The Evolution of Succession Planning 4

10
 Succession Planning ‐ An Evolution Into Talent Management By Ren Nardoni  For organizations faced with more demanding leadership requirements  in a changing, more competitive  business environment,  the installation  and use of  a process for  succession planning may be the most important  human capital  investment they can make. This process, which more than ever requires a computerized succession planning information system, can provide benefits  that go well  beyond the traditional  reason for succession planning,  which has always been “to assure the continuity of  leadership at the top.” Although the basic process of  succession  planning has not changed dramatically, the technical  and business requirements  have evolved. And,  of  course, many reasons for  having a formal, datarich approach to succession  planning still  include:   Reorganizations,  mergers, and management  “flattening” efforts that have disrupted  existing success planning “ladders,” often eliminating   jobs that were traditional  stepping stones to the top, The continuing migration  of   jobs off shore and the compression of  workforces in industries  such as automotive are still major issues.  Changing organizations moving into new lines of  business,  new global markets, or new technology, which demands new types of  managers with different qualifications,  competencies  and talents,  Any organization that believes  in career development  for  all or most managers and professionals  the 90 to 95 percent  of  managers who “feed” succession planning’s  candidate files  requiring  an approach that motivates employees  to succeed and helps the organization prepare future business leaders, and  The potential  "talent gap" in the upcoming years as vast numbers o capable managers and executives retire.  In addition,  employees  no longer have the belief  that their company will always be there for them and are making career decisions based on their own vested self interest rather than the company's. However, in the intervening  years many economic  and technology  issues have occurred that are impacting  the entire process:  Just as the technology bubble burst was receding from our memories,  the housing/credit  crisis of  2007 reared its ugly head.  Corporate executives reaped incredible  compensation for those decisions that led to the housing/credit  crisis.  CEOs for major corporations subsequently  lost their  jobs. The very succession  planning processes that elevated these CEOs to their position are now being called into question.  Financial organizations that evaluate companies,  more 

description

enjoy

Transcript of The Evolution of Succession Planning 4

  • SuccessionPlanningAnEvolutionIntoTalentManagement

    ByRenNardoni Fororganizationsfacedwithmoredemandingleadershiprequirementsinachanging,

    more competitive business environment, the installation and use of a process forsuccession planning may be the most important human capital investment they canmake.Thisprocess,whichmorethaneverrequiresacomputerizedsuccessionplanninginformationsystem,canprovidebenefitsthatgowellbeyondthetraditionalreasonforsuccessionplanning,whichhasalwaysbeentoassure thecontinuityof leadershipatthe top. Although the basic process of succession planning has not changeddramatically, the technical and business requirements have evolved. And, of course,many reasons for having a formal, datarich approach to succession planning stillinclude:

    Reorganizations, mergers, and management flattening efforts that havedisruptedexistingsuccessplanningladders,ofteneliminatingjobsthatweretraditional stepping stones to the top, The continuingmigration of jobs offshoreandthecompressionofworkforcesinindustriessuchasautomotivearestillmajorissues.

    Changingorganizationsmovingintonewlinesofbusiness,newglobalmarkets,or new technology, which demands new types of managers with differentqualifications,competenciesandtalents,

    Anyorganizationthatbelievesincareerdevelopmentforallormostmanagersandprofessionalsthe90to95percentofmanagerswhofeedsuccessionplanningscandidatefilesrequiringanapproachthatmotivatesemployeestosucceedandhelpstheorganizationpreparefuturebusinessleaders,and

    Thepotential "talentgap" in theupcomingyearsasvastnumbersocapablemanagers andexecutives retire. In addition,employeesno longerhave thebeliefthattheircompanywillalwaysbethereforthemandaremakingcareerdecisionsbasedontheirownvestedselfinterestratherthanthecompany's.

    However, in the intervening years many economic and technology issues have

    occurredthatareimpactingtheentireprocess:

    Just as the technology bubble burst was receding from our memories, thehousing/creditcrisisof2007reareditsuglyhead.

    Corporateexecutivesreapedincrediblecompensationforthosedecisionsthat

    ledtothehousing/creditcrisis.

