What is Succession Planning?nSuccession planning is a deliberative and systematic effort by an organization to ensure leadership continuity in key positions, retain and develop intellectual and knowledge capital for the future, and encourage individual advancement. nSystematic succession planning occurs when an organization adapts specific procedures to insure the identification, development, and long term retention of talented individuals. Its all about readiness: the right people, for the right jobs, at the right time.1Business Drivers of Succession Management ProgramsnLabor market realitiesRetirement of Baby BoomersnThe first Baby Boomers (1946-1964) will be eligible for early Social Security payments in 2008.Tightening of labor marketnThe U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a labor force of 162.3 million individuals in 2012 and expects that the economy will require 165.3 million jobs to be filled.Increased global competitionnImprove the organizations bench strength in key positionsnIdentify high potentials early and devise strategies to retain talentPeople who are perceived to be potential successors to those at higher organization levelsnDifficulty finding candidates outside the organization and desire to promote from withinnUnexpected loss of key leaders/talentnReducing the cost of replacing employees2The Four Succession RisksVacancy Risk: When a critical leadership position is not filledReadiness Risk: Underdeveloped successorsTransition Risk: Poor assimilation of executive talentPortfolio Risk: Poor deployment of talent against business goalsCorporate Leadership Council, 20033Succession Management Best PracticesnAligning succession management with organizational strategynHaving leadership support and involvementnHiring potential successors for organizational compatibilitynHolding leaders accountable for developing their talentnBuilding a clear and robust process ahead of time; avoid multiple ad hoc processes across an organizationnEnsuring data-driven decision-makingnAutomating the succession planning processReducing laborious administrative tasks, cutting costs, ease of data analysisnBuilding a development mindset in the organization4Succession Management Best PracticesnIntegrating program with other talent management processes Talent Acquisition Performance Management Training and Development Compensation and RewardsnUsing a core set of competencies or behaviorsAs a template for development To establish a standard of comparison for assessmentnDriving the process down in the organization, not just executive levelnIncluding a wide range of significant developmental activities to extend talent capabilitiesnBeing open with employees - informing their employees about the program, process, and where they stand5Succession Management Obstacles and PitfallsnLack of leadership support nOffice politicsnFailure to align succession management goals with organizational goalsnLack of an effective performance management systemnA poorly defined and overly complicated processnCost or lack of dedicated resourcesnLack of metricsnIgnoring data when making promotion decisions (e.g., promoting friends instead of the best candidate)nFailure to hold leadership and talent accountable nToo much focus on a few hi-potentials versus growing a robust pool of talentnBeing reactive versus proactive: not doing it!65 Rules for Setting up a Succession Planning SystemFocus on a flexible system oriented toward development and not just traditional replacement planning.Focus on positions that are essential to the long-term health of the organization, and manage the pipeline to ensure development opportunities.Have a transparent system ensure that employees know how they are doing and what they need to do to reach the next step.Regularly evaluate the system. Are the right people being developed? Is the talent pool large enough?Be willing to change the system as needed in response to feedback.Conger & Fulmer, 2003. 7Best Practice Succession Management CycleSuccession ManagementEstablish Business CaseAdapted from Sobol, Harkins, & Conley (2007). Best Practices for Succession Planning.8Establishing a Business Case*nDescribe the talent implications of internal and external trends.nDescribe the organizations current state.Ability to acquire and retain talent Talent gapsAdequacy of systems and processes Cultural fit Readiness assessmentnDescribe the costs and risks inherent in the current state.nDescribe a preferred future state.nDescribe benefits of the future state.nFinally, list the initial steps to closing the gap between the current and future states.Stress involvement/commitment of audience *Adapted from Best Practices for Succession Planning (2007) by Sobol, Harkins, and Conley.9Best Practice Succession Management CycleSuccession ManagementEstablish Business Case Develop StructureDesign SystemsPlan Imple