Succession Planning

It is factual that many organizations in the contemporary business field are failing to address the issue of succession planning. This is a similar case that happened to Microsoft Inc., after the retirement of Steve Ballmer (Microsoft, 2014). The company had a poor succession planning that it took them time to appoint Ballmer’s successor. This delay affected marketing strategies implementation for a whole year. One of the reasons why many organizations do not focus on succession planning is due to the fact that they have few staff members and are facing other organizational challenges that need to be prioritized (Dahlke, 2012).

Benefits of Succession Planning

Ensures organization of the management staff which enhances service continuity 

Promotes continued supply of qualified and motivated personnel to the organization

Succession planning acts as an alignment between human resources and organizational objectives

It acts as a motivation to the employees as it promotes career development

It helps the organization to recruit and retain qualified employees

Principles of Effective Succession Planning

• Prompt planning before the retirement date of the employees
• Focusing on practices, procedures and policies instead of personalities
• Taking succession planning as the management responsibility not just employees
• Succession planning should comply with current staff policies
• Succession management quality is proportionate to the new employees’ quality

Practices in Effective Succession of Managers

It is factual that if the organization has effective governance practices, succession planning involves use of current practices instead of introducing new ones. Therefore, the following are some of the practices that determine successful succession.

1. The strategic succession plan ought to convey the mission and current priorities of the organization
2. Thorough evaluation of the employee particularly on the annual basis
3. Updated personnel management policies that concern hiring, firing and supervising employees in compliance with employment laws
4. Regular personal reports regarding their roles and contribution within a specified period of time
5. Arrangements on incentives and subsidies that allow free replacement on employees though on a short period of time
6. Implementation of fiscal policies that enhance financial oversight
7. Holding annual discussions with employees on matters regarding their opinions on the effective succession planning for the organization

Steps towards Making a Successful Succession Planning 

1. Identifying the most crucial positions in an organizational structure
2. Identifying the competences that determines the capabilities for successful performance in different management positions
3. Recognizing the most appropriate succession planning strategies for the organization
4. Implementing and documenting the succession plan
5. Using the effective control measure in order to evaluate the effectiveness

References  

'Lessons learned from Microsoft's lack of CEO succession plan' 2014, Insidecounsel, 24, 263, p. 10, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost.

Dahlke, A. (2012). Business succession planning for dummies. Hoboken, NJ, John Wiley & Sons.