By David Sullivan, Ph.D., a Senior Manager with McGladrey & Pullen's Management Development Institute in Schaumburg, Illinois.
When times are good, there is a strong temptation to close your eyes, hope for the best, and enjoy the ride. For example, look at professional basketball¡¯s Chicago Bulls. After earning their sixth NBA Championship last year, the team has lost more than two-thirds of its games in the current, less-than-successful season. And this franchise may get a whole lot worse before it gets better. It¡¯s obvious that the Bulls¡¯ management didn¡¯t have a plan in place to identify and prepare the team¡¯s next "leaders" to step in following Michael Jordan¡¯s retirement and Scottie Pippen¡¯s departure. While a professional sports franchise may be able to survive this lack of succession planning and several losing seasons your company might not.
How do you assess your current management situation to ensure success after key players retire or leave? There are several options to consider:
Develop a Snapshot of Future Organizational Structure: Every company needs a future success strategy. This should include a projected organizational chart of the key positions, which may significantly differ from the current system.
Identify Key Competencies for Key Positions: Competencies such as strategic planning, team building, drive, leadership, and courage are the center of today¡¯s business measurements. The vice president of sales will need different key competencies than the director of engineering.
Conduct In-depth Talent Audit: The job here is to identify your bench strength in light of the competencies needed for the leaders of tomorrow. When you are finished you should have a depth chart with at least the two best candidates identified for each top position. A few may be ready now, but most will need development. Key management assessment tools, such as psychological testing, multi-rater measurement, sophisticated in-basket tests, views, measure these competencies in a behavioral and quantifiable manner.
Grow Your High Potentials This will include a variety of planned activities over time. Some of the most effective include structured training programs and seminars, accelerated job rotation, mentoring, and executive coaching.
Obtain Visible Support from Top Management: This is a must for any successful program in the company. The next generation of leadership must believe they are being prepared to eventually lead the company. Top management¡¯s support gives succession planning a sense of importance and energy, and is often considered vital to any successful program.
Succession planning is a process that takes time. Done well, it can help ensure the success of your business for many years to come. Ignoring the need for good succession plans risks the future of the business, its customers, and all those who depend upon the business for their personal livelihood.
|
Correlated
Article