    CEOsformajorcorporationssubsequentlylosttheirjobs.Theverysuccessionplanningprocesses thatelevated theseCEOs to theirpositionarenowbeingcalled intoquestion. Financialorganizations thatevaluate companies,more

  • than ever, give increasing importance to the succession plans of theorganizationhasanindicationofstabilityandtheabilitytocontinuegrowth.

    The widespread availability of webbased applications has minimized the

    onerous data collection tasks needed to support succession planning andtalentmanagementsystems.

    Thedevelopmentofbetterdecisionsupporttoolstohelpfacilitatesuccession

    planningprocesses.ANewModelforTalentManagementAnewmodel formanaging theoverall "talentmanagement"ofacompany isnowanintegrated approach rather than a separate, unconnected succession process onlydealingwithasmall,executivepopulationwithinacompany. Successionplanninghasnowbecomeoneofthemanyintegratedcomponentsofalargescaleinitiativetoensurethatallaspectsofhumancapitalarebeingmanagedwithinanorganization.

    These new reasons for succession planning often require consideration of a

    computerizedsystem tohandleextensivedataandautomateprocedures,but first theprocessinvolvedinsuccessionplanningneedstobedefinedbytheorganizationwithinthecontextoftalentmanagement.

    Figure 1

  • Figure1illustratesthenewmodeloftalentmanagement.Seeninthefigurearethe

    majorcomponentsofstrategicstaffingofwhichsuccessionplanningisaspecialcase.Inorder to understand how succession planning shouldwork as a process,we need toexaminetheimpactandconnectionoftheotherprocesses.

    Employee data drives all of these processes. Core human resource information

    systems (HRIS) typically provide critical employee data. However, in spite of theenormous sums spenton theseenterprisewideapplications, inmany casesonly coredemographicdataisavailablefromtheHRIS.Manyorganizationshaveaseparatetalentmanagementsoftwaresystem,linkedvianightlyimportsofdata,tosupportthisprocess.

    Datanecessarytounderpinmuchofthetalentmanagementprocesscomesdirectly

    fromtheemployeeorfromtheirmanager.Forexample,itisimportantinasuccessionplanningsystemtoknowtheemployee'smobility,thatis,wouldtheymove(andwhere,e.g.,locally,internationally)foranotherpositionandunderwhatcircumstances(e.g.,forapromotionoralateralassignment).Additionaldatasuchascareerorpositioninterestsmightalsobe required. Normally, this information isonlyavailabledirectly from theemployee. Therefore, the requirement for employee and manager selfservice isparamount to support such an integrated process and system. Once an employeeunderstandstheneedanduseforsuch information,employeeselfserviceallowsthemtokeepthisInformationuptodateratherthanrequiringHRtoenterthedata.

    Itisnecessarytodetermineexactlytheextentofviabledatawithintheorganization's

    HRIS.Althoughthe"capability"forextensivedataistherewithintheHRIS,inreality,inmostorganizationsyouwillfindvery limitedpopulationofthatdata. Inaddition,datamaybeoldor incomplete. Therefore,adecision isnecessaryas towhichdatawillbesourced from theHRIS andwhich datawill be kept uptodate using the selfservicecomponentof the talentmanagement system. Oneeasyway todetermine this is toproduceanemployeeresumefromthecurrentHRIS.Typicalresumescontaindatasuchas education, external work history, language skills, etc. If there is a method foremployees to keep this information uptodate in the HRIS, that data should be fednightly into the talent management system. However, in most cases, for use in asuccession planning process, a manager would be very unlikely to use a resume asgeneratedfromaHRIS. Inmostcases,theresume istoodetailedandnot inthemoregeneralized form used. For example, the resume under InternalWorkHistorymightcontain an extensive list of jobs, positions and responsibilities held by the manager.However,foraresumeusedforsuccessionplanningpurposes,theInternalWorkHistorysectiontendstoonlylist"significant"workexperienceseditedbythemanager.Soinatalentmanagementsystem,itwouldbeimportantforthemanagertobeabletocreatetheir own "resume" specifically focusing on position for which they are interested.AlthoughHRISworkhistorymaybe imported, themanagerwouldhave theoption totailortheirresumeinthetalentmanagementsystem.

