Succession Planning that Works
“We hired LSA Global to help our long-term client identify root causes and develop an action plan for improving their leadership bench strength in face of high attrition and a changing marketplace. LSA’s succession planning expertise was a 10-out-of-10.
Their recommendations in the areas of attracting and recruiting the right talent, hiring and promoting the best talent, employee development, performance management, knowledge management, and succession planning were right on target.
I would recommend LSA to anyone looking to take their talent management practices to the next level.”
Director | Risk Advisory Services | Global Audit, Tax and Consulting Firm
A recent study by LinkedIn found that 80% of CEOs are worried about the availability of key skills required to execute their strategies. Successful organizations make sure that they have the right people in the right positions to propel the business forward. That includes building internal bench strength, filling the talent pipeline, and being prepared for planned and unplanned personnel changes.
Done right, succession planning should be the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable way to get well-qualified talent into open positions.
Unfortunately, very few companies have an effective or strategic succession planning process. According to research by SHL, only 15% of companies believe they have enough qualified successors for critical positions. McKinsey research found that 27-46% of executive transitions are viewed as failures or disappointments after two years. Companies report feeling forced to go outside for key talent more often than they would like because they do not have sustainable leadership pipeline.
Succession planning is a critical component of an overall talent management strategy which aims to attract, develop, engage, and retain top talent to execute the business strategy in a way that aligns with the organizational culture.
Succession planning focuses on identifying and developing internal talent with the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the organization. Succession planning increases the availability of experienced and capable employees through effective development of the high-potential employees, so that they are prepared to assume leadership roles as they become available.
Done right, succession planning helps build the bench strength to ensure the long-term health, growth, and stability of an organization.
Effective succession planning typically includes five major steps that are highly customized for each unique situation:
Typical stakeholders include the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, Chief People Officer, Head of Talent, Senior Executives, front-line managers, and employees.
The goal is to get clear agreement and alignment about the critical few difference-making roles.
Once again, less is more in this stage. Look for the critical few that matter most for your unique situation, not an exhaustive list.
The objective of a talent review is to identify talent and structure strengths and weaknesses, spot and groom high potentials early, mitigate retention risks, and establish talent pools by levels based on the strategic strengths of the organization.
Targeted development plays a critical role in succession planning and often gets overlooked or is not fully implemented.
The entire succession planning program should be reviewed and adjusted (typically annually) in concert with the overall business and talent strategic planning processes. You will know you are headed in the right direction when you have the right talent in place for now (“ready now candidates”) and in the future (“talent pipeline”) to execute your strategy in a way that makes sense
Ask us about Pay-for-Performance options and how to move the leadership metrics that you care most about. Typical metrics that we move include:
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