Today's workforce is at a tipping point. The "Silver Tsunami" of retirements is ongoing, and there's no stopping it. How do you replace these people and their knowledge of your systems and ensure a successful transition? Everyone discusses Succession Planning, but how does it work? What is required to have a successful transition? This is where talent identification comes into play. This presentation will discuss methods used over the past several years in the Bowling Green Municipal Utilities Water Systems Division to implement succession planning through talent identification, training, and mentoring. Various tools including training courses and intentional mentoring will be reviewed along with two successful case studies and one failed attempt. The proposed outcome of this presentation is that everyone who attends would have a better idea of how to prepare themselves, either as a manager or as a rising star, to fill important roles in our companies and avoid the “next person up” pattern that so often occurs at a retirement.