Category: Succession Planning

In this third article of a series, we are going to look at Succession Planning – It’s urgency and pitfalls.

Our first two articles covered the key features of Succession Planning – how to do it, etc.  In Article 1, we covered the following questions.  What is succession planning?  What positions in your organization should be included?  When should we do succession planning?  How much time should we spend on succession planning?  How do you select candidates for higher positions?  What is the purpose of succession planning?

And in Article 2 we discussed the following issues.  What kinds of things make formal succession planning urgent?  Does the position require a mentor?  How to choose a mentor.  How long will the development of a candidate take?  Can there be more than one candidate for a given position?

Furthermore, what kinds of things make succession planning urgent?

We briefly touched on this question in our first article. To expand on what we listed, we should look at additional factors which can influence the process and the need. While there are normal activities which require people to be ready and able to move up, other factors may require people to step in quickly. When economic activity changes, you may need to make staffing changes. When your sales increase, you may need to fill openings urgently – hopefully with someone already on deck. If sales slow considerably, you may need to trim staff, combine positions and change responsibilities. This may entail needing a different set of skills that may not be available in the current staff. Technological changes in your production process or products/services may also create openings for new talent or skills.

How does succession planning fit with strategic planning? 

In your strategic planning, you may determine your organization has an opportunity in a market area outside your current markets. Therefore, your strategic planning should include analysis of both personnel, capital investment and other resources needed to enter this new area. Ideally, because of your succession planning, you have already developed someone who fits this new area perfectly. You may, however, need to add staff with different skills and knowledge that your current staff doesn’t have.

Similarly, if you decide to exit a market segment, your strategic planning should include planning for placement of that segment’s current staff. Are there valuable people in this part of the business who can be repurposed and retained? Even if they do not have all the requisite skills for other segments, good people may have a positive future in the company. In addition to their knowledge of the company, you can re-educate them to do similar or analogous jobs. They can contribute long term.  Finally, keeping them can also have a positive impact on other parts of the company.

What are common pitfalls of succession planning?

• Over-promising.  When you select people to be candidates for higher positions, you run the risk of them failing during training. The best approach is to notify them they are being considered for promotion, but make it clear it is not guaranteed. Actual promotion will depend on their performance. Also, let them know that you may be considering others for the same position, so results will matter.
• Poor mentoring.   It is important that whoever is the mentor of a candidate is selected for their knowledge and ability to guide. Grooming a candidate is an important part of helping assure the future of the organization. Failure to be an effective mentor hurts both the candidate and the company. Mentors must have good people skills and communication ability. They must be able to challenge and guide the candidate at the same time. No one should ever be forced to be a mentor.

What if the boss doesn’t want to do succession planning?

• This is a tough thing to overcome. The question is “why doesn’t the boss want to do succession planning?” If only his/her position is the problem, you should probably deal with that outside of the strategic planning done with your team and limit succession planning within strategic planning to other positions. Most bosses want to plan for the future of the organization for obvious reasons. This means doing strategic planning that includes succession planning. People are the true key to success of any organization. Overcoming the boss’s reluctance to do succession planning may be a strategic issue that gets resolved over time.  It is not one that should be shoved under the rug.  Without planning for the future of those who will be operating the company, there may be no future.

Do you have a succession plan?  Is it a part of your strategic planning?  Have you planned for urgent situations and ways to prevent pitfalls?  If you’re like most people, you’d benefit from having an experienced professional lead you through the strategic planning process, so you can focus on the content of your strategies.  If you’d like to explore how you could do this, please contact me at baldwin@cssp.com or 616-575-3193. Center for Simplified Strategic Planning professionals have successfully conducted thousands of strategic planning meetings, and have a great understanding of how to best use your planning time.  Consider holding a one-day workshop on Simplified Strategic Planning in the next few months to improve your results.

Dana Baldwin is Senior Strategist with the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.  He can be reached by email at baldwin@cssp.com.

© Copyright 2020 by Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI — Reprint permission 

Succession planning and competencies – mentoring and family requirements.

In the first article of this series, we looked at a number of questions which should be addressed by Senior Management. When implementing succession planning, answers to those questions establish a good foundation upon which to base our work. 

Questions from the first article.

