Tool 15. MANAGEMENT SUCCESSION PLANNING

About This Tool

Succession Planning is one of those fuzzy processes that many line executives have little use for - until something happens, and they're not ready with a solution. Businesses change, and managers will resign, retire or fail. Replacing that manager, or planning for their replacement, is a critical step. The decision can affect thousands of employees, customers and shareholders. It's a decision that shouldn't be made on the fly. And experience shows that internal executive candidates have a 50% greater success rate than external candidates. So any line executive not worried about succession planning today may find themselves worried about their own job tomorrow.

Despite the resistance of some, other line executives clearly see the value of succession planning and they get deeply involved in it. The objective is to ensure the company has the organization and leadership (current and future) it needs to deliver on its business plan or strategy. An effective plan means that management level vacancies are filled quickly and that there are multiple internal candidates to choose from in filling that vacancy. In fact, one particular company's goal was to be able to identify at least three qualified candidates for any given management vacancy, and fill that vacancy within 24 hours. A goal they claim to meet quite regularly.

Using This Tool

This tool was designed for organizations that are: somewhat new to succession planning; aren't satisfied with the results of their current process; or those who don't have the in-house expertise to help develop a workable and meaningful process.

It provides a general seven-step approach to management succession planning. While the tool focuses on the management level, much of what is presented here can similarly apply to non-management personnel and positions. If your organization doesn't currently have a process, it's suggested that you start small in terms of identifying the population to be covered. Since a process like this is best built from the top-down, a good starting point would be the CEO or President position, and the positions that report directly to the CEO/President.

The approach presented here is representative of some of the more common models used by companies today, and also contains some best practice features. Companies starting from scratch, however, shouldn't try to immediately use all of the various ideas and approaches contained in this tool. They should gradually build on their approach over time.

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