Succession Planning

“Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key leadership positions in the company. “
– Wikipedia 2011

Succession planning is both a roadmap and a risk-management tool as you are moving up or moving on.

Succession planning:

  • Builds on the knowledge and skills of your existing staff. They know you, and they know your organization's stakeholders

  • Allows you to promote from within, which greatly contributes to retaining and recruiting talented employees

  • Prepares your organization to deal with the unexpected with less trauma

For the employee:

  • Identify what you want to do next – inside or outside your organization

  • Obtain the skills and knowledge to do your next job

  • Discuss your career objectives with your management, your board, and your other stakeholders

  • Move up or move on because management knows you have developed your replacement

For the employer:

  • Identify staff who have the greatest potential to replace you, and then:

    • have them shadow you and

    • give them exposure and opportunities to present at meetings and conferences

  • Encourage staff to:

    • identify and develop the knowledge and skills necessary to do your job

    • accept challenging assignments and

    • be visible to – and gain the confidence of – your management

  • Create cross-training opportunities by:

    • encouraging staff to learn about your department, your organization, and your industry and

    • challenging them to volunteer to help other departments, serve on task forces, and/or cover for someone who is on vacation or extended leave

From planning their own futures to helping plan the future for others, people need to have multi-year perspectives. Because this can be difficult, and it is not intuitive, people hire me to coach them.

100 150 white

“The best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
dc_02.jpg
Go to top