Succession plan

The future-focused practice of identifying the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform certain
functions and then developing a plan for junior staff to higher position with more
responsibilities.

In modern organization, succession planning plays a vital role in identifying candidates to take
on more challenging roles. When an important jobholder departs, they leave behind a void that
can disrupt the company.

Therefore, it is wise to train potential successors, so they are prepared to step up if the need
arises.

Succession planning process

1. Determine the scope

It’s important to understand what your specific needs for a certain role versus what the
identified successor holds in terms of knowledge, skills, qualities, abilities etc.

2. Identify key positions and skills

First, you must identify the key roles in your department/unit that will be good to secure.
Second, you might have some specific specialists that are unique to the industry or your
department. Identifying positions to include in a succession planning program is more of an art
than a science as it is certainly an organization-specific process. Consider the following
positions

 Positions central to strategic goals or to a competitive advantage (which have the

greatest effect on the consumers' buying decision—think of a housekeeper in a hotel or
an architect with specialized and uncommon knowledge in a restoration business).
 Positions that are organization-specific or in a highly specialized industry (roles in the
judiciary system or technicians in titanium mining).
 Positions of influence within the organization (those that influence resource allocation
or decision-making).
 Jobs with long learning curves (assistant to a senior leader, specialized equipment
troubleshooter, contract negotiator).
 Positions in which experiential learning is the main knowledge acquisition method
(banquet chef, home inspector, case manager).

3. Identify potential candidates

Perhaps the most crucial stage is finding the employees that might be suited to a tougher
challenge. You could ask the current jobholder for help to determine who could step up in
his/her absence.

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 It’s also worth considering that the right person for the job isn’t necessarily the next in line.
Candidates could be sidestepped in the role or there could be other promising candidates from
another business/Department.

Try to answer the next questions:

 Who are the strongest candidates to step into this role?
 What skills do they possess that could benefit their new role?
 What skills are the candidates lacking?
 Does this person have the appetite for more responsibility?
 What training will he/she need to succeed?
It’s important to identify people who want more responsibility. Your top choice maybe
someone who is happy in their current role and eager to learn. This is something that can be
gauged during annual reviews or in meetings about their professional goals.

4. Speak to the candidates

This will give you a clear answer if they would be interested in the role. Don’t make any
promises but explain that they are being considered for higher responsibilities.

Explain that nothing is guaranteed as there are plenty of moving factors to consider. This
includes the current jobholder, the Bank strategies, and the candidates. However, you can
gauge their interest and it may help to encourage high-performing individuals to remain loyal to
the Bank.

5. Work on professional development

Leadership development is worth investing in particularly for employees you have identified for
succession into key roles. There are a variety of ways to develop potential successors and help
them to develop leadership skills.

You can create a leadership development plan to ensure candidates have the right skills and are
a good fit for leading positions. Employees being groomed for higher responsibilities can
be developed in several ways.

Some of the ways this can be achieved are through:

 Mentoring
Connect the candidates with department/unit leaders in the Bank. They can help to develop the
skills of succession candidates and even share knowledge that might not be immediately
obvious.

 Training
You can send prospects on courses to help develop their skills. These could be in-house courses,
online courses or ones run through independent third parties.

 Task forces

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 Task forces and project management is a great way to test your candidates. This will give them the
opportunity to lead a team and test how well they cope under pressure.

6. Trial and error

There should be ample opportunity to give your succession plan a trial run with the candidates
you are considering. For example, if the jobholder is on leave for an extended period, you can
use this as an opportunity to try someone in the role.

The benefit here is twofold, the candidate will get a feel for the position and appreciate the
opportunity. While you can assess whether he/she is the right candidate for the position.
Note: Such tests can affect the team so pay close attention to this. This is especially true for
external candidates (From different department/unit). Not everybody will like it, unless the
candidate is a strong leader from the inside of the team.

This is what you need to consider:

 How does the employee interact with others?
 Have they kept the department running smoothly?
 How do they handle issues that arise?
 How do they react to stressful situations and conflicts?
 How much help do they need in the role?

7. Refine and redefine

Your succession plan is something that can be developed over time. You may need to adjust the
succession plan to adapt to a changing business/department strategy. As the Bank/Department
grows you may need to redefine what is included in your succession plan.

