We've blogged before about Succession Planning and taking the organisational view to manage business risk. Now let's bring in the 'flip side' of the Succession Planning equation - the 'employee voice'.
The challenge with much of the activity around succession planning in organisations large and small, is that the process often doesn't include a perspective on how any potential successor seems themselves in the future. It's easy to become seduced with creating lists of successors, plotting people on nine-box grids and finessing our descriptions of 'talent', but unless we have an up to date view of the career aspirations of the individual, then we are missing out on an important piece of the puzzle.
If we consider the challenge of identifying potential successors (who aren't the usual suspects of current direct reports), then would we think it useful to be able to identify people with a good skills match or even a desire to move into the post you are planning for. So let's fix the disconnected career conversation (often part of performance reviews and conversations) and bring that insight into our Succession Planning process.
Implementing better and more directed career conversations is one of the 'moving parts' in this process, and so are the tools used to manage it. Ditch the spreadsheet, slides and word documents and put easy to use and helpful tools in front of employees and managers instead. Worrying about the cost? Well it could be as little as a cup of coffee per person per month!
Our Talent Successor® online software is easy to set up, adaptable for your organisational structure and talent model and engages both employee and manager in career conversations and exploring aspirations.
1. Check out this case study from McDonald's - read time 10 minutes
2. Sign-up for our Succession Planning eBook - in sections, each 5 minutes
3. Check out this case Study from HomeServe - read time 10 minutes