Succession Planning – the Key to Make Your Organization Future Proof

Succession planning

Succession planning is a systematic approach for identifying and developing new leaders that can replace the old ones in future. For today’s business scenario, your organization might be well staffed but there could be changes and shifts in the upcoming days. As an employer or human resource manager, you need to think about the future and develop a  workforce that can adapt to upcoming shifts and efficiently take up leadership roles whenever necessary. Succession planning is all about mapping the talents and future needs, and training and developing the employees accordingly.

 There are a few simple steps of succession planning that an organization can follow:

 1.    Define Business Objectives and Growth Plans

To understand the future needs, you need to define the vision, mission and values of the organization. This helps you understand where your organization plans on heading. Such insights clarify the objectives, growth aspirations and the markets you want to explore. All this information is critical for deciding how to develop your employees. Budget forecast is also important as it shows where you need to invest more and how the departments will be funded.

 2.      Identify ImportantPositions

Succession planning is focused on the important positionsof the organization; the roles that are crucial to meet business objectives. Also, you need to assess the risk areas through demographic analysis. Risk assessment helps you identify the important positions in your organization.

 3.      Assess Your Employees

Employee assessment is a crucial part of succession planning. You must identify and analyze the existing skill sets and knowledge you have in your organization. This is followed by recognizing the gaps. Employees can help you with this by filling out self-evaluation forms in which you can find out the existing skills. Managers or team leaders can also rank the employee skills. This gives you a basic idea on how to start planning.

 4.      Know Employee Aspirations

Keep your succession planning open and transparent. Discuss with your employees their preferred future roles within the company. Honest conversation with your staff will help you have a realistic plan. Ask your employees if they want to try out a different job role, or if they aspire to get promoted. This helps you in understanding your workforce better. 

 5.      Develop Strategies

The next step is developing strategies for developing the workforce. Identify the requirements and formulate strategies like developing internal talents orrecruiting new talents to address succession planning. It’s also important to document the strategies in your action plan. An action plan gives you a clear idea of the roles, responsibilities and timelines.

 6.      Groom Your Employees

Help your employees reach their potential. Once you formulate a plan, you might find many gaps that need to be closed to ensure succession. Some employees require additional training and development while others require cross-departmental exposure. Include managers and supervisors in your strategies and take their help in deciding the right course of action for each employee. Retention programs are also crucial to make critical employees stay with your company.