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Succession Planning Kiran

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The key human resource issue for private and public sector organizations is how to identify, develop and retain talented leaders of the future. The essence of any organization's success is having in place not just people, but rather the right people to lead tomorrow who live the values today so they can sustain the culture. Succession planning has been identified as one of the main sources for employee retention. SUCCESSION PLANNING NORMALLY, IN MAJORITY OF CASES, THE SUCCESSION PLANNING IS CONDUCTED AND COORDINATED BY A COMMITTEE. THE CURRENT PERSON IN THE POSITION, IN VERY EXCEPTIONAL CASES, MAY PASS ON HIS VALUED JUDGEMENT TO THE COMMITTEE. I have covered the subject in a lengthy approach to come to grips with all the elements involved. Succession planning is a part of the process of preparing for the future of your company. Does this mean you should only plan a succession path for your CEO? Suggest that virtually every key position and key person in your organization is a candidate for a succession plan. The important impact is that it is virtually impossible to successfully promote someone unless there is a trained person to take over the position being vacated. _*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* To effectively implement a succession plan, you need to include/consider a number of elements:

What is the long-term direction of your company? Do you have an effective strategic plan guiding your course and direction? What are the key areas which require continuity and development of the people resources within your company? Who are the key people you want to develop and nurture for the future? How does the concept of succession planning fit into your strategies? Are you concentrating your efforts in the areas where the returns will be highest? What are the career paths that your most talented people should be following? Is each path customized to fit the abilities and talents of the people involved? The point here is to be sure you do not do this by rote: a plan that is not dynamic, that does not include the consideration of the individuals involved, is not usually as effective as one that is tailored to each individuals needs and capabilities. Should you wait for openings to appear before promoting someone, or should you make opportunities for each individual as they grow and mature, so that you can keep them challenged and stimulated, and not lose them to other, possibly faster moving companies? Your plan should be proactive, with people moving into different areas for experience and training before they are needed in critical positions, rather than reactive - waiting for openings to occur, then scurrying around to find an appropriate candidate at the last second. What strategies should you be considering for your succession planning process? First, realize that one size doesnt fit all. There are different approaches which may be used, depending on the situation in each company. In some cases, a company may have to move some people along quickly, in order to expose them to a broad range of experiences, and possibly to fill vacancies. In others, a deeper involvement in selected departments or disciplines may be indicated. Some of this will depend on the culture and processes of the company. In yet other cases, decisions about the process will depend on the individuals capabilities and competencies, and the structure and operations of the company. In virtually all situations, your ability to educate and promote will depend on the capabilities and strengths of the people who currently occupy the key positions and where they will be going in the future - what are they being groomed for?

SUCCESSION planning is an element of career management process. It is an outcome of -Corporate strategic planning -Corporate objectives -Corporate strategy. Hence you need to review this in detail. _~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Outline for Succession Planning Define where you currently are in your succession planning process. What positions are you planning for? What key people have you designated for succeeding to higher positions? Where are they in their experience, education and training schedules? What has changed since your last review? What other candidates can you identify, either for future needs or to replace people who were in the process and either left your company or did not work out as expected? What has changed inside your company which might alter where you have been planning to go with your succession plan? How have the current candidates performed to date? What jobs have changed, and how have they changed, since your last review? What new opportunities, technologies and other issues have emerged which may lead to change in the succession plan, its objectives or tactics? Define where you want your succession plan to take you, especially in light of your current strategic plan. What will you look like in three to five years and what will your key people be doing then? What openings will you need to fill due to attrition, promotion or expansion? What new disciplines will the company require, and how will you fill them? How does your succession plan fit with your expectation of where your company, your markets and your internal situation will likely be going? Define how you will get from where you are today to what you want the company to look like at the end of your current planning horizon. Who will be involved and what will each be doing? When will they start and end each part of the process and how will you judge their progress? What criteria will be used to determine each candidates ongoing fitness for his or her career path?

Does each candidate offer and demonstrate continuing potential and progress toward meeting the requirements you have established? On what basis will you determine if someone is not progressing appropriately, and what can you do to help that person develop to the fullest extent? What alternatives can you offer those who are not meeting expectations?

Once a plan is in place and people are in the process of being groomed for higher responsibilities and positions, where do you go from here? As indicated above, this is an ongoing process. You establish goals, select candidates, establish training and educational processes, initiate the process of selecting and training with each individual, and monitor developments. As the Simplified Strategic Planning process teaches, you continually update your status, review your assumptions about where you want to go and how you will get there, modify your strategies and the resulting actions/action plans, and continually feed back environmental developments. As your situation changes, you alter your objectives to match the appropriate strategies, make mid-course corrections, and continue your ongoing management processes as a part of the regular course of business. At each planning interval (usually annually), you will go through the entire process just as you go through your Strategic Planning process. You ask the same types of questions, make the same types of analyses as enunciated above, make whatever changes and modifications are indicated by the circumstances, update your goals and procedures, and proceed with the ongoing processes. Where you need additional talent, you perform appropriate searches, both inside and outside the company. You are basically limited by your resources, both human and capital, and your needs, and how far your headlights allow you to see into the future. Will you be totally correct? No, it is not likely you will get it totally right. But, you will get better as you do this process on a regular basis, and you will get better with time and repetition. You have the on-going advantage of being able to make mid-course corrections, so you shouldnt go too far wrong.

Focus on a particular step in the succession-planning process. 1. Develop a communication strategy 2. Identify expected vacancies 3. Determine critical positions 4. Identify current and future competencies for positions 5. Develop a recruitment strategy 6. Create assessment and selection tools 7. Supplement HR functions to include active recruiting and staffing 8. Identify gaps in current employee and candidate competency levels 9. Develop Individual Development Plans for employees 10. Develop and implement coaching and mentoring programs 11. Assist with leadership transition and development 12. Develop an evaluation plan for succession management

Data Input Table Critical Role Selection Organisation Hierarchy Competency Data by role/position Manager Ratings Employee Aspirations Employee Readiness Employee History Performance Rating HR Rating (High Potential and Others) Data Outputs Table Critical Role List Role List without nominated successors Nominated Successors Short List (Based on weighted data which is customized) Full Succession Plan High Potential Report Readiness Report Drill down to individual Development Plans ensure development is appropriate for the individual Management development plans/career counseling/mentoring/ management training/ education. The system provides you with instant answers across your entire Talent Pool. Succession Planning is now available not just for the executive team but for your entire Talent Pool. Development Spend Once you have implemented a Succession Planning system, you are then able to identify your High Potential Talent pool and focus your Development budget on your staff with the highest potential and best organisational fit.

Performance Management & Succession Planning for FUTURE You can safeguard the future viability by actively taking control of performance management and succession planning. In today's tight labour market, it builds the next-generation workforce by helping with retaining and motivating employees and reducing exposure to the loss of key people. At a operational level, - Building and maintaining a flexible and user-defined competency framework - Employee assessment (including 360) - Job profiling - Career planning - Organisation charting - Maintaining up-to-date employee information to help fill vacancies and resource projects, including: - Key performance indicators - Ad hoc competency searching - Graphical development needs analysis - Graphical competency displays - Development records (recording courses taken, Continuous Professional Development hours for learning activities) - Records of appraisal - Project planning - Key result areas

At a strategic level. - Effective manpower planning by helping to identify skills and competency gaps - Developing employees to meet company expansion plans and providing clear career paths - Succession planning/charting - Creating valuable business intelligence - Assessing and evaluating the Human Resource function Skillfully done, succession planning will bring the peace of mind that senior management should have, based on the understanding and expectations of its future leadership.

Kiran
-Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking............