Succession planning must be an ongoing and high business priority that requires significant planning and resourcing, advises Steve Passam.

For many organisations succession planning is often an afterthought that is only ever considered when a key team member tenders their resignation or informally signals they are seeking a new role and challenge.

Yet in today’s knowledge economy, where people mean business and recruitment difficulties persist, organisations have to actively compete to attract and retain good people and need to clearly demonstrate career paths that excite and engage their employees in order to retain and attract talent.

Just as employees are under pressure to show their ability to perform and achieve in the workplace, organisations must offer opportunities for talented employees if they want to keep hold of them. After all, employees will always retain the option to choose to work for competitors or branch out on their own if they are not engaged and retained by their existing employer.

Given the competitive labour market and difficulties organisations face in attracting and retaining talent, the most successful organisations will be those that integrate succession planning into their day-to-day thinking and designate responsibility for this activity to one manager or team.

The role of a succession planner

Whilst succession planning is one element of an individual HR manager’s role, it is a key function that offers HR professionals a fantastic opportunity to work closely with business leaders to develop the next crop of talent.

HR managers that are actively involved in succession planning have the ability to demonstrate their understanding of business strategy and showcase their commercial awareness and understanding of the business’ operating environment.

In addition, they have a strong platform to communicate its support of the future business direction and create closer ties with the organisation’s next leadership and management team. Its influence and opportunity should not be underestimated.

Steps to implementing an effective succession plan

The challenge facing HR managers responsible for succession planning is how to develop a robust yet flexible policy that meets the changing needs of the organisation, as well as creating engagement with, and awareness of, the policy throughout the business. There are a number of steps that enable HR to do this:

1. Review and work with the business strategy, including the talent management strategy. This review should include engaging senior leaders to share their views on current performance, future operational and leadership business needs, challenges and priorities.

2. Develop the business case for succession planning and seek to secure a board-level ambassador to champion your succession plan.

3. Conduct an audit of skills within the business – where are the strengths and weaknesses?

4. Develop a plan of action to address the skills gaps and areas that require improvement and updating.

5. Identify individuals who demonstrate ‘high potential’ ability to progress and develop the business. Work with line managers to determine which employees belong in this pool.

6. Gather 360-degree feedback on ‘high potential’ employees to confirm they do have the potential to grow and identify future leaders.

7. Monitor performance and ensure performance objectives are aligned closely to overall business objectives.

8. Work with ‘high potentials’ to create individual development plans what will help to shape and coach them to consider the ‘bigger’ picture. Incorporate formal core competency training with mentoring and support from senior management.

9. Encourage senior leaders to allow ‘high potentials’ to give update reports to the management team. This experience and exposure will be appreciated and will enable them to develop positive working relationships with senior managers. It will also provide an insight into management meetings.

10. Continue to review succession planning policies and individuals classified as ‘high potential’ to reflect internal changes within the business as well as changes in its operating environment.

Managing expectations through clear communication

Succession planning is often a victim of employee misconceptions; being a high performer does not mean individuals are automatically added to a talent pool of future leaders, for example.

Therefore, clear communication is vital for succession planning success and is a key element that HR needs to leverage to engage key stakeholders who ultimately determine the success of this activity.

Communication ensures employees feel valued and are supported in the knowledge that the business is committed to developing talent. It reassures senior management that the business is in safe and knowledgeable hands and is prepared for the challenges ahead. And, perhaps most importantly, communicating the organisation’s investment and commitment to career development encourages the ‘high potential’ talent pool to remain with and perform in the organisation.

Steve Passam is director of HR Access.