    Thissituationalwaystendstobringupthequestionaboutdata flowingbacktothe

    HRIS.Mostorganizationsstriveforasingledatasourceandhopetoeliminateduplicatedata indownstream systems. Thequestion,however, is ifyoupushdataback to theHRIS(which isalwaystechnicallypossible)thenwhowilluse it. Experiencehasshownthatoncesuchtalentmanagementsystemshavebeen implemented,therereally isnonecessity to load thedataback into theHRIS. Froma reportingstandpoint, theuserswhoneedthisinformationalreadyhaveitavailableforaccessandreportinginthetalent

  • managementsystem. AndsincealltheothernecessarydatarequiredfromtheHRIS isrefreshednightly,usersofthetalentmanagementsystemwouldhavenoneedtoutilizethe HRIS for reporting purposes (other than data not shared such as compensation,benefits,etc.)

    OtherComponentsofTalentManagementAlso included in the talent management model are the strategic components of

    workforce planning the assessing of current supplies of qualified employees andcomparingthatsupplytotheprojectdemandforemployeesatsomefuturetime. Theworkforceplanningcomponent finally links theoverallbusinessstrategyofacompanywith the implied demand for human capital resources. The output of theworkforceplanningprocesswilldrivethenumberandtypeofresourcesrequired.

    Inturn,theHRorganizationthencandeterminethenecessarycompetenciesforthe

    upcomingdemandandcreatethenecessaryinternaldevelopmentplanningprogramstobe used on existing employees. These new competencymodels can be used in theemployee assessment process (3600 assessment) to determine howwell the existingworkforcedemonstratesaproficiencyinthosecompetencies.Atthesametime,HRcandefinerolesandpositionsintermsofthenewcompetenciesandwhattherequiredlevelneeded in any new or revised positions. Once employee assessments and positionprofiles are available, competency gap analysis will indicate those employeecompetencies requiring development. Organizationsmay find that the competenciesrequiredtosupportthegrowthandstrategicplanofthecompanymaynotbeavailableinternally. This then is the link to the need for external recruitment to acquire thenecessaryskillsforupcomingpositionopenings.

    Performancemanagementprocessesoftenincludesettinggoals(linkedtotheoverall

    company goals and called cascading goals) for the review period as well as anassessment of competencies. In this model, competencies used in the performancemanagementprocessshouldbeconsistentwiththecorecompetenciesusedthroughoutthetalentmanagementprocesses.Thepoolofpotentialsuccessorsforacriticalpositionwithinthecompanyneedtobedrawnfromemployeesbeingdevelopedusingthesamebasiccompetenciesasthoserequiredforthecriticalposition.Inaddition,animportantsource of information on which to make succession decisions would include theeffectiveness of employees on the current and prior jobs. The results of theperformancereviews,withinanintegratedtalentmanagementsystem,canprovidethatvaluableinformation.

    Employeesinthismodelalsoprovideinputintotheirdesiredcareerplans(whichalso

    canusethecompetencymodelsfordesiredpositions).

    Succession planning draws from the existing employees to fill pools of potentialsuccessors. Inan integratedprocesssuchastalentmanagement,theuseofconsistentcompetencymodels,thatalsodriveemployeedevelopmentandcareerplanning,ensurethat employees in those pools are in synch with the requirements of higher levelpositionsthataremanagedbythesuccessionplanningprocess.

    Whenthesuccessionplanningprocess identifiespositionswhichcannotbe filledby

  • internalcandidatesbecause the lackofqualifiedcandidatesorbecause"new" leadersarerequired,recruitmentbecomesan integralpartofthesuccessionplanningprocess.Recruitment and employment are also used throughout the organization to acquiretalentsandskillsunavailableinternally.

    Intheprocessofdoingsuccessionplanningreviews,theprocesssometimesidentifies

    amismatchbetweencurrentemployeesandtherequirementsofaposition.Italsocanidentifyemployeeswhohavepeakedandhavelittleofnochancetoadvancetoahigherlevel. In many cases, good, solid employees are absolutely essential at every level(organizations rarely have an organization filled with high potential employees).However, many positions offer developmental experiences essential to developingfuture leaders. Those positions cannot be held indefinitely as it is critical to moveemployeesthroughthesepositionstoutilizethedevelopmentalopportunities.Inthesesituations,outplacementisoftennecessarytomovepeopleoutoftheorganization.

    So, itcanbeseen thatallaspectsof the talentmanagementmodelcome intoplay

    whenconsideringasuccessionplanningprocess.

    DefiningtheSuccessionPlanningProcess

    Solet'sreviewthenthebasictenetsofabasicsuccessionplanningprocess.Themostsignificantchangethoughhasbeenintheoverallconceptofhoworganizations

    arelookingatmanagingthosecriticalhumancapitalresources.Oneclassicalwaytodefinesuccessionplanningistodescribeitascareerplanningatthe

    top,anextensionof theprinciplesandprocedures that the companyuses tomerge thecareeraspirationsofindividualmanagerswithorganizationalgoalsandmanagementneeds.Thisviewisaccurate,inoneimportantrespect,becausebothcareerplanningandsuccessionplanning are (or should be) developmentally oriented, focusing on the longtermdevelopmentofmanagersforfuturepositionsandspecificactivitiestraining,education,experience,andsoonthatpreparemanagers.

    But, because succession planning typically focuses on the five or 10 percent of key

    positionsintheorganizationthatareconsideredcriticalleadershipposts,andbecausethesepositions often have different requirements than all othermanagement jobs, successionplanningusuallyrequiresaseparateoradditionalsetofpositionrequirements.Theskillsandtalentsrequiredtoleadkeyfunctions,businessunits,ortheorganizationasawhole,arenotnecessarilythesameasthoseneededatintermediateorspecializedmanagementlevels.Forexample,the jobdescriptionsofplantsupervisorsordataprocessingmanagersdonotusuallycall foranunderstandingofglobaleconomicsorcompetitivemarketing strategies.Thus,aseparatesystemforkeyleadershippositionsthatismorethanamereextensionofcareerplanningisusuallyinorder.

    However,organizationsnowknowtheimportanceofacommonsetofcompetenciesthat

    areusedasthebasisforallemployeeassessmentanddevelopment.Inthatway,thereisaunifiedmodelofrequiredcompetenciesregardlessoftheleveloftheemployee.Toaddressthis requirement, organizations are using a common set of core competencies but withdifferent"levels"ofbehavioraldescriptorstoindicatehowthecompetencydiffersfromlevel

  • tolevel(orevenwithinlevel).Forexample,Planningmaybeanimportantcorecompetencyfor an organization. But Planning as done by the ExecutiveVP ofMarketing is certainlydifferent than the Planning as done by the Manager of Benefits. Therefore, manyorganizationsnowdefinetheircompetencymodelsbrokendownbyvarious"levels". Eachlevelwouldincludebehavioraldescriptionsabouthowtheparticularcompetencywouldbeobserved.So,forexample,theExecutiveVPofMarketingmightbea"Level1"whichmeanstheyneedtheabilitytodeveloplongtermstrategicplanswhereastheManagerofBenefitsmay be a "Level 4"whichmeans only shortterm planning is required. And then otherpositionsmaybea"Level5"whichmeans littleornoplanning isrequiredforthat job. Soeventhoughacommonsetofcompetenciesisused,ameanstodifferentiateisbuiltinwhenyouuseaconceptlikelevels.

    DefiningtheProcess

    But, because succession planning typically focuses on the five or 10 percent of key

    positionsintheorganizationthatareconsideredcriticalleadershipposts,andbecausethesepositions often have different requirements than all othermanagement jobs, successionplanningusuallyrequiresaseparateoradditionalsetofpositionrequirements.Theskillsandtalentsrequiredtoleadkeyfunctions,businessunits,ortheorganizationasawhole,arenotnecessarilythesameasthoseneededatintermediateorspecializedmanagementlevels.Forexample,the jobdescriptionsofplantsupervisorsordataprocessingmanagersdonotusuallycall foranunderstandingofglobaleconomicsorcompetitivemarketing strategies.Thus,aseparatesystemforkeyleadershippositionsthatismorethanamereextensionofcareerplanningisusuallyinorder.

