Gerald Gibson Human Capital Advisor
Gerry has held senior level roles with board involvement and global accountability for leading, coaching and developing Talent, Change Management and Organizational...
When asked where they believe CEO’s should be spending the majority of their time, Boards of Directors of Fortune 500 companies more likely than not will site “growing talent.” In fact, many have indicated well over 50% of a CE0’s time should be devoted to this space.
With this as a backdrop, the processes that drive and enable Succession Planning and Talent Development are not only a smart thing to do but are also a “strategic imperative” for growth, competitive advantage and future success.
In the latest blog series, we will focus on sharing tips, best and emerging practices that will support building and sustaining a robust talent pipeline. The following “Episode 1” will focus on some proven Do’s and Don’ts for effective Succession Planning.
DO’S
- Carefully identify and define key roles (including key success factors)
- Invest time in recalibrating competencies
- Involve and give ownership to leaders for stewardship of the process in their areas of responsibility
- Look across the organization for potential candidates (don’t get stuck in traditional tracks)
- Create a robust and realistic “readiness assessment” process
- Assure all viable candidates for key roles have “SMART” Individual Development Plans (IDP) and have a focused discipline for following up
- Recognize talent belongs to the organization not a department or geography
- Leverage emerging technology to increase efficiency, reduce administration and enable manager self-service
DON’TS
- Focus on replacing a “person”
- “Wing it” and hope candidates will grow into the role without deliberate assessment and development planning
- Try to manage succession via cumbersome, manual spreadsheets and lists…
- Create “implied promises” when discussing development plans
- Rely on outdated data and subjective impressions and past reputations
- Wait to create succession plans and development plans until you “have to”
- Ignore the DEI opportunities created by effective succession planning
- Allow ownership and accountability for Succession Planning to be abdicated to HR
If you would like to learn more about how Endeavor Management may be able to help, please feel free to reach out to Gerry Gibson at ggibson@endeavormgmt.com