The current milieu of public personnel administration is bustling with reform ideas and practices. As the public sector moves from a “civil service” to a “human resources” paradigm, adapting innovative personnel practices is increasingly becoming critical for good governance. Workforce planning (WFP) is one such innovation that allows a jurisdiction to build its long-term capacity in the face of changing work requirements, work values, technology, demography, and an array of other factors. Although the evidence on the use of WFP at the federal level is encouraging, the same is not the case at the state and local levels. There is little to nothing known about the need or the applicability of WFP in small local governments. Therefore, in the context of small local government, the article assesses the conceptual promises of WFP against the realities and capacities of governments operating at the grassroots level.
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