Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and Building Talent from Within / Edition 5

by William Rothwell

Overview

Nobody likes to lose good employees. But sometimes the loss of a key employee can be disruptive to the business at best, and completely disastrous at worst. Organizations that don’t take steps to address future talent needs at all levels will face some major obstacles or even near collapse when undervalued key employees get burned out and leave you to fend for yourself.The most comprehensive book on the subject, the fifth edition of the bestselling Effective Succession Planning covers every base of how to address future talent needs before a crisis hits, including how to:• Identify competencies and clarify organizational values• Plan for and quickly fill crucial vacancies at all levels• Develop and retain top talent• Assess current needs and future resources for seamless succession planning• And moreUpdated with current best practices, trends, and technology, the latest edition also includes: succession planning for small businesses and nonprofits; replacement planning; transition management; downsizing; international issues; mergers and acquisitions as a talent strategy; and succession planning for technical positions as well as roles built on longstanding social relationships.Don’t risk the loss of your most valued employees and their accumulated wisdom and experience that has been key to your company’s success for many years. Effective Succession Planning is your go-to indispensable guide for avoiding the catastrophe that losing them would bring.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814449158
Publisher:	AMACOM
Publication date:	11/04/2015
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

WILLIAM J. ROTHWELL, PH.D., SPHR, CPLP FELLOW, is Professor of Workplace Learning and Performance at Pennsylvania State University and President of Rothwell Associates, a premier human resources consulting firm.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

What Is Succession Planning and Management?

Six Ministudies:

Can You Solve These Succession Problems?

How is your organization handling succession planning and management (SP&M)?

Read the following vignettes and, on a separate sheet, describe how your organization would solve the problem presented in each. If you can offer an effective solution to all the problems in the vignettes, then your organization may already have an effective

SP&M program in place; if not, your organization may have an urgent need to devote more attention to succession issues.

Vignette 1

An airplane crashes in the desert, killing all on board. Among the passengers are several top managers of Acme Engineering, a successful consulting firm. When the vice president of human resources at Acme is summoned to the phone to receive the news, she gasps, turns pale, looks blankly at her secretary, and breathlessly voices the first question that enters her mind: ‘‘Now who’s in charge?’’

Vignette 2

On the way to a business meeting in Bogota, Colombia, the CEO of Normal Fixtures (a maker of ceramic bathroom fixtures) is seized and held for ransom by freedom fighters. They demand U.S. $1 million within 72 hours for his life, or they will kill him. Members of the corporate board are beside themselves with concern.

Vignette 3

Georgina Myers, supervisor of a key assembly line, has just called in sick after two years of perfect attendance. She handles all purchasing and production scheduling in the small plant, and overseeing the assembly line. The production manager, Mary

Rawlings, does not know how the plant will function absent this key employee, who carries in her head essential and proprietary knowledge of production operations. She is sure that production will be lost today because Georgina has no trained backup.

Vignette 4

Marietta Diaz was not promoted to supervisor. She is convinced that she is a victim of racial and sexual discrimination. Her manager, Wilson Smith, assures her that that is not the case. He explains his reason to her: ‘‘You just don’t have the skills and experience to do the work. Gordon Hague, who was promoted, already possesses those skills. The decision was based strictly on individual merit and supervisory job requirements.’’ But Marietta remains troubled. How, she wonders, could Gordon have acquired those skills in his previous nonsupervisory job?

Vignette 5

Morton Wile is about to retire as CEO of Multiplex Systems. For several years he has been grooming L. Carson Adams as his successor. Adams has held the posts of executive vice president and chief operating officer, and his performance has been exemplary in those positions. Wile has long been convinced that Adams will make an excellent CEO. But, as his retirement date approaches, Wile has recently been hearing questions about his choice. Several division vice presidents and members of the board of directors have asked him privately how wise it is to allow Adams to take over, since (it is whispered) he has had a long-term, high-profile extramarital affair with his secretary and is rumored to be an alcoholic. How, they wonder, can he be chosen to assume the top leadership position when burdened with such personal baggage? Wile is loathe to talk to Adams because he does not want to police anyone’s personal life.

But he is sufficiently troubled to think about initiating an executive search for a CEO

candidate from outside the company.

Vignette 6

Linda Childress is general manager of a large consumer products plant in the Midwest.

She has helped her plant weather many storms. The first was a corporatesponsored voluntary early retirement program, which began eight years ago. Because program Linda lost her most experienced workers, and among its effects on the plant were costly work redistributions, retraining, retooling, and automation. The second storm was a forced layoff that occurred five years ago, driven by fierce foreign competition in consumer products. The layoff cost Linda fully one-fourth of her most recently hired workers and many middle managers, professionals, and technical employees.

