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Internal communication plans can educate employees, relieve stress, and inspire open conversations about an organization’s future. Most importantly, communication plans can help to identify and overcome common succession barriers. Although an effective communication plan is only a small piece of the overall succession puzzle, it is the first proactive step toward laying the foundation for stakeholder collaboration and the alignment of a cohesive, systematic process. If done correctly, communication plans can increase organizational buy-in, reduce resistance, and strengthen succession planning initiatives.
In this week’s Assignment, continue to examine barriers to succession planning by applying your analysis to the organization (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) for your Course Project. In addition, use Chapter 6, “Starting a Systematic Program,” of the course text Effective Succession Planning to formulate a company-wide plan to change the culture of an organization.
To successfully complete this Assignment, review Chapter 5, “Making the Case for Major Change” of the course text Effective Succession Planning to determine the strategies human resources (HR) can use to change the succession planning culture of an organization. Finally, synthesize the information from these resources, as well as from the other articles provided in the Learning Resources, and apply them to the scenario below.
Scenario
Assume that you are the HR manager for Hewlett Packard -Enterprise that you chose for your Course Project. After the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that have impacted industries around the world, the scholarly conversations on the benefits of succession planning have reached an all-time high. In fact, because of this, your organization has asked you to develop such a plan to safeguard the company’s knowledge and hierarchy of internal workings. The board of directors would like you to set this plan in motion before any changeovers occur due to necessity or as a result of an unforeseen disaster. You are excited about this change in culture, as you have long been a proponent of establishing a succession plan for your organization. You are worried, however, as you know many executives might see this plan in an unfavorable light.
As you leave your meeting with the board of directors, you have your first and arguably most difficult step ahead of you. You are to come up with a communication plan that will help both the executives and mid-level employees become comfortable with the idea of succession planning. Your communication plan must educate the organization on mentoring options, as well as possible growth opportunities. You must also explicitly state that HR will use both internal and external recruiting methods to find potential successors to fill the company’s future positions. Finally, the last emphasis of your communication plan must include a positive message, ensuring all employees of the benefits that succession planning can bring, as well as encouraging them to “get involved.”
To complete this Assignment, respond to the following in a 3 page paper:
Develop a company-wide succession planning policy and communication plan that effectively changes the organizational culture.
Create a list of the top three implementation barriers associated with your organization’s succession plan.
Outline the way in which you would address each of these barriers.
Solidify the role you would like each member of the triumvirate (HR professional, CEO, and board of directors) to play in this succession plan. For example, should they continue to play the roles you identified in last week’s Assignment, or should their roles be strategically refocused?
Support your response by writing a role description for each player.
Include a mission statement for your succession plan. (Note: This mission statement should not be the same as the organization’s public mission statement. Instead, it should reflect the purpose of implementing your succession plan. Use Exhibit 6-3, “Worksheet to Formulate a Mission Statement for Succession Planning and Management,” on page 143 of the Rothwell text to guide you during the creation of your mission statement.)
Propose two to three goals you hope your plan will achieve. For example, what cultural changes would you like to see?
Describe three long-term procedures that support the policies you will need to put into place to help change the organization’s succession planning culture, for example, Dormant’s ABCD model described on pages 124-129 of the course text Effective Succession Planning.
Explain the rationale behind your succession planning initiative.
Why are you implementing a new process for identifying successors?
How can this enhance the organization’s sustainable, competitive advantage?
How will each person in the organization be involved? In addition, how might this new process affect individuals working in the organization?
Describe mentoring options, as well as opportunities for growth.
Outline at least two internal and two external recruitment methods you aim to use.
Include a positive sentiment that will increase buy-in through all levels of your organization.
Identify at least three communication methods (e.g., internal memo, town hall meetings, outside news releases, etc.) you would use to underline the importance of both the succession plan and the needed change in organizational culture.
Justify why you would use these communication methods over other available options. For example, how would these specific communication methods fit the needs and culture of the organization and its employees?
Note: Your Assignment must include three new references to support your writing.
1
8
Hewlett Packard Enterprise: New Era of Change
Kay Doss
Walden University
Professor Preiksaitis
MHRM 6645
January 21, 2018
Hewett Packard Enterprise: New Era of Change
According to Heathfield (2017), succession planning is a process in which organizations ensures that employees are recruited and developed in order to fill key roles within the organization. This process allows an organization to never have key roles open for a long period of time as well as not preparing another employee to take the lead. In order for an organization to effective executive a succession plan, the CEO, the human resource (HR) professional and the board of directors must support the process and proactively search for the ideal candidates. These individuals holds the future of the organization and must prepare employees to step into roles that carry out the missions, vision and goals of organizations (Heathfield, 2017). In this paper, Hewlett Packard Enterprise will be examine to identify the new change in leadership and how their CEO, HR professionals, and board of directors focuses on a succession plan to ensure success.
Background of Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Hewlett Packard (HP) is an information technology company that was founded in 1939 in Palo Alto, California by William “Bill” Redington Hewlett and Dave Packard in a car garage. Since 1939, HP has expanded international by provide corporations with varies hardware and software services that includes developing and manufacturing computers, networking providing computer storage. The products in which HP sells includes computers, servers, software, printers, varies storage devices and imaging products while employing over three million employees around the world (“HP: Making it Matter,” n.d.). In 2014, HP announced that the company will be split into two separate companies- HP INC., and Hewlett Packard Enterprises which separated its core PC and printer business from its enterprise and services business.
According to Wasserman (2015), when HP announced the division of the company, the leadership knew they had to keep the legacy going and took three important branding lessons: make the logo simple and unique, don’t run the company’s reputation, and align the brand with the corporate mission. Under the leadership of Meg Withman, Hewlett Packard Enterprise developed a mission statement that was true to heart. It simply says, “Defining what’s important to your company from the top down, both internally and externally, will form the backbone of your new identity.” This mission statement expressed the focus of the new company while maintaining true to its original vision.
Recent Leadership Change
As of January 2018, Meg Whitman is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Whiteman served as the President and CEO for Hewlett-Packard Company from 2011 to 2015 and led the company in its most remarkable turnaround while separating into two Fortune 100 companies: Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc. (Hewlett Packard Enterprise, 2018). Whitman hold a bachelor degree Princeton University and a MBA from Harvard University and has held numerous executives-level positons for companies like eBay, Procter and Gamble Company, FTD, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, The Stride Rite Corporation, and Bain & Company. However, when Whitman leaves, she will still be on the board of directors (Snider, 2017).
The successor of Whitman, Antonio Neri, will become the new CEO, President of HP Enterprise, and will join board of directors in February 1st, 2018. According to Sidner (2017), Whitman states that it is right that Antonio and a new generation of leaders to take over to move the company in the right direction in a speech giving in November 2017 while praising Neri for having shareholder value creation, financial restructuring, and an innovation engine. Neri comes with 23 years of experience with HP and has held numerous leadership roles. According to his bio on HPE (2018), Neri ran HP’s Server and Networking, Storage and Technology Services where he was responsible for bringing new innovations to market and the execution of the go-to-market strategy.
Succession Plan used by Hewlett Packard Enterprise
In November 2017, Meg Whitman announced that she will be stepping down as CEO and President of HPE (Snider, 2107). The announcement comes when the company has decided on a series of corporate restructuring that is necessary to stay competitive and overcoming financial issues. The company drop 5% in a year –over-year sales in the last quarter to 3.28 billion (Vanian, 2017). Whitman states that within the last few months, the company need a leader with technology chops, which is something she lacked, that will gain innovative ideas that drives the future. Antonio Neri, who has been with HP for over two decades, comes with mass experience and held numerous roles in every business of the company (Snider, 2017).
In examine the succession plan of HPE, the company is in the first generation of the succession planning and management. According to Rothwell (2016), the first generation of SP&M life cycle is replacing the CEO and involving the CEO ensues that does not delegate anyone prematurely to the executives and other groups. Before Whitman announcement, the company were in search of a successor with knowledge of the technology world that Whitman did not have and Whitman delegated Neri.
Talent Management Role in Process
According to HPE (2018), under the leadership of Whitman, the company rebuilt its balance sheet, innovation, strengthened operations and improved customer and partner satisfactions. Also, the company made strategic moves to focus and strengthen its portfolio by mergers HPE’s Enterprise Services and Software businesses, as well as acquisitions with Aruba, SGI, SimpliVity and Nimble Storage. In order to find the successor, the employee must be technology savvy with years of experience in all business of HP. With positive feedback, Neri was highly recommended with varies key roles in HP’s business and systems. As the leader for HPE’s largest business segment, comprising server, storage, networking and services solutions, Neri was responsible for setting the R&D agenda, brining innovations to market, and go –to-market strategy and execution (Hewett Packard Enterprise, 2018).
Triumvirate Alignment and Roles
According to HPE (2017), the world of technology is changing drastically and quickly where HPE can take advantage of the market. The HPE’s strategy is based on three pillars: making Hybrid IT simple though its offerings in traditional data center, software –defined infrastructure, systems software and private cloud and its partnership. The HR professionals must provide the right talent and employees to foresee the project and make this goal into a reality. The second pillar falls on the CEO to deliver the partnership with Aruba in campus and branch networking, and the Industrial Internet of Things with products like Edgeline and its universal software. The third pillar falls on the all three executives (HR, CEO and the board of directors) provides services that are critical to customers today, including Advisory, Professional and Operational Services. But the Board of Directors are in place to ensure that HPE is prosperous by directing the affairs of the company is running smoothly as well as the new CEO Neri will be successful in his role.
In research, Whitman name her successor. There were no research found the HR executives or the board of directors has a position in hiring Neri. However, based on this reader’s knowledge in dealing with HR policies and procedures, there had to be involvement for HR professional and the board of directors. However, Burke (2017) Neri was appointed President in wake of HPE to take the next steps in its transformation into a smaller and faster moving company with a plan to take out as much as $200 to $300 million in additional cost in the second half of the year. Whiteman announces that Neri is a veteran technology executive that has seen reinvention of HPE’s Technology Services and integration of critical acquisitions like Aruba, SGI, SimpliVity and Nimble. Also, Whitman states that Neri’s promotion reflects the importance of his contributions to the company as leader (Burke, 2017).
