Succession Plan
Workshop Description
• Provides a comprehensive overview of
Succession Planning and guidelines to address
your needs
• Provides details to prepare and implement a
succession planning system
Workshop Objectives
•
To understand your role in succession planning
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To clarify the importance of an organization's Succession Planning System
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To identify and analyze critical positions requiring backups on a temporary or
permanent basis
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To learn how to compare individual appraisals of past and present performance
with assessments of future individual potential
•
To examine methods of grooming high-potential employees for advancement by
narrowing developmental gaps between present performance and future potential
Gain Buy In
• Gain buy in from key stakeholders to sustain organizational
support
• Form committees to ensure the planning, implementation and
follow-up is successful
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Board Members and Executive Level Staff
The Guiding Coalition
HR Team and Individual Responsibilities
Managers
Potential Leaders and Employees
Your Role In Succession Planning
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As a manager, it’s your role to ensure:
• Identify key replacement needs and the high-potential people and critical
positions to include in the succession plan
• Clarify present and future work activities and work results
• Compare present individual performance and future individual potential
• Establish individual-development plans (IDPs) to prepare replacements
and to develop high-potential workers
Definitions
• Succession planning is defined as "any effort
designed to ensure the continued effective
performance of an organization, division,
department, or work group by making
provisions for the development and
replacement of key people for key positions
and work activities over time" (Rothwell,
1994, p. 5).
Need for Success Planning
• Need for future growth and skill development
• Proactive approach to fill key potential
vacancies
• Aligns mission with workplace planning
strategy
Just-in-Time (JIT) Approach to
Building the Leadership Pipeline
Select
Recruit
Hire
Advance and
Promote
Evaluate
Results
Retain
Develop
Train
Classify
jobs
Manage
Performance
Compensate
Transfer
Knowledge
Integrated Approach to
Building the Leadership Pipeline
Program Evaluation
Why the Integrated Approach
• Many ways to build leadership pipeline
• Because all aligned with strategic plan, workforce plan,
competency model, and/or other frameworks, aligned
with each other
• Pipeline larger to meet demand for more talent
Integrated Approach
Workforce &
Succession
Planning
Recruitment,
Hiring and
Selection
Competency
Model
Program
Evaluation
Promotion and
Career Mobility
Training and
Development
Knowledge
Management
Retention
Who’s in the Pipeline
First Line Supervisors
Middle Managers
High Potentials and
Replacement Pool for
Senior Managers
All Employees?
Technical Specialists
Time
Expanding the Pipeline
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Cascading leadership succession planning
Needs for competency development
Employee demand
Retention
Leadership defined as a competency that employees at all
levels are expected to develop
Five Questions to Ask?
• Who’s in the leadership pipeline?
• What are the most pressing developmental
needs?
• How are these needs being met?
• What is the impact?
• How are the efforts to build the leadership
pipeline being evaluated?
Succession Planning Process
– To create a system for succession planning that
meets the needs of the organization and provides
career growth opportunities for individuals based
on their readiness, talent, and skills.
– To identify key leadership competency behaviors,
skills, and knowledge needed to prepare high
potentials for future key leadership roles.
Talent Management
• Talent management improves the skills and talents
of and increases the performance of your team
• Team members enjoy the feeling of personal
growth and satisfaction that comes from the
opportunity to develop their skills and better
contribute to their team
Measure Results
Job/Analysis Competency
Development
Hiring/Selection
Employee Retention
Leadership
Development
Process
Succession Planning
360 Degree
Feedback
Talent Management Strategy
Career Development
Performance
Management
Definition of Succession Planning
“Succession planning is a means of identifying critical
management positions starting at manager and
supervisor levels and extending up to the highest
position in the organization.”
William J. Rothwell
Effective Succession Planning (2001)
Succession planning should not and must not stand alone.
It must be paired with succession management which creates
a more dynamic environment.
Succession Planning
and Management
• A deliberate and systematic effort by an organization
to:
– ensure leadership continuity in key positions
– retain and develop future intellectual and knowledge
capital
– encourage individual advancement
– Integrated into the HR System
– Succession Planning is managed to ensure success
• Should also address the needs for critical backups
and individual development in any job category
Succession Planning
• Do you have an established succession
plan?
• Replacement versus Succession Planning
• Do they have the skills and experience need
to fill critical positions?
Succession Planning Components
2. HR Audit
Develop a Pool of High
Potential Candidates
Monitor and Evaluate Progress and Results
Make Adjustments
1. Replacement
Planning
Leadership Support
Gain Buy-in from Senior Management
Identify Top Leadership Experience,
Education, and Job Experience
Establish nomination criteria.
