and understanding around the importance of
documenting this information will be imperative to ensure
this program becomes a successful part of the succession
planning strategy.
Mentorship—This program is in the pilot stage, much
will depend on the successful alignment with CalSTRS
business culture, program design, successful marketing and
communication for the life of the program, and continued
support for mentors and mentees.
Specialist roles—The use of specialist roles is growing in the
organization. HR needs to develop ways to integrate them into
the career development process.
Talent Acquisition—HR needs to finalize and implement
talent acquisition strategies; without integrated outreach/
talent acquisition strategies CalSTRS risks missing outreach
opportunities.
Student Pipelining—There are multiple pipelines for internal
staff. Support should also be directed toward funneling
promising students, interns, community members, etc., into the
organization.

WORKFORCE GAP ANALYSIS |

15

RECOMMENDATIONS AND NEXT STEPS
Recommendations and next steps roll up from this plan into the Business and Strategic Plans for executive level purview and
strategic measurement or into existing HR program oversight.

RECOMMENDATION JUSTIFICATION

ACTIVITIES

Annual Performance
Reviews

The current process is timeconsuming, introduces overlapping
competencies and reflects on past
year’s performance.

• Redesign performance appraisal process that will meet

Knowledge Transfer
and Transition

Knowledge transfer and transition
will become increasingly
important as seasoned staff exit
the organization and new, less
experienced staff or those with less
institutional background are tasked
with taking over.

• Expand knowledge transfer efforts to knowledge workers.
• Facilitate workshops with senior staff—focused on

Mentorship is a way to transfer
institutional knowledge from
seasoned staff to new, less
experienced staff.

• Establish and maintain a mentorship program to enable

Mission-Critical
Position Mapping

This process is the first step toward
identifying potential successors.
Lack of technology will continue to
be a hindrance to managing this
process timely and efficiently.

• It’s essential to have a thorough understanding of what

Senior Leadership
Transition Plan

The Senior Leadership Transition Plan
in conjunction with the Knowledge
Transfer and Transition Program will
help to address the risk of senior
leaders retiring or departing from the
organization and preparing leaders
who are taking over their roles.

• Identify gaps in preparation for senior leadership roles in

Mentorship Program

Succession Planning This process is essential to
General
succession planning because we
Recommendations
cannot begin to identify potential
successors without first having a
thorough understanding of what we
have and what we’re missing. Right
now, lack of technology to manage
this process is impeding progress.

business needs and provide meaningful and timely feedback
to employees.

information exchange.
• Develop and implement a structured mentorship program
• Create information and experience-sharing subsites or

communities of practice for various CalSTRS projects or
programs.
• Develop a “Leave a Legacy” program: video interviews
conducted by newer staff of veteran staff with organizational
knowledge.
• Capture the knowledge in a single repository for use in future
transfer vehicles.
CalSTRS to develop existing talent and increase productivity
across the organization.

current staffs skill and competencies are to know where the
gaps are.
• HR needs to initiate open conversations with incumbents
of critical positions around career plans, development and
mentorship.
CalSTRS.
• Provide a transitional plan for those entering into those roles.
• Develop transition plans for each senior leader role in the

organization.

• Target development opportunities for front line

leadership roles.
• Create a development strategy for specialists.
• Maintain and enhance current development programs.
• Design, pilot and launch Pension Academy.

16 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

Next Steps
The following items are next steps in the succession planning process.
• Conduct a feasibility study with Human Resources senior leadership against all of the recommendations to determine


resources and timelines needed for successful completion in alignment with the CalSTRS Strategic Plan and Annual Business
Plan goals.

• Prioritize the recommendations by organizational criticality in alignment with the CalSTRS Strategic and Workforce plans.
• Annually review and reevaluate the CalSTRS Workforce and Leadership Development and Succession plans to

ensure current strategic initiatives are included and any changes (economic, environmental, etc.) in the workforce
are identified.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND NEXT STEPS |

17

APPENDIX I – ACCOMPLISHMENTS FROM PREVIOUS PLAN

CATEGORY

RECOMMENDATION

STATUS

Mentoring

Move forward and establish recommended mentorship framework. Launch
mentorship pilot.