It also led to a net loss of protected labor groups in the plant’s workforce to a level well below what had taken the company ten years of ambitious efforts to achieve. Other consequences were increasingly aggressive union actions in the plant;

isolated incidents of violence against management personnel by disgruntled workers;

growing evidence of theft, pilferage, and employee sabotage; and skyrocketing absenteeism and turnover rates.

The third storm swept the plant on the heels of the layoff. Just three years ago corporate headquarters announced a company-wide process improvement program.

Its aims were to improve product quality and customer service, build worker involvement and empowerment, reduce scrap rates, and meet competition from abroad.

Although the goals were laudable, the program was greeted with skepticism because it was introduced so soon after the layoff. Many employees—and supervisors—voiced the opinion that ‘‘corporate headquarters is using process improvement to clean up the mess they created by chopping heads first and asking questions about work reallocation later.’’ However, because job security is an issue of paramount importance to everyone at the plant, the external consultant sent by corporate headquarters to introduce the process improvement program received grudging cooperation. But the process improvement initiative has created side effects of its own. One is that executives a middle managers, and supervisors are uncertain about their roles and the results expected of them. Another is that employees, pressured to do better work with fewer resources, are complaining bitterly about compensation or other reward practices they feel do not reflect their increased responsibilities, efforts, or productivity. And a fourth storm is brewing. Corporate executives, it is rumored, are considering moving all production facilities offshore to take advantage of reduced labor and employee health-care insurance costs. Many employees are worried this is really not a rumor but a fact.

Against this backdrop, Linda has noticed that it is becoming more difficult to find backups for hourly workers and to ensure leadership continuity in the plant’s middleand top-management ranks. Although the company has long conducted an annual succession planning and management ritual, in which standardized forms, supplied by corporate headquarters, are sent out to managers by the plant’s human resources department, Linda cannot remember when the forms were used during a talent search. The major reason, Linda believes, is that managers and employees have rarely followed through on the Individual Development Plans (IDPs) established to prepare people for advancement opportunities.

Table of Contents

Contents

List of Exhibits

Preface to the Fifth Edition

Acknowledgments

Advance Organizer for This Book

Quick Start Guide

Part I

The Essentials of Succession Planning and Management

Chapter 1 What Is Succession Planning and Management?

Six Ministudies: Can You Solve These Succession Problems?

Defining Succession Planning and Management

Distinguishing Succession Planning and Management from Replacement

Planning, Workforce Planning, Talent Management, and Human Capital

Management

Making the Business Case for Succession Planning and Management

Which Comes First, Talent or Strategy?

Reasons for a Succession Planning and Management Program

Different Reasons to Launch Succession Planning and Management

Depending on Global Location

The Current Status of Succession Planning: What Research Shows

The Most Famous Question in Succession: To Tell or Not To Tell?

Management Succession Planning, Technical Succession Planning, or Social

Network Succession Planning: What Are You Planning For?

Best Practices and Approaches

Ensuring Leadership Continuity in Organizations

Summary

Chapter 2 Trends Influencing Succession Planning and Management

The Ten Key Trends

What Does All This Mean for Succession Planning and Management?

Summary

Chapter 3 Moving to a State-of-the-Art Approach

The Present Status of Succession Planning Programs

Characteristics of Effective Succession Planning Programs

Common Mistakes and Missteps to Avoid

The Life Cycle of Succession Planning and Management Programs: Five

Generations

Identifying and Solving Problems with Various Approaches

Integrating Whole Systems Transformational Change and Appreciative

Inquiry into Succession: What Are These Topics, and What Added Value

Do They Bring?

Requirements for a New Approach

Key Steps in a New Approach

A Second Dimension: Technical Succession Planning

A Third Dimension: Social Relationship Succession Planning

Transition Management and Mergers, Acquisitions, and Takeovers

Summary

Chapter 4 Competency Identification, Values Clarification, and Ethics:

Keys to Succession Planning and Management

What Are Competencies?

How Are Competencies Used in Succession Planning and

Management?

Conducting Competency Identification Studies

Using Competency Models

Newest Developments in Competency Identification, Modeling, and

Assessment

What's the Focus: Management or Technical Competencies?

Identifying and Using "Generic" and "Culture-Specific" Competency

Development Strategies to Build Bench Strength

What Are Values, and What Is Values Clarification?

How Are Values Used in Succession Planning and Management?

Conducting Values Clarification Studies

Using Values Clarification

What Are Ethics, and How Are Ethics Used in SP&M?