Integrated
Leadership
Development
Identify Readiness of Successors
for Key Positions
Review Performance and
Development with Key
Management Staff
3. Identify High Potential
Successors
5. Create Development
Opportunities
Developmental Activities/Projects
Mentoring/Coaching
Create a Leadership Succession Plan
Experience, Education, Manager/Mentor
Recommendation
4. Identify
Successor
Developmental
Needs
Identify skills gap, set goals, create
development plan
Determine measurable goals and
outcomes
Establishing a Succession Plan
• Understand the critical position being vacated - what
are the requirements of the job
• Benchmark the job against future job requirements
• Determine what the ideal candidate will look like
• Evaluate potential replacements
• Determine their performance and potential readiness
level
• Establish a Development Plan and Goals
• Implement development plan
• Provide Coaching and Feedback
• Track and Monitor the plan
Steps in Succession Planning Process
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Gain Buy-in from Senior Management
Identify succession planning purpose and goals.
Assess the organizations current and future business strategy and top leadership replacement
needs.
Identify and analyze key positions.
Assess candidates against job and competency requirements.
Identify development strategies.
Define succession planning process and procedures.
Communicate and implement succession planning.
Collect information from employees regarding their career interests and expertise.
Assess employee competencies.
Create individual development plans.
Select people to potential fill positions.
Develop, select, and schedule training and development programs.
Monitor progress.
Measure and evaluate outcomes.
Succession Planning Policy
• Identifying those employees who have the right skills to meet the
challenges facing the organization
• Evaluate the quality and “readiness” of named successors
• Define development requirements and implement development plan
• Review performance and development with key management staff
• Make recommendations
• Monitor and evaluate progress and results
Human Resource Assessment
• Defines the leadership needs of the organization
• Identifies qualification of successors and assesses
employee capability and readiness to various
positions
• Helps designate a talent pool of candidates qualified
for specific positions
• Defines the developmental needs, competency and
education requirements
Checklist to Succeed
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Part of an overall organizational culture strategy to develop managers at all levels.
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Ongoing commitment of high-level management.
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Part of an integrated HR process
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Identify what skills the organization will need in 5, 10 or 15 years
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Critical positions must be identified and included in the Company's Succession
Planning program
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Analyze the workforce and identify who will be eligible for retirement within the
next five years
Checklist to Succeed
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Managers need to identify the responsibilities, skills and competencies that will be needed by
their replacements
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Identify high-performers almost ready to step into those critical positions
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Identify specific behaviors, skills and values that leaders to succeed now and in the future.
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Use Assessment tools to make accurate leadership placement and development decisions.
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Establish a system for communicating succession planning information
Checklist to Succeed
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Identify a systematic approach for identifying, nominating and selecting
potential successors
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Review background information on potential successors, such as education,
experience, skills, appraisals and potential
Determine training and development requirements of potential successors
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Develop skills of potential successors through work experiences, job rotation,
projects and other challenging assignments
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Establish a system for monitoring candidate's development plan progress by
senior management
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Succession planning must include a system for providing feedback and
encouragement to potential successors
Succession Planning
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Identify High Potentials
Create a Development Plan
Implement the Plan
Track the Plan
Conduct Yearly Calibration Discussions with
Your Manager, and HR to determine
Readiness
Critical Position Profile
• Interview someone in a current leadership
role to determine their job requirements
now and in the future.
• This provides a profile of a successful
candidate for this position
Successor’s Profile
• Identify a successor’s job profile and
experience to determine their current level of
proficiency
Conduct a Gap Analysis
• Analyze the potential successor’s experience
level and compare to the advanced level job
requirements
Define High Potential Characteristics
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Results Driven – has completed many challenging assignments
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People skill – Influences, motivates, works with a wide range of people.
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Mental ability – Street smart, asks insightful questions
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Lifelong Learning – seeks challenging opportunities for new knowledge, learns from
successes and failures
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Integrated thinking – Links ideas, sees essence of problem
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Flexible – Adjusts priorities, takes risks, embraces change
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Energy – gets energy from work and energizes others
Replacement Planning Process
 High potentials nominated as successors by managers, or Senior
Management
 Senior management review the recommendations and make
revisions
 An HR executive advisory group discusses replacement skill
level, readiness, and potential to get a fairly accurate judgment
of a person’s capability
 Recommendations made for potential replacement
opportunities
Employee Input
• Identify employee’s career interests, qualifications, and future
job promotion interests on an employee input form
• Track employee career interests and skill qualifications for
future job opportunities
• Career development discussions between managers and
employees become part of the formal performance appraisal
process
IDP
Activity: Complete an IDP
• Fill out the following form on an individual of your choice
from your organization.