Conclusion
In conclusion, a succession plan is valuable in the success of any organization. It is develop to have employees trained and recruited to step into vital roles in the organization in case of emergency situations. In relation to HPE, the company executed a successful succession plan by appointment the favourable Antonio Neri as the successor of Meg Whitman as CEO. Whitman had great involvement in appointing Neri, who had previously held numerous leadership role in Hewett Packard. In all, Neri will take over in February 2018 and will show his expertise in leading HPE in a new direction with new innovation in the technology market.
References
Burke, S. (2017). HPE’s Neri promoted to president, set to lead ‘HPE Next’ initiative. Retrieved from http://www.crn.com/news/data-center/300087516/hpes-neri-promoted-to-president-set-to-lead-hpe-next-initiative.htm
Heathfield, S. H. (2017). What HR managers need to know about succession planning. Retrieved from
https://www.thebalance.com/succession-planning-1918267
Hewlett Packard Enterprise. (2018). Antonio Neri. Retrieved from https://www.hpe.com/us/en/leadership-bios/antonio-neri.html
Hewlett Packard Enterprise. (2018). Meg Whitman. Retrieved from
https://www.hpe.com/us/en/leadership-bios/meg-whitman.html
Hewlett Packard Enterprise. (2017). Hewlett Packard Enterprise announces Antonio Neri to succeed Meg Whitman as Chief Executive Offer. Retrieved from https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/11/21/1198315/0/en/Hewlett-Packard-Enterprise-Announces-Antonio-Neri-to-Succeed-Meg-Whitman-as-Chief-Executive-Officer.html
“HP: Making it matter.” (n.d) Retrieved from
https://successstory.com/companies/hewlett-packard
Rothwell, W. J. (2016). Effective succession planning. (5th ed.). New York, NY: Amacom.
Snider, M. (2017). Meg Whitman to quit Hewlett Packard Enterprise, says won’t run for office- or go to rival. Retrieved from
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/11/22/meg-whitman-step-down-hewlett-packard-enterprises-ceo-feb-1/888124001/
Vanian, J. (2017). HPE CEO Meg Whitman reveals why she’s stepping down. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/11/21/meg-whitman-hewlett-packard-enterprise-ceo/
Wasserman, T. (2015). How Hewlett Packard Enterprise was born. /HPE’s new mission statement. Retrieved from https://news.hpe.com/how-hewlett-packard-enterprise-was-born-hpes-new-mission-statement/
Effective
Succession
Planning
F O U R T H E D I T I O N
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American Management Association
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Ensuring Leadership Continuity and
Building Talent from Within
William J. Rothwell
Effective
Succession
Planning
F O U R T H E D I T I O N
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rothwell, William J.
Effective succession planning : ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within / William J.
Rothwell.—4th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-1416-3
ISBN-10: 0-8144-1416-8
1. Leadership. 2. Executive succession—United States. 3. Executive ability. 4. Organizational
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To my wife Marcelina, my daughter Candice,
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You are the people who matter to me!
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Contents
List of Exhibits — xiii
Preface to the Third Edition — xvii
Acknowledgments — xxxi
Advance Organizer for This Book — xxxiii
Quick Start Guide — xxxvii
What’s on the CD? — xxxix
Part I
Background Information About
Succession Planning and Management — 1
Chapter 1 What Is Succession Planning and Management? — 3
Six Ministudies: Can You Solve These Succession Problems? — 3
Defining Succession Planning and Management — 6
Distinguishing SP&M from Replacement Planning, Workforce Planning,
Talent Management, and Human Capital Management — 12
Making the Business Case for Succession Planning and Management — 14
Reasons for a Succession Planning and Management Program — 16
Reasons to Launch Succession Planning and Management Depending on
Global Location — 27
The Current Status of Succession Planning: What Research Shows — 27
The Most Famous Question in Succession: To Tell or Not To Tell — 29
Management Succession Planning, Technical Succession Planning, or Social
Network Succession Planning: What Are You Planning For? — 30
Best Practices and Approaches — 31
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viii Contents
Ensuring Leadership Continuity in Organizations — 36
Summary — 41
Chapter 2 Trends Influencing Succession Planning and Management — 42
The Ten Key Trends — 43
What Does All This Mean for Succession Planning and Management? — 56
Summary — 56
Chapter 3 Moving to a State-of-the-Art Approach — 58
Characteristics of Effective Programs — 58
Common Mistakes and Missteps to Avoid — 63
The Life Cycle of Succession Planning and Management Programs: Five
Generations — 75
Integrating Whole Systems Transformational Change and Appreciative
Inquiry into Succession: What Are These Topics, and What Added Value
Do They Bring? — 78
Requirements for a New Approach — 82
Key Steps in a New Approach — 83
Summary — 86
Chapter 4 Competency Identification, Values Clarification, and Ethics:
Keys to Succession Planning and Management — 87
What Are Competencies? — 87
How Are Competencies Used in Succession Planning and
Management? — 88
Conducting Competency Identification Studies — 89
Using Competency Models — 90
Newest Developments in Competency Identification, Modeling, and
Assessment — 91
What’s the Focus: Management or Technical Competencies? — 92
Identifying and Using Generic and Culture-Specific Competency
Development Strategies to Build Bench Strength — 93
What Are Values, and What Is Values Clarification? — 94
How Are Values Used in Succession Planning and Management? — 96
Conducting Values Clarification Studies — 96
Using Values Clarification — 97
What Are Ethics, and How Are Ethics Used in SP&M? — 98
Bringing It All Together: Competencies, Values, and Ethics — 100
Summary — 100
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Contents ix
Part II
Laying the Foundation for a Succession
Planning and Management Program — 103
Chapter 5 Making the Case for Major Change — 105
Assessing Current Problems and Practices — 105
Demonstrating the Need — 114
Determining Organizational Requirements — 118
Linking SP&M Activities to Organizational and Human Resource Strategy —
119
Benchmarking Best Practices and Common Business Practices in Other
Organizations — 123
Obtaining and Building Management Commitment — 128
The Key Role of the CEO in the Succession Effort — 131
The Key Daily Role of Managers in the Succession Effort — 133
Sustaining Support for the Succession Effort — 133
Summary — 135
Chapter 6 Starting a Systematic Program — 136
Strategic Choices in Where and How to Start — 136
Conducting a Risk Analysis and Building a Commitment to Change — 137
Clarifying Program Roles — 139
Formulating a Mission Statement — 142
Writing Policy and Procedures — 149
Identifying Target Groups — 151
Clarifying the Roles of the CEO, Senior Managers, and Others — 155
Setting Program Priorities — 157
Addressing the Legal Framework — 158
Establishing Strategies for Rolling Out the Program — 167
Summary — 168
Chapter 7 Refining the Program — 169
Preparing a Program Action Plan — 169
Communicating the Action Plan — 170
Conducting Succession Planning and Management Meetings — 173
Training on Succession Planning and Management — 177
Counseling Managers About Succession Planning Problems in
Their Areas — 185
Summary — 188
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x Contents
Part III
Assessing the Present and the Future — 189
Chapter 8 Assessing Present Work Requirements and Individual Job
Performance — 191
Identifying Key Positions — 192
Three Approaches to Determining Work Requirements in Key
Positions — 196
Using Full-Circle, Multirater Assessments — 201
Appraising Performance and Applying Performance Management — 204
Creating Talent Pools: Techniques and Approaches — 207
Thinking Beyond Talent Pools — 212
Summary — 214
Chapter 9 Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual
Potential — 215
Identifying Key Positions and Talent Requirements for the Future — 215
Three Approaches to Determining Future Work Requirements in Key
Positions — 218
Assessing Individual Potential: The Traditional Approach — 224
The Growing Use of Assessment Centers and Portfolios — 233
The Latest Issues in Potential Assessment — 236
Summary — 237
Part IV
Closing the Developmental Gap:
Operating and Evaluating an SP&M
Program — 239
Chapter 10 Developing Internal Successors — 241
Testing Bench Strength — 242
Formulating Internal Promotion Policy — 246
Preparing Individual Development Plans — 249
Evaluating Individual Development Plans — 257
Developing Successors Internally — 257
The Role of Leadership Development Programs — 265
The Role of Coaching — 265
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Contents xi
The Role of Executive Coaching — 267
The Role of Mentoring — 268
The Role of Action Learning — 270
The Role of Acceleration Pools — 270
Summary — 271
Chapter 11 Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development — 272
The Need to Manage for ‘‘Getting the Work Done’’ Rather than ‘‘Managing
Succession’’ — 272
Innovative Approaches to Tapping the Retiree Base — 281
Deciding What to Do — 284
Summary — 286
Chapter 12 Integrating Recruitment with Succession Planning — 287
What Is Recruitment, and What Is Selection? — 287
When Should Recruitment Be Used to Source Talent? — 288
Internal Versus External Recruitment: Integrating Job Posting with Succession
Planning — 289
Recruiting Talented People from Outside — 290
Innovative Recruitment Approaches to Attract High Potentials — 293
Summary — 296
Chapter 13 Integrating Retention with Succession Planning — 298
What Is Retention, and Why Is It Important? — 298
Who Should Be Retained? — 299
What Common Misconceptions Exist in Managing Retention Issues? — 303
Using a Systematic Approach to Increase the Retention of Talented
People — 305
Summary — 306
Chapter 14 Using Technology to Support Succession Planning and
Management Programs — 309
Defining Online and High-Tech Methods — 309
Where to Apply Technology Methods — 315
How to Evaluate and Use Technology Applications — 315
What Specialized Competencies Do SP&M Coordinators Need to Use These
Applications? — 327
Summary — 328
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xii Contents
Chapter 15 Evaluating Succession Planning and Management
Programs — 329
What Is Evaluation? — 329
What Metrics Should Be Used to Evaluate SP&M Programs? — 330
What Should Be Evaluated? — 331
How Should Evaluation Be Conducted? — 334
How Can SP&M Be Evaluated with the Balanced Scorecard and HR
Dashboards? — 339
Summary — 347
Chapter 16 The Future of Succession Planning and Management — 348
The Fifteen Predictions — 349
Summary — 370
Appendix I: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Succession Planning
and Management — 371
Appendix II: Case Studies on Succession Planning and Management — 377
Notes — 409
Index — 429
About the Author — 447
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List of Exhibits
P-1. Age Distribution of the U.S. Population, Selected Years, 1965–2025 —xxi
P-2. U.S. Population by Age, 1965–2025 —xxii
P-3. Organization of the Book —xxvii
1-1. How General Electric Planned the Succession —7
1-2. The Big Mac Succession —10
1-3. Demographic Information about Respondents to a 2009 Survey on Succession
Planning and Management: Industries —17
1-4. Demographic Information about Respondents to a 2009 Survey on Succession
Planning and Management: Size —17
1-5. Demographic Information about Respondents to a 2009 Survey on Succession
