THE INS AND OUTS OF SUCCESSION PLANNING Association of Catholic Publishers September 4, 2014  Carol Fowler  [email protected]  312-320-9346 (Cell) What is succession planning?  A process for identifying and developing internal people to fill key leadership positions in an organization.  Replacement planning for key roles in a narrow sense is at the heart of succession planning  Broadly, it is a process that ensures staff is recruited and developed for ongoing staffing purposes. WHY BOTHER?  Small and medium organizations are often not adequately prepared for business succession.  We rely on staff to make the mission happen  Baby boomer reality! DISCUSSION  Given your personal experience and experience in your publishing organization, what are the key competencies for major leadership roles in your organization?  What could be some helpful developmental experiences for those who might be slated for significant leadership positions in your organization? KEY PROCESSES  Choosing the right employees  Developing employees for key roles PROCESSES AND PRACTICES  Identify key roles  Define competencies and motivational profile  Assessment with a future orientation  Identify pools of talent  Develop staff  CANDOR  Differentiation Related processes of planning  Business Exit Planning  Integration of performance management and succession planning  Planning in family businesses STEPS IN SUCCESSION PLANNING  Capacity and needs assessment  Develop and implement the plan  Monitor and manage the plan SUCCESSION STRATEGIES (OPM.gov.)  Identify recruitment strategies  Identify retention strategies  Identify development/learning strategies  Link to HR practices of performance management, compensation, recognition, recruitment and retention, workforce planning EFFECTIVE SUCCESSION PLANNING HAS CLEAR OBJECTIVES (Kesler, 2002)  Identify those with potential for greater leadership  Provide critical development experiences  Engage leadership in supporting such experiences  Build a good database to make better staffing decisions FIRST STEPS  Reasonable financial stability of the organization is in place  Strategic plan and articulated mission, vision and values are in place  CEO is engaged, supportive and involved  Performance management system is in place  (Compass Point) EMERGENCY SUCCESSION PLANNING  Identify critical executive functions and responsibilities  Document key relationships, contacts and processes  Readily available file for key documents, strategic plans, operational plans, calendars, activitiesd, etc.  Create policy and procedure for immediate implementation when necessary  Good succession planning should reduce the number of times an emergency succession plan needs to be implemented. Legal Note:  A succession plan is not a guarantee of future employment but rather a developmental plan to prepare staff for possible opportunities and organizational needs. DISCUSSION:  Can you think of some examples of times in your current organization or a different organization when lack of succession planning created a major problem? For example: perhaps there was an untimely death of a leader or unexpected long term illness in which that person had key processes and knowledge “in her head?” BENEFITS OF SUCCESSION PLANNING  Aligns staff and staff development with strategic plans of the organization  Builds leadership capacity of staff  Aligns staff development with Board and C-Suite goals  (The Fogarty Group) HOW LEADERS DEVELOP  Coaches, mentors and bosses  Peer groups including professional organizations  Formal training and leadership development programs  Topical workshops  (Nonprofit Leadership Development: A Model for Identifying and Growing Leaders. Bonner and Obergas) DISCUSSION:  What are some key challenges to effective succession planning? BIBLIOGRAPHY  A Succession Planning Checklist – Compass Point  Nonprofit Leadership Development: A Model for Identifing and Growing Leaders. Bonner and Obergas  Emergency Succession Planning Template  Leslie Bonner, Bonner Consulting  Gay Fogarty, The Fogarty Group  Office of Personnel Management opm.gov Bibliography cont.  Succession Planning – HR Toolkit, HR Council of Canada hrcouncil.ca  Leading Organization Design by Gregorgy Kesler  GOOGLE  Winning by Jack Welch  Advantage by Patrick Lencioni