Succession Planning for the Diverse
Workforce of the Future
Caprice D. Hollins, Psy.D.
www.CulturesConnecting.Com
Objectives
Create
Initiate
Embrace
Inclusive & Welcoming
Environment
Difficult Conversations
The Leaders Role
World Café
React/Respond to question
 20 minutes each question
 Table captain records responses
 A few tables will report out
 Nitya@DrawingBridges.com
 Put posters on wall
 Rotate

2014 Benchmarking Report
International Public Management Association for Human Resources
Have a Succession Plan?
7%
27%
Yes
No
I don't know
67%
Barriers to Succession Planning
Management More Focused on Day-To-…
Never Time for Succ. Plan. Priority
Resources
Time
Fears of Favoritism and Preselection
Lack of Commitment of Top Leadership
Lack of Follow Through
Leadership Not Open Abt Retirmnt Plans
Fear of Change
Sr Leaders Not Wanting to Share Power
Not Holding Exec Team Accountable
Leaders Don't Want to Help when Feel…
No Barriers, We Embrace It
Fears of Reverse Discrimination
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Key Components of Succession
Planning
Job Shadowing Programs
Collecting Performance Feedback
Align Plan w/Org. Business Strategy
Mentorship Program
Knowledge Transfer Programs
Identifying Skill Gaps
Projecting Retirement Eligibility
Identify High Potential Employees
Identification of Key Positions
Developing Employees
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Create an Inclusive/Welcoming
Environment
When your employees go to work each day
did they have to leave something behind?
Their opinions?
Their background?
Their native language?
Their hairstyle?
Their foods?
Their values?
Their ideas?
Their communication style?
Their sexual orientation?
Their culture?
A workplace can only be diverse if the people who work there can be themselves.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Perceptions
How You Think Others
See The Organization
How Some See Your
Organization
Inclusive & Welcoming
Environment
An organization’s ‘diversity brand’ is often its
most potent recruitment tool.
 What’s your diversity ‘brand’ and how have
you developed it?
 What strategies does your organization
practice proactively to create an
inclusive/welcoming work environment for all
employees?
Initiate Difficult Conversations
Fears
Yours




They will feel hurt.
You’ll be misunderstood.
They’ll think their not
needed.
They see it as discrimination.
Theirs




You don’t care.
“Your telling me I’m useless.”
“You’re trying to get rid of
me.”
“You’re saying I’m too old.”
Norms

Take Risks

Experience Discomfort
 Listen
for Understanding
 Expect
 Stay
and Accept Non-Closure
Engaged
Building a Platform
Initiate ‘Difficult Conversations’
Succession planning best practices require leaders
to initiate numerous difficult conversations within
their organization.



How do you help employees feel comfortable
discussing “next stage in life” thoughts without them
feeling like they’re being pushed out?
How do we increase our collective comfort with
conversations that give organizations years, instead
of months or weeks, for succession planning.
How do you build a culture that allows for these kinds
of difficult, often intergenerational conversations?
Embrace the Leader’s Role
Culturally Competent
Leaders Are…
Learners
Courageous
Advocates
Inclusive
Sensitive
Connected
Enthusiastic
Strategic
Data Driven
Realistic
Implicit Bias
Tim Wise
Dismantling Racism in Your Organization
Saskatoon, SK  March 15, 2012
Embrace the Leader’s Role
Succession Planning is often considered ‘an HR
problem,’ but the best practices literatures
promotes that leaders have a critical role in setting
strategy and surmounting obstacles.
 How have your leaders positioned themselves to
meet this challenge?
 What are promising leadership practices that
can have a positive impact on succession
planning for a diverse workforce?
Questions/Comments (Q & C)
Caprice.Hollins@culturesconnecting.com
www.CulturesConnecting.com