Steps to a Successful Succession Planning Strategy

An Effective Succession Management study (EFS) found that only 1 percent of surveyed organizations rated their succession management plans as excellent, and two-thirds described them as fair or worse. Don’t get caught in the majority; take the Jacobson Group’s advice and make use of these key steps to make your succession plan work for you.

Clearly Define Your Objectives

Outline the underlying objectives of your succession plan: What is the ultimate goal and what objectives need to be met to reach that goal? This includes listing key roles that are part of the succession plan.

Establish Core Leadership Competencies

Outline the most desirable and necessary traits for senior-level employees within your organization. This should be specific to your company. Don’t allow your succession team to use general leadership terms like “self-motivator” and “mentor leadership style.” What does it really take to succeed at the executive table within your company? What traits will be necessary in the future to further grow your organization?

Outline the Process

Clearly define the succession plan and each leader’s role in the process. To ensure a consistent and unbiased review of potential leaders by the various members of your succession and leadership team, create a rating system to be used. Additionally, design templates for leadership development charts and key position succession charts. The preplanning will allow for a more effective implementation.

Ensure Buy-in from Your Current Leadership Team

Communicate. Thoroughly explain the goals of your organization’s succession plan and its process to your leaders. Get their buy-in by making them comfortable with identifying high potentials rather than feeling threatened by them. Help them understand that as senior leadership they are accountable for building great leaders.

Identify and Assess Potential Leaders

Identify those who have exhibited the potential to become future leaders. Create a profile for each employee, outlining their history, accomplishments, and strengths and weaknesses. Using the rating system you developed, rate all potential successors on their performance and potential to determine what stage of leadership development they are in. Suggest paths of development that will maximize each individual’s potential.

Guarantee Open Communication and Strategizing

Schedule a meeting of the succession team, including all key leaders. In an open forum discuss all high potentials and their further development. Create succession charts reflecting each key position, potential successors, and their current state of development. These meetings should help determine if there are any gaps in your organization and allow you to (a) put a potential on a new track or (b) hire from outside to fill the gaps.

Develop Potentials

Invest time and money in your potentials to further develop them. Present them with challenging trial assignments and special projects to allow them to further refine their talents and to uncover new abilities.

Recognize that Succession Planning is an Ongoing Process

On a semi-annually or quarterly basis, each company must realistically look at its future needs and determine what talent resources it has in place. Conduct an ongoing review. The process must be fluid as potentials move into leadership roles, new potentials join the organization, and some employees leave the company. Key position succession charts and potential leadership development charts may need to be updated more frequently, depending on the specific organization’s needs. Mentors and leaders should continually monitor potentials’ development plans and make adjustments to their grooming as necessary.

Look for more information on Succession Planning in future editions of the Farm Mutual Forum.

Reprinted with permission from the Jacobson Executive Search Succession Planning newsletter.

Posted: Friday, December 21, 2007 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Friday, December 21, 2007 10:04:17 AM.

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