    Positionrequirementsareoneofthethreemaincomponentsthatdefineasuccession

    planningprocessandmayrequireextensivedataapplicableonlytokeypositionsintheorganization.Inlargerorganizationswhere50toseveralhundredkeypositionsarecoveredby successionplanning,detailed jobdescriptions and text that spellsout therequirementsof leadershippositionsareoftenbesthandledbycomputerizedpositionfilesinasuccessionplanningsystem.Thesecondcomponentofsuccessionplanning isthepeopledatarequirements. Also,

    theseareusuallymoreextensivethancareerplanningfortheobviousreasonthatpositionsat the top of the organization aremore critical to business success andmore should beknownaboutmanagersinlinetosucceedtothesepositions.Forexample,acareerplanningsystemmight incorporatedata fromperformanceappraisals that simply rateamanagersperformance on a one to five scale.Data on potential company leaders should bemoreextensiveanddetailed,explainingthereasonsfortheratingandprovidinganoverallcontextfortheappraisal.Leadershippositionsmayalsosuggesttheneedforexpandedbiographicalinformation suchasacandidates service incommunityor fundraisingorganizationsthatisnotnecessarilyrelevantinotherHRsystems.

    Themoreextensivedatarequirementsofsuccessionplanningsystemsandthefactthatit

    coversindividualpeopleatthehigherlevelsoftheorganization,provideyetanotherreasonfor creating a separate process and,whenwarranted, a separate system to support theprocess.Thatreasonissecurity,specificallypersonneldataprivacy.Muchoftheexpandeddataonindividualsinasuccessionplanningsystemisinformationothersintheorganizationhave no real need to know, such as personal biographical information or details of aperformanceappraisal.And,thefactthatthissystemisonecoveringtheorganizationsmost

  • influential leaders, lends itselftopoliticallyexpedientprivacyproceduresandaccess limits.However, with the extensive security within today's talent management systems, thesuccessionplanningprocesscanbeeffectively"hidden"fromotherusersnotneedingaccess.

    The third main component defining succession planning is development activities,

    which linkpeopleand theirqualificationswith the requirementsofkeypositions.Likepositionrequirementsandqualificationsinasuccessionplanningsystem,developmentalactivitiesalsoarelikelytoincludedifferent,andsometimesunique,typesofinformationandactivitiesthatusuallygobeyondactivitiescarried inacareerplanningsystem.Forexample, a career plan targeted on domestic marketing positions may not need toinclude education or experience in dealing with foreign governments or offshoreproduction:ApotentialCEOor internationalmarketingV.P.wouldneedthisexperienceor knowledge. Within an integrated talent management system, the inclusion of adevelopment activity "library" is extremely helpful for employees and managers inrecommending specific activities necessary to improve development of a particularcompetency.ImpactsofDownsizing

    Reductionsinforceatmanagementlevelsthroughouttheorganization,sometimescalled

    the flattening of hierarchical structures, has typically had all or most of the followingconsequences: Managementpositions at theheadquarters level, traditionally stepping stones to thetop,havebeeneliminated,oftenthroughreorganizationsanddecentralizedstafffunctionstothefieldoroutlyingbusinessunits. Middlemanagementpositionsacrosstheorganizationhavebeenpermanentlyrestrictedoutofexistence.Somebecame redundantafteramergeroracquisition,somehavebeenreplacedbydecisionsupport technology,andotherssimply fell to theneed to reduce thecostsofdoingbusiness.Whatever the rationale,however, themanagementpositions aregone,reducingthemanagementopportunitiesavailabletoallemployees.Individualjobsecurityhaserodedwithdownsizing,outsourcing,decentralization,andotherways of doingmorewith less in themanagement ranks (including the introduction oftechnology, though this does not always have the desired effect on headcount). Todaysmanagers and professionals no longer expect to have lifetime careerswith their currentemployers,changingthefabricoftraditionalcareerplanning.Thetraditionaltiesthatbindemployeestoemployerscompensationandbenefitsare furtherweakenedasnotonlyare there fewermanagementpositions,but those thatremainpay less intotalcompensation.Companieswillcontinuetoseekwaysofcontrollingbenefitsand total compensations costs throughparticipatoryhealth insuranceplans,limitsonpensions,theuseoftemporaries,parttimers,andcontractemployeeswhodontreceivebenefitsandothermeasures.All of these and other costcutting trends of the last decade or so are continuing

