Recruiting top talent is as competitive as it's ever been. Attracting staff can be an expensive endeavor for any employer, with retaining that talent an equally overwhelming financial burden. The abundant work involved in maintaining the state of Georgia's oldest city, Savannah, forces the city to continue to creatively approach the challenges of recruiting and retaining talent within the sometimes-inflexible boundaries of municipal governance.

Competing with hybrid and work-from-home packages and other employee perks, such as unlimited paid time off and bonus incentives, is difficult for cities to do. When budgets are reliant on taxpayers, who understandably demand fiduciary accountability and transparency, every dollar the city spends must offer a valuable and timely return on investment for the citizens. The rising cost of maintaining infrastructure, public safety, and city services doesn't leave much room for negotiating salaries and other employment benefits in an already stretched city budget with mounting priorities.

Retaining incumbent employees is not only paramount but also perilous, as employers seek to leverage limited resources to encourage workplace longevity. Research shows that employees value growth and professional development. According to LinkedIn Learning's 2023 Workplace Learning Report, progress toward career goals is the number 1 motivation for employee learning, and the top way employers are working to improve retention is by providing learning opportunities. When employees see opportunities with defined pathways to leadership roles, they are more likely to stay with a company because internal advancement seems viable.

Without stable leadership, subject matter expertise, and the historical context that continuity provides, the City of Savannah, which attracts more than 17 million visitors annually, could be limited in its ability to provide the exceptional public services it promises. Compounded by the rising cost of recruiting new leaders versus the potential cost savings of in-house employee ascension, creating targeted leadership programs emerged as a win-win for the city and its nearly 2,600 employees.

New values, new focus

The appointment of a new city manager, Joseph "Jay" Melder, in 2021 offered an opportunity for a leadership refresh in both practice and application. Three leadership development initiatives launched between 2021 and 2024:

• City Manager's Leadership Academy for senior leaders

• City Manager's Emerging Leaders Academy (CMELA) to develop internal talent and leadership capacity

• New Director's Academy for newly appointed directors and assistant directors

Collectively, the leadership programs aligned with Melder's signature motto: Great public service begins with great public servants. While the city's mission remained the same, Melder introduced two new sets of organizational values: public service (community focus, equity, and forward thinking) and leadership (accountability, care, and thought partnership).

Armed with a renewed framework of values and clearly defined leadership focus, the challenge turned to implementation. Infusing the innovative leadership model across the city's diverse array of seven service centers and their associated management teams required intentional and strategic collaboration and communication. Managerial leadership had direct access to learning, discussing, and mastering the principles through Melder's quarterly meeting and other scheduled leadership interactions. Finding time to effectively influence other aspiring and rising leaders to develop the competencies necessary to model and apply those leadership characteristics in daily practice during hectic service schedules and citizen expectations required creative solutions.

The makings of CMELA

Combined with the city's desire to develop an internal talent pipeline, Savannah leaders in HR, organizational development, and the City Manager's Office formed the development team tasked with creating a leadership program centered on achieving ambitious goals while being fiscally responsible and avoiding service disruption. Postpandemic plans, a return-to-office mandate, new leadership, and a labor market disruption all posed unique complications and a sense of urgency to the necessity of the program's development and success.

The development team collaboratively approached the initiative through research, planning, and program development. Guided by the results of a 2021 survey asking the city's top leaders about the key leadership competencies they identified as necessary for emerging and incumbent managers and above to excel in their roles, the team sought to balance theory with application reinforced through hands-on experience. The result was the CMELA, which identifies and develops emerging talent by targeting employees in positions below managerial classifications.

Ultimately, with a limited budget, limited resources, and a sensitivity to the importance of minimizing time away from daily responsibilities while maximizing outcomes, the development team created an outline of the program designed to pack a punch in an expedited and sustainable fashion. The initiative would entail intense leadership development, mentoring, and research in preparation for an end-of-program capstone presentation. The city partnered with the Georgia Municipal Association, which offers economic access to municipal leadership trainers and subject matter experts, as well as community, higher education, and local business and civic leaders for presentations.

The team hoped burgeoning leaders citywide would be excited to see an attainable and realistic leadership development program that wouldn't require them to manage travel, lose critical time at the office, or lobby for budget dollars for participation in costly off-site leadership programs.

