Talent Journey

In today’s organizations, much Human Resource focus goes toward making the right hiring choices and building teams to ensure success. We agree this is mission critical! We also assert that a rigorous succession management system marks the distinction between very good and legacy great companies. In fact, Jim Collins (“Good to Great”) found that the best leaders (Level 5) cared more about the legacy they left behind then the name they created in the present!

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.
- William James

Why is succession management so important? It is part of the strategy organizations use to create sustainable leadership through the natural course of departures, terminations, and retirements from your organization. Just as a personal will protects your family’s future, succession management provides clear guidance and continuity for your organization’s future. This ensures that the mission, values, momentum and success you have built thrives in the future.

History provides both good and bad succession management examples. For example, most people remember the ancient story of Moses in the Bible. Moses was a legacy leader. He spent years developing Joshua as his successor. When Joshua stepped into leadership, the transition was nearly seamless and the Israelites prospered immediately. Unfortunately, Joshua did not recreate this seamless transition. Joshua failed to develop a successor and Israel struggled for over 300 years after that without an effective leader.

What was true in the ancient days still holds true today. State Farm Insurance is known for their rigorous succession management system. Their website features numerous leadership, diversity, and community awards: http://www.statefarm.com/about/careers/awards_recog.asp. Many of the awards call out State Farm’s renowned succession management and development process. On the other hand, we can all think of a plethora of poor succession processes. One recently poor transition occurred at Bank of American when the former CEO Kenneth Lewis announced that he planned to retire within 3 months, surprising the board. Responsible board and leadership teams prepare years in advance for leadership transition.

Clearly, succession management is MISSION CRITICAL. So, why do so many organizations either fail to implement or under-engage in managing succession? The first obstacle is leadership focus. Most of us keep plenty busy managing today’s urgent issues and have difficulty getting around to succession management. The second reason fuels the first. Many leadership teams perceive that the succession management process is cumbersome and time-consuming. In reality, however, Succession Management is simple to implement. We want to show you how!

The process can be explained in just 4 steps:

1. Identify the key leadership/technical roles within the organization. These key roles are those the company cannot afford to leave vacant or under-employed. Any role mission critical to the future strategy should be included.
2. Identify the top talent in the organization. These can include high potentials (superstar performers), and experts (technical, scarce talent, or those with historical knowledge).
3. Assess your talent for competency. This step would include review of past performance and work history, evaluation of advancement potential, and an objective assessment of leadership competency. We also recommend evaluating the intensity of a potential successor’s desire to lead and the depth of their commitment to the vision and values of the organization.
4. Create and implement development plans for key talent. Some development activities might include training, special stretch assignments, participation in Executive Staff meetings, rotational assignments, and coaching.

With proactive succession management, organizations minimize risk and disruptions in the business. Succession management also makes transitions reasonably seamless and optimizes the opportunity for growth and legacy within the organization. Overall, planning for succession creates positive momentum in all parts of the business for decades into the future and leaves a legacy that endures.

Author: Diane Brown at TJ Associates LLC (Talent Journey). Copyright protected, all rights reserved worldwide.