Succession planning as a respected business function has really come into its own since McKinsey published it’s much quoted paper on the ‘War for Talent’.
In order to engage a talented workforce and manage resource planning, most organisations now have in place a robust management process, which identifies people who are suitable or potentially suitable for critical jobs.
The perception is that the focus is on senior appointments. But, we are finding that with critical skill areas – such as IT or finance – organisations have developed a cascaded system that goes quite deep into the business.
Recently we have been working with companies looking at talent for roles to come in 10 years plus. So, if your ambition is to climb the corporate ladder it is critical for you to be in this slipstream of talent.
The most important first step to take is to understand the key criteria the HR function uses in succession planning. The level of secrecy employed is gradually being reduced and most HR departments are very open to discussing their people strategy. In a perfect world, all employees should understand that such a process exists and how it works. We’ve found when interviewing people though, this is not always the case. Therefore, we suggest employees take some control and at least find out how things work.
Each company will tackle it differently, but the process is essentially one of multiple dialogues. So, if you do decide to actively explore succession management be prepared to be judged.
Normally preliminary views are collected, usually from senior line managers, and then these views are tested and amended in a number of such dialogues: up the management line; with HR professionals and in a committee of peers.
The use of succession or development committees to challenge and agree plans is an important way of generating cross-boundary moves. They also help to ensure that the view taken by the organisation of an individual is based on objective evidence.
If you want to be part of your company’s future, you should say so. Speak to HR and to your managers expressing your interest and see if there is potential for you to become part of a feeder group for key positions. In doing so you are putting your head above the parapet and you will need to be comfortable about being honest about your aspirations and skills.
The rewards could be amazing but this can be challenging experience so make sure you go into it with an open mind. Some people who have started down this track have become disengaged with their organisation, concluding it does not take career development seriously.
It may be the company has a very restricted programme or the individual is just not right for future management roles.
Never confuse potential with performance. You may well be valued today and that may be enough, for the company and for you.
Our advice is: if you can attach yourself to a succession programme you should, so you can take advantage of all the training and mentoring that offers. It gives you more options and that is something everyone needs in this uncertain market.