All the CMELA seminars are in person, featuring topics such as leadership assessments, budgeting and fiscal transparency, change management, transitioning from peer to steer, building high-performing teams, performance management, and data-driven decision making.

The first seminar is an all-day event, while the five other sessions are five hours each over a four-month period. Members of the development team facilitate some of the sessions, but the program also relies on internal SMEs and paid facilitators from the state's municipal association, nearby municipalities, local universities, and professional trainers. The sessions incorporate lectures, presentations, panels, small-group collaboratives, hands-on demonstrations, assigned readings, leadership assessments, and leadership simulations.

The culminating capstone project offers participants an opportunity to apply their expanded knowledge of leadership in public service by selecting a topic of their choice and offering a solution to improve the city. Participants present their capstones via a five- to 10-minute presentation to a citywide audience of key decision makers, including the executive leadership team, as part of the program's formal graduation ceremony. In addition to the presentation, participants must develop an associated PowerPoint deck and a one-page summary of their proposal. Executive leaders later review each project to consider it for implementation based on how the solution supports the city's strategic priorities, the project's budget implications, and the initiative's return on investment.

CMELA also matches participants with a mentor—solicited from internal senior leaders, directors, and above—to meet with in person, online, or over the phone at least twice monthly throughout the program's duration. Participants' assigned mentors help prepare them for their final presentation.

Program rollout

The development team determined the program would be selective and limited to 30 participants per cohort. Interested individuals must meet basic requirements, which include select job classifications; supervisor endorsement; and at least one year of employment with the city.

Applications for the city's first cohort went live in May 2022, just months after the city returned to in-person office work. While the expectation was that staff would be enthusiastic about CMELA, there was still uncertainty about how employees would receive the initiative.

Prospective applicants who met eligibility criteria submitted a full application, which included:

• An updated resume

• Three letters of recommendation, including one from their current supervisor

• A 200-word essay of impact regarding the program

• A one-way interview with responses to key leadership questions

The candidate-selection process includes a diverse and representative panel of leaders who evaluate all portfolio components. The panel ranks candidates accordingly during a 30-day review period, and Melder announces the participants via a citywide email. Upon selection, participants committed to dedicating six Fridays from August through December to the leadership development programming.

As members of the first cohort, the 30 chosen employees stepped forward into the unknown but were eager for something more. The program's curriculum required participants to attend at least 90 percent of the six learning seminars in year one.

Outcomes

Through two cohorts (one each in 2022 and 2023), the development team has implemented program improvements, including:

• An increased amount of scheduled workshop sessions (from six to 10)

• A more focused capstone project format, which now requires participants to include a budget and implementation plan

• Integration of additional leadership topics such as data-driven decision making, storytelling, and leadership in the age of artificial intelligence

With two cohorts completed and a third in progress since August, the numbers are promising.

• Completion rate. The program has a 99 percent completion rate, with 100 percent of all participants who stay employed with the city during the program meeting the required attendance and program requirements.

• Promotion potential. Of the 54 graduates, participants have demonstrated postprogram growth and advancement. Seventy-five percent of participants from the first cohort have advanced their careers through increased responsibilities, a new job title, a promotion, or a new position.

The city has adopted nearly 10 capstones, including an executive leadership assessment; a fire department community open house; enhanced CPR and first aid training; and cultural arts participation incentives. Notably, Shamir Johnson, a Savannah fire department captain who participated in CMELA's first cohort, developed a capstone project recommending an annual diversity, equity, and inclusion workshop. Melder endorsed, signed, and approved the implementation of Johnson's idea on April 30, 2024. On the same day, Johnson partnered with F. Takeshia Brown, the city's officer of DEI, to plan and host a day of workshops, speakers, and panels dedicated to promoting a culture where everyone is welcome and supported. The city plans to make that an annual event.

While leadership development, employee retention, and talent recruitment aren't getting any easier, leadership development programs such as CMELA offer hope for other cities with budget, time, and resource constraints to create sustainable and significant programs that work.

City of Savannah

Industry:

Public Administration

Workforce Size:

2,600

Development Team Size:

5

HQ Location:

Savannah, Georgia