Succession planning is the process of identifying key positions in the organization and creating a talent pipeline, by preparing employees to fill vacancies as others retire or move on. Although succession planning is critical to ensuring business continuity and performance, only about 35% of organizations do it (ATD).
The Risks of Not Doing It
Having no identifiable succession plan poses an enormous risk to the organization. These risks include:
Loss of mission-critical knowledge that may never be recovered.
Naming a successor who won’t be successful due to lack of drive, commitment, knowledge, training, or skills.
Significant loss of time spent getting a new successor up to speed.
Potential disruptions to workplace processes, workflows, and protocols.
5 Step Succession Planning Process
Develop your succession plan using the IDID-E process
Identify Key Positions: Identify roles that are most critical to the organization's ongoing success by thinking about which positions have no identifiable successor and how critical each position is to achieving the organization's mission.
Define your succession criteria: These are the skillsets, competencies, experiences, and training required for your potential successors. These criteria act as your benchmark for evaluating the readiness of candidates to fill your roles.
Identify Potential Successors: Determine employees who have the potential to step into these critical roles using Success Profiles and a Nine Box Grid. Ask: If we were to hire for X position internally, which employees would be the strongest candidates? Would those candidates need training? And, if so, what type? Note that, before you add an employee to the process, you should find out more about their career goals, so you don’t waste time with people who aren’t interested.
Develop Your Talent: Create development plans to prepare these individuals for future roles, which may include training, mentoring, coaching, stretch assignments, and job rotation.
Evaluate and Revise Plans: Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the succession plan and make necessary adjustments.
In summary, succession planning is a proactive measure that helps ensure the long-term stability and success of your organization by preparing for inevitable changes in leadership and key positions.
Need help with Succession Planning?
I'm a certified Succession Planning Specialist and would love to talk with you! Email leslie@influencehrconsulting.com for a free consultation.
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