What is succession planning? What positions in your organization should be included? When should we do succession planning? How much time should we spend on succession planning? How do you select candidates for higher positions?

This article will cover more questions.

What is the purpose of succession planning? It is to assure an ongoing flow of capable, experienced and well-grounded replacements for key positions throughout our company.

What kinds of things make formal succession planning urgent? 

Is Senior Management nearing retirement age? Is there unusual turnover in key positions? What is the average age of key personnel? Is it creeping upward? Are there already good candidates for those key positions? Are there openings for people with critical knowledge or backgrounds? Do younger people need to be groomed for higher levels of responsibility?

If your organization has any of these situations, you need a process that will provide key replacements. What will they need to learn to do higher level jobs? How will they gain the experience to perform well at higher levels?

Does the position require a mentor to acquire competencies?   

Often, the answer is “yes.”  Succession planning is a key activity for assuring the growth of competencies in your organization.  Mentoring is challenging for both the mentor and the mentee. The mentor has to be judicious in the process of educating and challenging the mentee. Guiding without spoon-feeding should be the mentor’s mantra. Learning to make good choices, based on facts and needs is always key. The purpose of mentoring is to help the candidate develop the hard and soft skills and judgment needed to perform the job well.

How to choose a mentor.

A mentor should have both professional and technical knowledge appropriate for the candidate’s needs. This is not an easy task. The mentor may or may not be the individual who has the position currently. There should be a good rapport between mentor and mentee, but not so close that it jeopardizes objectivity. The mentor should have a good grasp of what is required of the mentee and the new position. 

How long does it take?

There is no reasonable answer to this beyond, “Whatever it takes to become proficient.” Much of this depends on the experience, knowledge and capabilities of the individual candidate. Two different people will likely have different needs in order to become capable of doing the same job. That is no surprise, but something that emphasizes that succession planning is a hands-on undertaking. It will involve personalized assessment followed by training with varied experiences and development of different skills, depending on the background of the individual candidate.

Establish the competencies needed for each job.

A formal process for planning for succession of key personnel requires that you analyze each key position thoroughly. This is to establish the competencies a replacement needs to do the job. This may include education, hands-on experience, knowledge of other departments, technical skills, personal skills, etc. Job descriptions are helpful here, but may not include all the qualifications needed to allow effective performance. Every job is different in its requirements, so care must be taken when selecting the standards for that job. This is not the place for a cookie cutter job description. Be sure to recognize that often the most important success factors involve the soft skills.

Establish specific requirements for family members.

A candidate must earn a specific position.  This is especially true for family members. They should be held to the same high standard as anyone else. In a closely held company, family members should strongly consider working for a different company for a minimum of five years. The rationale is to have them have experiences and relationships where they do not have family presence and influence. They have to be able to stand on their own accomplishments and performance.

Family members should commit to joining the company by a certain age.

They also should have to commit to joining the family company by a certain age. A number of family companies have decided that family members must commit to the company by age 35. This gives the individual enough time to get the experience they need.  It also gives them time to decide whether joining the family company is the right thing to do. However, once they have turned down the opportunity to come with the family company, they should forfeit the right forever. The reason for this is to be sure the individual is totally invested in the success of the organization. What is not wanted is to have them think they will be getting a sinecure.

Family members should totally commit to doing the work and striving to make the company successful with full effort.

This article is the second in a series. More input in the next article. If you need guidance in setting up your succession planning as a part of your strategic planning, please let me know how I may help you. baldwin@cssp.com or 616-575-3193.

Do you have a succession plan?  Is it a part of your strategic planning?  Have you considered the connection between Succession Planning and competencies in your organization?  If you’re like most people, you’d benefit from having an experienced professional lead you through the strategic planning process, so you can focus on the content of your strategies.  If you’d like to explore how you could do this, please contact me at baldwin@cssp.com or 616-575-3193. Center for Simplified Strategic Planning professionals have successfully conducted thousands of strategic planning meetings, and have a great understanding of how to best use your planning time.  Consider holding a one-day workshop on Simplified Strategic Planning in the next few months to improve your results.

Dana Baldwin is Senior Strategist with the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.  He can be reached by email at baldwin@cssp.com.

