Plan Well & Execute: The importance of succession planning for your organization - New Haven Register

There always have been writings and thinking advancing the importance of your team members. Topics such as job expansion, team building, cross-training, talent optimization and dozens of others continue to capture the interests and concerns of executives, consultants, academics and human resource professionals.

Today, I want to touch on the importance of the individual skills development of your team members. In particular, skills growth as it pertains to succession planning.

Succession planning is the development of an individual or individuals in specific knowledge areas, skill sets, experiences and responsibilities that prepare them for increasingly responsible positions in your organization.

Many firms dedicate time during their strategic planning work to discuss anticipated staffing changes and the needs for the future. This is a great time for the succession planning discussion because it comes in context with the backdrop of the strategic framing of the organization.

Larger organizations have had full succession planning programs in place for years. Some of them limit the succession planning to those in the executive suite, while other firms have the succession plan expand down and across the larger organization. The identification of talent and the requisite capabilities of your future organization is a component of the succession planning activity.

It is important for the executive teams to anticipate the capabilities and skills required for today but also those skills that are on the horizon. Some of those futures skill sets might include language skills, multi-discipline perspectives and the list grows continuously. There are times when the new skill sets are not available in your current organization. At those times, recruiting from the field of applicants both experienced and from educational sources may provide the required talent.

Smaller organizations are not exempt from succession planning. Some organizations groom the offspring of the founder for leadership positions. Other organizations grow through acquisition and gain new leadership talent by those methods.

A portion of a manager’s responsibly is to develop their team members to be able to replace the manager. To facilitate this development, when a manager is away for a meeting or vacation it can become customary to appoint a member of the team to cover in the manager’s absence.

This activity is a grooming activity and it provides the team member with a glimpse into the responsibilities of the manager’s job. Additionally, this time in the manager’s chair will offer the team member a refreshed view of the organization. Usually to reinforce the experience, there is a debriefing of the experience between the manager and the team member. Other managers may attend to broaden the learning experience.

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There are benefits of the succession planning activities for all organizations. Team members who have been identified become more motivated through their experiences. The organization benefits from the future planning. Hopefully, risks will be minimized due to skills shortages or unanticipated departures. Finally, skills growth of your team is usually a great idea.

Imagine if everyone in your organization could assume multiple positions laterally and vertically in your organization. Talent usually wins.

Cornell Wright is the author of “31 Coffee Breaks to a Better Organization,” an executive coach, trainer and consultant at The Parker Wright Group Inc. in Stratford. The firm strengthens clients’ team development in pursuit of customer service strategies and processes. He is a Certified Partner of Predictive Index. He can be reached at 203-377-4226 or cornell@parkerwrightgroup.com.

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