Planning and Management: Job Functions of Respondents —18
1-6. Reasons for Succession Planning and Management Programs —19
1-7. Strategies for Reducing Turnover and Increasing Retention —23
1-8. Workforce Reductions Among Survey Respondents —26
1-9. Summary of Best Practices on Succession Planning and Management from Several
Research Studies —32
2-1. Assessment Questionnaire: How Well Is Your Organization Managing the
Consequences of Trends Influencing Succession Planning and Management? —44
2-2. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 —50
3-1. Characteristics of Effective Succession Planning and Management Programs —64
3-2. Assessment Questionnaire for Effective Succession Planning and Management —68
3-3. Chief Difficulties with Succession Planning and Management Programs —71
3-4. Simple Exercise to Dramatize the Need for Succession Planning and
Management —76
3-5. Dow Chemical Company’s Formula for Succession —79
3-6. The Seven-Pointed Star Model for Systematic Succession Planning and
Management —83
4–1. Interview Guide to Collect Corporate-Culture-Specific Competency Development
Strategies —95
5-1. Demographic Information About Respondents to 2009 Survey on Succession Planning
and Management: Job Functions of Respondents —107
5-2. Importance of Succession Planning and Management —108
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xiv List of Exhibits
5-3. Making Decisions About Successors in Organizations Without Systematic Succession
Planning and Management —109
5-4. Questionnaire for Assessing the Status of Succession Planning and Management in an
Organization —112
5-5. Worksheet for Demonstrating the Need for Succession Planning and
Management —116
5-6. Interview Guide for Determining the Requirements for a Succession Planning and
Management Program —120
5-7. Interview Guide for Benchmarking Succession Planning and Management
Practices —125
5-8. Opinions of Top Managers About Succession Planning and Management —129
5-9. Opinions of Human Resource Professionals About Succession Planning and
Management —130
5-10. Actions to Build Management Commitment to Succession Planning and
Management —131
5–11. Rating Your CEO for His or Her Role in Succession Planning and Management —134
6-1. Model for Conceptualizing Role Theory —139
6-2. Management Roles in Succession Planning and Management: Grid —141
6-3. Worksheet to Formulate a Mission Statement for Succession Planning and
Management —145
6-4. Sample Succession Planning and Management Policy —150
6-5. Targeted Groups for Succession Planning and Management —152
6-6. Activity for Identifying Initial Targets for Succession Planning and Management
Activities —153
6-7. Activity for Establishing Program Priorities in Succession Planning and
Management —159
6-8. U.S. Labor Laws —161
7-1. Worksheet for Preparing an Action Plan to Establish the Succession Planning and
Management Program —171
7-2. Sample Outlines for In-House Training on Succession Planning and
Management —179
8-1. Worksheet for Writing a Key Position Description —198
8-2. Worksheet for Considering Key Issues in Full-Circle, Multirater Assessments —203
8-3. Relationship Between Performance Management and Performance Appraisal —206
8-4. Approaches to Conducting Employee Performance Appraisal —208
8-5. Worksheet for Developing an Employee Performance Appraisal Linked to a Position
Description —211
9-1. Worksheet for Environmental Scanning —217
9-2. Activity on Organizational Analysis —219
9-3. Activity for Preparing Realistic Scenarios to Identify Future Key Positions —220
9-4. Activity for Preparing Future-Oriented Key Position Descriptions —221
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List of Exhibits xv
9-5. Steps in Conducting Future-Oriented Rapid Results Assessment —223
9-6. How to Classify Individuals by Performance and Potential —226
9-7. Worksheet for Making Global Assessments —228
9-8. Worksheet to Identify Success Factors —229
9-9. Individual Potential Assessment Form —230
10-1. Sample Replacement Chart Format: Typical Succession Planning and Management
Inventory for the Organization —243
10-2. Succession Planning and Management Inventory by Position —244
10-3. Talent Shows: What Happens? —247
10-4. Simplified Model of Steps in Preparing Individual Development Plans —251
10-5. Worksheet for Preparing Learning Objectives Based on Individual Development
Needs —253
10-6. Worksheet for Identifying the Resources Necessary to Support Developmental
Experiences —255
10-7. Sample Individual Development Plan —258
10-8. Methods of Grooming Individuals for Advancement —260
10-9. Key Strategies for Internal Development —261
11-1. Deciding When Replacing a Key Job Incumbent Is Unnecessary:
Flowchart —274
11-2. Worksheet for Identifying Alternatives to the Traditional Approach to Succession
Planning and Management —282
11–3. Tool for Contemplating Ten Ways to Tap the Retiree Base —285
12-1. Worksheet to Assess How Often and How Well an Organization Uses Traditional
External Recruiting Sources —291
13-1. Worksheet to Calculate the Cost of Turnover —300
13-2. Worksheet to Compare Your Organization on Best Practices in Employee
Retention —307
14-1. Continua of Online and High-Tech Approaches —310
14-2. Starting Point for a Rating Sheet to Assess Vendors for Succession Planning and
Management Software —312
14-3. Hierarchy of Online and High-Tech Applications for Succession Planning and
Management —316
14-4. Worksheet for Brainstorming When and How to Use Online and High-Tech
Methods —319
15-1. Hierarchy of Succession Planning and Management Evaluation —332
15-2. Guidelines for Evaluating the Succession Planning and Management Program —335
15-3. Worksheet for Evaluating the Succession Planning and Management Program —337
15-4. Sample Incident Report for Succession Planning and Management —338
15-5. Steps for Completing a Program Evaluation of a Succession Planning and Management
Program —340
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15-6. Checksheet for Conducting a Program Evaluation for the Succession Planning and
Management Program —342
16-1. Worksheet to Structure Your Thinking About Predictions for Succession Planning and
Management in the Future —350
16-2. Worksheet to Structure Your Thinking About Alternative Approaches to Meeting
Succession Needs —355
16-3. Age Distribution of the U.S. Population in 2025 —358
16-4. Age Distribution of the Chinese Population in 2025 —359
16-5. Age Distribution of the Population in the United Kingdom in 2025 —359
16-6. Age Distribution of the French Population in 2025 —360
16-7. Important Characteristics of Career Planning and Management Programs —364
16-8. Assessment Sheet for Integrating Career Planning and Management Programs with
Succession Planning and Management Programs —366
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Preface to the Fourth Edition
The world moves faster than ever. Since the third edition of this book, many changes
have occurred to shape succession planning and management as well as the related
field of talent management. Just consider the changes:
In the World
‘ The Recession of 2007 and Beyond: As this edition goes to press, unemployment
in the United States has exceeded 9 percent, and the United Nations projects
that the global unemployment rate could climb higher than 6.1 percent. As a
result, some business leaders question whether the time and money devoted
to succession planning and talent management are worth it when layoffs are
increasing.
‘ The Lingering Aftereffects and Legacy of 9/11: When the World Trade Center
collapsed, 172 corporate vice presidents lost their lives. That tragic event rein-
forced the message, earlier foreshadowed by the tragic loss of life in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, that life is fragile and that talent at all levels is increasingly at
risk in a world where disaster can strike unexpectedly. In a move that would
have been unthinkable ten years ago, some organizations are examining their
bench strength in locations other than their headquarters in New York City,
Washington, or other cities that might be prone to attack if terrorists should
wipe out a whole city through the use of a dirty nuclear weapon or other
chemical or biological agent. Could the organization pick up the pieces and
continue functioning without headquarters? That awful, but necessary, ques-
tion is on the minds of some corporate and government leaders today. (In
fact, one client of mine has set a goal of making a European capital the alterna-
tive corporate headquarters, with a view toward having headquarters com-
pletely reestablished in Europe within 24 hours of the total loss of the New
York City headquarters, if disaster should strike.)
‘ The Aftereffects of Many Corporate Scandals: Ethics, morality, and values have
never been more prominent than they are today. The Bernard Madoff scandal
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followed on the heels of earlier scandals affecting numerous Wall Street firms
and, years before that, Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom. Many busi-
ness leaders have recognized that ethics, morality, and values do matter. Cor-
porate boards have gotten more involved in succession planning and
management owing in part to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and
to the recognition that many senior corporate leaders are at or beyond the
traditional retirement age. And corporate leaders, thinking about succession,
realize that future leaders must model the behaviors they want others to ex-
hibit and must avoid practices that give even the mere appearance of impro-
priety. And yet some CEOs receive large performance bonuses even when they
lead their firms into bankruptcy.1
‘ Growing Recognition of the Aging Workforce: Everyone is still talking about the
demographic changes sweeping the working world in the United States and in
the other G8 nations. Some organizations have already felt the effects of talent
loss resulting from retirements of experienced workers.
‘ Growing Awareness That Succession Issues Amount to More Than Finding Re-
placements: When experienced people leave organizations, they take with them
not only the capacity to do the work but also the accumulated wisdom they
have acquired. That happens at all levels and in all functional areas. Succession
involves more than merely planning for replacements at the top. It also in-
volves thinking through what to do when the most experienced people at all
levels depart—and take valuable institutional memory with them.
‘ Increasing Globalization of Talent: Workers in the West are heading to the Far
East, where more opportunities exist even in the midst of financial crises.
Talent is becoming more willing to travel where pay and benefits, as well as
tax rates, are more favorable.
‘ Growing Interest in Tapping Retirees: Though experts may argue over whether
a talent shortage has emerged or will emerge, business leaders are increasingly
turning to their more experienced workers or seeking to find them.
Changes in Succession Planning
‘ Wide Acceptance of Talent Management and Talent Development: As is true in
so many areas of management, these terms may well still be in search of
meanings. They have more than one meaning. But, in many cases, talent man-
agement refers to the efforts taken to attract, develop, and retain best-in-class
employees—dubbed high performers (or HiPers), high professionals (HiPros),
and high potentials (or HiPos) by some. Talent development may refer to
efforts to groom HiPers or HiPos for the future and/or to tap them for transfer
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the specialized knowledge of HiPros. Think of it as selective attention paid to
the top performing 10 percent of employees—that’s one way it is thought of.
