SUCCESSION PLANNING & LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CESA INFRASTRUCTURE INDABA NOV. 2015
Why the need for succession planning Vacancies in senior or key positions are occurring in numerous organisations simultaneously. In my directorate alone we will in the past 2 years as well as the next 3 years be turning over approximately 50% of our professional engineers. Either none or to few emerging group of potential employees to fill the gap. Middle manager positions may have been eliminated or reduced in past restructuring and transformation exercises. This group would normally be the source of potential replacements to fill the gap. Younger managers interested in moving up do not have the skills and experience as they have not been adequately mentored. This is because the middle managers would normally have performed this mentoring role.
What is Succession Planning? Simply put it is a component of good HR planning and management. It is part of what is referred to as "Talent management. Succession planning acknowledges that staff will not be with an organisation indefinitely and it provides a plan and process for addressing the changes that will occur when they leave. It's a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key leadership positions within the company or organisation. Key positions can be defined as those positions crucial for the operations of your organisation and because of skill, seniority or experience will be hard to replace.
What is Succession Planning? cont. Organisations should assess their current and future needs based on either their strategic plan, goals and objectives, or prority programs and projects. They must match these to the capabilities of their current workforce. Develop a plan to manage the gaps when individuals in key positions leave or get promoted. The plan will generally include a combination of training and developing existing staff and external recruitment.
Leadership development is part of succession planning It is just that portion of succession planning that focuses on the leadership component of the organisation.
Why is succession planning important? A means of ensuring the organisation is prepared with a plan to support service continuity when senior managers or key personnel leave. A continued supply of qualified, motivated people (or a process to identify them), who are prepared to take over. An alignment between your vision and human resources that demonstrates the need to have appropriate staffing to achieve strategic plans. A commitment to developing career paths, which helps you to recruit and retain top-performing employees.
Why is succession planning important? cont. An external reputation of an employer that invests in its people and provides opportunities and support for advancement A message to your employees that they are valuable. The absence of a succession plan can undermine your organisation's effectiveness or sustainability.
Who is responsible for succession planning? The board is responsible for succession plan of the executive director/ CEO The executive director is responsible for the succession planning of key staff in the organisation.
Some challenges to effective succession planning Size of the organisation. To few postions available for advancement. Employees with potential move to larger organisations as a result. Lack of financial resources. Employees leave for better salaries or benefits. In some cases senior leaders stay in their positions, despite the fact that the skills required for the job may have changed. Indiscriminate inclusion of employees in succession plans, who are disinterested unmotivated or lack the capacity to advance. A plan that does not promote people in a timely fashion, leading to potential successors leaving the organisation
Some challenges to effective succession planning cont. Poor communication leading to confusion and turmoil in the organisation as staff speculate about what the succession plan really is. Potential candidates for promotion cannot be guarenteed that they will be promoted. A lot depends on the timing and need of the organisation.
Succession Planning in large organisations Capacity and needs assessment Step 1 Identify key positions in your organisation. ask yourself which positions will need to be filled almost immediately to ensure continued effective functioning Step 2 Review and list your current and emerging needs, strategic & operational plans to articulate priorities Step 3 Prepare a chart that identifies key positions and individuals in the organisation.(including those in step 1 and volunteers)
Step 4 Identify and list the gaps by asking questions such as: which individuals are likely to leave and when? which new positions will be required to support the strategic plan? which position have or will become redundant what skills and knowledge will be required to be developed
Step 5 Evaluate/ assess all staff members with the goal of identifying those who have the skills and knowledge or the potential along with the desire to be promoted to existing and new positions. The evaluation can be formal or informal, include performance reviews, 360 degree assessments or informal conversations with individuals under consideration. Also include those individuals with aspirations and ability that the executive director is aware of. Take this opportunity to give younger workers a chance.
Develop and Implement the Plan Based on the evaluation, identify the key person or people you want to develop and nurture for the future, the position you want to groom them for, the timeframes required to prepare them. Consider different ways of developing them such as self development, books/journals, mentor programs, special project work. Together with Personal development plans, identify career paths. this plan needs to be dynamic and customised for the individual. Formalise education,training, mentoring assessment and coaching activities. If possible move people into different areas of training and experience before they are needed in critical positions. Include job shadowing.
Monitor and manage plan As people leave and new ones replace them the plan has got to be updated to identify the next person to be groomed for promotion Should include the reviewed strategic plan if done on an annual basis. Need to be prepared to address issues with staff not selected for advancement. Offer alternative professional development opportunities, training and education. Recognise that no matter how well you plan, something will still happen which the succession plan will not address.
Tips for successful succession planning Senior management and board support for succession planning Review and update your succession plan regularly Develop procedure manuals for essential tasks carried out by key positions. Adequate time should be provided to prepare successors