Succession Planning

 

In today's competitive business landscape, organizations recognize the critical importance of succession planning as a strategic initiative for talent retention and development. As the demand for skilled professionals continues to rise, succession planning enables companies to proactively identify, nurture, and retain high-potential employees.

Succession planning is the process of identifying the critical positions within your organization and developing action plans for high-performing individuals to be ready to fill those positions. It ensures you have the right people, in the right jobs, at the right time—today and tomorrow. Succession planning should never be an afterthought. That’s because succession planning plays a critical role in the long-term success and sustainability of your organization. (Turnbull, Greenwood, Tworoger, & Golden, 2011).

HR Department plays a critical role in developing and communicating an effective succession plan, specifically the criteria chosen to fill future vacancies in the organization. Businesses promote two parts of a succession plan: a plan to select the right people and a process to retain, promote, and train the appropriate people to fill a new position. The human resources department is responsible for the success of the development, implementation, and communication of the organization’s succession plan to support employee retention, engagement, and long-term growth for the organization.(Galagan, 2010)

In every company, there are certain critical positions which always need to be held by key persons having high business acumen, strong leadership skills & must be able to motivate their respective teams & functions. To make sure that companies keep on functioning efficiently, there is a process to groom, train, skill & retain employees who care take-up such critical roles. This process is known as succession planning. This is an important activity which ensures that under any unfortunate circumstances, the company roles must be filled by highest efficient & motivated employees.

Succession Planning Process

The systematic approach & process that are used for training & grooming employees for the future are:

1. Identify key positions

There are certain important positions in the organization which cannot be filled without planning and through external hiring. For those positions, a candidate who understands the company, processes and has proven record would be more fit. Such positions need to be identified before starting the succession plan.

2. Assess skills & abilities needed

Next step is to understand the skills and qualifications required for performing in those key positions in the organization. In the plan made for the new employee, skill gaps need to be identified and rectified.

3. Identify employees

Next and most important step is to identify the right employees who are not only fit for the roles but also willing to take on the next key position and be a future leader in the organization.

4. Develop & Train employees

Once the positions and the employees are identified, right training programs and grooming need to be planned for these key employees. Many skills need to be developed over a period of time which will lead to them being ready for next step.

5. Continue Evaluating process for the future

Once the employees have started taking the new roles, proper evaluation should be done on the performance, motivation and results of the job role change. Feedback should be taken from the promoted employees on what could be improved for next batch.

This process needs to be elaborately defined to prepare successors for key company roles in the future.

Common elements listed among organizations with succession planning include a mission and vision statement and a strategic plan. The mission and vision statements are common among large and small businesses and clearly define what company leaders wish toaccomplish . For succession planning, the mission and vision statements are most important because from the mission and vision, company leaders derive a strategic plan (Kirkwood & Harris, 2011). The mission and vision statements include corporate values and key objectives (Office of Personnel Management [OPM], 2015). 

Conclusion 

Succession planning is an effective means to preserving institutional memory and Improving institutional knowledge. Succession plans are designed to identify and select Best fit candidates for leadership positions, assure effective leadership development, and preserve organizational knowledge and intellectual capital. It is the method that an organization must employ to ensure “the right people in the right places at the right times.” By doing so, succession planning also lessens the effect of downsizing, given the change in the global economy succession plans will ensure that key positions which have been eliminated can be filled or absorbed by other employees. According to McConnell succession planning is “the process of identifying people who could presently move into key positions or could do so after specifically targeted development occurs.” As a result, succession planning and management becomes attractive in the face of problems such as delays in filling critical positions, a lack of qualified internal candidates, departure of talented employees to further career goals, or failure of internal replacements in new leadership roles within the organization (Rothwell, 2005). 

References 

Turnbull, H., Greenwood, R., Tworoger, L., & Golden, C. (2011). The inclusion skills measurement profile: Validating an assessment for identification of skill deficiencies in diversity and inclusion. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication and Conflict, 15(1), 11–24

Galagan, P. (2010, February 14). Bridging the skills gap: New factors compound the growing skills shortage. Association for Talent Development Journal. Retrieved from http://www.astd.org

Spurk, D., & Abele, A. (2011). Who earns more and why? A multiple mediation model from personality to salary. Journal of Business & Psychology, 26, 87–103. doi:10.1007/ s10869-010-9184-3.

Kirkwood, J., & Harris, P. (2011). Beyond business: One local government’s efforts to help business owners with succession planning. Small Enterprise Research, 18, 130–142. doi:10.5172/ser.2011.18.2.130.

Rothwell, W. J. (2005). The future of succession planning. T+D, 64(9), 50. Retrieved from http://www.astd.org/Publications/ Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2010/09/The- Future-of-Succession-Planning