Succession planning is an important process that should be carried out by a management team to ensure the continuity of an organization’s business plan. The key goal is to identify, recruit and prepare the most talented employees for key roles within the company. These carefully selected employees should be provided with the education and training they need to achieve and succeed at higher levels and with broader responsibilities.
Through the planning process, these highly recognized employees will appreciate the time, attention and development invested in them, resulting in key employee retention, which is absolutely necessary to ensure the effectiveness of succession plans.
Succession plans vary by company, business plan, and the availability of talented employees. However, every succession plan should follow some basic strategies:
- Monitoring Future Needs – Tomorrow’s key roles may not even exist in today’s organization
- Talent Assessment – Develop a way to identify your most talented employees
- Hire for the Gaps – Identify the roles that are beyond the capabilities of your current employees and hire to fill those skill gaps
- Share Your Plan – Key employees should understand early in their careers the special path you have put them on and the importance of the role they are being developed to fill
- Use Available Technology – Track and monitor the training and development of high potentials
- Create Developmental Opportunities – Seek out education that offers executive training and mentoring
- Measure Performance – Challenge your key employees, but measure them fairly as you are asking them to stretch beyond normal expectations
Remember, effective succession planning is a journey, not a destination. Once you have the plan in place, it requires constant and consistent monitoring for adjustments and improvements as the organization changes over time.
If you need further information or assistance with succession planning for your organization, contact Molly Hegeman, CAI’s Director of HR Services, at (919) 878-9222, (336) 668-7746 or molly.hegeman@capital.org.
Tags: CAI, hiring, HR, Human Resources, North Carolina, recruitment, retention, Succession, Succession Planning
