Succession (Part 2 of 4)- Long Live Your Organisation Through Your People

Working with clients, time and again I come across business leaders initially considering succession planning as a replacement plan, and employees initially fearful that succession planning signals an exit strategy.

Succession planning tends to bring in a sense of dread as something many would rather not do.

Often succession planning is only addressed when fears arise of imminent departures or concerns about potential gaps to fulfil day to day operational functions.

Yet succession planning is such a fantastic opportunity to plan for your organisation’s future and long-term continuity.

It is the very crux of your organisation’s values, your strategic progress, and your employee growth within your business. Without your people, there is no business to offer to your customers, suppliers and to society at large.

Your organisation will (hopefully) long continue after you are gone so what part can you play to build the future that you want?

What Challenges Does Succession Planning Address for Your Employees?

Change triggers anxiety and insecurity, so succession planning must be handled sensitively and transparently, so every employee understands the organisation’s future focus, and the part they can play.

There is a tendency in organisations to promote technically gifted personnel into management roles, without really considering their suitability for people management roles, and also the impact in moving a key player out of the role that they are skilled at.

While not everyone can be a technical expert, this also stands true that not everyone is suited to being a manager.

We all dream of a greater role where we bring significant impact (with a significant wage to boot!) yet, while many consider ‘far away hills are greener’ in that a more senior job may be envisioned as the role to which we should aspire, quite often those ‘hills’ come with significant change to the skills needed to lead, to shape strategy, and a different mindset to manage people and implement and account for the work to be done.

What we should look for in succession planning is not only the technical know how but the character and leadership qualities suitable to drive the organisation’s mission and team in harmony.

Many organisations are experiencing increased turnover or indeed a reduction in staffing due to overinflated expectations in financial targets.

The reality of losing institutional knowledge, and also the need to focus on driving the mission of your business for the long-term, it is vital an organisation takes the time to really consider the skillset, character and values that their people currently bring and from those, how can they shape the future and drive the business to continuity long after you are gone.

How organisations are equiped to train, develop, and progress their staff as well as encouraging a diverse spread of experience, backgrounds, and voices, will make all the difference to meet future needs.

What can you do to make it worthwhile for your key people to stay and commit to keeping the organisation progressing and serving your customers, clients, and beneficiaries?

The grass is greener where you water it. For the flowers to bloom you must first sow the seeds (and create an viable environment for which those seeds must grow)*.

*Being a hobby gardener and a former leader in environmental conservation with an ongoing interest in food and seed security, there will be the invariable seed and plant analogy, so bear with me….*

What Can Be Done for Your People to Make Succession Planning Possible?

Managing people requires patience, empathy, and also a clear focus on the targets to be achieved, and a roadmap on how to deliver this, while also supporting the team to come on the journey together.

To retain key and support personnel there are several components required:

1. Know What Your Organisation’s Values Are

Reflecting on the reason you are all working together and the values important to driving this service, is vital. How can you all move forward together if you aren’t clear on what is the heart of your purpose?

2. Engage with Your Team

What are their experiences with your organisation? What works? What changes are needed? How can they contribute solutions?

3. How Do Your Team Perform?

To bring others on your organisation’s journey you need to reflect on the following:

• What contribution has each person made to the organisation?
• How are performance reviews carried out? Are they meaningful conversations or quick one to ones to tick the box that a review was done?
• What opportunities are there to develop your team members?
• How can you identify opportunities for their growth?
• What projects can be created to fulfil your strategic goals as well as stretch your team’s capabilities?
• Are their opportunities for up-skilling and flexibility in working conditions?
• Do you offer competitive pay and benefits?
• Do you and your team have a healthy work life balance?
• How are each member of your team given support to develop and progress within the organisation?

Engaging staff to consider their future and creating a plan to develop their skill set, contributes to bringing a sense of value within the organisation and their professional lives.

Not only should succession planning focus on capacity building, but on potential.

4. Gaps

Where are there gaps in your organisation’s requirements? What is being done to bring in fresh talent? It is important that the organisation factors in diverse experiences and needs to ensure inclusion, equity, and retention. You cannot progress with old practices, so this is a great opportunity freshen up your organisation’s culture, practices, and people.

Institutional Knowledge

Succession Planning isn’t just about bringing employees UP through the ranks. Key considerations in retaining institutional knowledge should also be:

• How are current systems tracked?
• What accountability measures are in place to determine how the organisations fulfils its promise to staff, partners, customers and suppliers?
• What learnings are in place from the past?
• How do your organisation ‘elders’ contribute to shaping the organisation’s future?
• How is the expertise of more senior staff developed to mentor their team?

Succession planning and implementation gives the opportunity to bring all staff on the journey of the long-term mission and vision of the organisation and agree how this can be effectively managed.

It is for the current leaders to nurture the future leaders.

Succession Planning will work effectively with all of your people informed, and engaged with the future vision of the organisation.

It is now up to you to start the journey.

Jennifer McConnell
Founder
Living Legacy