It would be prudent to start with the most important roles in the Department. After all, you
can’t totally predict when a key position will become vacant, most key position are vulnerable
to become vacant at any time. Once you have those key positions locked down you can start to
expand the scope of your succession plan.

Reasons for engaging in succession planning include the following:

Adapting to demographic changes and talent scarcity

Demographic shifts will create intense competition for talent—perhaps more rapidly or slowly
than anticipated, but inevitably. Candidates in the labor pool will likely lack experience and
many core skill sets required for crucial positions. Harvesting critical organizational knowledge
so it can be shared with subsequent generations of workers will be crucial.

Identifying skill gaps and training needs

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 The process of articulating necessary skill sets and competencies for key positions yields the
added benefit of identifying skill gaps and training needs in the existing population.
Interventions such as cognitive and behavioral training programs can be developed during the
planning period and customized to the particular learning needs of the target group.

Retaining institutional knowledge

More employees are now hired and paid for their thinking rather than for their labor. This
means that what we know is likely more important than what we do. The entire concept of
knowledge management focuses on identifying, harvesting, archiving and retrieving
organizational knowledge.

Boosting morale and retention

An organization's visible investment in its human capital can be a tremendous boost to

employee engagement and morale. According to Herzberg's theory of motivation, meeting the
personal growth, achievement and recognition needs of employees promotes motivation. With
proper design and consideration given to the group demographics, succession planning can be
structured to deliver all three motivators.

Replacing highly specialized competencies

Although the conventional wisdom is that no one is indispensable, replacing a leader or

contributor with highly specialized knowledge or competencies is costly and time-consuming.
Succession planning mitigates the effects of a sudden or unanticipated vacancy in a principal
position.

Factors to Consider

Regardless of its scope, any succession planning program is enhanced with the consideration of
a number of factors:

 Organizational foundations.
 Scope of succession planning program.
 Implementation team.
 A match of talents to tasks.
 Job design and skill complements.
 Standards and metrics.
 Plans for successful transitions.
 Alignment of existing practices.
 Effective use of technology in support of record keeping.

Organizational foundations

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 Well-constructed foundation components should be in place long before succession planning
programs can be implemented.

For example, jobs can be designed with complementary or layered skill sets. An open
organizational structure can be designed to reduce the barriers that prevent cross-functional
learning.

Scope of program

Succession planning can go in two main directions: choosing by position or by person. A

program that does both will ensure the greatest likelihood of addressing the primary purpose—
keeping talent in the pipeline. Sometimes, certain positions themselves serve as good "training
grounds" for future roles.

Implementation team

Some areas of expertise and commitment will improve the success rate of the program—such
as in HR, organizational development or among other leaders. Knowledge of job design
concepts, effective performance management practices, training and development initiatives,
and adult learner and mentoring programs gives the program coordinators a good foundation
for a well-rounded program.

Matching talent to tasks

Sensible job development requires that incumbent employees be suited for a series of
positions. Fulfilling those objective entails matching individual talents with required tasks.
However, remember that succession planning differs from career pathing in that it should equip
incumbents with a wide range of skills to prepare them for a number of potential roles, in
contrast to fast-tracking, which moves them through a linear path of jobs.

Job design

Planning the stages of a succession plan requires an understanding of job design concepts.
Understanding specific position attributes allows the program coordinator to perceive the
relationship between the incumbent's success in one job and the potential for success in the
next job, as well as the individual's appropriateness for a role based on personal preferences.

Standards and metrics

Establishing standards and metrics (what success looks like and how it will be measured) is
critical for determining whether a succession planning program has been effective.

Planning

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 The in-advance nature of succession planning significantly enhances the transition for all
parties. The employee, new leader and team have the opportunity to interact and develop a
work style.

Alignment

Succession planning cannot be accomplished as a stand-alone process. The principles that

support succession planning must also influence the selection process and performance
management. Identifying roles eligible for succession planning requires forethought during the
selection phase to ensure that the right person, with development potential, is chosen.

Potential Obstacles

Depending on the scope of the project and the organization's culture and readiness, the
following obstacles to a formal succession planning program may exist. Consider them when
planning and marketing the program.

Resistance to change

Succession planning is one initiative that can be done incrementally. Enhance existing selection
and performance management programs to show the value and importance of building internal
bench strength. Introduce the ideas of waning skill sets in the labor market and the existence of
internal talent that can easily be developed. Start small, maybe with one major function, to
create a success story and build credibility and agreement.

