I. INTRODUCTION
Succession planning is a process of identifying and developing an internal or external candidate to succeed the incumbent and meet the organizations objectives. Succession planning is perhaps best understood as any effort designed to ensure the continued effective performance of an organization, division, department, or work group by making provision for the development, replacement, and strategic application of key people over time (Rothwell, 2005, p. 10).
In this global business climate a solid succession plan is critical. When key people decide to leave or are unable to perform due to illness or pass away organizations that have a succession plan are more likely to transition smoothly. As per a 2012 report in the UK only 32% of companies actually have a full CEO succession plan in place with 43% of companies admitting to having experienced an unexpected change in leadership in the last 12 months (Hirsh, 2012, p. 5).
This paper will analyze what is succession planning and how to develop a succession plan. What are the key steps involved and what are the key challenges faced during succession planning and how to mitigate those challenges.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
The goal of succession planning to is identify and develop the right replacement for an important position. So this paper will first analyze what are the common methods of creating replacements or backups (Froelich, McKee, & Rathge, 2009).
The paper probes further to understand if an internal or external candidate should be identified for the job. When is it better to have an internal or external candidate based on a study conducted for an HBR Report (Citrin & Ogden, Succeeding at Succession, 2010).
The paper then considers Rothwell W. J. (2014) re...
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...y useful approach which if in-trenched into an organization culture could be very helpful for smoother transitioning.
Succession planning is very important because it helps in the sustainability of the business and it helps to retain talent which is cheaper than developing/recruiting new talent. Retaining key talent also ensures that customers have continued confidence in your organization which is good for business (Alter, 2013).
With succession planning in place an organization can align candidates to meet the future needs of the organization by providing them with necessary training to be competent in leadership roles. With an ageing workforce that is creating more voids in higher management roles it is imperative that all companies get their succession planning strategy in place to retain and attract future talent to compete in the global marketplace.
“Leadership will be the most important resource an organization can possess. After all, it will be leadership that determines whether organizations successfully harness the emerging opportunities and overcome the perils that await.” Jay A.Conger – Professor, London Business School.
In 2014, JB Hi-Fi announced the retirement of their CEO Terry Smart. He had been with the company for more than 14 years. In an interview with Smart Company, Smart explained the process for hiring his successor. Smart (2014) stated that succession planning is not something that can be done overnight, it’s a long-term process and it’s part of the board’s role. When JB Hi-Fi promoted Richard Murray to CEO it was because of his extensive experience, knowledge, skills and contribution to the organisation over 11 years (Keating 2014). This example of JB Hi-Fi’s succession planning not only demonstrates their diligence in following their charter but also the emphasis placed on laying the right
Found in the case study entitled, Promotion from Within at Citrus Glen, is a staffing process concern. The Citrus Glen Company, based in Florida, is a juice producer that supplies orange and grapefruit to food processors, grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants in the United States. With rapid growth over the last few years, the HR vice president, Mandarine “Mandy” Pamplemousse, has been worried about how to staff the ever-expanding array of positions for Citrus Glen. Her concern is how to hire and promote enough individuals who are qualified for the needed positions. When Mandy is trying to staff internally, she uses a contractor based in Charlotte, NC called, Staffing Systems International (SSI). When positions become available that are appropriate to staff internally, she sends a group of candidates for the position to SSI to participate in the assessment center. The candidates are in the assessment process for three days. Mandy receives the results with recommendations, a few days after
...back and learning, so that the strategy can be carried out on the whole organisation.
Following the steps only goes so far and defining the elements of the plan is essential for success as well. These elements would include: 1) recruitment to find talent 2) assessments to evaluate how the leadership is doing in their jobs 3) performance management to make changes as necessary to the plan 4) succession planning to eliminate gaps 5) career planning to help develop the leader for their next position 6) development of leaders to fill the gaps.
