The Chief Administrative Officer/CAO recognized the need to improve the leadership potential of all village employees, while also developing a talent pool of high potential employees. An early retirement initiative in 2004 had led to the departure of many key leaders. Furthermore, nearly 60% of leaders would be eligible for retirement in the next five years, with one large department facing a potential turnover of 94% of its leadership. Although the village had various systems in place to independently address some of the aspects of talent management, there was no strategy to connect these elements together in a clear, cost-effective plan. The CAO selected a team to utilize the best research available to create a Talent Management Plan/TMP to address these problems.