Succession Planning - 10 Tips

Succession planning is essential to the long-term success of any organization.  Here's 10 of our favourite things to keep in mind when designing your process to identify, develop and select the next leaders in your organization:

1. Keep the process simple, transparent and flexible.

2. Ensure program goals align with the long-term strategy of an organization including any consideration of new senior roles to be created

3. Involvement and support of management essential to process! in fact co-ownership of process and results by HR and line is ideal

4. Add an evaluation of each candidate's level of engagement as well as his or her developmental readiness.

5. Look at all components of performance and potential:

• Knowing - technical job knowledge

• Being - how does candidate act/what kind of style 

• Doing - activities they perform (tasks, team leadership, coaching)

6. Weigh potential more than performance; although both are important

7. Be sure to create sufficient bench strength to account for retirements, departures and to allow for an accurate assessment of how candidates grow when challenged with direct feedback.

8. Work to have the identification of high potential leaders for all key roles (some will be listed multiple times), include expected readiness and what support/development is being given to close gaps.

9. Create a peer mentoring program whereby people are matched based on their strength and someone else's area of development 

10. Remember that just like in pro sports, some get drafted early, some play longer in the minors, some get called up and then sent back to the minors - last season doesn't matter but this one does!

Accommodating the Sandwich Generation

Many employees today face a tremendous amount of pressure for their time and energy both at home and at their place of work. One term used to describe this pressure is the "sandwich generation." These employees are balancing the need to provide care to their aging parents and their children while still performing at work. What does this mean for an employers need to accommodate? 

Like many other situations where changes and understanding are required, the key is communication. Providing alternative schedule solutions for employees struggling with home and work demands goes a long way. Often employees just want the opportunity to make choices so that they can still perform well at their job and meet the needs of their home life. Understandably, not all employers have the ability to provide a flexible schedule to employees. Some operations require a fixed schedule of service. 

So what can be done in these cases? There are always options. Consider that some experts estimate the cost of recruiting, replacing and training a new hire employee is anywhere between 93-200% of an employees annual salary. This makes it prudent for employers to work on retaining their employees as they transition through the stages of commitments in their lives. Showing an understanding of and compassion for employees will often lead to increased loyalty and engagement in their work. 

Accommodating employees is not only a compassionate choice or even a strategic organizational decision to ensure employee retention, to a certain extent, it is also the law. By not providing solutions to your employees, employers run the risk of discrimination claims based on family status. While the duty to accommodate falls on the employer, it is also the employee's responsibility to seek out solutions and be flexible themselves on what the employer can provide. The answer need not be perfect, merely reasonable based on the situation and the unique operational landscape of the business. While the solutions suggested may be appropriate for many, it is also valuable to consider seeking legal advice. An expert on human rights accommodation can provide further insight for employers.

Here are some suggestions for providing solutions to accommodate employees:

1) Consider allowing the employee to work remotely for a portion of their work week

2) Where possible, provide an alternate schedule. Perhaps an early or late start to their day.

3) Allow the employee to temporarily shift to a part-time schedule

4) Provide job sharing. This can be particularly beneficial when multiple employees are requesting flexibility.

5) Provide a resource. An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide information for employees such as finding child and elderly care support.

6) Above all communicate, communicate, communicate! Avoid making assumptions about what changes are needed for the employee. By speaking with the employee about their concerns, often a solution can be developed that meets the employee's needs while still respecting the operational goals of the business.

10 Tips for Engaging your Staff Without a Cash Investment

The economy can understandably make companies focus more on cash flow than people.  We believe that the two concepts should not be distinct.  Mishandling employee engagement in times of financial restraint can cost a company more money through attrition, lost productivity and presenteeism.  Instead, organizations need to be creative about how they focus on employee engagement when discretionary spending is not available.

Here are our top 10 ways to engage your staff without a cash investment.

1. Be transparent with employees.  Talk about your financial restrictions.  Be sure to highlight why these steps have been taken and what the company to limit the impact of a bear economy.  Ask for ideas on how to cut costs.   Employees will appreciate your honesty as they will have heard rumblings of financial concerns and it is human nature to assume things are even worse when no one informs you of the details.  Plus you'll be amazed by the ideas employees have to share when asked!
2. Honour existing promises related to compensation and reimbursement.  If you need to make changes to these programs, then do it on a future-forward basis.  Make sure your word remains trusted.
3. Create a formal mentoring program to replace some or all of your professional development budget.  Match mentors and protégés based on learning interest not their level of employment.  We can all learn from one another!
4. Encourage employees to subscribe to free online libraries and blogs.  Also, encourage employees who have access to an information resource through a previously paid professional membership to utilize those and share with their peers.
5. Start a leadership book club.  Source biographies and leadership texts and audiobooks from your local library.  Ask readers to identify the one thing your organization should embrace from the reading.  Share these ideas with the Executive.
6. Reward employees with a one on one coffee with the CEO, a Board Member or Executive with whom they do not frequently interact.  Getting to know that there is a human in the C Suite and sharing an informal dialogue will be motivating for both parties.
7. Hold a fundraising event.  It's accurate and straightforward; helping others makes us feel good!  Fundraising together as a work team builds cohesion, increases morale and reminds people to have fun.  Events should be goofy and the charity selected should have a strong local presence for an even more positive impact on employee engagement.
8. Say thank you.  Most people aren't told often enough how much they are appreciated.  Make a point of doing this yourself and encourage others to do the same.  Challenge yourself to recognize three people every day by thanking them for a job well done.
9. Look for ways to make the organization more flexible relating to hours of work.  We, as humans, are simple creatures, if you ask us to work 9 to 5, most of us do just that.  However, if you task us with deliverables and deadlines, we focus on work and not the clock.  If you can, allow employees the ability to flex their hours to work late some days and work less other days, and your organization will see an increase in productivity.
10. Have leaders spend time every week walking around and talking to the staff.  Ask employees how they are feeling, what concerns they have, what support they need for their jobs.  It should be a relaxed dialogue with the leader focussed on listening to the employee not on delivering a predetermined message.  Make sure leaders follow up on any questions or actions they committed to address. The best way to show employees you care is by taking an interest in their wellbeing and concerns.