‘ The Emergence of ‘‘Workforce Planning’’: Though some people think that suc-
cession planning is limited to the top of the organization chart—which I do
not accept, by the way—others regard comprehensive planning for the future
staffing needs of the organization as workforce planning. It is also a popular
term for succession planning in government, rivaling the term human capital
management in that venue.
‘ Growing Awareness of Succession Planning: Decision makers have become
aware of the need for succession planning as they scurry to find replacements,
even in the midst of a global business slowdown, for a pending tidal wave of
retirements in the wake of years of downsizing, rightsizing, and smart sizing.
‘ The Recognition That Succession Planning Is Only One of Many Solutions: When
managers hear that they are losing a valuable—and experienced—worker,
their first inclination is to clutch their hearts and say, ‘‘Oh, my heavens, I have
only two ways to deal with the problem—promote from inside or hire from
outside. The work is too specialized to hire from outside, and the organization
has such weak bench strength that it is not possible to promote from within.
So we better get busy and build a succession program.’’ Of course, that is
much too limited a view. The goal is to get the work done and not necessarily
to replace people, and there are many ways to get the work done.
‘ Growing Awareness of Technical Succession Planning as a Means of Addressing
the Knowledge Transfer Problem: Though succession planning is typically asso-
ciated with preparing people to make vertical moves on the organization chart,
it is also as applicable to engineers, lawyers, research scientists, MIS profes-
sionals, and other professional or technical workers who possess specialized
knowledge. When they leave the organization, they may take critically impor-
tant and proprietary institutional memory and knowledge with them. Hence,
growing awareness exists for the need to do technical succession planning,
which focuses on the horizontal level of the organization chart and involves
broadening and deepening professional knowledge and preserving it for the
organization’s continued use in the future.
‘ Continuing Problems with HR Systems and the Need for HR Transformation:
HR systems are still not up to snuff. As I consult in this field, I see too little
staffing in HR departments, poorly skilled HR workers with low credibility,
ineffective competency modeling efforts, insufficient HR technology to sup-
port robust applications like succession, and many other problems with the
HR function itself. This observation includes timid HR people who are unwill-
ing to stand up to the CEO or their operating peers, exert people leadership,
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and insist on accountability systems to make sure that managers do their jobs
to groom talent while they struggle to get today’s work out the door.
‘ Widening Interest in Tactical Succession Planning: Many HR practitioners rec-
ognize that they are often blamed for failing to find, keep, and develop tal-
ented people. Yet, until now, too little attention has been devoted to the daily
responsibilities of managers and workers in talent management. While HR
has a role to lead the organization to strategic talent management, managers
and workers have a daily role in tactical talent management.
The world continues to face the crisis of leadership described in the preface to the
first edition of this book. Indeed, ‘‘a chronic crisis of governance—that is, the perva-
sive incapacity of organizations to cope with the expectations of their constituents—is
now an overwhelming factor worldwide.’’ That statement is as true today as it was
when this book was published in 1994. Evidence can still be found in various settings:
Many citizens have lost faith in their elected officials to address problems at the
national, regional, and local levels; the religious continue to lose faith in high-profile
church leaders who have been involved in sensationalized scandals; and consumers
have lost faith that business leaders will act responsibly and ethically.2 Add to those
problems some others: People do not trust the mass media, like newspapers or televi-
sion stations, now owned by enormous corporations, to tell them the truth; they may
not assume that reporters have even bothered to check the facts; and patients have
lost faith that doctors, many of whom are pressured to hold down costs, to ‘‘do no
harm.’’3
A crisis of governance is also widespread inside organizations. Employees wonder
what kind of employment they can maintain when a new employment contract has
changed the relationship between workers and their organizations. Employee loyalty
is a relic of the past,4 the victim of the downsizing craze so popular in the 1990s that
persists in some organizations to the present day. Employee engagement is a problem
everywhere when 19 percent of all employees in the United States are actively working
against the goals of their employers. Changing demographics makes the identification
of successors key to the future of many organizations when the legacy of the cutbacks
in the middle-management ranks, the traditional training ground for senior executive
positions, has begun to be felt. If that is hard to believe, consider that many of the
best-known companies in the United States could lose a high percentage of their
senior executives to retirement at any time.5 Demographics tell the story: The U.S.
population is aging, and that could mean many retirements soon. (See Exhibits P-1
and P-2.)
Amid the pressures of pending retirements in senior executive ranks and the
increasing value of intellectual capital and knowledge management, it is more neces-
sary than ever for organizations to plan for leadership continuity and employee devel-
opment at all levels. But that is easier said than done. Systematic succession planning
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Exhibit P-1. Age Distribution of the U.S. Population, Selected Years,
1965–2025
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
16
–1
9
20
–2
4
25
–2
9
30
–3
4
35
–3
9
40
–4
4
45
–4
9
50
–5
4
55
–5
9
60
–6
4
65
–6
9
70
–7
4
75
–7
9
80
+
Age
P
o
p
u
la
ti
o
n
(
th
o
u
sa
n
d
s)
1965
1995
2015
Source: Stacy Poulos and Demetra S. Nightengale, ‘‘The Aging Baby Boom: Implications for Employment and Training Programs.’’
Presented at http://www.urban.org/aging/abb/agingbaby.html. This report was prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor under
Contract No. F-5532-5-00-80-30.
is not consistent with longstanding tradition, which favors quick fixes to necessarily
long-term, culture-changing succession planning and management (SP&M) issues.
Nor is it consistent with the continuing, current trends in which too few people are
thrown at too much work. Shallow internal talent pools are exacerbated by the use of
outsourcing and contingent workers from which to choose future leaders.
In previous decades, labor in the United States was plentiful and taken for
granted. Managers had the leisure to groom and test employees for advancement over
long time spans and to overstaff as insurance against surprise losses in key positions.
That was as true for management as it was for nonmanagement employees. Most jobs
did not require extensive prequalification. Seniority (sometimes called job tenure), as
measured by time with an organization or in an industry, was sufficient to ensure
advancement. Succession planning and management activities properly focused on
leaders at the peak of tall organizational hierarchies because organizations were con-
trolled from the top down and were thus heavily dependent on the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes of top management.
But times have changed. Few organizations have the luxury to overstaff in the
face of fierce global competition from low-cost labor abroad and economic restructur-
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Exhibit P-2. U.S. Population by Age, 1965–2025
100000
20252015200519951965 1975
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000
1985
Year
16–24 yr olds
25–34 yr olds
35–44 yr olds
45–54 yr olds
55 & older
Source: Stacy Poulos and Demetra S. Nightengale, ‘‘The Aging Baby Boom: Implications for Employment and Training Programs.’’
Presented at http://www.urban.org/aging/abb/agingbaby.html. This report was prepared by the U.S. Department of Labor under
Contract No. F-5532-5-00-80-30.
ing efforts. That is particularly true in high-technology companies where several
months’ experience may be the equivalent of a year’s work in a more stable industry.
At the same time, products, markets, and management activities have grown more
complex. Many jobs now require extensive prequalification, both inside and outside
organizations. A track record of demonstrated and successful work performance—not
just time in position—and leadership competency have become key considerations as
fewer employees compete for diminishing advancement opportunities. As employee
empowerment has broadened the ranks of decision makers, leadership influence can
be exerted at all hierarchical levels rather than limited to those few granted authority
by virtue of their lofty titles and managerial positions.
For these reasons, organizational leaders must take proactive steps to plan for
future talent needs at all levels and implement programs designed to ensure that the
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right people are available for the right jobs in the right places and at the right times
to get the right results. Much is at stake in this process: ‘‘The continuity of the organi-
zation over time requires a succession of persons to fill key positions.’’6 There are
important social implications as well. As management guru Peter Drucker explained
in words as true today as when they were written:7
The question of tomorrow’s management is, above all, a concern of
our society. Let me put it bluntly—we have reached a point where
we simply will not be able to tolerate as a country, as a society, as
a government, the danger that any one of our major companies will
decline or collapse because it has not made adequate provisions
for management succession. [emphasis added]
Research adds weight to the argument favoring SP&M. First, it has been shown
that firms in which the CEO has a specific successor in mind are more profitable than
those in which no specific successor has been identified. A possible reason is that
selecting a successor ‘‘could be viewed as a favorable general signal about the presence
and development of high-quality top management.’’8 In other words, superior-
performing CEOs make SP&M and leadership continuity top priorities. Succession
planning and management has even been credited with driving a plant turnaround
by linking the organization’s continuous improvement philosophy to individual de-
velopment.9
But ensuring leadership continuity can be a daunting undertaking. The rules,
procedures, and techniques used in the past appear to be growing increasingly out-
moded and inappropriate. It is time to revisit, rethink, and even reengineer SP&M.
That is especially true because, in the words of one observer of the contemporary
management scene, ‘‘below many a corporation’s top two or three positions, succes-
sion planning [for talent] is often an informal, haphazard exercise where longevity,
luck, and being in the proverbial right place at the right time determines lines of
succession.’’10 A haphazard approach to SP&M bodes ill for organizations in which
leadership talent is diffused—and correspondingly important—at all hierarchical lev-
els while the need also exists to scramble organizational talent quickly to seize business
opportunities or deal with crises.
Succession Planning in Tough Economic Times
One difference between this edition and the previous one is the tough economic
climate faced by organizations globally. Consider:
‘ In 2008, the U.S. economy shed 2.6 million jobs, the most since 1945.
‘ As this book goes to press, the United States has reached a jobless high of 7.2
percent, the most in 16 years.
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‘ Fewer than one in three workers qualifies for unemployment insurance bene-
fits when they are laid off because, for one reason or another, they are not
eligible.
‘ From the start of the recession in December 2007 through December 2008,
the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted) was 23,485, and
the number of initial claims (seasonally adjusted) was 2,394,434.11
‘ For all of 2008, on a not seasonally adjusted basis, the total numbers of mass
layoff events reached 21,137, and initial unemployment claims reached
2,130,220, their highest annual levels since 2001 and 2002, respectively.
