Abstract
Faced with looming talent shortages and changing workforce demographics, strategic workforce planning and talent management are taking prominent roles within organizations’ efforts to shape strategies. State governments must find ways to attract develop and engage employees in a new era of competitiveness. This was an interpretive case study to explore workforce planning and talent management practices in a state government from the unique perspective of managers: to understand how they apply workforce planning and talent management and the challenges they face in those practices. The study site was a state government, located in the Midwest region of the United States. Interviews were conducted with 12 participants who were full-time permanent managers representing multiple agencies with diverse missions in state government. Their experiences and stories provided rich insights into state government: navigating administration changes, managing more with fewer employees and resources and working in the public eye. The overarching themes that emerged from the study included (a) conditions of management in state government, (b) varying practices in workforce planning and talent management, (c) factors that limit talent management, and (d) activities to elevate talent management in state government. These study’s findings may not be applicable to other state governments however the study identifies the compelling need to ensure state governments’ capacities to effectively compete for talent. The need to engage leadership commitment, ensure systems alignment, and increase managerial capacity for talent management will be of paramount importance in state government’s ability to attract, develop, and retain key talent in an increasingly competitive employment market.