Implementing an Effective Succession Planning Program

If there is one factor that differentiates successful companies from the rest, it is their succession planning. Succession planning is one of the absolutely critical components of a business plan. It is the means of grooming leaders for the organization and placing the organization in their hands in a steady and phased manner. In a sense, this succession process starts from the time an employee is inducted into the organization, because great organizations spot a potential leader from the time they start working with them.
The only certain prescription for saving an organization from getting into the grip of inappropriate hands is to instill a very efficient succession model. Succession planning can be understood as these:

• A systematically designed and implemented process of anticipating the need for talent and ensuring that the necessary employee competencies and experience are available when needed in the future
• A strategic approach of developing and enhancing the organization’s current talent pool and meeting its future needs

The concept of succession is built on the premise-a truly realistic one-that no organization should depend on one individual beyond a point. Indeed, individuals are extremely important to the organization; but deriving the best out of them is not the same as vesting so much power in them that they become indispensable and the organization goes into the doldrums when such individuals leave.
A sixty-minute webinar that Traininng.com, leading provider of professional training for all the areas of regulatory compliance and human resources is organizing on June 26, will shed light on this absolutely vital aspect of an organization. Pete Tosh, Founder of The Focus Group, will be the expert at this session. Please log on to to enroll for this webinar and gain invaluable insights into this activity.
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HR professionals, both new and experienced, and leaders and managers interested in understanding both how a succession plan benefits an organization will benefit from this valuable session, which will cover the following areas:
Succession Plan Defined

• A deliberate, systematic process of anticipating the need for talent and ensuring that
  the necessary employee competencies and experience are available when needed
• A strategic approach for avoiding an undersupply of talent, enhancing the organization's
   current talent pool and meeting the organization's future needs

Objectives and Benefits of Succession Planning

• Sustain the business through a systematic effort to ensure leadership continuity in key
  positions
• Attract, retain & develop high potentials [HiPos]
• Encourage HiPos development by:
  • Identifying career paths
  • Conducting performance appraisals
  • Providing daily coaching
  • Creating Individualized Development Plans [IDPs]
  • Holding Talent Review meetings

Tools and Processes Commonly Utilized for Developing and Implementing

• Self-appraisals and career goals
• Performance appraisals, 360 feedback and ratings
• Assessment instruments
• GE grid
• Individual development plans [IDPs]
• HiPos talent development interventions
• Talent review meetings

What an Organization, its Leaders and the Program Participants Need to Do to Achieve an Effective Plan
What an organization needs to do:

• Supply funding/budget
• Establish a clear vision and guidance for the program
• Develop a formal, written program
• Announce the objectives of the program to all employees
• Insure that all leaders and managers support the program

What the leaders need to do:

• Have job descriptions developed for their teams
• Conduct effective, formal performance appraisals
• Identify employee developmental areas
• Share their knowledge and experience
• Involve employees in more of the leader's responsibilities
• Facilitate the completion of IDPs for all HiPos

What the program participants need to do:

• Conduct self-appraisals
• Identify their desired career paths
• Learn as much as they can about potential future assignments
• Perform to their capabilities
• Complete their IDPs
• Develop the employees reporting to them so they have successors

Potential Measures of the Program's Success

• Whether there is, at least, one successor for each key position
• Having developmental goals and IDPs established for each successor
• Determining how much of their manager’s job the successors can perform
• Determining whether successors can perform their manager's jobs when they are
• unavailable and evaluating their performance during those times

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About the speaker: Pete’s firm assists organizations in sustaining profitable growth through four core disciplines: implementing strategic HR initiatives, strategic planning, aligning corporate organizational structures with their strategic initiatives, and implementing performance management programs, executive coaching, compensation systems and other HR processes to strategically direct and reward desired employee behavior.
Pete also frequently develops and facilitates a variety of leadership development programs. Employees from over 3,000 organizations have benefited from Pete’s experience and perspective. Pete is co-author of Leading Your Organization to the Next Level: the Core Disciplines of Sustained Profitable Growth.