Succession Planning and
Replacement Planning Are
Different
By
John W. Edwards, Jr. MPA, CCAP,
NCRT
Replacement Planning (RP)
• RP is an effort to respond to changes in the
workplace that result in open positions that
must be filled to allow the organization to
continue to function effectively.
Replacement Planning
• RP is reactionary and is not forward-looking.
It occurs at the point when a position
becomes vacant . It involves an assessment of
need based upon the job description,
potential revisions to the job description or
job requirements and the identification of
areas where new employees might be
recruited.
Replacement Planning
• RP is the process of identifying short-term and
long-term emergency backups to fill critical
positions or to take the place of critical
people.
• Short-term RP focuses on finding backups
while a critical person is out for a short time,
such as vacation or illness.
Replacement Planning
• Long-term RP focuses on finding backups to fill
critical positions or to fill in for critical people
when they become absent for long periods or
for reasons of death, disability, sudden
resignations.
• Replacements should not necessarily mean
people who will take a job forever; rather,
they can meet the job requirements long
enough for a search to occur.
Replacement Planning
• RP usually focuses on finding backups inside
the organization. It usually works well in
corporate cultures characterized by “silos”.
• RP is a starting point for succession planning
and talent management.
• Common elements of successful RP programs
follow:
Replacement Planning
1. Gain management commitment to undertake
the effort.
2. Clarify who – how many people – will be the
focus of the RP effort.
3. Determine the focus of the RP effort should
be.
4. Brief all personnel on how the RP process will
work.
Replacement Planning
5. Brief Managers on how to conduct RP
process.
6. Identify and interview and select employees
as candidates for RP program.
7. Develop and implement individual action
plans.
8. Evaluate the results of the RP program
periodically.
Replacement Planning
• RP is a reactive approach limited to identifying
a replacement candidate for a specific
employee at the top level of the organization
with little focus on development of that
candidate and an assumption that the
incumbent is the model of the knowledge and
skills needed to succeed in that position.
Succession Planning
• SP is a far more dynamic and proactive
approach to succession that looks at the
focused development of candidates for all
critical positions within the organization, not
just those in high level leadership positions,
while relying on organizational strategy to
define the knowledge and skills needed for
success in each of the positions being
considered.
Succession Planning
• SP is a process for identifying and developing
internal people with the potential to fill key
business leadership positions in the
organization. It increases the availability of
experienced and capable employees that are
prepared to assume these roles as they
become available.
• Taken narrowly, RP for key roles is the start of
SP.
Succession Planning
• Effective succession or talent-pool
management concerns itself with building a
series of feeder groups up and down the
entire leadership pipeline.
• RP, in contrast to SP, is focused narrowly on
identifying specific back-up candidates for
given senior management positions.
• SP is a process whereby an organization
ensures that employees are recruited and
developed.
Succession Planning
• Through an effective SP process, organizations
recruit superior employees, develop their
knowledge, skills and abilities, and prepare
them for advancement or promotion into
even more challenging roles.
• As organizations expand, lose key employees,
provide promotional opportunities, add new
programs, the SP process guarantees that you
have employees to fill new roles.
Succession Planning
• “Bench Strength” remains a stubborn problem
in many if not most non-profits and business
too.
• Research shows that non-profits and business
that report greatest gains from SP feature high
level of engagement of the CEO and its board
of directors.
• GE, Honeywell, IBM, Marriott, Microsoft,
Pepsi, and Procter & Gamble are well known
for SP practices.
Succession Planning
• Research indicates that clear core set of
objectives are critical to establishing effective
SP:
1. Identify those with the potential to assume
greater responsibility in the organization.
2. Provide critical development experiences to
those that can move into key roles.
3. Engage leadership in support.
Succession Planning
4. Build a data base to use for better staffing
decisions for key vacancies.
5. Improve employee commitment and
retention.
6. Meet the career development expectations
of existing employees
7. Counter the costs of recruiting employees
externally.
Succession Planning
• SP: How To Do It Right
Step one – Fully engage your stakeholders.
Step two – Assess your internal candidates.
Step three – Conduct a stress test and
simulation.
Step four – on-board the successor
Boards of directors can – and must – plan an
important role in SP.
Succession Planning
• Boards must be aggressive and unwavering in
their efforts to make the process as real as
possible.
• Honest external evaluation of current talent
and a system to develop a rich talent pipeline
are essential for board engagement.
• Board of directors need to design SP not just
to choose the new executive but also to
provide support as he/she finds legs.
Succession Planning
• Some Points to Ponder…
1. What is the average age of your employees?
2. What is your current process for indentifying
employees with a high potential to take on
leadership roles?
3. How do you today identify candidates who
are maybe ready to step into key roles?
Succession Planning
4. How do you ensure that you are training the
right people for leadership roles and measuring
them accordingly?
5. What if a key contributor or member of your
executive team left unexpectedly?
Succession Planning
• A Practical Guide to CEO SP
1. Establish the foundation
2. Create a written SP
3. Conduct regular in-depth reviews
4. Compare the resulting list of capabilities
against the firm’s senior talent pipeline
5. Implement the Plan
Succession Planning
The
End