Next Generation

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has developed the Next Generation Initiatives. ICMA’s Next Generation Initiatives were created to attract and develop a wide and diverse group of people into the local government management profession, including students, early and mid-career professionals, and individuals from other fields. ICMA's activities under this initiative fall under four strategies:

• Promoting awareness of the local government management profession and encouraging individuals to consider careers in the field.
• Helping new and early careerists land their first jobs in local government. 
• Engaging local government management professionals in ICMA early in their careers.
• Building the leadership pipeline by engaging and developing promising individuals so that they are prepared to step into leadership roles, both in their local governments and ICMA.

What's the big deal? 

Quiet crisis. Retirement tidal wave. Workforce retention and recruitment. Next generation. Succession planning, pipeline, coaching. If you haven’t been hearing these terms, now is a good time to tune in. The local government management profession is approaching a crossroads as baby boomers that comprise the majority of local government managers approach retirement at a quickening pace, and statistics indicate that the greatest numbers of retirees will come from the managerial ranks.

The problem? A much smaller group of young and career changing professionals are in line and prepared to fill their shoes. There just aren't enough people.

Many candidates are unaware of or choose to ignore the potential career satisfaction that can come from leading a local government through times of innovation and change. At the same time, few current public managers consider that they are also responsible for the critical job of developing young and mid-career talent.

What are ICMA's Next Generation Initiatives? 

We hope the information provided here is thorough and helpful. After spending some time looking into and researching the profession, we think you'll agree that local government management is the career for you!