Managers Get The Employees They Deserve

How do you employees behave in the workplace?  Have you ever considered the impact you and previous managers have had on this situation?

I can't tell you how many times a manager has complained to me about one of their employees and how completely shocked they are when I ask them what they have done to enable the situation.  I'm not saying that it is the manager's fault, I'm merely saying that managers send messages that suggest to employees how they are to behave.  Sending mixed messages can lead to undesired behaviours.

For example, the constantly late employee.  A situation many people have faced.  How it is dealt with will dramatically impact the outcome.  Managers who do not deal with it, who are late themselves, or who merely ask another employee to step up in the tardy individual's place can end up in a worse situation.

At issue is the message to employees.

Inaction is essentially telling the other employees that it is OK to be late.  Show up whenever you like!

Managers who are late themselves - they send the message that meeting times and other scheduled events are at an individual's convenience.  Show up when you like.  It is also how to get promoted!

My favourite...simply asking those who do show up to step up and make up for the others - in other words, if you want less work come in late. Someone else will do it, and you can sleep in!

Instead, managers need to deal with these issues promptly and consistently.  Admittedly everyone has a life outside the office, and we have all been late on occasion in our life.  When emergencies happen, you need to focus on the need for communication about the lateness.  Don't let these events morph into a pattern because of inaction.  When dealing with a situation, think about the 'big picture' message you are sending with the actions being taken.  Consider the impact on other employees of your response and/or inaction and weigh your options.

Succession Plans and Employees– Are yours connected?

More and more companies are embracing the concept of succession planning.  They are realizing the obvious benefits of identifying and developing employees who have a high potential to fill the organization’s key roles in the future.  When asked why they believe succession planning is important, subscribers will often say it is because it increases the availability of talented individuals to ensure the continued success of their organization.  But are they connecting their succession plans with their employees’ career aspirations?

Succession planning is too often a behind the scenes planning exercise.  Sometimes organizations do not want valued employees in key roles to feel that they are looking at replacing them.  Other times organizations fear that discussing future plans they have for some employees will create feelings of inequality and discontent amongst employees.  These organizations never speak of their succession plans outside of the closed-door management meetings where the plans are drafted.

Imagine you are one of the high potential employees identified for advancement.  Yes, you are aware that your employer has invested in some developmental opportunities, but you may think that these are a result of being managed by a good manager.   Are you aware how much the organization values your talent?  Are you aware of the future plans your employer may have in store for you?  Sadly, the answer is probably no.

Employers take for granted that employees know how valued they are.  This is a mistake.  Employees want to be explicitly told they are an asset to their employer.  Employees want to be able to envision their future within their organization.  An effective way to do this is to review the relevant part of the succession plan that affects each high potential employee so that each one is aware of their perceived value and importance to the organization.  Too often employees only discover their perceived worth after they have accepted another offer from another employer.

How do we avoid this?  By developing a comprehensive plan inclusive of communication, strategy, and follow-up.

Step One: Meet with each employee to understand his or her interests, and career goals.

Step Two: Compare and contrast employee’s individual career goals with their strengths and areas for development.

Step Three: Compare and contrast the results of step two against the succession planning needs of your organization.  Identify the potential replacements for your key positions based on individual employee talent and interest.

Step Four:Conduct a gap analysis of the skills needed for each key role and the current abilities of the individual(s) identified as potential replacements.  Use this information to develop learning plans, mentoring relationships, and career paths needed to be successful in the eventual key role.

Step Five: Meet with each employee to discuss how you perceive their developmental opportunities.  Discuss proposed learning plans with each employee.  Explain the organization’s view of the individual’s potential and, based on initial input from step one, what areas the organization would like to see the employee strive to develop and what assistance the organization is going to offer.  Fine tune this plan with each employee.

Step Six: Follow and monitor progress for the duration of the year.

On an annual basis, repeat steps one through six.

Following this process will enable organizations to recognize the talent of employees while they are employed with them and thereby decrease the turnover rate of high potential employees.  This will not only increase employee effectiveness, it will decrease the recruitment efforts required to win the war on talent. It will make your succession plans successful.