As succession planning begins to take center stage on the pages of the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes and Fortune magazine's- these venerable business bibles, are beginning to take note of the powerful impact that effective succession planning has on corporate performance. However, as HR professionals we know that all succession planning systems are not created equal! What are the signs and symptoms that your succession planning program may be doing more harm than good for the company and its' future leaders?
Inability/Reluctance to Change
Many well intentioned and finely crafted succession planning programs will fail. They will fail because many corporate cultures and leaders are anemic to change. In fact, according to the Journal of Management Development, 70% of all change initiates invariably fail due to an inability or a reluctance to change. These "change killers can have a corrosive effect on the momentum that is created by change initiatives in your organizations. HR needs to build the type of change management, communication, and internal branding campaign that breeds excitement for the business.
Lack of Executive Support
Effective succession planning and employee development will not exist unless it is tied to a business need and has executive level support; if not, without executive support your program will quickly run out of gas and may sabotage your future initiatives! That is, the succession planning program will be viewed by your business partners as just another HR program being pushed by corporate. In contrast, if done the right way and with full executive and business partner support and commitment, you will create a "win-win situation for your employees and the business.
HR in Driver's Seat
HR should not be driving succession planning! If succession is not being driven by the business, no matter where you are in the process, it is highly likely that you will only experience short term success. That is, the long term viability of identifying, cultivating and promoting high potential talent to grow the business will be in serious jeopardy.
Instead, HR should be behind the scene drivers of the process, making sure that the system works, diagnosing developmental needs, making sure talent reviews run smoothly, and; serve as a coaches and mentors to managers & high potentials throughout the process.
Replacement Planning
John Wooden once famously remarked, "Don't confuse activity with accomplishment. The success of succession planning should not be based upon the sheer volume and percentage of high potentials that are being promoted. If this is the case, succession planning becomes nothing more than a list of names on a spreadsheet or a sheet of paper.
Replacement planning, effectively, takes the development out of succession planning. For example, high potential employees are being promoted; but, once promoted they are being thrown to the wolves. Skill gaps that were identified in self development plans now become further exacerbated once these employees take on new roles, and, play an even greater role in their success/failure rate.
Hoarding Talent
Many line managers are reluctant to share their talent with the rest of the organization. As a result, high potential employees are not getting the type of developmental opportunities and exposure that is needed to be successful in their careers. Management teams see the talent within their lines of business as being "theirs rather than the "companies. If this is happening at your company, expect to see a mass exodus of talent to your competitors.
A sure sign that leaders in your organization are hoarding talent is to take a look at recent promotions. Are there a disproportionate number of employees that have been promoted; yet, not identified as high potentials during the nomination process? Also keep an eye on turnover of your high potentials. By hoarding their talent and blocking promotional opportunities, organizational leaders, push frustrated star employees out of the company.
Program Isn't Being Measured
The old axiom, "if you don't measure it, you can't manage it, rains true with succession planning. You have to be able to measure the effectiveness of the program. Where do you have a shortage or surplus of talent within the business? Who is ready to be promoted today into a leadership role? How many and what percentage of the high potentials have developmental plans in place? Ask yourself, once in the pipeline, how are we distinguishing talent? But, don't hide behind the metrics- truly dig into what the metrics are telling you.
Succession planning programs that take a quantitative approach to measurement, often fail to take a qualitative approach to measuring program effectiveness. Utilizing surveys to measure the reaction to the program by high potentials, managers, and executives is of critical importance- constantly evaluate your succession planning program and make improvements as need be.
Parting Shots
Taken as a whole the symptoms of ineffective succession planning that are listed above, prove to be a good indication that your succession planning program is broken. Companies are not successful solely based upon their products; instead, they are successful because of their people. How people are managed and developed is the backbone of organizational success. Are you treating the employees at your company as fixed assets or variable costs? Do training programs seemingly desist when the market experiences hiccups? If you answered "yes to these questions and have a succession planning program in place, it may be doing more harm than good for the company and its' future leaders.
