How can I plan for succession?

We all like to think it will not happen to us. Our organisation will not be hit by unexpected employment vacancies caused by such events as resignations, deaths and even sudden and severe illness of key staff. But the unexpected can, and does happen. We have a good example in the events of September 11 2001 when the loss of key executives and staff of various organisations in the World Trade Center caused ripple effects that were felt worldwide. The impact on those organisations that were directly hit will have varied greatly depending on their corporate strategies.

Any organisation serious about continuity will have planned for succession. Succession planning has always been considered as essentially a strategic activity, which in the past has focused mainly on targeting key management positions. Organisations are now realising that there is a need to expand the scope of this activity to cover key positions and key persons across the entire organisation. This involves a deliberate attempt at developing fully the skills and abilities of identified successors. Having a workable succession plan ensures that, at all times, core skills needed for the smooth operation of the organisation is available. Succession planning helps an organisation to prepare for expected and unexpected events.

Planning and corporate growth

A key question to ask yourself any time you consider plans for your organisation’s growth is, “Do I have a sustainable work force? In literal terms do I have “backup” for the key positions in the organisation? Key positions should not be limited to the very senior positions but must trickle down to the lower level positions, focusing also on the activities and skills of the individuals performing them.

In Ghana, and possibly across most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, companies have suffered greatly due to the lack of a proper succession plan for management and critical positions. On a recent review assignment we discovered that our client, a large multinational, did not have a working succession plan. This had created several difficult situations for them in the past where less than ideal solutions had been the only solutions achievable. The fastest remedial action in some cases had been to recall employees from retirement and offer them fixed term contracts.

In another instance, they had to bring in a specialist from overseas as a temporary stand-in when a key employee unexpectedly resigned. We also discovered that some of these crisis situations occurred even at the lower levels. The list of examples is long and will continue to grow until the company fully implements a workable succession plan.

We have also had instances where clients have requested recruitment services, as they are desperate to fill vacancies within unreasonable time frames – all because a key person had suddenly resigned and there was no one internally to step in his/her place. Such cases tell us that the organisation’s functioning depends on individuals. Having a succession planning system in place ensures that no single individual can bring work to a halt at any point in time due to his or her unavailability.

Succession planning must be based on the overall corporate strategy of the organisation. It must be an ongoing activity, which constantly seeks to align an organisation’s business demands with its human capital requirements. It is therefore critical for organisations to also have well developed corporate plans. A good corporate plan will incorporate the strategic concerns of the organisation and the requirement for achieving them. This then enables proper planning of human resource requirements.

A succession plan does not operate in isolation; it must be linked to the human resource strategy of the organisation. This strategy is defined in the systems and policies that are used to manage the human resource. These include recruitment, training/development, career development planning and an effective performance management system.

A succession plan also forms part of the broader human resource plan which seeks to ensure that at all times the organisation has the right people performing the right jobs. Whereas a human resource plan will be looking at the appropriate staffing numbers and skills mix for the entire organisation, a succession plan will focus on ensuring that there is a steady pool of candidates with the requisite skills, knowledge and attributes to perform the identified critical roles in the organisation.

Key Questions

• Does your organisation have a well-defined corporate plan?
• Do you have a well-defined organisational structure?
• Do you have the right skills to achieve the goals set out in the corporate plan?
• What next?

Finding answers to questions such as these will set you thinking about what the critical measures/systems to put in place are to ensure that your organisation becomes a success and/or continues to grow.

Basic steps

A team and not an individual must develop a succession plan. This team must include all the senior executives in the organisation and be directed by an expert. The main steps for developing a succession plan are:

• Identify key jobs and key skills across the entire organisation.
• Anticipate your staff turnover for a planned period
• Identify the key individuals included in this list and put in place a contingency plan for these executives.
• Identify more than one potential candidate as a successor for each position. Consider whether an external candidate should be sourced and groomed for the role.
• If the candidate is already in the business, assess his or her skills and identify any weaknesses.
• Draw up a development programme for the identified candidates and follow that programme.

While working with clients, I have established that most organisations are aware of the need to have a succession plan and so have made attempts in various forms. The most common response is “we have it but it is yet to be formalised.” This is not enough. A succession plan must be documented, achievable and operational. Above all it should be transparent and understood by all employees.

Managing the succession process

Having a succession plan should not end the process, as the process needs to be managed for the plan to work. It is important to develop and groom the identified successors for their future responsibilities by identifying their training needs, both technical and managerial, and ensure that they are met.

The design of the system should be such that it is transparent and easily understood by all employees. The entire workforce must be educated on the system and their concerns addressed. Senior executives have responsibility for the system and they in turn must ensure support from all to make the system work. The success of your succession planning and management lies greatly in the support senior executives and management gives it.

Succession planning allows you to plan for what you have control over now, and to mitigate the effect of events you do not have control over in the future.

Elsie is currently managing our Human Resource Service line in Ghana. Her work involves providing HR technical advice and support to both public and private organisations.