• That person should be a “high potential”, someone who has
the capability to advance to higher levels of responsibility and
or develop increased proficiency in competence.
• The form should indicate how you will help this person
narrow the gap between how they presently perform and
what he or she must do to qualify for advancement to a
critical position.
IDP
Activity: Complete an IDP
• Fill out the following form on an individual of your choice
from your organization.
• That person should be a “high potential”, someone who has
the capability to advance to higher levels of responsibility and
or develop increased proficiency in competence.
• The form should indicate how you will help this person
narrow the gap between how they presently perform and
what he or she must do to qualify for advancement to a
critical position.
Leadership Development
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Mentoring for Success
360 Feedback
Leadership Academy
Performance Management
Training & Development
Competency Assessment
College Degrees
Development Strategies
• Identify career paths for future career growth
• Identify competencies and assess strengths and
areas for development
• Have employees create a career profile and identify
development plans
• Mentor and coach employees
• Provide ongoing feedback
• Discuss career goals with employees
• Develop a promotion from within policy
Leadership Development Program
HIgh Potential
Leadership Development
Training
Work Experience
Coaching
Career Development
Leadership Workshops
OJT
Formal Mentoring
Career Paths
Orientation
Job Rotation
Informal Mentoring
Career Planning
Professional Development
Internships
Senior Leader Coaching
Advanced College Degrees
Special Assignments
Networking Groups
Senior Staff Meetings
Special Projects
Farm Teams
Conferences and Workshops
Team Projects
Learning Communities
Replacement Assignments
Technical Skill Training
Inservice Training/Leadership Lunches
Development Opportunities
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Formal Training
Advanced Degrees
Certificate Programs
Elearning
On-the-Job Training
Work Experiences
Team Development
Temporary Assignments
Coaching
Formal Mentoring
Family Independence
AgencyModel
Leadership
Leadership Academy Model
Mentor and Supervisor
Developmental
Assignments
Learning
Forums
Individual Development
Plan
Action
Learning
High Potential Leadership
Development
Skill building
•Degree
programs
•Leadership
scholarships
•Extraordinary leader
program
•Management classes
Relationshipbuilding and
knowledge
•Executive retreat
•Administrative
manager/executive
events
•Management
meetings
•Leadership
luncheons
Leadership Development Approach
Executive
Managers
Administrative
Managers
Middle
Managers
Professional
Technical
Skill Building
Extraordinary
Leader
Scholarships
Degree Programs
= Target audience
Management
Development
Knowledge and Relationship Building
Executive Retreat
Executive Events
Exec/Admin events
Management
Meetings
Leadership
Luncheons
= Also invited
Types of Training
• Formally educate employees on business
issues, accounting practices and ethics
• Identify and prioritize their greatest
development needs
• Invest wisely in training employees to carry
out the mission
Coaching and Mentoring
• Coaching is provided when performance needs
improvement and is focused on job performance.
Coaches helps individuals improvement performance
• Mentoring is provided to help individuals grow in
their professional experience.
• Mentors provide one-on-one coaching to help
Protégé’s identify areas that need development and
establish goals.
• Mentors provide guidance, support, feedback,
direction, and share their experiences to help
Protégé’s be successful in their current and future
role.
Tracking Successors
• Methods available:
– Competency Assessment
– Performance Appraisal
– Mentoring Program
– Career Experience and Development Activities
– Training Records
– 360 Feedback
Measure Success
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Define measurable goals during the planning stage
Track goals regularly
Adjust goals when needed
Analyze progress and take corrective steps to improve goal
performance
• Analyze readiness, potential, performance, and
replacements, employee morale, organizational culture,
turnover, loss of talent, etc.
Building Your Leadership Pipeline
Planning Model
Building Your Leadership Pipeline
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Engage senior leaders
Identify leadership competencies leaders
Assess developmental needs
Create leadership development strategy
Use Individual Development Plans (IDPs)
Tap into talent pool of eligible employees and recruit
Don’t let cost keep you from building the pipeline
Succession Planning Software
• Database tools for registering participants,
assessing needs, determining the gaps, identifying
areas for improvement, creating development
plans, providing on-going feedback, identify
progress, and tracking and measuring results.
• Administrative tools help you manage the
process, send emails, monitor progress, run
reports, and maintain user information.