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Section 3

Planning succession

How to identify critical roles

Facilitator’s notes

Introduction

Organisations often focus their succession planning on a few key roles, normally

those at the top of the organisation. however, there are other roles which

should be included because a vacancy in them causes maximum disruption.

These exercises provide different ways to identify those roles which are most

critical to the success of your organisation.

Although the focus is on roles, some roles become critical because of the

skill sets of the incumbent. Succession planning will focus on critical

roles. Talent management should identify such individuals to ensure their

retention.

Aim of the Tool

To identify critical roles in an organisation.

When to use

In the early stages in the succession planning process. The risk analysis can be

conducted at any time.

Materials needed

The organisation chart, job descriptions, full details about the role and the

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impact it has on the organisation both from an internal and an external

perspective.

Access to line managers and key decision-makers in the succession planning

process.

Procedure for using it

1 A session might typically start with a brainstorming exercise to get people

thinking about critical roles. They should not be censored and must be able

to put down anything – eg ‘If we lose the tea lady, production stops.’

2 Move to the organisation chart exercise which considers the structure and

roles that hold organisational knowledge or are critical to operations or

future strategy.

3 Get people to tell stories or interview each other so they can tell the other

person’s stories about the difficulties or successes of the company and what

roles played a part in either scenario. They need to identify the roles that

caused the most upset.

4 Finally, for thoroughness, complete the risk assessment. This will identify

any final roles that may prove difficult to fill externally or where internal

knowledge is a prerequisite for success and should therefore be on the

succession plan for internal successors.

5 The exercises in the Tool can be undertaken in groups or individually, and

some will have better face validity than others, depending on the culture

and nature of the organisation. Pick and choose from the exercises.

Evaluating its uses

The value of this tool lies in:

• identifying from many different perspectives those roles that require time

and attention in the succession planning process

• helping to explore those roles that do not need to be succession-planned.

References

Rothwell W. (2001) Effective Succession Planning. New York, NY: Amacom.

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The Tool

Key positions: brainstorming

Introduction to the exercise

A key position exerts critical influence on organisational activities –

operationally, strategically, or both (Rothwell, 2001)*.

Individually or in a group, brainstorm which are the roles you consider to be key

positions. Do not censor your thinking in any way. You may find that one role

appears in different places – allow this. Use the descriptions of roles below to

prompt your thinking.

Descriptions Roles in your organisation

Roles that if suddenly vacant would cause the most disruption to your organisation. Roles that left vacant would cause concerns

Roles that are operationally critical – eg a key data input role which provides real-time information for a sales force

Roles that are strategically critical – eg head of Research

Roles that are both operationally and strategically critical – eg Chief Operating Officer

*Excerpted from Effective Succession Planning by William J. Rothwell ©

2001 AMACOM, a division of American Management Association. Used by

permission of the publisher, AMACOM, New York, New York. All rights reserved

www.amacombooks.org

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impact it has on the organisation both from an internal and an external

perspective.

Access to line managers and key decision-makers in the succession planning

process.

Procedure for using it

1 A session might typically start with a brainstorming exercise to get people

thinking about critical roles. They should not be censored and must be able

to put down anything – eg ‘If we lose the tea lady, production stops.’

2 Move to the organisation chart exercise which considers the structure and

roles that hold organisational knowledge or are critical to operations or

future strategy.

3 Get people to tell stories or interview each other so they can tell the other

person’s stories about the difficulties or successes of the company and what

roles played a part in either scenario. They need to identify the roles that

caused the most upset.

4 Finally, for thoroughness, complete the risk assessment. This will identify

any final roles that may prove difficult to fill externally or where internal

knowledge is a prerequisite for success and should therefore be on the

succession plan for internal successors.

5 The exercises in the Tool can be undertaken in groups or individually, and

some will have better face validity than others, depending on the culture

and nature of the organisation. Pick and choose from the exercises.

Evaluating its uses

The value of this tool lies in:

• identifying from many different perspectives those roles that require time

and attention in the succession planning process

• helping to explore those roles that do not need to be succession-planned.

