TalentSphere

Succession planning

Peter Humphrey

Believe it or not – you are replaceable. Succession planning – a system of identifying, evaluating and developing future leadership potential. And there’s a lot more to it than just nervously looking over your shoulder…

 

Picture this: a case study

Six months ago, you took on a junior to lighten your workload. Her name was Anne. Anne picked things up quickly which is great – right? Now she is getting into the office half an hour before you each morning, she’s still there when you leave – no matter how late you stay – and everyone is telling you what a terrific job she is doing. OK, so maybe she picked things up a little too quickly. But still, you’re sure she is after your job and, worse, everyone knows it.

This can’t be happening. Sound familiar? Sound scary? What do you feel like doing?

A bit extreme perhaps – but when one of your employees is doing a fantastic job, it’s sometimes natural to feel threatened. When we feel threatened though, rather than encouraging them and trying to develop them further, we can be more likely to step on them and try to push them back down to where we think they belong.

This might work in the short-term – for you. It’s unlikely to stop Anne and her blinding ambition. It may aggravate and frustrate her. She may lose respect for you. She may get fed up and end up doing a storming job for one of your competitors. Your boss may find out and your career will run into a brick wall. Fast.

 

What’s the alternative?

Can you work this to your advantage? Sure. Think about the situation from a different point of view, say, that of your boss. Being fabulous at your job is of course terrific. Being so brilliant that you become irreplaceable isn’t necessarily so good. If you are ‘too good’ at your job it could hinder your leap up the career ladder. You could miss out on promotions because of a fear from above about what will happen to your division once you’re gone.

Next thing you know, you’ve been in the same role for seven years, you’re bored stiff. But every time you bring up the prospect of promotion, you’re given a bit more cash to shut you up, you get a slap on the back and get told what an amazing job you’re doing. You’re a real asset to the company and you’ve already heard it, over and over and over again.

This situation is a reality for many people in business. What can be done? The answer is succession planning. If you’re sick of treading water in your own job, it’s worth studying up on.

 

Why succession planning can help you and your company

 

Change the way you work

Many people think of succession planning as a plan to replace the person at the top. It should be a plan to replace people in every level of the company from top executives to key support staff. Once a company has a succession plan, it is in a better position to promote and to hire without reverting to a ‘bums on seats’ style of recruitment, where managers desperately rush to plug gaps which don’t take long to start coming unplugged again.

Take the case of Holly, a senior consultant with a recruitment consultancy. Reporting to her were two junior consultants she had been training up. When she sought promotion to the next level, she was set targets. One of the top three targets was for her to coach two junior consultants to the next level. Once she had secured their promotions, she would be rewarded with hers.

‘When I first saw my targets, I was shocked. I felt it was unfair that my promotion relied on their performance. So if they played up, it could cost me my next step up in the company. I wanted my promotion to be based on my performance and mine alone,’ Holly complained.

‘There was nothing I could do about it – so I had to just go about it. It sounds terrible, but because I had to coach them to the next level, I suddenly put more effort into their development and advancement than I ever had before because I had something to gain from it. It would be nice to be able to say I would have done it anyway because I wanted to see them get ahead but the plain truth is that it was only when I had a selfish reason that I really got into it,’ she said.

Buying into the idea is the first step. Working out how on earth to do it is the next and unfortunately there isn’t a magic formula. There are, however, some common concerns to address:

 

Why do I choose? How do I train them?

What if I train them up to do my job, I move on, and they do it better than I did?

Face facts. It could happen but look on the bright side. Rather than think they are better than you and this will reflect poorly on your performance, consider it a terrific example of your excellent coaching, training and mentoring skills. Their success can be seen as a measure of yours.

How do I identify whom to groom?

You need to consider factors such as who wants it; who would you send into a senior meeting on your behalf if you were not available; who would you choose to help you train a new recruit. These are all factors which when answered will help point towards which of your team you consider as senior, responsible and trustworthy.

Once I’ve chosen someone, how do I coach him or her without the rest of the team thinking I am playing favourites?

Tricky, tricky. There are different approaches for this one. You can let the others know so they get used to the idea of that person being senior. Or you can delegate more responsibility to the other team members at the same time so they don’t feel ignored, looked over.

How do I get the person I choose to buy into the whole idea?

Hopefully, if you’ve chosen well, this shouldn’t be difficult. It’s possible the person you choose might initially be concerned about the responsibility, about stepping ahead of their peers, about their own capabilities. Often you can coach them out of these fears by making sure they are well equipped for the role through your mentoring technique. If they really resist and don’t want the responsibility, then they are probably not the right choice after all.

Do I have to choose one person or can I share responsibilities among the whole team?

You can do it this way and then watch the group dynamics. Usually, even within a team where each member has an equal level of responsibility, one or two leaders will emerge. This could help make your decision for you.

How will I manage to spend time training my successor and still find the time to manage my other staff and do my own job well?

No easy way out of this one. It’s down to good old-fashioned time management. Set specific times for coaching sessions both with your potential successor. Don’t forget to also have some one-on-one sessions with the rest of your team, although they may be shorter. Be realistic about what parts of your job must be done by you personally and delegate the rest.

 

Exit interview tips and tricks

Succession planning will not guarantee your promotion. It will mean that if your hard work, performance and attitude mean you deserve promoting, having a trained replacement ready to take the reins will go a long way towards making that next step possible.

Nine years before his anticipated retirement, the CEO of General Electric said: ‘From now on, choosing my successor is the most important decision I’ll make. It occupies a considerable amount of thought almost every day’.

 

In a survey of managers from various industries the three factors rated as most important in identifying high potential employees were:

Peer group opinions and individual performance appraisals were the two main methods for identifying the above qualities. 80% of respondents said when managers failed to provide for succession planning it was because of three factors:

‘The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers’ – Ralph Nader

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