Building Your Bench: Succession Planning the Lake Stevens Way

At the City of Lake Stevens, we have been thinking a lot about the future — and the people who will lead us there. Like many local governments, we know that retirements, employee transitions, and shifting community needs can create leadership gaps and loss of institutional knowledge. That’s why we are focused on building our “bench” — preparing employees at every level to take on greater responsibility when opportunities arise.

Think of succession planning like sports: a successful team doesn’t rely only on its starting players. To keep winning, you need a strong bench — people who are prepared, practiced, and ready to step in when needed. For us, building that bench means developing a mix of formal programs, on-the-job experiences, and cultural practices that help employees grow while ensuring the organization continues to thrive.

See our Succession Plan Policy for more about how we are shaping this process.

In this blog, I will talk about what I’ve learned about succession planning as the city’s human resources director.

Creating Support for Employee Growth

I’ve learned that successful bench-building starts with leadership buy-in. Without direction and support from the top, succession planning efforts are difficult to sustain. At Lake Stevens, this means:

• Ensuring department directors and supervisors actively support and mentor staff
• Aligning workforce development goals with the city’s broader strategic priorities
• Exploring policies that encourage leadership development across all levels

Having this top-down support has created an environment where employees feel encouraged to grow, while ensuring departments are prepared when transitions occur.

Investing in People: Strategic Use of Resources

Building a bench takes planning, but it doesn’t always require large budgets. At Lake Stevens, we have focused on using resources intentionally to support employee development in meaningful ways, including:

• Professional development opportunities — Tuition reimbursement, certification incentives, professional memberships, and conference participation to help employees expand their skills. See the Lake Stevens Employee Handbook section on Professional Development for more information. 
• Strategic staffing plan — I have created a dynamic workforce plan to address service gaps, anticipate retirements, provide promotion opportunities, and align with the city's strategic goals to retain employees.

Hands-On Experience: Low- and No-Cost Strategies

Not every leadership development effort requires a formal program. In fact, some of our most impactful strategies are low-cost or even cost-neutral:

• Mentorships and job shadowing — Pairing employees with experienced leaders to build relationships and accelerate learning.
• Out of Class Pay Assignments — Offering employees short-term opportunities to step into leadership roles and gain real-world experience. See the Out of Class Pay Request form here. 
• City of Lake Stevens Internship Program — Opening doors for early-career professionals while helping us identify and develop future talent.
• External committees and boards — Encouraging employees to expand their networks, leadership skills, and influence while supporting broader city initiatives.

These approaches provide opportunities for employees to “get in the game” and build confidence while strengthening the organization’s overall leadership capacity.

Sustaining the Effort

A strong bench isn’t built overnight. It requires consistent effort and a long-term view. At Lake Stevens, we are working to make employee development part of our culture by:

• Creating a training roadmap that supports career progression across departments. The goal is help employees see potential career paths and understand what skills and experiences are needed to advance into lead or supervisory roles.
• Launching our Supervisor & Leadership Bootcamp to prepare current and future leaders. This series of training will be targeted for emerging and current leaders to prepare and better equip them with the knowledge and skills to be a good leader and supervisor.
• Offering continuous employee development programs that create opportunities to learn, grow, and lead — schedules get busy, budget get tight — don’t put professional growth for your employees on the back burner.

These efforts ensure that we’re not just planning for immediate needs but also preparing for the city’s long-term success.

Lessons Learned Along the Way

Through this work, we have learned many valuable lessons about what it takes to build a strong bench. One of the biggest takeaways has been the importance of providing opportunities broadly. Instead of focusing on just one or two individuals for future leadership roles, we work to create options for all employees to learn and grow, even those who may not initially see themselves as future supervisors.

Specifically, the more opportunities your agency provides, the more of employees will take advantage of them. For example, when we started providing out-of-class pay opportunities at every level of the organization (lead, supervisor, manager, director), we noticed different employees stepping up to the plate to learn.

By opening doors for everyone, we have discovered hidden talent, boosted employee engagement, and strengthened the organization as a whole. And we are still learning as we go, adapting our approach based on feedback and experience.

Want to Learn More?

My Lake Stevens colleagues and I will be sharing more about our journey, lessons learned, and practical strategies during the upcoming MRSC webinar, Succession Planning: Developing Sustainable Leadership Pipelines, on September 18 at 11 AM. We’ll talk about what’s worked for us, where we’re still learning, and how other local governments can adapt these approaches to fit their unique needs and resources.