Among the 21 major industry sectors, six registered series highs for both mass
layoff events and initial claims for all of 2008: construction; transportation
and warehousing; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing;
management of companies and enterprises; and accommodation and food
services.12
In light of these conditions, some senior managers question whether it is worth-
while to devote time and money to succession planning issues. They reason that, with
so many people out of work or working below their skill level, it should be easy to
find well-qualified replacements for the dwindling number of people who can afford
to retire at a time that retirement funds have tanked along with the stock market.
But that logic is not necessarily true. The people thrown out of work do not
necessarily match up nicely and precisely to the people who need to be replaced due
to retirements or job growth. For instance, the biggest job growth is in health care.
How many workers laid off from manufacturing or construction can become nurses?
The point is that succession planning is needed in good times as well as in bad.
Employers must plan for their future, and planning for people is part of that. Relying
solely on the external labor market for talent can be a suboptimal strategy, ignoring
the value of company-culture-specific experience and wisdom.
The Purpose of This Book
Succession planning and management and leadership development figure promi-
nently on the agenda of many top managers. Yet, despite senior management interest,
the task often falls to human resource management (HRM) and workplace learning
and performance (WLP) professionals to spearhead and coordinate efforts to establish
and operate strategically oriented succession programs and to avert succession crises.
In that way, they fill an important, proactive role demanded of them by top managers,
and they ensure that SP&M issues are not lost in the shuffle of fighting daily fires.
But SP&M is rarely, if ever, taught in most undergraduate or graduate college
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Preface to the Fourth Edition xxv
degree programs—even in those specifically tailored to preparing HRM and WLP
professionals. For this reason, HRM and WLP professionals often need assistance
when they coordinate, establish, operate, or evaluate SP&M programs. This book is
intended to provide that help. It offers practical, how-to advice on SP&M. The book’s
scope is deliberately broad. It encompasses more than management succession plan-
ning, which is the most frequently discussed topic by writers and consultants in the
field. Stated succinctly, the purpose of this book is to reassess SP&M and offer a
practical approach to ensuring leadership continuity in key positions and for key
people by building leadership talent from within.
Succession planning and management should support strategic planning and stra-
tegic thinking. It should provide an essential starting point for management and
employee development programs. Without it, organizations will have difficulty main-
taining leadership continuity or identifying appropriate leaders when a change in
business strategy is necessary. Though many large blue-chip corporations operate
best-practice SP&M programs, small and medium-sized businesses also need them.
In fact, inadequate succession plans are a common cause of small business failure as
founding entrepreneurs fade from the scene, leaving no one to continue their legacy,13
and as tax laws exert an impact on the legacy of those founders as they pass away.
Additionally, nonprofit enterprises and government agencies need to give thought to
planning for future talent.
Whatever an organization’s size or your job responsibilities, then, this book
should provide useful information on establishing, managing, operating, and evaluat-
ing SP&M programs.
Sources of Information
As I began writing this book I decided to explore state-of-the-art succession planning
and management practices. I consulted several major sources of information:
1. A Tailor-Made Survey: In January 2009 I surveyed over 1,200 HRM profession-
als about SP&M practices in their organizations. Selected survey results, which
were compiled in February 2009, are published in this book for the first time.
This survey was an update of earlier surveys conducted for the first edition
(1994), second edition (2000), and third edition (2005). Though the response
rate to the survey was disappointing, the results provided interesting informa-
tion.
2. Phone Surveys and Informal Benchmarking: I spoke by phone and in person
with vendors of specialized succession planning software and discussed SP&M
with workplace learning and performance professionals in major corporations.
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3. Other Surveys: I researched other surveys that have been conducted on SP&M
in recent years and, giving proper credit when due, I summarize key findings
of those surveys at appropriate points in the book.
4. Web Searches: I examined what resources could be found on the World Wide
Web relating to important topics in this book. I have included the Web links
for the readers’ benefit.
5. A Literature Search: I conducted an exhaustive literature review on SP&M—
with special emphasis on what has been written on the subject since the 2005
edition of this book. I also looked for case study descriptions of what real
organizations have been doing.
6. Firsthand In-House Work Experience: Before entering the academic world, I was
responsible for a comprehensive management development (MD) program in
a major corporation. As part of that role I coordinated management SP&M.
My experiences are reflected in this book.
7. Extensive External Consulting and Public Speaking: Since entering the academic
world, I have also done consulting and public speaking on the topic of SP&M
all over the world. I spoke about succession planning and talent management
all over Asia, including an address to 64 CEOs of the largest corporations in
Singapore; conducted seminars on succession in Asia and in Europe; keynoted
several conferences on succession and spoke on the topic at many conferences;
and provided guidance for a major research study of best practices on the topic
in large corporations. Most recently, I have focused attention on best practices
in government succession at all levels—local, state, federal, and international.
The aim of these sources is to ensure that this book will provide a comprehensive
and up-to-date treatment of typical and best-in-class SP&M practices in organizations
of various sizes and types operating in different industries and economic sectors.
The Scheme of This Book
The fourth edition of Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity
and Building Talent from Within is written for those wishing to establish, revitalize, or
review an SP&M program within their organizations. It is geared to meet the needs
of HRM and WLP executives, managers, and professionals. It also contains useful
information for chief executive officers, chief operating officers, general managers,
university faculty members who do consulting, management development specialists
who are looking for a detailed treatment of the subject as a foundation for their own
efforts, SP&M program coordinators, and others bearing major responsibilities for
developing management, professional, technical, sales, or other employees.
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The book is organized in four parts. (See Exhibit P-3.) Part I sets the stage. Chap-
ter 1 opens with dramatic vignettes illustrating typical—and a few rivetingly atypical—
problems in SP&M. The chapter also defines succession planning and management.
It also distinguishes it from replacement planning, workforce planning, talent man-
agement, and human capital management. Then the chapter goes on to emphasize its
importance, explain why organizations sponsor such programs, and describe different
approaches to succession planning and management.
Chapter 2 describes key trends influencing succession planning and management:
(1) the need for speed; (2) a seller’s market for skills; (3) reduced loyalty among
employers and workers; (4) the importance of intellectual capital and knowledge
management; (5) the key importance of values and competencies; (6) the increasing
amount of software available to support succession; (7) the growing activism of the
board of directors; (8) the growing awareness of similarities and differences in succes-
sion issues globally; (9) the heightened awareness of similarities and differences of
Exhibit P-3: The Organization of the Book
Part I
Background Information About
Succession Planning and Management
Part III
Assessing the Present and the Future
Part IV
Closing the “Developmental Gap”:
Operating and Evaluating a Succession
Planning and Management Program
Part II
Laying the Foundation for a
Succession Planning and
Management Program
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succession programs in special venues: government, nonprofit, education, small busi-
ness, and family business; and (10) managing the special issue of CEO succession.
The chapter clarifies what these trends mean for SP&M efforts.
Chapter 3 summarizes the characteristics of effective SP&M programs, describes
the life cycle of SP&M programs, identifies and solves common problems with various
approaches to SP&M, describes the requirements and key steps in a sixth-generation
approach to SP&M, and explains how new approaches to organizational change may
be adapted for use with SP&M.
Chapter 4 defines competencies, explains how they are used in SP&M, summa-
rizes how to conduct competency studies for SP&M and use the results, explains how
organizational leaders can ‘‘build’’ competencies using development strategies, defines
values, explains how values and values clarification can influence SP&M efforts, de-
fines ethics, and shows how ethical issues should influence SP&M efforts.
Part II consists of Chapters 5 through 7. It lays the foundation for an effective
SP&M program. Chapter 5 describes how to make the case for change, often a neces-
sary first step before any change effort can be successful. The chapter reviews such
important steps in this process as assessing current SP&M practices, demonstrating
business need, determining program requirements, linking SP&M to strategic plan-
ning and human resource planning, benchmarking SP&M practices in other organiza-
tions, and securing management commitment. It emphasizes the critical importance
of the CEO’s role in SP&M in businesses. Finally, it treats the role of in-house politics
on SP&M.
Building on the previous chapter, Chapter 6 explains how to clarify roles in an
SP&M program; formulate the program’s mission, policy, and procedure statements;
identify target groups; set program priorities; and establish accountabilities. It also
addresses the legal framework in SP&M and provides advice about strategies for roll-
ing out an SP&M program.
Chapter 7 rounds out Part II. It offers advice on preparing a program action
plan, communicating the action plan, conducting SP&M meetings, designing and
delivering training to support SP&M, and counseling managers about SP&M prob-
lems uniquely affecting them and their areas of responsibility.
Part III comprises Chapters 8 and 9. It focuses on assessing present work require-
ments in key positions, on present individual performance, on future work require-
ments, and on future individual potential. Crucial to an effective SP&M program,
these activities are the basis for subsequent individual development planning.
Chapter 8 examines the present situation, addressing the following questions:
‘ How are key positions and/or key people identified?
‘ What three approaches can be used to determining work requirements in key
positions?
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‘ How can full-circle, multirater assessment be used in SP&M?
‘ How is performance appraised?
‘ What techniques and approaches can be used in creating talent pools?
Chapter 9 examines the future. Related to Chapter 8, it focuses on these questions:
‘ What key positions are likely to emerge in the future?
‘ What will be the work requirements in those positions?
‘ What is individual potential assessment, and how can it be carried out?
Part IV consists of Chapters 10 through 16. Chapters in this part focus on closing
the developmental gap by operating and evaluating an SP&M program. Chapter 10
offers advice for testing the organization’s overall bench strength, explains why an
internal promotion and job-posting policy is important, defines the term individual
development plan (IDP), describes how to prepare and use an IDP to guide individual
development, and reviews important methods to support internal development.
Chapter 11 moves beyond the traditional approach to SP&M. It offers alternatives
to internal development as the means of meeting replacement needs. The basic idea
of the chapter is that underlying a replacement need is a work need that must be
satisfied. There are, of course, other ways to meet work needs than by replacing a key
position incumbent. The chapter provides a decision model to distinguish between
situations when replacing a key position incumbent is or is not warranted.
Chapter 12 is a new chapter in this edition. It relates hiring practices to succession
planning, emphasizing the importance of taking a fresh perspective to the recruiting
and selection challenge. There are, after all, only two ways to get talent. One way is to
develop it internally, which is the traditional focus of succession planning. But the
other way is to recruit it. For that reason, recruitment and selection are added to
issues treated in the book.
