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Unit 5-Succession Management 1

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22 views6 pages

Unit 5-Succession Management 1

Uploaded by

vernonmyers25
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

• Understand the importance of succession planning


• Discuss the steps in the succession management
process
• Review and explain four approaches to the
identification of managerial talent
• Outline the employee’s role in the succession
management process
INTRODUCTION

Reasons for having a succession management programme:


1. Improve internal candidate pools
2. Assure business continuity
3. Reduce skill gaps
4. Retain employees
5. Help individuals realise their career plans within the organisation
6. Develop leaders more quickly
7. Encourage the advancement of diverse groups
8. Improve employees’ ability to respond to changing environmental demands
TALENT

• Talent pools: traditional models saw succession planning as choosing the


next capable person. Top performers were chosen and groomed for the
position. This process worked previously when organization structures
consisted of many levels, with each manager having many assistant
managers. Nowadays, with flatter organizational structures, the key is to
develop multiple successors for every position, especially those positions
that are difficult to fill. Hence, employee departures and changing needs
will not leave the organization harmed. In addition, employees may not be
able to rely on organisations to provide lifetime job security, and
organisations may not commit to any implicit promises. They then run the
risk of employees leaving, not knowing they were in line for development.
The solution is to communicate with employees about possible potential
but not promise any future position. External candidates are useful for
those organisations that are struggling, bring in fresh new ideas, skills and
the potential to bring about change.
EMPLOYEE ROLE

Traditionally, the employment contract had an implicit understanding that if


an employee worked hard, he/she had a long-term future in their
organization. As he/she developed new skills provided by the employer and
gained work experience, they would be rewarded with job security at the very
least, or alternatively, a promotion. The current scenario in most
organisations is a constant restructuring in response to turbulent markets.
Hence, todays employment contract is more of a transactional one, where
benefits and contributions are exchanged for a short period. The new
employment contract would list the responsibilities and rights of each party,
explicitly, in writing. The employee has a responsibility to update their own
skills to be competitive and contribute with value to an organization. This
transactional view of the employer-employee relationship implies that as
organisations develop employees, they should consider employee aspirations
and goals. This will result in employees participating willingly if their goals
match the succession plan of the company. Further, if they are aware of the
strategic goals of the company, they will focus on self-development as it could
improve their job security and marketability
Process
• Align succession management plans with strategy: the linkage to business plans and strategies is
essential. Organisations must start with the business plan, engage in environmental scanning, and
try to predict a future scenario in three, five or ten years. They then need to ask questions such as
“what are the specialized skills needed to compete globally?”, “how many managers possess these
skills?”, “what percentage of employees could represent the firm to the world?”
• Identify the skills and competencies needed to meet strategic objectives: this could be via a job-
based approach, which implies that someone in a management position who has acquired job-
related skills (motivating, delegating) will make a successful manager. However, since job
requirements change rapidly, others prefer a competency based approach where they search for
groups of related behaviours that are needed for performance. These comprise skills, abilities,
knowledge, and personal characteristics. They are observable behaviours that can be measured.
• Identify high potential employees: a manager can choose someone who is usually their temporary
replacement when they are away, or could look at a replacement chart, or could engage in strategic
replacement, where he/she identifies the leadership competencies needed based on
organizational plans. They then try to support and train such candidates from within.

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