3-day Virtual Seminar

Implementing an Effective Succession Planning Program

Overview

Fortune 500 companies and small family businesses alike share a business need - insuring that  they have the talent necessary to effectively lead their organizations in the future. One of the  most significant contributions a leader can make is insuring his/her business' continuity and  sustainability - by having employees who are willing and capable of filling each key position with a plan for doing so when the need arises.

Succession Planning is a:

• Deliberate, systematic 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 for avoiding an undersupply of talent, enhancing the organization's
   current talent pool and meeting its future needs

Not having a Succession Plan can be costly and sometimes disastrous; it's expensive to recruit, interview, select, on-board and train a new leader and significant opportunity costs are incurred when a key job is not being performed.

Why you should Attend

The primary objectives for and deliverables from a Succession Planning program are to:

• Sustain the business through a deliberate and systematic effort to anticipate and ensure
  leadership continuity in key positions
• Retain and develop the organization's high potentials [HiPos]
• Encourage individual development by:
  • Identifying career paths
  • Conducting formal performance appraisals
  • Providing daily coaching
  • Creating Individualized Development Plans [IDPs]

During Succession Planning Programs:

• At the macro level the organization is proactively determining:
• The talent needed in the future
• The talent it has now
• Where there are talent gaps
• The initiatives necessary to close those gaps
• At the micro level the organization is addressing - for each of its key positions - questions
  such as:
• What the organization would do if it had to fill the position tomorrow
• Whether there is, at least, one successor who could immediately perform the duties of the position
• If there is no successor ready now, what will need to be done to enable the best internal candidate to be ready and when can he/she be ready
• can the organization afford to wait or would it be better to recruit a successor, etc

Experience has found the following two processes to be very effective in enabling
organizations to have the talent they need, when it’s needed:

#1 Performance Management and/or 360 Feedback Processes - through which the
organization is able to:

• Evaluate its employees current performance - based on documented, objective
  performance and achievements
• Assess its employees advancement potential
• Determine its employees current readiness for advancement
• Obtain from its employees self appraisals identifying their developmental needs and
  preferred career plans
• Meet its bench strength needs by initiating Individual Development Plans and
  experiences - at least, for its A Players and/or High Potentials - such as:
  • Special or stretch projects
  • Assignments in other depts./job rotations
  • Try-out/popcorn stand slots
  • Mentors
  • Formal training and development initiatives
  • Fast track programs with exposure to other functions
  • Intense coaching, etc.
• Track their A Players and High Potentials performance and advancement potential
• Against a Performance-Potential Grid

Talent Review Meetings - during which the executive team in a disciplined fashion:

• Asks each leader to report on the status of the Individual Development Plans for
  each of their A Players and High Potentials
• Insure that each A Player and High Potential is receiving regular coaching and is
   actively involved in opportunities that will help retain them while accelerating their
  development
• Drives the organization past business as usual  by insuring that its future needs for
  human capital are identified and will be satisfied when the time arrives - as it will
  

Succession Planning initiatives also increase the levels of engagement and performance of your A Players and High Potentials – the talent your organization will most need in the future.

Areas Covered in the Session

• 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]
  • HiPo 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 Hi Pos
• 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 time

Who Will Benefit

• HR Professionals New to the Field - seeking a comprehensive view of the subject with multiple application initiatives
• Experienced HR Professionals - seeking a refresher
• Leaders and Managers - interested in understanding both how a Succession Plan benefits an organization and how to implement one