Think succession planning belongs to someone else? Think again!

Succession planning is every leader’s responsibility.

Since the key to competitive advantage is talent, what every leader needs to know is that succession planning is their responsibility and is something that needs to occur before key people depart – not after!

Identifying internal or external people as potential replacements for key personnel makes sense as does having a deep understanding of the critical skills, abilities, and knowledge required to successfully fill key positions.

Talking with other leaders in the organization and sharing ideas and information about key personnel and potential openings as well as potential replacements is also important. Then, when openings occur – as they inevitably will — knowing who’s available and who’s prepared to “step-in” speeds the replacement process and insures continuity of service.

Next, know what resources you can and cannot afford to train and support internal staff, or otherwise use to help new additions to your team quickly get “on-board.” Having this information allows a leader to allocate resources in a timely and prudent way.

Want to build bench strength? Here’s an approach.

1. Have a well-defined overall objective in mind. For example:
   • To build bench strength so that key leadership positions can be quickly and successfully filled from within, and
   • To do it in ways that ensures continuity of services.
2. Prepare – Create an appropriate infrastructure and foundation.
   • Assign someone to oversee the effort and be responsible for it.
   • Identify current and future leadership needs, key leadership roles (positions), and the technical, functional, behavioral, and leadership skills and requirements associated with each key role.
   • Identify high-potential talent – individuals who will be considered to be part of the “target” or high-potential talent pool.
3. Assess – Determine the development needs of high-potentials.
   • Interview each high-potential to discover/document the person’s interests, capabilities, and opportunities for growth and development.
   • Compare what you find to what’s needed in order to identify “capability gaps.”
   • Create a “development roadmap” for each high-potential employee and conduct follow-up reviews and assessments.
4. Act – Prepare high potential for future opportunities and build bench strength.
   • Ensure that each high potential participates in all development activities including coaching and mentoring efforts, strategic and tactical assignments, job rotations, special project, etc., and that appropriate positive and constructive feedback and support is provided before, during, and after each experience.
   • Be sure to also document performance and continuing development needs and provide appropriate recognition and rewards for those who demonstrate progress.
5. Evaluate – Determine progress towards building desired bench strength. Look at metrics such as:
   • Internal hire rates (IHRs) for key positions. While 100% may be viewed as “optimal,” it is not always possible or desirable. However, IHRs for individuals in this program should exceed comparable rates for people outside of it.
   • Attrition rates (ARs) of people in key positions. Programs designed to build bench strength should also be designed to keep people in these mission-critical positions once they are assigned to them. Therefore, ARs for individuals in this program should be lower than comparable rates for people outside of it.
   • Readiness of people in line for key positions — i.e. # level 1 (ready now), # level 2 (ready in one year), # level 3 (ready with two to three years. Organizations should always know what stage of readiness people are in. This will help the organization to know how people are progressing, what additional development they may need, and which positions may be “at risk” — ones that may not be filled by internal candidates.