    today,andthesetrendshavehelpedcontributetotheemploymentenvironmentknownas the new social contract between whitecollar management employees and thecompanies they work for. On the employers side, the new environment means lessneeds tobe spenton care and feeding issues inhuman resourcemanagement; foremployees,theresultsareoftenapredictabledeclineincompanyloyalty,commitment,andawillingnesstoputthegoalsoftheorganizationaheadoftheirownpersonaland

  • career interests.Withafewexceptions,theorganizationmanofthe1950shasbeenreplacedbymenandwomentryingtobalancetheirworkliveswithfamilyconcerns,andpeoplewhoexpect less from theiremployers in termsof careers, security and fringebenefits.Thedilemmathisposesfororganizationswithagrowingneedforexperienced,dedicated,

    increasingly specializedmanagers andprofessionals isobvious. Companies canno longertake forgranted that thequalitymanagers theyneedat the topwillemerge fromavastreservoirofaspiringmanagersinthelowerranks.Thequalitymanagersthatonceemergedbecauseofthequantityofmanagerscompetingfortopjobsarenolongerassured.Atthesametime,thedemandsofupperlevelmanagerialandprofessionalpositionshave

    escalated.Technicalskillsunknowntothegeneralistsofthepastmayberequired.Businessandfinancialskillshavebecomemorecomplexandnewissuesintheglobaleconomyneedtobeunderstoodandmanaged.Toidentify,nurture,andretainqualitymanagersintodaysenvironment,moreandmoreorganizationsare turning to formalsuccessionplanningandthedataintensivecomputersystemsthatsupportit.ANewProcessHelpsUnderscoreNewGoals

    Another reason for thedevelopmentofa successionplanning systemwithnew job

    requirementsanddifferentstandardsofmanagementexcellence isthepowerfuleffectssuccessionplanning canhaveon changing corporate culture andmanagement strategies.Whenanorganization ischangingdirectionforsomereason,andhasdifferentneedsformanagement skills, new business objectives, and different strategic objectives, a newsuccession planning system built on these new criteria of leadership helps support andimplementchange.Forexample,acompanywithanewstrategicmissionasanorganizationsay,diversificationinto

    new linesofbusinessorexpansion intoglobalmarketscan introduceanewsuccessionplanningsystemthatclearlyidentifiesthenewrequirementsofkeypositions.Managersarenotonlytoldthatthecompanynowvaluesnew skillsandknowledgesuchasanunderstandingofanew lineofbusinessorinternationalmarketingskillstheyalsoseethattheirfutureasseniormanagersdependsontheacquisitionofnewcapabilities.And,whenthesuccessionplanningsystemisincorporatedwithdevelopmentalactivities,asdiscussedbelow,managershaveboththemotivationandthemeansofpreparingthemselvesforthenewrequirementsoffuturepositionsontheircareerpaths.The development of newmanagerial job requirements, development activities to help

    managersacquirenewabilities,andothercharacteristicsofasuccessionplanningsystemcanalso become a proactive strategic undertaking in changing organizations. If longrangestrategicplans call for adifferent typeofmanager fiveor10 years fromnow, successionplanning and its development activities can assure that managers know what will beexpectedofthem in the future.Specificskillssuchas fluency ina foreign languageor theability to use a computer system can become part ofmanagement development today,assuringthefutureavailabilityoftheseskills.Newcriteriaandstandardsusedinsuccessionplanningcanalsosupporteffortstochange

    an organizations corporate culture or way of doing business. One major employer, forexample,addedentrepreneurialskillstoitsdimensionsofleadershipwhenitexpandedintonew markets requiring more aggressive, competitive management behavior. Others intodays quality conscious environment might add job requirements that reflect theimportanceofproductorservicequalityinleadershippositions.

