5 Tips for Succession Planning

Succession planning is a key component in any successful organization’s future. Even if you have a “dream team” assembled, people retire or move on to other opportunities and you must be ready to adapt at a moment’s notice. Baby boomers are leaving the workforce at a rapid pace and leaving behind a wealth of vacant positions. Do you have a strategy in place for when your top performers leave? Do you know who will fill their shoes when they are gone? If you answered “no” to either of these questions, you are leaving yourself open to the dreaded “talent gap” that so many companies face. Without a plan in place, upper management will inevitably move on at some point and you’ll be left with employees that are in no position to step up and assume leadership. Read on to start developing your succession planning initiative today.

1. Align your long term strategy with workforce planning. To determine how to effectively handle succession planning, you must first identify your long term vision and the resources necessary for achieving these goals. Use existing data and metrics to analyze what you are likely to need for a successful business initiative.
   
2. Analyze talent gaps. Once you have determined the resources you will need to realize your vision for the future, search for potential shortfalls. Identify the talent pools needed for the long term and compare them to your current resources. Establish how your supply and demand may change over time and diagnose how you will handle this. It’s crucial to develop a business strategy that caters to future talent needs, not simple position replacement.
   
3. Identify your top performers. Assess your top performers across all areas of your organization. This includes senior leadership all the way down to promising new hires. Turnover is expensive and can take up a lot of time, so ideally you will want to promote from within. Determine who has the most potential for a future within your organization and plan on moving them up accordingly. Conduct performance reviews and regularly communicate with members of your team at all levels to help determine competency and skill. Reassess any potential gaps once you have mapped out which employees have the option for upward mobility.
   
4. Develop and implement your succession strategy. After you have identified your top performers, develop a strategy for how they will move up in the company over the years. Plan for coaching and mentoring initiatives to develop strong performers, along with increasing responsibility, conducting performance reviews, and organizing shadowing programs. Develop strategies for increasing retention and offering incentives to top performers. Recognize their efforts and compensate them well as you slowly expand their responsibilities. The idea here is to have them prepared to step up well before the need arises.
   
   
5. Evaluate. Upon expanding your succession planning strategy and moving your top performers into place, implement a plan to track and monitor their performance. Listen to feedback from their supervisors, peers, and direct reports. Gather information about their performance from clients and customers. If they are underperforming, you may have to reevaluate your workforce planning strategy. If they are exceeding expectations, look for any potential talent gaps at higher levels and consider them for coaching and development. Reassess accordingly as company goals and resources change, this is a continuous process.