Phil Hauck's TEC Blog

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

On Succession Planning: It’s NOT Hard, so why doesn’t everyone do it?

One of my Vistage groups has formed a group of their OD/HR people, meeting semi-monthly to share ideas on topics of interest.
At the most recent one, I shared my frustration as to why every company isn’t formally, with a process, doing both Succession Planning and its related counterpart, Employee Development.
So, what’s the trigger to stimulate it being embraced, since it’s not the “obvious rightness” of it?  They said …
  •  Turnover … important leaders and future leaders are leaving.
  •  Outsiders telling the CEO the company isn’t competitive.
  •  Low morale/engagement based on Employee Engagement Surveys.
Another question:  What’s the process for getting Succession Planning started?  They said …
1.  Retain/Appoint someone to be take on administration/championing of Succession Planning as part of his/her job.
2.  Work with the Unit Mgr. and direct reports.  Analyze the current person in each position for “seeable” events like retirement.  Also, think about the organization structure 3-5 years hence … will expansion add additional positions, and when.
3.  Assign two people as the successors for each position.  Are two available?  Ask them if they are interested in being groomed/developed for that job.
4.  Knowing the Competencies needed for the job, at a performance level of 7-8 on a 10-Pt. scale, develop a Development Plan for each person laser-focused on reaching an acceptable performance level to be promoted to the job.  How many years away from “acceptability” is each person.
5.  At least semi-annually, the Unit Mgr. and direct reports meet to update the chart regarding each person, and to make revisions as needed.  If there aren’t two people in development, begin recruiting.

No comments:

Post a Comment