Published on Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
With job-hopping being the order of the times, workers are prone to quit their jobs at the drop of a hat. Employers cannot always see it coming and are well and truly left in the lurch. And whom can they turn to at the eleventh hour? Conducting comprehensive external searches takes time and so does scouring existing employees for a worthy replacement. The vacant position has to be filled swiftly and it is not always as easy as simply promoting the immediate subordinate.
Hurriedly supplanting the best available candidate as the last resort can wreak further havoc in an already chaotic situation, especially if it happens to be a critical position.
So, is maintaining fluid continuity next to impossible? Does organisational success have to hinge on the decisions of employees?
Not necessarily… picture this. What if the management has been quietly anticipating future needs and identifying ‘hot seat’ positions that will require ongoing skilled personnel from the top down? A list of qualified successors have been identified and put through rigorous mentoring, training and job rotations to further prime them to take over the roles as and when needed. By thinking ahead and designing a sound ‘back-up’ strategy, the company is well prepared for the unexpected.
Whenever any top-performing employee should jump ship, an earmarked and ‘anointed’ employee is already waiting in the wings. He/she can easily slip into the role and assume the mantle without missing a beat.
Facilitating such a structured and smooth transition with minimum disruption of duties, calls for careful, considered and ongoing succession planning. As a top HR expert points out, “Depending on one man alone can often be dangerous and thus a backup is required. This is where succession planning comes to the rescue for it ensures that the organisation does not come to a standstill and there is always someone to take it forward.”
Comprehending this need, top companies like IBM, PepsiCo, GE, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble have been known for cultivating talent over decades. They boast a list of qualified candidates who are well versed in the operations and can take over the ropes should anyone right from their CEO and top executives to people in other key positions leave for some unforeseen reason.
Succession planning is a protracted process as identifying, isolating and training successors does take time. But by beginning to employ progression strategies, the management will not be caught off guard at any given point and can quickly appoint a suitable stand-in for a provisional period. This way they can avail the grace period for finding a more appropriate replacement, not to mention testing out the interim employee and making it into a permanent appointment later.
Then again, while both the necessity and importance of succession planning cannot be discounted, the act of pinpointing ‘in line’ successors does stimulate internal competition and conflict. Colleagues have been known to butt heads in the battle to win the coveted ‘promotion’. In a contrasting scenario, a primed employee may himself abandon the company or back down from taking up the post at the last minute.
In accordance, not only should the management cultivate a shadow group of talent, but also make concentrated efforts to encourage overall development of employee knowledge, proficiency and potential right through the organisation. This will not only pipeline a high-potential talent pool offering multiple options for replacing leaving employees and maintaining business continuity, but also generate leadership talent for grooming the leaders of tomorrow.
Hurriedly supplanting the best available candidate as the last resort can wreak further havoc in an already chaotic situation, especially if it happens to be a critical position.
So, is maintaining fluid continuity next to impossible? Does organisational success have to hinge on the decisions of employees?
Not necessarily… picture this. What if the management has been quietly anticipating future needs and identifying ‘hot seat’ positions that will require ongoing skilled personnel from the top down? A list of qualified successors have been identified and put through rigorous mentoring, training and job rotations to further prime them to take over the roles as and when needed. By thinking ahead and designing a sound ‘back-up’ strategy, the company is well prepared for the unexpected.
Whenever any top-performing employee should jump ship, an earmarked and ‘anointed’ employee is already waiting in the wings. He/she can easily slip into the role and assume the mantle without missing a beat.
Facilitating such a structured and smooth transition with minimum disruption of duties, calls for careful, considered and ongoing succession planning. As a top HR expert points out, “Depending on one man alone can often be dangerous and thus a backup is required. This is where succession planning comes to the rescue for it ensures that the organisation does not come to a standstill and there is always someone to take it forward.”
Comprehending this need, top companies like IBM, PepsiCo, GE, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble have been known for cultivating talent over decades. They boast a list of qualified candidates who are well versed in the operations and can take over the ropes should anyone right from their CEO and top executives to people in other key positions leave for some unforeseen reason.
Succession planning is a protracted process as identifying, isolating and training successors does take time. But by beginning to employ progression strategies, the management will not be caught off guard at any given point and can quickly appoint a suitable stand-in for a provisional period. This way they can avail the grace period for finding a more appropriate replacement, not to mention testing out the interim employee and making it into a permanent appointment later.
Then again, while both the necessity and importance of succession planning cannot be discounted, the act of pinpointing ‘in line’ successors does stimulate internal competition and conflict. Colleagues have been known to butt heads in the battle to win the coveted ‘promotion’. In a contrasting scenario, a primed employee may himself abandon the company or back down from taking up the post at the last minute.
In accordance, not only should the management cultivate a shadow group of talent, but also make concentrated efforts to encourage overall development of employee knowledge, proficiency and potential right through the organisation. This will not only pipeline a high-potential talent pool offering multiple options for replacing leaving employees and maintaining business continuity, but also generate leadership talent for grooming the leaders of tomorrow.
PAYAL CHANANIA
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