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Succession Planning
Succession Planning
- What happens to your business if your key people leave?
- Why would they want to leave?
- How will your staff develop and grow to keep pace with the challenges your business will face in the coming months and years?
Copernicus Succession Planning can address all of the above for you
“Great managers develop people, and offer them to the organisation” P. Barnevik
- Nearly 80% of the average companies value is in intangibles
- Human Capital is normally the key intangible
“The knowledge, skills, competencies of individuals and groups relevant to the task in hand”
The phrase ‘it’s never too late’ has never been more appropriate for when it’s time for a business to include succession planning as a core part of its strategy.
Succession planning can be broadly defined as identifying future potential leaders to fill key positions.
Succession planning is 'a process by which one or more successors are identified for key posts (or groups of similar key posts), and career moves and/or development activities are planned for these successors. Successors may be fairly ready to do the job (short-term successors) or seen as having longer-term potential (long-term successors).'
A balance between organisation and individual
The old succession planning was purely about organisational needs. The modern version takes account of the growing recognition that people - men as well as women - increasingly need to make their own career decisions and to balance career and family responsibilities. So the emphasis is about balancing the aspirations of individuals with those of their employing organisations, as far as possible customising moves to meet the needs of employees, their families and the changing skill requirements of the organisation.
Roles not jobs
In the past, people would move up to specific, often specialist, jobs. Now (although some jobs will always require specialists) the main focus is on identifying and developing groups of jobs to enable potential successors to be identified for a variety of roles. So jobs might be clustered by role, function and level so that the generic skills responsible for particular roles can be developed. The aim is to develop pools of talented people, each of whom is adaptable and capable of filling a number of roles. Because succession planning is concerned with developing longer-term successors as well as short-term replacements, each pool will be considerably larger than the range of posts it covers.
A Critical Success Factor?
In order to assist your succession planning, we work with you to gain a common understanding about the future of the business, how it is likely to change, and how such change might affect the numbers involved and the skills they need to possess.
Common values
Greater openness and transparency have come with the greater emphasis on the individual and the focus on roles rather than jobs. (In the past it was felt that the motivation of those not on the fast track would be sapped by the knowledge that they were not on it.) Secrecy is being gradually reduced, and advertising of internal jobs is increasing. Employees need to understand the succession process, the methods used to judge potential successors, and the kinds of jobs that are considered suitable for each individual.
Businesses who have worked with Coprnicus to develop the succesion planning model within their company value platform as a key strategic process can point to excellent staff retention rates, and high performing staff. With such openness comes fairness; an objective assessments of all available candidates, key talent reviews, succession and personal development plans implemented. Motivated staff. Satisfied customers.
Continual development
Organisations are not static. They evolve. Similarly, as you become involved in succession planning and gain experience of its operation, your buiness structure will change accoding to requirements, and not based on gut feeling or a stand alone decision that does not fit with the strategic goals.
For help and guidance on succession planning as a challenge in itself or as part of an overall strategic review contact us today on info@copernicus-consulting.com and let us help guide your business to future success.