© Copyright 2020 by Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI — Reprint permission 

Although our principal thrust in Strategic Planning is how to better compete in our market segments, we also need to include succession planning.  Succession planning is key to your overall planning, because it helps assure you will have appropriate staffing in the future. Without people with the education, experience and training, you could have problems competing effectively.

What is succession planning?

Good succession planning should be a part of your overall strategic plan. It is aimed at providing the ability of the organization to function smoothly and consistently over time. Elements of succession planning include education, hands-on experience and exposure to other disciplines in the company. Ideally, you will plan before you need to replace an experienced staff member. Therefore, by planning ahead you have time to select the best candidate and to train them in their future role.

What positions should you include in your succession planning?

What positions should you include in your preparation for the potential move to a key position? The answer to this can vary quite a bit, depending on the specific needs of your company. Obviously, much of the concentration on succession is aimed at the executive and managerial levels. But in many operations, there are people in many different levels of the company whose position is key. As a part of succession planning, you should carefully analyze your current and future needs.  Include key technical people and sales people in this planning.  Be sure that in your company, you include all the key positions to assure effective continuity and ability to grow.

When should we do succession planning? 

Development of your succession plan should be a part of your annual strategic planning process. SP is aimed primarily at enhancing your ability to compete well in your markets. But your ability to continue supplying the products and services you provide is also key. Critical positions involved in delivering to your markets can be the difference between success and failure. One of the areas in SP includes the challenges of developing your human resources.  With this in mind, succession planning should become one of your significant competencies.  The actual succession mentoring and guidance as an output of your planning go on virtually all the time.

How much time should I spend on succession planning? 

If this is your first-time doing succession planning, expect to have extensive discussions about the subject. First, you need to lay out the reasons for doing this planning. Second, discuss which positions are key to the ongoing success of the organization.  As far as that goes, consider the overall philosophy of the company with regard to developing your people. This subject could rise to the level of a strategic issue because of its importance to your future success. Third, take enough time to explain and discuss why this is important to the entire company. Understanding the need for succession planning will help your team develop the right perspective when discussing the issue. Remember, however, that this discussion only sets the table for doing the actual succession plan.

Break the overall task into smaller, more focused groups.

Your executive team should analyze the future needs for all of your C-level staff. This could mean they examine the managerial level requirements as well, as some could be candidates for promotion. Managers should analyze key positions that report to them and pick those which are critical to company performance. Technical department managers need to select their key positions for inclusion in the analyses.

Determine what qualifications each key position needs.

Qualifications could include education, experience, product or service knowledge, interpersonal skills, communications skills and any company specific knowledge the position needs. Next, managers need to develop or verify job descriptions, if they already have them. They should include all the elements above to the extent that they are appropriate for their jobs. Its important that they don’t take this lightly as it could determine the future viability of the organization.

How do you select candidates for higher positions? 

Obviously, this is not an easy task. In some ways, it is very much like a process to consider a regular promotion.  The difference is that you are not promoting anyone at this time. You are considering the possibility that some people may become qualified for the higher position  when it becomes available. Here is where things get interesting. You may select one person to be considered for succession or more than one. At the onset, it must be clear that no promises are being made at the time. To help prepare them for the future, they need additional knowledge, experience and skills. You will judge each person on merit. Because each person will likely have different strengths and weaknesses, their development programs may well be different.  Furthermore, they will each have different needs which should be addressed.

When an opening is available, you will consider each candidate.

You will evaluate each candidate based on their cumulative experiences and skills. Ideally, you should assign a mentor to work with and guide each candidate. Often, candidates who go through this process are considered for more than one position as they improve their capabilities and knowledge.

This article is the first of a short series on Succession Planning. Please stay tuned for the next one in a few weeks.

Do you have a succession plan?  Is it a part of your strategic planning?  If you’re like most people, you’d benefit from having an experienced professional lead you through the strategic planning process, so you can focus on the content of your strategies.  If you’d like to explore how you could do this, please contact me at baldwin@cssp.com or 616-575-3193. Center for Simplified Strategic Planning professionals have successfully conducted thousands of strategic planning meetings, and have a great understanding of how to best use your planning time.  Consider holding a one-day workshop on Simplified Strategic Planning in the next few months to improve your results.

Dana Baldwin is Senior Strategist with the Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc.  He can be reached by email at baldwin@cssp.com.

© Copyright 2020 by Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI — Reprint permission