Succession and Succession Planning – Introduction
Advancement, transfer, retirement, resignation, and termination are all causes of position vacancies. Regardless of the reason for or timing of a position opening, the organization must continue to function through the subsequent transition. Organizations proactively positioning themselves for personnel changes maintain a higher degree of business continuity; realizing a shallower and shorter productivity dip and pursuing performance improvement more rapidly.
Effective succession and succession planning processes enable smooth transitions of power and operational continuity. Performed well, these processes help ensure the proactive identification and development of an adequate number of candidates to fill potential vacancies, careful selection of the right replacement, thorough preparation of the selectee for his or her new role and organization members to well receive the successor, and advanced provisions to support the entrant with the post transition coaching needed for their and the organization’s success.
Focus of the Succession and Succession Planning Topic
Articles in this topic are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies that successfully execute succession and succession planning processes; maximizing the new entrant’s probability of success and the organization’s operational continuity. The following articles, podcasts, documents, and resources cover those topics critical to effective leadership succession.
Articles
- Best Practice – Turnover Checklists by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Best Practice – Rotational Development Plans by StrategyDriven Contributors
- Best Practice – Continuing Education by StrategyDriven Contributors
StrategyDriven Podcasts
StrategyDriven Podcast – Special Edition
- An Interview with Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession
- An Interview with Nat Stoddard, author of The Right Leader
Sign up for our Email NewsletterSuccession and Succession Planning Best Practice 1 – Turnover Checklists
Every position in any company will necessarily be different than even the same position within any other organization. These differences stem from the unique organizational personnel, policies, culture, and marketplace positioning and environment. To be best prepared to assume his or her new role, a successor must have a thorough understanding of all of the position’s critical success factors, drivers, and influencers. Turnover checklists leverage the collective experiences of past position holders to help ensure successors receive all of this vital area knowledge.
Succession and Succession Planning Best Practice 2 – Rotational Development Plans
Integral to every succession plan is the ready supply of qualified talent to replace outgoing position holders. While some talent will come from outside the organization, many should come from within.
More senior positions within every organization necessarily demand an increasingly expansive knowledge and experience base commensurate with the role’s span of control. For truly senior positions, the needed knowledge and experience becomes multidimensional; covering several functional areas. In order for internal succession candidates to be successful, they need to gain this multidisciplinary knowledge and experience earlier in their careers. One way to accomplish this for those growing up within the organization is through rotational assignments.
Succession and Succession Planning Best Practice 3 – Continuing Education
It is simply not enough that individuals holding senior positions be highly experienced. The narrowness of early career positions and the limitations of time necessarily prevents an individual from being deeply experienced across the full range of functions within the organization. Thus, those relying purely on experience often lack an understanding of the broader spectrum of organization functions and opportunities that would help them be more successful in senior positions requiring multidimensional business understanding.
StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 11 – An Interview with Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession
StrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag posts on the StrategyDriven website.
Special Edition 11 – An Interview with Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession explores the personal issues that arise during executive succession and how to overcome them; achieving a positive outcome for the departing leader, the successor, and the organization. During our discussion, Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession: Are You Ready?
- reasons executives struggle with the succession process
- benefits and focus of coaching for the successor and senior leadership team
- examples of successful executive turnovers
Additional Information
Complimenting the tremendous insights Marshall shares in Succession
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Marshall Goldsmith, author of Succession, is co-founder of Marshall Goldsmith Partners, an executive coaching firm dedicated to developing business leaders. Dr. Goldsmith is recognized as a leading authority in helping leaders achieve positive, lasting behavioral change for themselves, their people, and their teams. He has coached scores of top executives in major corporations and wrote the number one best seller, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
. In 2006, Alliant International University recognized Dr. Goldsmith’s achievements by naming its schools of business and organizational psychology the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management. To read Marshall’s full biography, click here.
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