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I’ve been noticing several of my LinkedIn connections are transitioning to new jobs. That’s great. Everyone should follow their career goals.
When people are moving to new opportunities – whether those are internal or external – it’s a good time to focus on succession planning. Organizations should be thinking about the future. More specifically, organizations should be thinking about the people who might be able to move into future jobs.
However, all succession planning related activities are not the same. I think the reason that some organizations shy away from succession planning is because they don’t want to tell someone, “Leonard, we think you’re our next CFO.” They don’t want to make that level of commitment. I get it. But the company should still do something. So here are some succession planning activities to consider.
- Replacement planning is the exercise of saying, “If our CFO quits, retires, etc., who will replace them?” The people involved in replacement planning are often already in the department and have some experience.That’s not to say they wouldn’t need some training, but they could relatively easily transition into the role. If the organization doesn’t have anyone who could do it, this might be cause for concern.
- Internal talent pools are groups of high performing and high potential employees that the organization wants to consider for future opportunities. The challenge could be that the future opportunity isn’t clearly identified yet. In the meantime, the organization can develop the group through training and special projects. It sends the message that the organization values the employee. And the skills being developed can be used now and in the future.
- Succession planning is the formal process of identifying an individual and the role they would be transitioning into. The organization and the individual are committed to actively developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be ready when the time comes. An example of succession planning could be the CEO who decides they are retiring and is working with the COO to transition responsibilities prior to their departure.
- Knowledge management (KM) is the process of identifying, creating, organizing, and sharing organizational knowledge. I’m putting KM here because there are times when an individual might leave and the organization isn’t planning to replace them. Maybe their role will be assumed by artificial intelligence (AI), or their individual tasks will be distributed around the organization, or the role will be outsourced, or a combination of these. Organizations will want to have a formal KM plan in place, so the knowledge isn’t lost.
When it comes to succession planning, organizations have to think about the people, the work, and the knowledge. All three are equally important for business success.
As we’re starting to think about the rest of the year … and start planning for next year, having a conversation about succession planning should be a part of the talent strategy. Yes, companies need to think about workforce planning and staffing plans too. It’s all related. Human resources professionals can proactively offer solutions when they’re a part of the conversation about the future talent in the organization.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Washington, DC
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