THE INS AND OUTS OF SUCCESSION

PLANNINGAssociation of Catholic Publishers

September 4, 2014

Carol Fowler

clfowler5455@gmail.com

312-320-9346 (Cell)

What is succession planning?

A process for identifying and developing internal people to fill key leadership positions in an organization.

Replacement planning for key roles in a narrow sense is at the heart of succession planning

Broadly, it is a process that ensures staff is recruited and developed for ongoing staffing purposes.

WHY BOTHER?

Small and medium organizations are often not adequately prepared for business succession.

We rely on staff to make the mission happen

Baby boomer reality!

DISCUSSION

Given your personal experience and experience in your publishing organization, what are the key competencies for major leadership roles in your organization?

What could be some helpful developmental experiences for those who might be slated for significant leadership positions in your organization?

KEY PROCESSES

Choosing the right employees

Developing employees for key roles

PROCESSES AND PRACTICES

Identify key roles

Define competencies and motivational profile

Assessment with a future orientation

Identify pools of talent

Develop staff

CANDOR

Differentiation

Related processes of planning

Business Exit Planning

Integration of performance management and succession planning

Planning in family businesses

STEPS IN SUCCESSION PLANNING

Capacity and needs assessment

Develop and implement the plan

Monitor and manage the plan

SUCCESSION STRATEGIES (OPM.gov.)

Identify recruitment strategies

Identify retention strategies

Identify development/learning strategies

Link to HR practices of performance management, compensation, recognition, recruitment and retention, workforce planning

EFFECTIVE SUCCESSION PLANNING HAS CLEAR OBJECTIVES (Kesler, 2002)

Identify those with potential for greater leadership

Provide critical development experiences

Engage leadership in supporting such experiences

Build a good database to make better staffing decisions

FIRST STEPS

Reasonable financial stability of the organization is in place

Strategic plan and articulated mission, vision and values are in place

CEO is engaged, supportive and involved

Performance management system is in place

(Compass Point)

EMERGENCY SUCCESSION PLANNING

Identify critical executive functions and responsibilities

Document key relationships, contacts and processes

Readily available file for key documents, strategic plans, operational plans, calendars, activitiesd, etc.

Create policy and procedure for immediate implementation when necessary

Good succession planning should reduce the number of times an emergency succession plan needs to be implemented.

Legal Note:

A succession plan is not a guarantee of future employment but rather a developmental plan to prepare staff for possible opportunities and organizational needs.

DISCUSSION:

Can you think of some examples of times in your current organization or a different organization when lack of succession planning created a major problem?

For example: perhaps there was an untimely death of a leader or unexpected long term illness in which that person had key processes and knowledge “in her head?”

BENEFITS OF SUCCESSION PLANNING

Aligns staff and staff development with strategic plans of the organization

Builds leadership capacity of staff

Aligns staff development with Board and C-Suite goals

(The Fogarty Group)

HOW LEADERS DEVELOP

Coaches, mentors and bosses

Peer groups including professional organizations

Formal training and leadership development programs

Topical workshops

(Nonprofit Leadership Development: A Model for Identifying and Growing Leaders. Bonner and Obergas)

DISCUSSION:

What are some key challenges to effective succession planning?

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A Succession Planning Checklist – Compass Point

Nonprofit Leadership Development: A Model for Identifing and Growing Leaders. Bonner and Obergas

Emergency Succession Planning Template

Leslie Bonner, Bonner Consulting

Gay Fogarty, The Fogarty Group

Office of Personnel Management opm.gov

Bibliography cont.

Succession Planning – HR Toolkit, HR Council of Canada hrcouncil.ca

Leading Organization Design by Gregorgy Kesler

GOOGLE

Winning by Jack Welch

Advantage by Patrick Lencioni