Bringing It All Together: Competencies, Values, and Ethics

Summary

Part II

Laying the Foundation for a Succession

Planning and Management Program

Chapter 5 Making the Case for Major Change

Assessing Current Problems and Practices

Demonstrating the Need

Determining Organizational Requirements

Linking Succession Planning and Management Activities to Organizational and Human Resource Strategy

Benchmarking Best Practices and Common Business Practices in Other

Organizations

Obtaining and Building Management Commitment

The Key Role of the CEO in the Succession Effort

The Key Daily Role of Managers in the Succession Effort

Sustaining Support for the Succession Effort

Summary

Chapter 6 Starting a Systematic Program

Strategic Choices of Where to Start and How to Start

Conducting a Risk Analysis and Building a Commitment to Change

Clarifying Program Roles

Formulating a Mission Statement

Writing Policy and Procedures

Identifying Target Groups

Clarifying the Roles of the CEO, Senior Managers, and Others

Setting Program Priorities

Addressing the Legal Framework

Establishing Strategies for Rolling Out the Program

Summary

Chapter 7 Refining the Program

Preparing a Program Action Plan

Communicating the Action Plan

Conducting Succession Planning and Management Meetings

Training on Succession Planning and Management

Counseling Managers About Succession Planning Problems in Their

Areas

Common SP&M Problems-and Possible Solutions

Summary

Part III

Assessing the Present and the Future

Chapter 8 Assessing Present Work Requirements and Individual Job

Performance

Identifying Key Positions

Three Approaches for Determining Work Requirements in Key

Positions

Using Full-Circle, Multi-Rater Assessments

Appraising Performance and Applying Performance Management

Creating Talent Pools: Techniques and Approaches

Thinking Beyond Talent Pools

Summary

Chapter 9 Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual

Potential

Identifying Key Positions and Talent Requirements for the Future

Three Approaches for Determining Future Work Requirements in Key

Positions

Assessing Individual Potential: The Traditional Approach

A List of Potential Assessment Approaches

Are There Other Ways to Think of Potential Assessment?

Other Issues in Potential Assessment

Summary

Part IV

Closing the "Developmental Gap":

Operating and Evaluating a Succession

Planning and Management Program

Chapter 10 Developing Internal Successors

Using Grids to Guide Management Decision Making

Testing Bench Strength

Talent Review Meetings

Formulating Internal Promotion Policy

Preparing Individual Development Plans

Evaluating Individual Development Plans

Developing Successors Internally

The Importance of an Inventory of Developmental Experiences

Formal, Social, and Informal Learning Experiences to Build

Competence

Relating Engagement to Succession Planning and Talent Management

Relating Deployment to Succession Planning and Talent Management

The Role of Leadership Development Programs

The Role of Coaching

The Role of Executive Coaching

The Role of Mentoring

The Role of Action Learning

The Role of Acceleration Pools

Summary

Chapter 11 Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development

The Need to Manage for "Getting the Work Done" Rather than "Managing

Succession"

Innovative Approaches to Tapping the Retiree Base

Deciding What to Do

Summary

Chapter 12 Integrating Recruitment with Succession Planning

What Is Recruitment?

When Should Recruitment Be Used to Source Talent?

Internal Versus External Recruitment: Integrating Job Posting with Succession

Planning

Recruiting Talented People from Outside

Innovative Approaches to Recruitment

Summary

Chapter 13 Integrating Retention with Succession Planning

What Is Retention, and Why Is It Important?

Who Should Be Retained?

What Common Misconceptions Exist in Managing Retention Issues?

Why Onboarding Is Important to Retention

Using a Systematic Approach to Increase the Retention of Talented

People

Summary

Chapter 14 Using Technology to Support Succession Planning and

Management Programs

Defining Online and High-Tech Methods

Where to Apply Technology Methods

How To Evaluate and Use Technology Applications

What Specialized Competencies Do Succession Planning and Management

Coordinators Need to Use These Applications?

Summary

Chapter 15 Evaluating Succession Planning and Management

Programs

What Is Evaluation?

What Metrics Should Be Used to Evaluate Succession Planning and

Management Programs?

What Should Be Evaluated?

How Should Evaluation Be Conducted?

How Can Succession Planning and Talent Management Be Evaluated with the

Balanced Scorecard and HR Dashboards?

Summary

Chapter 16 The Future of Succession Planning and Management

The Fifteen Predictions

Summary

Appendix I: Selected Websites

Appendix II: Guide for Replacement Planning

Appendix III: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Succession Planning and Management

Notes

About the Author

Index

Editorial Reviews

"This fifth edition incorporates the many changes to the economy over the past 15 years, including how succession plans were recast as a direct consequence of 9/11." —HR Professional

“… especially helpful for those who are early in their exposure to succession planning practices…Highly experienced practitioners will also find good nuggets of information, pointers, and reminders.” —PM World Journal

"An indispensable resource for any organization concerned with retaining the accumulated wisdom of its most valued employees." —Coaching Tips, The Leadership Blog

"Fifth edition of this seminal book, a vital resource for any organization looking to put in place a working, solid succession plan...comes with wealth of added and revised content." —TD magazine

From the Publisher