Chapter 13, also a new chapter, examines the importance of retaining top talent.
If an organization devotes time, money, and effort to developing talent, then it is
important to retain it. The chapter thus focuses on retention.
Chapter 14 examines how to apply online and high-tech approaches to SP&M
programs. The chapter addresses four major questions: (1) How are online and high-
tech methods defined? (2) In what areas of SP&M can online and high-tech methods
be applied? (3) How are online and high-tech applications used? (4) What specialized
competencies are required by succession planning coordinators to use these applica-
tions?
Chapter 15 is about evaluation, and it examines possible answers to three simple
questions: (1) What is evaluation? (2) What should be evaluated in SP&M? (3) How
should an SP&M program be evaluated?
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xxx Preface to the Fourth Edition
Chapter 16 concludes the book. It offers numerous predictions about SP&M. To
mention a few: I end the book by predicting that SP&M will (1) prompt efforts by
decision makers to find flexible strategies to address future organizational talent
needs; (2) lead to integrated retention policies and procedures that are intended to
identify high-potential talent earlier, retain that talent, and preserve older high-poten-
tial workers; (3) have a global impact; (4) be influenced increasingly by real-time
technological innovations; (5) become an issue in government agencies, academic
institutions, and nonprofit enterprises in a way never before seen; (6) lead to increas-
ing organizational openness about possible successors; (7) increasingly be integrated
with career development issues; and (8) be heavily influenced in the future by con-
cerns about work-family balance and spirituality.
The book ends with two appendices. Appendix I addresses frequently asked ques-
tions about succession planning and management. Appendix II provides a range of
case studies about SP&M that describes how it is applied in various settings.
One last thing. You may be asking yourself, ‘‘How is the fourth edition of this
classic book different from the second edition?’’ I made many changes to this book.
Allow me to list just a few:
‘ A Quick Start Guide, like those that come with computers, has been added to
the opening of the book.
‘ The survey research cited in this book is new, conducted in year 2009.
‘ The results of a different survey on potential/promotability practices, con-
ducted in 2008, are also included.
‘ The literature cited in the book has been expanded and updated.
‘ A new section on ethics has been added.
‘ The section on competency identification, modeling, and assessment has been
updated.
‘ The chapter on technology applications has been updated with references to
the ever changing world of software available to support succession and talent
management.
All these changes reflect the many developments that have occurred in the SP&M
field within the last few years and since the last edition was published.
William J. Rothwell
University Park, Pennsylvania
May 2009
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Acknowledgments
Writing a book is like taking a long journey. The researching, drafting, and repeated
revisions require more time, effort, patience, and self-discipline than most authors
care to admit or have the dedication to pursue. Yet no book is written in isolation.
Completing such a journey requires any author to seek help from many people, who
provide advice and direction along the way.
This is my opportunity to thank those who have helped me. I would therefore
like to extend my sincere appreciation to my graduate research assistant Lin Gao for
helping me to track down and secure the necessary copyright permissions and to my
graduate students Jinyong Kim and Hong Min Kim for their help in putting my
survey on Survey Monkey.
I would also like to thank Christina Parisi and other staff members at Amacom,
who offered numerous useful ideas on the project while demonstrating enormous
patience with me and my busy schedule in consulting and presenting around the
world.
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Advance Organizer for This Book
Complete the following assessment before you read this book. Use it to help you assess
the need for an effective succession planning and management (SP&M) program in
your organization. You may also use it to refer directly to topics in the book that are
of special importance to you now.
Directions: Read each of the following items. Circle Y (yes), N/A (not applicable),
or N (no) in the left column next to each item. Spend about 15 minutes on this.
Think of succession planning and management in your organization as you believe it
is and not as you think it should be. When you finish, score and interpret the results
using the instructions appearing at the end of this Advance Organizer. Then be pre-
pared to share your responses with others in your organization as a starting point for
planning. If you would like to learn more about one of the items, refer to the number
in the right column to find the chapter in this book in which the subject is discussed.
Circle your response in the left-hand column for each response.
Has your organization: Chapter
Y N/A N 1. Clearly defined the need for succession planning and 1
management (SP&M)?
Y N/A N 2. Distinguished succession planning and management 1
from replacement, workforce planning, talent
management, and human capital management?
Y N/A N 3. Made the case by showing the importance of 1
succession planning and management?
Y N/A N 4. Clarified the organizational reasons (goals) for the 1
SP&M effort?
Y N/A N 5. Investigated best practices and approaches to SP&M? 1
Y N/A N 6. Considered what trends may influence SP&M? 2
Y N/A N 7. Clarified how trends, as they unfold, may influence 2
SP&M in your organization?
Y N/A N 8. Investigated the characteristics of effective SP&M 3
programs?
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xxxiv Advance Organizer for This Book
Y N/A N 9. Thought about how to roll out a SP&M program?
Y N/A N 10. Set out to identify, and try to avoid, common 3
problems with SP&M?
Y N/A N 11. Considered integrating whole-systems 3
transformational change into the SP&M program?
Y N/A N 12. Considered integrating appreciative inquiry strength- 3
based thinking into the SP&M program?
Y N/A N 13. Planned for what might be required to establish a 3
state-of-the-art approach to the SP&M program?
Y N/A N 14. Identified competencies as they might be used in your 4
organization?
Y N/A N 15. Considered how competency models might be used as 4
a foundation for your SP&M program?
Y N/A N 16. Explored new developments in competency 4
identification, modeling, and assessment for the
SP&M program?
Y N/A N 17. Identified competency development strategies to build 4
bench strength?
Y N/A N 18. Specifically considered how values might impact the 4
SP&M program?
Y N/A N 19. Considered how ethics might be used in your SP&M 4
program?
Y N/A N 20. Determined organizational requirements for the 5
SP&M program?
Y N/A N 21. Linked succession planning and management 5
activities to organizational and human resource
strategy?
Y N/A N 22. Benchmarked best practices and common business 5
practices in SP&M practices in other organizations?
Y N/A N 23. Obtained and built management commitment to 5
systematic succession planning and management?
Y N/A N 24. Clarified the key role to be played by the CEO in the 5
succession effort?
Y N/A N 25. Conducted a risk analysis of what groups or 6
individuals might pose the greatest potential for loss
to the organization?
Y N/A N 26. Formulated a mission statement for the succession 6
effort?
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Advance Organizer for This Book xxxv
Y N/A N 27. Written policy and procedures to guide the succession 6
effort?
Y N/A N 28. Identified target groups for the succession effort? 6
Y N/A N 29. Set program priorities? 6
Y N/A N 30. Addressed the legal framework affecting the 6
SP&M program?
Y N/A N 31. Established strategies for rolling out the program? 6
Y N/A N 32. Prepared a program action plan? 7
Y N/A N 33. Communicated the action plan? 7
Y N/A N 34. Conducted SP&M meetings? 7
Y N/A N 35. Trained on succession planning and management? 7
Y N/A N 36. Counseled managers about succession planning 7
problems in their areas?
Y N/A N 37. Identified key positions and/or key people? 8
Y N/A N 38. Appraised performance and applied performance 8
management?
Y N/A N 39. Considered creating talent pools? 8
Y N/A N 40. Thought of possibilities beyond talent pools? 8
Y N/A N 41. Identified key positions for the future? 9
Y N/A N 42. Assessed individual potential for promotability on 9
some systematic basis?
Y N/A N 43. Considered using assessment centers? 9
Y N/A N 44. Considered using work portfolios to assess individual
potential?
Y N/A N 45. Tested bench strength? 10
Y N/A N 46. Formulated internal promotion policy? 10
Y N/A N 47. Prepared individual development plans? 10
Y N/A N 48. Developed successors internally? 10
Y N/A N 49. Considered using leadership development programs 10
in succession planning?
Y N/A N 50. Considered using executive coaching in succession 10
planning?
Y N/A N 51. Considered using mentoring in succession planning? 10
Y N/A N 52. Considered using action learning in succession 10
planning?
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xxxvi Advance Organizer for This Book
Y N/A N 53. Explored alternative ways to get the work done beyond 11
succession?
Y N/A N 54. Explored innovative approaches to tapping the retiree 11
base?
Y N/A N 55. Integrated internal and external recruiting strategies 12
with development and retention strategies?
Y N/A N 56. Considered innovative approaches to attract more 12
high potentials?
Y N/A N 57. Established a systematic approach to retention? 13
Y N/A N 58. Tracked turnover by the quality of workers who leave? 13
Y N/A N 59. Investigated how online and high-tech methods may 14
be applied?
Y N/A N 60. Decided what should be evaluated in the program? 15
Y N/A N 61. Decided how the program can be evaluated? 15
Y N/A N 62. Considered how changing external competitive 16
conditions may affect the succession planning and
management program?
Total �
Scoring and Interpreting the Advance Organizer
Give your organization one point for each yes and zero for each no or N/A. Total the
number of Ys and place the sum in the line next to the word Total.
Then interpret your score as follows:
55 or more Your organization is apparently using effective succession planning and
management practices.
45 to 54 Improvements could be made to your SP&M practices. On the whole,
however, the organization is proceeding on the right track.
30 to 44 Succession planning and management practices in your organization
do not appear to be as effective as they should be. Significant improve-
ments should be made.
29 or less Succession planning and management practices are ineffective in your
organization. They are probably a source of costly mistakes, productiv-
ity losses, and unnecessary employee turnover. Take immediate correc-
tive action.
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Quick Start Guide
Readers of past editions of this book have occasionally asked me for some upfront
guidance on deciding right away how to get started in launching a succession planning
and management program. That is the reason for this Quick Start Guide. Though
subsequent chapters treat many topics in depth and the Advance Organizer is meant
to give you ideas about the possible shortcomings of your own organization’s SP&M
practices compared to best practice, this Quick Start Guide is meant to give you
suggestions on how to get started fast on a succession planning program.
Step 1: Talk to top managers in your organization to find out whether they perceive
a need for succession planning and management and/or talent management in your
organization. If they do, then jump to step 3. If they do not, continue on to step 2.
Step 2: Build a convincing case for SP&M based on business needs. Think about how
to answer this question: ‘‘What information could persuade senior decision-makers in
your organization to undertake a SP&M program?’’ There are several ways to do this.
One is to analyze the workforce data of your organization. Ask payroll to run a
report to project the estimated retirement eligibility date of the entire organization.