In progress

Apprenticeships and
Traineeships

Allow potential successors to participate in a formal, guided apprenticeship On hold
program for a specific occupation for a designated period of time. The
subject matter expert in a critical position passes along knowledge and
skills one-on-one.

Communities of
Practice/Interest

Allow groups of individuals to share knowledge and common work practices In progress
through the CalSTRS SharePoint sites. A community can be a formal or
throughout org
informal work team that enables potential successors to acquire new
knowledge quickly, such as: the CalSTRS Wiki and expanded use of specific
SharePoint sites for cross-functional team communication and information
sharing.

Job Shadowing

Types of job shadowing could range from a formal rotational assignment
such as a training and development, to an informal informational interview.
Job-shadowing differs from an apprenticeship or traineeship because,
depending on availability of resources, the employee may not be paired
with a subject matter expert. Job shadowing is for employees who want to
be exposed to other types of work.

Lead Person Training

Employees are designated as a lead with roles and responsibilities clarified Complete/ongoing
and delineated from other unit staff and will be given credit for the roles on
formal Annual Performance Review forms. Acting as a lead over a project
enables the employee to gain more responsibility and experience around
prioritizing workloads, interpersonal issues and the dynamics of leadership.
Employees learn about their own leadership styles and safely decide
whether they want to pursue that role.

On-the-Job Training

On-the-job training is a resource to expand knowledge and become more
proficient in an employee’s current role. Employees work closely with staff
or leaders in key/critical positions to develop the practical knowledge
and skills required to competently perform the functions of their current
job. This strategy may also support train-before-hire to ensure knowledge
transfer strategies are implemented before an incumbent leaves.

18 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

In progress

In progress
throughout org

CATEGORY

RECOMMENDATION

STATUS

Review
Succession
Plan

The board and CalSTRS executive staff will review the strategies and
recommendations outlined in this document and prioritize those that
CalSTRS will pursue in successive fiscal years through the CalSTRS
Strategic Plan.

Ongoing through
staff work

Establish Statutory
Positions

HR and executive staff will continue to work with a legislative sponsor and
control agencies to establish two new statutory positions at the Executive
level: the Chief Operations Officer and the Chief Financial Officer.

Complete

Develop Crisis Plan

HR is in partnership with Facilities Operations to provide assistance and
resources in the development of the CalSTRS Crisis Plan. Crisis planning
is different than succession planning in that it is the identification of key
employees within the organization, and who to contact if the employee is
unavailable due to an unforeseen emergency. Emergencies include a range
of events and hazards caused by both nature and people.

In progress

Prioritize Key Positions

Prioritize key positions by organizational criticality and by branch. Analysis
and prioritization has already been completed at the branch level based
on demographic, workforce and projected business needs (see CalSTRS
Demographics). The next step is to prioritize key positions within those
branches.

In progress

Develop
Implementation
Plans

Develop targeted implementation plans for chosen succession strategies by Ongoing
branch and/or division, as appropriate to ensure organizational objectives
are met.

Develop Success
Criteria

Develop success criteria with Strategic Planning to measure the
effectiveness of the chosen succession strategies via survey or other
measurement tool.

Ongoing through
quarterly and annual
reporting

Update Key and
Critical Positions

Update key and critical positions identified in the Risk Replacement Plan
done in late 2009. Revisit branches already identified in Risk Replacement
Plan documents and update information provided previously. Survey and
include newly established leadership positions and potential successors in
the Risk Replacement Plan documents.

Ongoing

Update LinkedIn
Profiles

Collaborate with Communications to add all executives and directors to
LinkedIn to expand CalSTRS “employer of choice” brand identity and to
capitalize on an established network of business associates.

Ongoing

APPENDIX I |

19

CATEGORY

RECOMMENDATION

STATUS

HR Technology
Solution

Continue partnership with Technology Services in the identification and
procurement of a Human Capital Management solution. Securing a HCM
solution is necessary to allow HR the ability to automate and improve
organization-wide programs and processes, increase efficiency and reduce
risk to the organization.

