Editor’s Note: Winners of the Causey Awards were nominated by their peers for their outstanding achievements and important contributions to the Human Capital Management field in 2009. Nominators were asked to answer various questions about the nominee including, how did this person go above and beyond in 2009 and what is the impact of this person’s work? Their answers have been posted below. To see the complete list of Causey Award winners click here.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman has challenged his organization to ensure it has the right leadership in place over the next five years, to effectively serve America’s taxpayers the next 15 years and beyond.

Susan has chief responsibility for coordinating the Leadership Succession Review (LSR) process for the Internal Revenue Service. This is the foundation of IRS Succession Planning and involves all front line, department and senior managers. It provides up-to-date information on those who aspire to their next level of leadership (e.g., front line manager to senior manager; senior manager to executive), and their state of readiness for that level.

In addition, Susan plays a key role in the new Accelerated Leadership Program (ALP), which identifies high-potential emerging leaders, preparing them for executive positions by mid-career.

Susan is the consummate customer service professional, addressing the diverse interests of the 12 business units that participate in the LSR process. She used her influence skills to help propose and get agreement on a set of succession planning policies that ensure the right people participate in LSR and that the data we collect is accurate and useful.

Susan also was instrumental in helping the IRS design the pilot Accelerated Leadership Program (ALP) for the Criminal Investigation Division. This includes the method for identifying participants and the process for their development.

IMPACT: Over 9,500 individuals are now in the IRS LSR database, providing a very clear picture of bench strength at all leadership levels. We also have an understanding of where our leaders are doing well in the leadership competencies and where they are falling short. This helps both individuals and business units address developmental gaps more effectively, helping people to more quickly attain a “ready now” state for their next leader level. Finally, ALP has been launched and the program in Criminal Investigation was designed to be portable to other business units. Two of the largest business units in IRS are prepared to initiate ALP in FY 2010, based on the Criminal Investigation Division model.

Susan demonstrates day to day the value of her years of experience in the HR and Organization Development fields. She understands work systems — and more importantly — the impact of work systems on people. LSR and ALP are tremendous culture change issues for IRS, and Susan is helping to ensure people understand how the change benefits them, the IRS and the taxpayers we serve. This results in a “commitment” from people to make the changes work, not simply “complying” with the change. Susan is a key player in helping IRS achieve its goal of becoming a “best place to work in government.” She is very deserving of recognition through The Causey Award.

Copyright © 2024 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.