Create Flexible Succession Plans to Prepare for Both Planned and Unexpected Gaps
Use talent pools and agile elements in succession planning to keep your organization responsive in today’s dynamic world of work.
- Traditional succession planning is no longer an option for organizations that are medium to large in size, operate in a high-change environment, and have large amounts of Millennials in their workforce.
- Traditional succession planning for these organizations is too long term, too narrow-sighted in terms of scope, and too siloed. This causes pains of knowledge loss, productivity loss, and high recruitment costs.
- The alternative of flexible succession planning using talent pools can be difficult to implement, with a number of barriers to success.
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Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Succession planning scored as the least effective HR area out of 31 areas surveyed in the 2015 HR Trends & Priorities Survey.
- Talent pool succession planning, a flexible and change-oriented approach, is on the rise. It scored in the top half of emerging trends for 2015.
- Flexible succession planning is an agile process; it covers adaptability, unity, and simplicity which are three out of the four agile elements.
Impact and Result
- In order to implement flexible succession planning, ensure that you have the proper HR key practices in place and that you have the support of a committee to conduct planning with.
- Identify key gaps to be planned for by tying them to your business strategy and initiatives.
- Develop talent pools to close key gaps by mapping them back to the gaps, setting minimum requirements, populating them with employees, and managing the progression of employees as they develop in the pool.
- Manage the plan by ensuring you communicate to the proper audience and frequently assess both employees and the plan to ensure you have the most up-to-date information to select a final successor.
Workshop: Create Flexible Succession Plans to Prepare for Both Planned and Unexpected Gaps
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Build & Begin Planning
The Purpose
- Review project rationale.
- Assess the foundation for flexible succession planning.
- Identify key gaps for planning.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Buy-in to proceed with the project.
- Identified key support practices and created plans to develop the ones that are needed.
- Determined the key roles, individuals, and job pools that you will create talent pools for.
Activities
Outputs
Discuss pain points.
- Project buy-in.
Review key foundational practices.
- Key foundational practices that are missing.
Determine which key foundational practices will be built.
- Plan for addressing key foundational practices.
Assemble the committee.
- Committee to govern planning process.
Set project metrics to track progress.
- Measurements to determine success of the project.
Identify business initiatives.
- Initiatives that key gaps need to drive.
Identify key gaps.
- Roles, individuals, and job pools that are critical.
Develop profiles for key gaps.
- Information on the critical key gaps.
Assess the risk of departure.
- Risk of departure for key gaps.
Select key gaps for the plan.
- Determine which gaps will be put in the succession plan and which ones require other HR activities.
Module 2: Complete & Carry Out the Plan
The Purpose
- Create talent pools to address key gaps.
- Place employees in talent pools.
- Manage the succession plan.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Groups of identified and developed employees to succeed into key gaps.
- A frequently updated tracking mechanism for the most up-to-date information.
- Well-placed final successors.
Activities
Outputs
Create talent pools and define requirements for membership in the pool.
- Talent pools for each key gap.
Create high-level development objectives for succession talent pools.
- Development objectives to develop employees in talent pools.
Populate talent pools and assess employee readiness.
- Employees ready to be developed as successors.
Document your succession plan.
- Succession plan policy.
Plan your communication strategy.
- Communication strategy.
About McLean & Company
McLean & Company is an HR research and advisory firm providing practical solutions to human resources challenges via executable research, tools, diagnostics, and advisory services that have a clear and measurable impact on your business.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your HR problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 2-phase advisory process. You'll receive 5 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
Guided Implementation 1: Begin Planning & Build
- Call 1: Discuss the suitability of flexible succession plans.
- Call 2: Review key foundational practices and assemble a committee and project metrics.
- Call 3: Review key gaps identified, creating skill profiles for key gaps and how to track key gaps.
Guided Implementation 2: Complete & Carry Out the Plan
- Call 1: Receive feedback and review next steps for the talent pools that have been developed.
- Call 2: Discuss putting the plan into action and how to implement and update as necessary.
Contributors
- Mike Grabarek SPHR, Director of Organizational Development, The Lane Construction Corporation
- Sandy Plant, Senior Director of Human Resources, London Hydro
- Mary Anne Sersen, Organizational Development Specialist, Hamilton Health Sciences
- Pat Gifford, Director of Human Resources, Credit Union Central of Manitoba
- Sharon Jobity, Vice President of Human Resources, Ontario Centres of Excellence
- Craig Dowden, President, Craig Dowden & Associates
- Anonymous, Principal Consultant, Previously in the Banking Industry
- Anonymous, Vice President of HR
- Anonymous, Senior Consultant, Previously in the Hospitality Industry
- Anonymous, HR and Organizational Development Advisor, Textile Industry