In progress

Revisiting the Plan

Succession planning is an ongoing strategic process, not a one-time event. Ongoing
Periodic monitoring, evaluating and revising the plan and the effectiveness
of the strategies are vital to an effective succession plan. The CalSTRS
Leadership Development and Succession Plan covers a five-year period;
however, the plan will be reassessed and revised annually. Modifications to
the plan will be made and documented as needed to remain flexible in light
of budgetary and legislative pressures or changes. Future annual revisions
will include the below following items.

Revisiting the Plan

Detailed branch-specific succession planning recommendations.

On hold

Revisiting the Plan

Readiness assessments for potential successors down to the unit-level in
alignment with year-over-year development plans.

On hold

Revisiting the Plan

Identified metrics to track program efficiencies and effectiveness.

Ongoing

Revisiting the Plan

Updates on fiscal year 2012–13 activities and their outcomes.

Complete

Revisiting the Plan

Status or changes to fiscal year 2013–14 planned activities.

Complete

Revisiting the Plan

Additional recommendations and programmatic changes as a result of the
Executive Development Program and Professional Development Program
roll-outs.

Complete

20 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

APPENDIX II – PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE
HUMAN RESOURCES

UPWARD MOBILITY
Academic Guidance
Career Development Planning
Developmental Assignment
Recommendations
Learning and Development Planning
Priority Career Counseling Services

TARGET AUDIENCE:

PRE-ANALYST ACADEMY
Introduction to Analytical Skills
Critical Thinking
Introduction to Completed Staff Work
Microsoft Word
Writing for Pre-Analysts
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Interpersonal Skills

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Support Staff
Upward Mobility

ANALYST ACADEMY

LEAD PERSON

Essential Analytical Skills
Critical Thinking
Completed Staff Work
Writing for Analysts
Interpersonal Skills
Principles of Government
Roles and Responsibilities
of a Superior Analyst

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Entry-Level
Journey Level Analytical Staff

EMERGING LEADERSHIP SERIES
Becoming a Leader
Framing Public Policy Proposals
Giving and Receiving Feedback
Emotional Intelligence
Managing Work Expectations
Coaching for Success
Ethics in the Workplace
Peer Today, Boss Tomorrow

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Entry Level
Journey Level Analysts/Specialists

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Associate
Staff
Senior

APPENDIX II |

21

MANAGER ACADEMY

MASTERS SERIES
The Masters Series is designed for
experienced leaders to expand their
skill set, share their business and
leadership knowledge and prepare
potential candidates to compete in
the selection process for higher
level leadership positions.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
New Managers to CalSTRS
80-Hour Mandatory Training

ASPIRE LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The ASPIRE Program is designed
to teach the leadership skills
essential to prepare potential
candidates to compete in the
selection process for higher level
Investment leadership positions.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Tenured Managers (3+ Years)
at CalSTRS

EXECUTIVE
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The Executive Development
program is a 12-18 month
opportunity with a substantial
commitment, designed to prepare
potential candidates to compete in
the selection process for future
executive positions.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Manager II
Manager III
CEA

22 | HUMAN RESOURCES | LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESSION PLAN 2018-22

Appendix III– Related Resources
•

Strategic Plan

•

Business Plan

•

Competency Guide

•

Competency Bridging Models

•

TRAIN

•

Training Calendar



>

Pre-Analyst Academy



>

Analyst Academy



>

Lead Person Training



>

Emerging Leaders Series



>

Manager Academy



>

Masters Series



>

Executive Development Program

•

Recognition Program: Virtuosity

•

Professional Development Program

•

Talent Acquisition

•

Outreach

•

Diversity and Inclusion

•

Career Counseling

•

Career Ladders

•

Organizational Charts

•

Knowledge Transfer & Transition

•

Selection Process Guide

•

CalSTRS Wiki

•

Upward Mobility

APPENDIX III |

23

For more information contact Workforce Planning
WPlanning@CalSTRS.com
HR. v5.3_2018

... See less