Today’s companies become successful based on their abilities to create and manage change. They can no longer survive without “…courage and imagination – the courage to challenge prevailing business models and the imagination to invent new markets.'; As the globe continues to evolve into a marketplace with vanishing boundaries, competition becomes stronger, tighter, and smarter than ever before, ultimately forcing organizational change. The tidal strength of competition that has been upon us over the past few decades has fundamentally changed the “blueprints'; of many corporations and how they now need to be led. Businesses have awakened to the hard fact that leadership can no longer be defined by the effective management of people and systems, but most importantly by the effective leading of change. Leadership, or the lack thereof, is proving to be one of the most crucial determinants of whether organizations will survive and flourish in the next century’s business frontier.
Implementation of organizational growth falls to the responsibility of upper management and they develop the strategic plan for the company to flourish in the projected economic market. Oversight of this senior team can hinder the organizational projected strategy into a viable organizational process that today’s global market places high demands that make it very difficult to attain these goals or plans and bring all effort to no avail of achieving projected growth and strategy of the organization. Essential that key employees do not lack the skill to delegate responsibility as well as expect results that promote organizational growth and adherence to the strategy set by senior
Fairholm (2009) also suggests that the leadership plan helps to define what company has, what company wants and needs and what is the expectation for the leader to meed the goals of the company. Furthermore it provides the time frame for completion of relevant strategic goals and activities linked with them. The presented leadership strategy is based on 5 year plan with its revision in 2 to 3 years.
The prioritization of employees is important to competitive advantage and therefore business success has understood that specific notice has been given to the retention of highly skilled or except...
Strategic workforce planning is the first component of human resources management (HRM) from which all other HR activities are derived from and flow out of. It is based on anticipated HR requirements from the perspective of the present HR environment. This requires a proactive posture, analyzing internal and external factors, to determine the most appropriate responses to future needs. Additionally, when formulating long-term proactive plans, an element of flexibility must be
An organizational human resources department utilizes the hiring and firing process to meet the organization’s personnel needs. Organizational human resource departments are charged with the oversight of an organizations administration department. The practice of hiring and firing people is a process employer’s conducts on a daily basis. This process has to be done in a proper manner and not in haste. The implication that can occur from the improper hiring and firing process could and can have a positive or negative impact on an organization. Therefore, employers must carefully evaluate their decision to hire/fire individuals and its impact on the organizations’ workplace environment and others employees. Human Resource Management is important for an effective organization. In today’s organization, HRM is valuable to the organization because of increase legal complexities and its known for improvement in productivity. However, management should realize that poor human resource management could result in an outburst of hiring process followed by firing or layoffs. According to (Satterlee 2013, p. 194), “Hiring the best candidate who is also a good fit for the organization is crucial for the success of an organization, because a poor hiring decision will have repercussions across the entire organization”. Satterlee made a valid point because poor hiring could have an impact on the bottom line performance of the firm. In other words, HRM is the contributing factor to the success of the organization including motivating and maintain the staffs. The purpose to the motivation is to ensure that all employees grow to a full potential. According to (Sims 2006, p. 5), “HRM efforts are planned, systematic approaches to increasing organizati...
... “table”. Discussions around creative and simpler solutions that are also commonly a less expensive approach to talent acquisitions have impacted the business perceptions on HR’s ability to consult and partner. As the economy turns upwards, shrinking labor pools are forecasted, and baby boomers will be leaving the workforce. Tennant will need to gather, assess, and learn a lot from metrics and how different recruitment sources being used to impact the business in order to manage turnover and control costs. Additionally, the future development of alternative approaches such as clear succession planning will better position the Tennant Company with a plan and strategy toward successful internal recruitment practices.
Such leaders know the right buttons to push in order to steer growth and to increase the firm’s profits. They understand that growth and wealth creation is not just achieved through pressuring the employees or supervising them. Rather, it is achieved through setting smart goals, empowering the employees and focusing on their well being and success. Through this way, the employees will even feel indebted to the firm. They work hard to achieve the set goals and they do so willingly and sometimes, do not even need supervision. The opportunities for improvement for strategic leaders include; ensuring that they allocate resources well and investing in research and
The primary motive for organizations to do strategic planning is to learn and to make decisions about the future of the organization based on that learning.
The statement of a mission encourages one to progress to succession. A mission statement involves strategic planning in ...