  • SuccessionPlanningasaDrivingForceforDevelopment

    When a succession planning approach is conceptually integrated with a total talent

    managementprograms,thestaffinggoalsatthetopcanpermeatetheentireorganization,andserveasthedrivingforceforallcareerdevelopmentandstaffingsystems.Conceptual integration means that the terms, skills definitions, values and frame of

    referencefortwoormoresystemsareconsistent.Theideaofwhatconstitutesrelevantworkexperience,what quality means, technical and professional qualifications, performancemeasurements,andallotherfieldsofinformationthattalentmanagementhaveincommonmeanthesamethingtoallpartiesboththemanagerscoveredandthemanagementusersofthesystems.When succession plannings concepts, goals and terminology have been accurately

    formulatedbasedontherealneedsofthebusinessandstrategicplanstheseconceptscanandshouldbe incorporated intalentmanagementsystemscoveringthe90percentormoreofmanagerswhoarenotyetcoveredbysuccessionplanning,orallintheorganizationwhomayatsometimeinthefuturebecandidatesforkeypositionsofleadership.The advantages of this consistency aremore than administrative. The high visibility of

    successionplanninganditspositionrequirementsservestomotivatethosecoveredbycareerplanninganddevelopment. In largeorcomplexorganizationswithmanybusinessunitsordispersed locations, allmanagers areworking toward the same careerandorganizationalobjectiveswhichinaneffectivecareerdevelopmentprogramarecloselyaligned.(Whenindividualaspirationsdontmatchorganizationalgoalsorneeds,theindividualsshouldbelookingelsewhereforcareerfulfillment.)DecisionSupportToolsforQualitySelections

    Another reason for installing a formal succession planning process and a mechanized

    systemtosupporttheprocess, istoprovidea framework formore"datadriven"toplevelpromotions.The system itselfwillnot stop subjective selectionpracticesorunintentionalperpetuation of the old boy network, but some of the key components of a formalsuccessionplanningapproachprovideamodusoperandiforavoidingsubjectivityinselectingcorporateleaders.Thetechnicaladvancesofwebbasedtalentmanagementsystemshasgivenorganizations

    betterdecisionsupporttoolstocomplementthetraditionsubjectiveapproachtoselection.For example, webbased tools now allow you to view an entire organization using aperformance/potential grid (often called a 9Box)which shows employees in the variouscategoriesofperformanceandpotential.Thisshowscriticalinformationsuchasclusteringofaninordinatenumberofhighperforming,highpotentialemployeeswithinanorganization.With limitedmovement, this could indicate employees leaving the organization. On theotherhand, it could show anorganizationwith a largenumberofunderperforming, lowpotentialemployeeswhichwouldimpactanorganizationachievingitsbusinessgoals.

  • Othertoolssuchas"ripple"reportscanshowtheimpactofhowonesuccessionselectioncanimpactmovesthroughouttheentireorganizationevenidentifyingwhichpositionsmightbevulnerableduetothelackofsuccessors.Webbasedsystemscanalsobeusedto"find"potential candidates forpositionswhohavenotalreadybeen identifiedduring the talentreviewprocess.

    Successionplanningis,afterall,justanextensionoftalentmanagementthetopsliceofan

    approach and system that covers allmanagersor even allemployees and as such, it cancontributetoemployeesmoraleandsenseofthecompanyasbothgoodplacetoworktodayandaplacewhereeffortpaysoffinthefuture.

    Todiscussthistopicorlearnmore,contactus:

    NardoniStrategicSolutions7581MonteVerdeLane

    WestPalmBeach,FL33412Office:(561)6269713Cell:(908)3806831

    Email:[email protected]