Then ask for separate reports by job code, department, and location. Group the data
in three-year intervals. Look for places where the estimated retirement eligibility of a
group is the highest. Consider that location, level, or department as a starting point
for a possible succession or talent management pilot program.
Another way is to analyze the growth of your organization’s staff based on sales
or revenue figures. Compare the changing revenues and workloads of your organiza-
tion to the staffing levels across departments. See if you can find a mathematical
relationship between sales levels, workload levels, and staffing numbers by depart-
ment. Then consider what sales forecasts indicate for your organization and how that
matches up with the staffing levels. Create charts and graphs to illustrate what you
found. Also consider turnover by area as a factor. Use these charts and graphs to build
a compelling case to do more about planning for people.
Step 3: Consider the options. One place to start in a SP&M program is top-down,
working from the senior team downward. Novices tend to think of this first, but it is
risky. The reason: Top managers are a small group and are easy to work with but a
rollout of such a program requires considerable logistical support in HR technology
and handholding as it reaches lower-level, geographically scattered ranks—like middle
managers.
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xxxviii Quick Start Guide
A second place to start is with a simple replacement program in which the CEO,
working through HR, asks each manager to provide a list of three backups for all
management positions in the company. The advantage of that approach is that it
gets managers thinking and builds momentum for more sophisticated programs. The
disadvantage is that managers tend to think all the work in SP&M is done when they
have completed replacement charts. In reality, much work will remain to prepare
more people to be ready to step into higher-level positions.
A third place to start is in a hotspot, a department or location having both a
manager who supports the idea and a need to replace people due to a larger-than-
average number of expected retirements, business growth, or both. The advantage of
this approach is that it permits a pilot test that can create a quick-win and a snowball
strategy to leverage attention in other parts of the organization. The disadvantage is
that special attention is given to employees of one department, which may touch off
concerns by workers and managers in other departments.
A fourth place to start is to ignore the issue of management succession entirely at
first and focus initially instead on knowledge transfer. That approach can be especially
appealing to organizations in which much of the work depends on special expertise—
such as an engineering consulting firm or an engineering department, a hospital, or
the research division of any firm. If this approach is used, then the focus will not be
on preparing people for promotion but rather on encouraging information sharing
and knowledge transfer through mentoring, community of practice sites, and other
practical approaches.
There are other places to start, of course, but the real question is why decision
makers see or feel a need for a succession program. Then mount a program that will
clearly meet that need.
Step 4: Get roles, goals, and accountabilities clear. Clarify, and get agreement on,
the specific responsibilities of key groups—such as the CEO, top managers, the HR
department, operating managers, and individuals—in the SP&M or talent manage-
ment program. Who does what? Then clarify and get agreement on the specific and
measurable objectives to be met by the program. Those objectives, in turn, should
address key complaints or business problems. Finally, get the accountabilities clear.
How are people at each level on the organization chart held accountable for carrying
out their roles and meeting goals? Will success be rewarded financially? Will lack of
action be punished in some way?
Step 5: Address the key journalistic questions. On whom will the program focus?
What will the program consist of ? When will it start, and how will it be phased in?
Where will the focus of attention be—on the whole organization or only parts of it?
Why is the organization undertaking the program, and how will success be measured?
How will the program be coordinated?
Follow these initial steps and you are on your way to launching an SP&M and/or
talent management program. Read the book for more details on all these issues.
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What’s on the CD?
Selected Worksheets and Resources from the Book
Exhibit 2-1. An Assessment Questionnaire: How Well Is Your Organization Manag-
ing the Consequences of Trends Influencing Succession Planning and
Management?
Exhibit 3-2. Assessment Questionnaire for Effective Succession Planning and Man-
agement
Exhibit 3-3. A Simple Exercise to Dramatize the Need for Succession Planning and
Management
Exhibit 5-4. A Questionnaire for Assessing the Status of Succession Planning and
Management in an Organization
Exhibit 5-5. A Worksheet for Demonstrating the Need for Succession Planning and
Management
Exhibit 5-6. An Interview Guide for Determining the Requirements for a Succes-
sion Planning and Management Program
Exhibit 5-7. An Interview Guide for Benchmarking Succession Planning and Man-
agement Practices
Exhibit 6-3. A Worksheet to Formulate a Mission Statement for Succession Plan-
ning and Management
Exhibit 6-4. A Sample Succession Planning and Management Policy
Exhibit 6-6. An Activity for Identifying Initial Targets for Succession Planning and
Management Activities
Exhibit 6-7. An Activity for Establishing Program Priorities in Succession Planning
and Management
Exhibit 6-8. Handout: U.S. Labor Laws
Exhibit 7-1. A Worksheet for Preparing an Action Plan to Establish the Succession
Planning and Management Program
Exhibit 8-1. A Worksheet for Writing a Key Position Description
Exhibit 8-2. A Worksheet for Considering Key Issues in Full-Circle, Multirater As-
sessments
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xl What’s on the CD?
Exhibit 8-5. A Worksheet for Developing an Employee Performance Appraisal
Linked to a Position Description
Exhibit 9-1. A Worksheet for Environmental Scanning
Exhibit 9-2. An Activity on Organizational Analysis
Exhibit 9-3. An Activity for Preparing Realistic Scenarios to Identify Future Key
Positions
Exhibit 9-4. An Activity for Preparing Future-Oriented Key Position Descriptions
Exhibit 9-5. Steps in Conducting Future-Oriented ‘‘Rapid Results Assessment’’
Exhibit 9-6. How to Classify Individuals by Performance and Potential
Exhibit 9-7. A Worksheet for Making Global Assessments
Exhibit 9-8. A Worksheet to Identify Success Factors
Exhibit 9-9. An Individual Potential Assessment Form
Exhibit 10-1. A Sample Replacement Chart Format: Typical Succession Planning and
Management Inventory for the Organization
Exhibit 10-2. Succession Planning and Management Inventory by Position
Exhibit 10-4. A Worksheet for Preparing Learning Objectives Based on Individual
Development Needs
Exhibit 10-5. A Worksheet for Identifying the Resources Necessary to Support De-
velopmental Experiences
Exhibit 10-7. A Sample Individual Development Plan
Exhibit 10-8. Methods of Grooming Individuals for Advancement
Exhibit 10-9. Key Strategies for Internal Development
Exhibit 11-1. Deciding When Replacing a Key Job Incumbent Is Unnecessary: A
Flowchart
Exhibit 11-2. A Worksheet for Identifying Alternatives to the Traditional Approach
to Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 12-4. A Worksheet for Brainstorming When and How to Use Online and
High-Tech Methods
Exhibit 13-3. A Worksheet for Identifying Appropriate Ways to Evaluate Succession
Planning and Management in an Organization
Exhibit 13-4. A Sample ‘‘Incident Report’’ for Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 13-5. Steps for Completing a Program Evaluation of a Succession Planning
and Management Program
Exhibit 13-6. A Checksheet for Conducting a Program Evaluation for the Succession
Planning and Management Program
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What’s on the CD? xli
Exhibit 14-1. A Worksheet to Structure Your Thinking about Predictions for Succes-
sion Planning and Management in the Future
Exhibit 14-2. A Worksheet to Structure Your Thinking about Alternative Ap-
proaches to Meeting Succession Needs
Exhibit 14-7. Important Characteristics of Career Planning and Management Pro-
grams
Exhibit 14-8. An Assessment Sheet for Integrating Career Planning and Manage-
ment Programs with Succession Planning and Management Programs
Also:
‘ Effective Succession Planning: A Fully Customizable Leader Guide for
the Manager’s Role in Succession Planning
‘ Effective Succession Planning: A Fully Customizable Participant Guide
for the Manager’s Role in Succession Planning
‘ PowerPoint Slides to Accompany the Manager’s Role in Succession
Planning
‘ Assessment Instrument for Use with the Manager’s Role in Succession
Planning
‘ Executive Assessment Instrument for Use with the Manager’s Role in
Succession Planning
‘ PowerPoint Slides to Accompany Executive Briefing on Succession
Planning
‘ Frequently Asked Questions About Succession Planning (from the
Book) for Use with the Executive Briefing on Succession Planning
‘ Effective Succession Planning: A Fully Customizable Leader Guide for
Mentoring from A to Z
‘ Effective Succession Planning: A Fully Customizable Participant Guide
for Mentoring from A to Z
‘ PowerPoint Slides to Accompany Mentoring from A to Z
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jjj
P A R T I
Background Information About
Succession Planning and
Management
• Defines SP&M
• Distinguishes SP&M from replacement planning
• Describes the importance of SP&M
• Lists reasons for an SP&M program
• Reviews approaches to SP&M
• Reviews key trends influencing SP&M and explains their implications
• Lists key characteristics of effective SP&M programs
• Describes the life cycle of SP&M programs
• Explains how to identify and solve problems with various approaches to SP&M
• Lists the requirements and key steps for a fifth-generation approach to SP&M
• Defines competencies and explains how they are used in SP&M
• Describes how to conduct and use competency identification studies for SP&M
Part I
Background Information About
Succession Planning and Management
Part II
Laying the Foundation for a
Succession Planning and
Management Program
Part IV
Closing the “Developmental Gap”:
Operating and Evaluating a Succession
Planning and Management Program
Part III
Assessing the Present and the Future
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C H A P T E R 1
jjj
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, or they will kill him. Members
of the corporate board are beside themselves with concern.
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4 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Vignette 3
Georgina Myers, supervisor of a key assembly line, has just called in sick after two
years of perfect attendance. She personally handles all purchasing and production
scheduling in the small plant, as well as overseeing the assembly line. The production
manager, Mary Rawlings, does not know how the plant will function in the absence
of 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 execu-
tive vice president and chief operating officer, and his performance has been exem-
plary 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 he is burdened with such personal baggage?
Wile is loathe to talk to Adams about these matters 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 Mid-
west. She has helped her plant weather many storms. The first was a corporate-
sponsored voluntary early retirement program, which began eight years ago. In that
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 5
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 compe-
tition in consumer products. The layoff cost Linda fully one-fourth of her most re-
cently 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 absen-
teeism 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 involve-
ment 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 reallo-
cation later.’’ However, because job security is an issue of paramount importance to
everyone at the plant, the external consultant sent by corporate headquarters to intro-
duce the process improvement program received grudging cooperation. But the proc-
ess improvement initiative has created side effects of its own. One is that executives,
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 that
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 that 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 middle-
and 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 actually 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.