Lack of support by persons of influence

If outspoken naysayers get the floor, succession planning can be a tough sell. Find the source of
their skepticism, and present facts and figures to support the program and neutralize issues
such as these:

Organizational silos

One way to address silos in the context of succession planning is to start with a function that is
partially shared among one or more business units. Find leaders who believe in knocking down
silos to see if they have jobs that could be feeders into another area. Explore the possibility of
temporary assignments in other areas that could be used to develop employees for future
roles.

Equal employment opportunity

Succession planning involves preparing employees for possible future roles; it is not pre-
selection. If the succession planning program is rooted in diversity and equal employment
opportunity, the ultimate selection of employees to fill new roles will reflect that focus. During
the succession planning process, choose positions generally filled from within, work to identify

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 a number of potential feeder roles and incumbents, and ensure everyone knows that
succession planning is intended to match the organization's needs with the employees'
interests and that it makes no promises.

Weakness in performance management

If the organization has not had a consistent practice of giving honest performance feedback,
not only is that an obstacle for succession planning, it is a bad business practice that needs
immediate correction. Employees deserve to know when their behavior or performance is
meeting expectations. They also deserve the chance to improve their behavior or performance
when it does not.

Manager resistance

To some extent, a succession planning process involves asking managers to prepare to let go of
their best performers. Approach that challenge by:

 Fostering a sense that keeping talent within the organization, wherever it may migrate,
is the goal.
 Holding managers accountable for developing their subordinates and recognizing those
who excel in that area.
 Educating managers that employees will recognize as managers-of-choice those who
invest in their subordinates' development and that they will likely have their choice of
internal candidates as job vacancies arise.

Lack of time

This issue represents the age-old conflict between time spent and time invested. Consider the
amount of time spent recruiting, selecting, training and managing new employees, not to
mention the assimilation learning curve. Compared with those time-consuming activities, the
investment in developing incumbents' skill sets does not seem so daunting. Time invested in
succession planning prepares the employee for a wider array of responsibilities within the
organization.

Rewarding the wrong behavior

Many employees seem reluctant to share expertise with others. Often their self-esteem is
linked to being the local expert. However, it is in the organization's best interest to reward
employees who willingly share their expertise and demonstrate interest in learning new things.

Components of Great Programs

To help ensure the succession planning program meets the organization's needs and
expectations, a number of components are worth considering for inclusion.

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 Prepare leaders to participate

Cultivating high-level commitment and support will have a positive influence on the succession
planning program. Succession planning involves not merely making time to provide learning
opportunities for employees; it also involves leading the culture toward lowering barriers and
creating a learning organization.

Align the program with business objectives

When selecting job functions for the program and methods for the transfer of learning, be sure
to align them with business operations, practices and schedules.

Use a variety of methodologies

Adult learning occurs in different ways. Use a combination of techniques, including mentoring,
cross-training, job enlargement or enrichment, job shadowing and case studies, vestibule
training, and classroom training.

Incorporate in performance management

Employee interest in succession planning, willingness to be a part of it and efforts toward

achieving goals associated with it should be part of performance management. Incorporating
relevant goals in development plans is relatively easy.

Promote a long-term view

Succession planning is a 12- to 36-month process. Encourage team members and leaders to
think long-term and big-picture during the program development. Reinforce the concept of
preparation, not pre-selection.

Look beyond the obvious

Good candidates for succession are not necessarily already in traditional feeder positions. Look
far and wide for employees with complementary skill sets who may be appropriate for the
program.

Plan for knowledge transfer

Succession planning includes identifying skills and competencies next-generation employees

will need to function well in key positions. Developing systems to identify and transfer that
knowledge and shorten learning curves should be a primary objective.

Look at succession planning in layers

Layering competencies achieves many of the same benefits as developing skill complements for
succession planning paths. Even if certain roles are not well suited for formal succession
planning, the incumbents may be candidates for acquiring layers of related skills.

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 Job development is not limited to promotion

Succession planning might include job expansion in addition to job progression. That is, if
traditional step-by-step succession planning does not work for certain functions, consider
individual skill development opportunities such as enrichment, enlargement and cross-training
as sources for enhancing employee skill sets.

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