References

Rothwell W. (2001) Effective Succession Planning. New York, NY: Amacom.

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19

The Tool

Key positions: brainstorming

Introduction to the exercise

A key position exerts critical influence on organisational activities –

operationally, strategically, or both (Rothwell, 2001)*.

Individually or in a group, brainstorm which are the roles you consider to be key

positions. Do not censor your thinking in any way. You may find that one role

appears in different places – allow this. Use the descriptions of roles below to

prompt your thinking.

Descriptions Roles in your organisation

Roles that if suddenly vacant would cause the most disruption to your organisation. Roles that left vacant would cause concerns

Roles that are operationally critical – eg a key data input role which provides real-time information for a sales force

Roles that are strategically critical – eg head of Research

Roles that are both operationally and strategically critical – eg Chief Operating Officer

*Excerpted from Effective Succession Planning by William J. Rothwell ©

2001 AMACOM, a division of American Management Association. Used by

permission of the publisher, AMACOM, New York, New York. All rights reserved

www.amacombooks.org

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Organisation charting

Working individually or in a group and using a chart of the organisation,

identify those roles that you believe are critical to success and in which a

vacancy would cause the organisation difficulties. An example is shown below.

Managingdirector

Director offinance

Director ofmarketing

Director ofknowledge

Director ofconsulting

Management,finance,facilities

andadministration

Marketingdevelopment

team

Knowledgeand

informationservicesteam

Consultingteam

This role is easy tofill from outside, and,has proved effective

in the past

Critical role, becausehe/she holds a significant

body of knowledge about the organisation

Maybe a critical role,as custodian of

client relationships …

Telling stories

Invite people in the organisation/group to tell stories about times when the

organisation has suffered difficulties or has been particularly successful. Use the

following questions to help them tell their story.

Alternatively, invite people to work in pairs and to interview each other using

the following questions. Then ask them to tell their partner’s story.

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Talking about the difficult times

• Tell me about a time when the organisation went through a particularly

tough patch.

• What roles were vacant?

• What impact did vacant roles have on the situation?

• Think about the last resignation that caused difficulties for the organisation

– why did this cause so much disruption?

• What was it about the person or role that caused the difficulties?

• What conclusions can you draw?

Talking about the successes

• Tell me about a time when the organisation was particularly successful.

• Which roles were instrumental in the success?

• What was it about the people or the role which helped the success?

• how much organisational information did the job-holders have?

• how did this feature in the success?

• What conclusions can you draw?

Risk analysis

The headings/questions here will help you identify which roles should be

succession-planned, and of those, which need an internally-sourced successor.

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The job role [write in the title, with a brief description, or refer to a job description]

Potential risks of the job being vacant [be honest about this – there will be roles in which there is minimal risk to the business]

Likelihood of the role becoming vacant within the next three years [guesstimate, unless you have concrete data]

Impact of the role [rate it ‘high’, ‘medium’ or ‘low’, and say why you rate it so]

Key skills, knowledge and competencies of the role [write notes here, or refer to the job description (if that is up to date)]

Availability of skills in the marketplace [to the best of your knowledge]

Is internal organisational know-how an essential requirement? [If it is, this role may require an internal successor – in which case say how much and what know-how is essential]

how long can this post be vacant before there is a detrimental impact? [Can the team make up for the vacancy – and if so, for how long?]

Do we need to succession-plan this position? [yes or no; either way, what do we do in the short term, and what do we do in the longer term?]

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What are the key positions? Why are they key posts?

Identifying key positions

You should now be in a position to identify the key positions in your

department/organisation.

Remember,

A key position exerts a critical influence on organisational activities –

operationally, strategically, or both.

Rothwell (2001)

*Excerpted from Effective Succession Planning by William J. Rothwell ©

2001 AMACOM, a division of American Management Association. Used by

permission of the publisher, AMACOM,New York, New York. All rights reserved

www.amacombooks.org

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