Building a Succession Plan: How Can I Get Started and What Should I Consider?

Hi Cecilia,

I want to build a succession plan in my company. I need help with this job.

Thanks,
Cecilia

Hi Cicilia,

Just go through the structure of your organization. Look into how many years a particular employee has been working, what their career plan was, how much they have achieved, and what the company thinks about their growth. Based on this information, create a succession planning strategy. Try to develop a questionnaire for this.

Divya

Dear Cecilia,

Succession Planning is a very important HR activity in any forward-looking organization. There are certain key posts in the company that are crucial to the functioning of the company and these are included in the ambit of succession planning.

Therefore, follow the steps given below:
(a) Identify the key posts in your organization.
(b) List out the competencies required for each of these posts.
(c) Carry out competency mapping of personnel functioning in the same space, but one rung lower.
(d) Shortlist personnel who have the necessary competencies or show certain basic signs that could be built upon.
(e) Train/groom these personnel to fill up the higher-level posts.

This, in short, is succession planning. The main theme is to use internal talent to fill crucial posts in the company - this brings about better motivation, better job fit, attracts good talent, etc.

Go ahead and give it a shot!

Regards

Hi Cecilia,

Relevant steps as below:

1. Draw up department-wise Organization Charts.
2. Put positions and individual names in organization boxes.
3. Get a crisp summary of each person with respect to their Performance Rating (Last 2 at least), Potential Rating, etc.
4. Also, gather data on time spent in the current job.
5. Identify the next level (Direct Reports).
6. Have similar data on Performance, Potential, and Time Spent on the job.
7. Also, assess their readiness in terms of moving to the next level with respect to time, i.e., 0-6 Months/6-1.5 Years/1.5 Years-3 Years/Beyond 3 years.
8. Wherever we have Readiness to move beyond 3 Years, there's a risk element, and a stronger pipeline should be built in those areas.
9. Answers could be Developmental Initiatives, External Hiring, etc.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,
Rajesh

Hi all, I am Anushka Sharma. I am also working on Succession Planning for my organization. Here, I am attaching the presentation which I gave to my management.

Regards,

Hi Cecilia,

We would like to thank the following members - Rajesh, Vinu415, and Divya for their valuable inputs.

And special credit to Anushka Sharma for a succinct PPT, which is a broad guideline on how succession planning should be carried out.

It's a tough task laid out ahead, and many issues need to be dealt with to ensure "buy-in" from top management.

I would recommend that you read the article on the Succession Planning Crisis faced by companies in the latest Business Today dated 17th Dec '06, "Whose Next," where blue-chip companies like Tatas, HDFC, and Godrej are addressing these vexed issues. Just imagine a professional company like L&T, where A. Naik was asked to stay on until the age of 70 until a successor is identified, while GE's Jack Welch followed a structured process to find the successor in Jeffrey Immelt among the other two candidates, Bob Nardelli and Jim McNearny. These two professionals, after losing the race to leadership to Jeffrey, moved to other companies as CEOs - Bob to Home Depot and Jim to 3M!

Family-owned companies like Godrej, Thermax, United Breweries, Marico Industries, etc., who follow the policy of primogeniture, are better off than professionally run companies.

Frankly, in India, it becomes an academic exercise, and top positions are filled through lateral movements from different industries. Perhaps it's time for us HR professionals to have a reality check and relook at these issues from different perspectives!

Any ideas/views on how successful these Indian companies have been in this process and how this can be addressed?

Regards,

Rajat Joshi

Hi Cicilia,

Please let me know if you have done more work on this topic as I am also working on the same subject. It would be beneficial for me as well.

Regards,
Anushka Sharma

Hi, Ma'am! That's really a great piece of valuable information on succession planning. I am Aravind pursuing an MBA in HR and also doing a summer internship on the above-mentioned topic. If you have any more information, please send it to me. I would be thankful to you.

Thank you for all your sharing on this topic. I am also preparing to build a succession plan for our company; however, we have not yet defined in detail the competencies that are useful for the succession planning program. As such, I cannot imagine what forms I need to draft for the process. Any sharing about policy, template, or form related to this topic is appreciated. Many thanks.