Why do so many smart leaders become avoidant when it comes to succession planning — anticipating and strategizing potential openings, shifts, new leadership, management, and functional contributor roles within the organization?
Here are some reasons why every organization, team, department, and solopreneurs needs to dedicate time and brainpower to succession planning.
Strategic: Whether it’s anticipated growth, changing functional needs, aiming for more diversity of staff, addressing the changing demands of customers, upcoming promotions or retirement, or taking a risk management perspective — leaders need to be future-focused. No one has a crystal ball but strategic-minded groups have an obligation, more than they realize, to look further into the next year and possibly decade, from a people perspective. They have to make the effort in an objective, process-driven way to plan for the business and for the people whom they employ.
Responsive: Various scenarios can happen in any business, such as a major contributor quits, a valued employee strongly indicates he wants more or different responsibilities (or he might look elsewhere); a dynamic team is asking for more brainpower to take things to the next level, or it becomes clear from a team their senior person is not making the grade. Succession planning assists in anticipating some of this and a formal process is likely to uncover additional threats and options.
Catastrophic: An individual or group of individuals dies. It’s not easy to think about but there is the possibility and examples exist all over the world. A key contributor becomes seriously ill or has family issues that take him out of the workplace. A SVP announces she is pregnant and planning on working through her eighth month and suddenly finds out she’s having triplets, is ordered on full bed rest, and is now questioning if she really wants to be the global head of whatever. What are the immediate responses and the permanent solutions to these problems? Succession planning has you thinking before the event and hopefully has some viable alternatives that can be quickly implimented.
Talent Assessment and Career Development: Who are the key players (often there are surprises when you realize how essential some behind-the-scenes people really are) and what would we do without them? How do we strengthen our bench and create a talent pipeline? By comparison to others at their level, where does everyone stand and what is their potential? How do we level the playing field, so all are measured by similar standards and performance evaluation inflation doesn’t pollute the facts? Who are the “diamonds in the rough” and what needs to happen for them to be polished? Does our staff have a sense of their growth needs and next steps? What responsibility do we take for making that happen? What is our level of commitment? Finally, what actions will we take with people who are not pulling their weight, have outdated skills, are poor culture fits, or are wrongly placed? What do we do and who are the alternates?
Staying Competitive: Any succession plan needs to take into account that you’re only as good as your worst team member. People outside your organization are eyeing your most talented and some employees might be tempted to leave or actually do leave. A plan forces managers to acknowledge the potential threat and do some firefighting as well as preventative maintenance. It also highlights weak components in the team; dictating the need for external hires.
Budgetary: How do you accurately prepare next year’s budget when you are unsure of the talent needs and staffing plans (or vice versa)? Seems like a simple question but it is amazing how few organizations see the interdependence.
What might be the reason that senior people don’t address the issue?
- Stuck in the tactical world and won’t, or can’t, get future-focused.
- Unclear direction from above, so they are not sure how to progress.
- Unsettling thoughts (like death) are creepy and easier denied than addressed.
- Busy focusing up or out, fail to see the whole picture.
- Lacking a process for succession planning.
- No senior support for the exercise.
- Too busy.
- Fearful the process will prove them irrelevant.
- Political implications, if they are truthful, could be significant.
- Really don’t know their staff and this will prove it.
- They’ve done it before with no tangible results.
The issues in succession planning are many. Most are fabricated and surmountable. What is difficult to deny is the importance of the process and its execution.
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