Work Force Priorities: Future Leaders City of Wolverhampton Council

A live talent pool model for the future of council leadership

Like many councils, City of Wolverhampton Council was thinking hard about the future of leadership, succession and internal talent. This was not simply about running another leadership programme or offering people a few development days away from the day job.

The ambition was bigger than that. The council wanted to create a more meaningful way of identifying and growing future leaders from within, while also testing what modern succession planning could look like in practice. That meant thinking about talent management, leadership development and succession planning not as separate conversations, but as part of one joined-up workforce challenge.

From the outset, there was a clear appetite to do something bold: create a live talent pool model where participants would not just learn about leadership, but actively experience it in real work, with real expectations, support and visibility. The original design placed the programme within the council’s People Development and Experience service, with a commitment to backfilling roles so talented people could genuinely step into the opportunity rather than squeeze it around an already full job. That foundation mattered. It signalled that this was not talent theatre. It was a real investment in growing the council’s future leadership bench.

WME was approached to work in partnership, help strengthen, shape and co-deliver the model.

Thanks to Workforce Priority Funding, WME invested a small amount of time to work alongside the council in shaping the pilot model and bring it to life with regional visibility. This included external challenge, supporting early design and capturing learning that could be shared more widely across the sector. In parallel, the council made an investment in WME to support delivery of key elements of the programme. Together, the work focused on several important design choices.

First, we helped sharpen the overall proposition so it was easier to communicate and easier to engage with. If people do not understand what they are applying for, what will be expected of them, and what the organisation is committing to in return, even the best ideas can become blurry. Simplicity mattered.

Second, we worked with the council to protect the thing that made this model distinctive: it would be a live team, doing live work not a classroom simulation. This was not just about learning, it was about doing, with participants working on cross-council challenges while actively testing new ways of leading.

Third, we brought a future-ready leadership lens. Rather than preparing people only for the roles councils have always had, the programme was shaped around the reality that leadership is changing. GenAI, systems thinking, complexity, influence, non-linear careers and changing workforce expectations all needed to be part of the conversation not bolted on as an optional extra.

Fourth, we helped hold attention on the bit many organisations overlook: the “after.” Early on, we identified the need for a post-programme phase that would keep people warm, visible, supported and ready for the next step, rather than allowing newly developed talent to drift, become frustrated or leave.