LET’S TALK ABOUT SUCCESSION PLANNING

 

WHAT IS SUCCESSION PLANNING

The process of identifying the crucial jobs within your organization and creating action plans for people to fill those positions is known as succession planning. It identifies the people who hold the abilities and potential to fill these upcoming roles, as well as the staff demands of the future.

In the long term, succession planning strengthens the overall capability of the organization by:

 

·         Identifying critical positions and highlighting potential vacancies;

·         Selecting key competencies and skills necessary for business continuity;

·         Focusing development of individuals to meet future business needs.

IMPORTANCE OF SUCCESSION PLANNING

 

Succession planning often means training the next generation to take over the business so that an organization need continue smoothly and without interruption, after important people move on to new opportunities, retire, or pass away. It is a contingency plan and should be updated from time to time.

 

The organization prepares to take over as they assess each employee's abilities, find replacements, and educate staff members.

 

It is an ideal strategy for organizations to make sure that they are properly equipped to advance all personnel, not just those in management or executive positions.

 

It entails identifying internal staff members who deserve career promotion and preparing them to take on new responsibilities inside the organization. Companies must take the required precautions to be ready for these strategies to function. Plans are frequently long-term in order to account for impending changes.

Unfortunately, a lot of businesses prioritize business development over employee advancement and neglect succession planning altogether. Despite having succession plans, many firms do not think they are effective.

BENEFITS OF SUCCESSION PLANNING

Both employers and employees can be benefitted from a formalized succession plan. Some benefits include the followings”

 

1.     Employees become more empowered and experience more job satisfaction as they realize they have the opportunity for career development and progress.

2.  Management's commitment to succession planning compelled supervisors to mentor employees to transfer knowledge and expertise.

3.   Positions can be filled in-house when opportunities arise because management has a greater understanding of the value of personnel.

4.     Both employer and employees are better able to share company values and vision.

5.     Due to the ability of competent employees to take up essential high-level positions right away, business processes run more smoothly and consistently produce excellence.

6.    Time and money are saved. The time it takes searching for a replacement for an employee results in lost productivity costs in terms of time and money.

7.    Succession planning helps an organization create a better reputation as a talent destination.

8.    It boosts employee engagement through career development and makes workers feel valued.

9.    It enables managers in developing and sustaining proactive programs and aids in bringing human resources and organizational vision into alignment. 

10.  Succession planning ensures there are more personnel with the skill set needed to replace senior executives when more baby boomers retire.

BEST PRACTICES FOR SUCCESSION PLANNING

 

Some best practices to follow when enacting succession planning include these:

Take initiative. Be ready for unanticipated situations where a high-level executive abruptly departs. An organization can continue to run normally in this fashion.

 

1. Define the responsibilities that are part of the succession strategy. Share the jobs and the participants in the plan.

2.   The process should not be run entirely by HR; rather, HR should allow the process and supply tools as required.

3.   Don't just pick the person whose rank is closest to the vacant position. If other candidates have the most promise, they should be selected.

4.  Go backwards first. Define the fundamental skills, talents, and competences required for that function before training a worker to fill it.

5.  Utilizing mentors and work rotations, train successors. Having a manager serve as a mentor enables the mentor to impart information while allowing staff members to learn more about certain jobs and experiences.

6.   Regularly provide feedback. Include assessments of how well understood skills are progressing and which ones still require improvement.

7.  Develop personal development plans. Employees are given the individualized attention they require to acquire the necessary skills in this way. Additionally, managers need to provide ongoing feedback.

8.  Make test runs. When a possible successor takes on some of the duties of the position they are inheriting, it is called a trial run. The successor will be able to gather practice that could be useful.

KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSION PLANNING

 

While succession planning may look a little different in each organization, most succession plans should include the following:

 

1.  Defined goal(s): Your organization should define what the end goal of the succession plan is, whether that’s to help employees increase their expertise, learn managerial skills, or something else.

2.   Tasks or requirements: This is essentially a list of requirements for what is needed in order to reach the end goal of the succession plan.

3.  Timeline: Knowing how much time employee development may take will help your organization align the succession plan with times when you need people to step into new roles.

4.  Budget: Define how much money or what resources you will dedicate to succession planning, as that will shape every other element of your organization’s plan.

5.  Strategy: Finally, define how you plan to introduce, execute, and measure the results of a succession plan.

OBSTACLES TO A FORMAL SUCCESSION PLANNING PROGRAMME

The following barriers to a structured succession planning program may exist depending on the culture and readiness of the organization.

Resistance to Change

Succession planning is one initiative that can be done incrementally. Enhance existing selection and performance management programs to show the value and importance of building internal bench strength. Introduce the ideas of waning skill sets in the labor market and the existence of internal talent that can easily be developed. Start small, maybe with one major function, to create a success story and build credibility and agreement.

Lack of support by Persons of Influence

Succession planning may be difficult to sell if loud critics have the opportunity to speak. Find the reason for their skepticism, and then use data and facts to refute it and address problems like these:

• Concerns that jobs are at risk.

• Worries about costs or lost productivity.

• Tendencies to promote knowledge-hoarding rather than knowledge-sharing.

Organizational Silos

One way to address silos in the context of succession planning is to start with a function that is partially shared among one or more business units. Find leaders who believe in knocking down silos to see if they have jobs that could be feeders into another area. 

Equal Employment Opportunity

Planning for succession does not include pre-selection; it involves training current personnel for potential future jobs. The final choice of individuals to fill new roles will reflect the focus on diversity and equal employment opportunity if the succession planning program is founded on these principles. Choose positions that are often filled from within during the succession planning process, work to identify a number of prospective feeder roles and incumbents, and make sure everyone is aware that succession planning is meant to balance the needs of the business with the interests of the employees.

Weakness in Performance Management

In addition to being a barrier to succession planning, the absence of a regular practice of providing honest performance evaluation inside the organization must be corrected right away. Managers should be made aware of the moral and legal justifications for providing honest feedback. Employees have a right to be informed when their actions or performance fall short of expectations.

Lack of Time

The age-old struggle between time invested and time spent is represented by this problem. Take into account the time required for new hire recruitment, selection, training, and management, not to mention the assimilation learning curve. The cost of investing in the skill sets of incumbents does not seem as intimidating in comparison to those time-consuming operations. The person is better prepared for a wider range of tasks inside the firm with time spent on succession planning.

Rewarding the Wrong Behavior

Many workers are hesitant to impart their knowledge to others. Being the local authority is frequently connected to their sense of self-worth. But rewarding staff members who voluntarily share their knowledge and show an interest in learning new things is best for the company.

REFERENCES

Kenton, W. (2019). Understanding Succession Planning. [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/succession-planning.asp.

Professional & Organizational Development. (n.d.). Succession planning. [online] Available at: https://hr.uw.edu/pod/organizational-excellence-and-development/organizations/succession-planning/.

SearchHRSoftware. (n.d.). What is succession planning? Everything you need to know. [online] Available at: https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/definition/succession-planning.

SHRM (2019). Engaging in Succession Planning. [online] SHRM. Available at: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/engaginginsuccessionplanning.aspx

www.bamboohr.com. (n.d.). What is a Succession Plan? | BambooHR Glossary. [online] Available at: https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/hr-glossary/succession-plan.

Thanks for reading
Chamara Perera