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6 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Defining Succession Planning and Management
As these vignettes illustrate, organizations need to plan for talent to assume key lead-
ership or backup positions on a temporary or permanent basis. Real-world cases have
figured prominently in the business press. (See Exhibits 1-1 and 1-2.)
Among the first writers to recognize that universal organizational need was Henri
Fayol (1841–1925). Fayol’s classic 14 points of management, first enunciated early in
the twentieth century and still widely regarded today, indicate that management has
a responsibility to ensure the ‘‘stability of tenure of personnel.’’1 If that need is ig-
nored, Fayol believed, key positions would end up being filled by ill-prepared people.
Succession planning and management (SP&M) is the process that helps stabilize
the tenure of personnel. It is perhaps best understood as any effort designed to ensure
the continued effective performance of an organization, division, department, or
work group by providing for the development, replacement, and strategic application
of key people over time.
Succession planning has been defined as:
a means of identifying critical management positions, starting at
the levels of project manager and supervisor and extending up to
the highest position in the organization. Succession planning also
describes management positions to provide maximum flexibility in
lateral management moves and to ensure that as individuals
achieve greater seniority, their management skills will broaden and
become more generalized in relation to total organizational objec-
tives rather than to purely departmental objectives.2
Succession planning should not stand alone. It should be paired with succession man-
agement, which assumes that a more dynamic business environment in the capacity
building of talent should occur in real time. It recognizes the ramifications of the
new employment contract, whereby corporations no longer (implicitly) assure anyone
continued employment, even if he or she is doing a good job.3 In short, succession
management focuses on continuing, daily efforts to build talent and may include the
manager’s role in coaching, giving feedback, and otherwise helping individuals realize
their potential. Both succession planning and succession management emphasize the
importance of developing internal talent to meet current or future talent needs of the
organization.
An SP&M program is thus a deliberate and systematic effort by an organization
to ensure leadership continuity in key positions, retain and develop intellectual and
knowledge capital for the future, and encourage individual advancement. Systematic
‘‘succession planning occurs when an organization adapts specific procedures to in-
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 7
Exhibit 1-1. How General Electric Planned the Succession
Good news, bad news.
The idea that the hard-nosed CEO of a major corporation would lose sleep over
giving bad news to two executives takes a bit of swallowing.
It happens to be true. The CEO in question was Jack Welch, boss of General Electric
(GE). The bad news he had to impart was that James McNerney, head of GE’s
aircraft-engine business, and Robert Nardelli, chief of the business making turbines
and generators for electric utilities, would not be succeeding Welch as CEO.
Welch had delivered bad news any number of times before, but the circumstances
here were different. He said: ‘‘I’ve fired people my whole career—for performance.
Here I’ve got three guys who’ve been great.’’
The third guy was Jeffrey R. Immelt, head of GE’s medical-systems business and the
ultimate winner. Later this year he will become chief executive of the world’s most
valuable company.
The process of choosing Welch’s successor, throughout shrouded in the utmost
secrecy, had taken six years, five months and two days. The story that has now
emerged is curious in many ways. Most significantly, Welch and the board broke
what are considered to be the rules in corporate-succession planning.
No Room for Outsiders
Traditionally, approaches might include naming a chief operating officer or other
heir apparent. An outsider might be considered or some common template used for
measuring candidates.
These possibilities were eschewed and the time factor was remarkable, too. Best-
practice guidelines for boards suggest use of fewer than 100 director-hours to go
through the succession processes. GE’s board spent thousands of hours over several
years.
Two factors make GE’s approach worthy of further examination. First, many major
U.S. companies have recently failed in their choice of a new CEO, which suggests
something is wrong with the way that the boss is picked. Second, Welch has, in his
20 years at the top, proved himself to be a CEO with a very sure touch.
The succession process began formally in June 1994, when Welch was 59. During
a board management development and compensation committee (MDCC) meet-
ing, 24 candidates were discussed in three groups. ‘‘Obvious field’’ covered the
seven men running GE’s largest businesses. ‘‘Contenders’’ were four executives just
below the top tier, and 13 others admired by Jack Welch were included under
‘‘broader consensus field.’’ This was the list that produced the three ‘‘finalists.’’
(continues)
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8 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 1-1. (continued)
Welch has said that the process was about ‘‘chemistry, blood, sweat, family, feel-
ings’’ not simply mechanics, and what happened from 1994 onwards backs that
up.
Getting to Know Candidates
Every candidate was tested for his ability to grow and Welch also wanted directors
to get to know the leading candidates. Directors and candidates mixed socially, for
example at the Augusta National Golf Club before the U.S. Masters tournament,
and played golf together at GE’s headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut. Welch also
encouraged candidates to call directors directly, bypassing him, when they thought
it would be useful.
More formally, regular board events provided the opportunity for hundreds of direc-
tor-hours each year devoted to discussing potential successors.
A couple of years after the process began, Welch and the MDCC decided that
committee members needed to know more about leading candidates. The commit-
tee spent a year or so visiting several GE businesses. It was a highly unusual practice
in the corporate world and one smokescreen involved taking in more visits than
were necessary for the succession process.
By December 1997, the field was down to eight. Gradually several men effectively
dropped out of the running. When head of lighting, David Calhoun, left to run the
Employers Reinsurance business within GE Capital, he was correctly viewed as an
ex-candidate. Finally, it was down to three: McNerney, Nardelli and Immelt.
Welch continued to buck convention. At this point he might have brought the top
contenders to jobs at GE headquarters where he and the board could have had
them under intense scrutiny. But what he wanted to avoid was the ‘‘political and
poisonous’’ atmosphere created 20 years earlier when he had been a contender at
HQ himself. Then, as he jockeyed for pole position, he had a lunch to ‘‘sit across
from the guys you were competing with.’’
McNerney, Nardelli and Immelt continued therefore, hundreds of miles apart, to
run their own businesses.
If everyone at GE is to be believed, six years of discussion took place before a name
was put forward as the proposed winner. Director Frank Rhodes, Professor Emeritus
at Cornell University, was the first to break ranks. He opted for Immelt; other direc-
tors agreed and, though the announcement was four months away, it was clear
which way the wind was blowing.
Skeptics Confounded
In late October, GE announced its biggest ever acquisition—Honeywell for $45
billion in stock. This delayed announcement of the succession but the skeptical view
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 9
that Welch was reluctant to give up power proved unfounded: Immelt will take over
in December, eight months later than originally scheduled.
Welch flew to Cincinnati and Albany to give McNerney and Nardelli respectively the
bad news. Both men are now CEOs elsewhere. Welch says he will never reveal the
reasons that Immelt emerged triumphant, but his youth—he is 44—his popularity
and the perception that he has the greatest capacity to grow must all have been
factors. Frank Rhodes said that he demonstrated ‘‘the most expansive thinking.’’
If he is to survive and flourish like his predecessor, Immelt will need to continue to
develop that quality.
The General Electric approach to finding Jack Welch’s successor as CEO was thor-
ough to the point of overkill. On the other hand, we are talking about the world’s
most valuable company. Welch was absolutely determined to succeed, where many
major companies have failed recently, in finding the right man for the job. It will be
fascinating to see whether Jeffrey Immelt fits the bill.
Note: This was a precis of an article by Geoffrey Colvin, entitled ‘‘Changing of the Guard,’’ which was published in Fortune,
January 8, 2001.
Source: ‘‘How General Electric Planned the Succession,’’ Human Resource Management International Digest 9:4 (2001), 6–8.
Used with permission of Human Resource Management International Digest.
sure the identification, development, and long-term retention of talented individ-
uals.’’4
Succession planning and management need not be limited solely to management
positions or management employees. Indeed, an effective succession planning and
management effort should also address the need for critical backups and individual
development in any job category—including key people in the professional, technical,
sales, clerical, and production ranks. The need to extend the definition of SP&M
beyond the management ranks is becoming more important as organizations take
active steps to build high-performance and high-engagement work environments in
which decision making is decentralized, leadership is diffused throughout an empow-
ered workforce, proprietary technical knowledge accumulated from many years of
experience in one corporate culture is key to doing business, and personal relation-
ships critical to work are passed on from departing workers to their successors.
One aim of SP&M is to match the organization’s available (present) talent to its
needed (future) talent. Another is to help the organization meet the strategic and
operational challenges facing it by having the right people at the right places at the
right times to do the right things to get the right results. For these reasons, SP&M
should be regarded as a fundamental tool for organizational learning because SP&M
should ensure that the lessons of organizational experience—what is sometimes called
institutional memory—will be preserved and combined with reflection on that experi-
ence to achieve continuous improvement in work results (what is sometimes called
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Exhibit 1-2. The Big Mac Succession
Jim Cantalupo’s sudden death brought out the best in McDonald’s board. At his
first annual meeting as chief executive, Jim Cantalupo faced an angry shareholder
displaying photos of a filthy McDonald’s toilet and demanding action. ‘‘We are
going to take care of it,’’ he pledged. And he did. His strategy of ending the rapid
expansion of the world’s biggest fast-food company and refocusing it on providing
better meals in cleaner restaurants with improved service was starting to produce
encouraging results. Then, on April 19th, he suddenly died. The death of a leader
at such a critical time can ruin a company. But, thanks not least to Mr. Cantalupo,
it will probably not ruin McDonald’s.
Mr. Cantalupo was a McDonald’s veteran. He joined the company in 1974, as an
accountant in its headquarters near Chicago. As head of international operations,
he presided over much of the globalization of the Big Mac: McDonald’s now has
more than 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries. Although promoted to president,
he was passed over for the top job when Jack Greenberg was appointed chief
executive in 1998.
Then McDonald’s began to stumble badly. Service levels came in for increasing
criticism, sales began to fall and the company suffered its first quarterly loss. It also
became embroiled in the debate about obesity and the role of fast food. McDon-
ald’s was even sued by some parents for making their children fat. (Although this
failed, a future lawsuit may yet succeed.) Mr. Greenberg put a recovery plan into
action and vowed to stay on to execute it, only to be forced out by worried investors.
The board turned to Mr. Cantalupo, who came out of retirement to take over as
chairman and chief executive in January 2003.
Mr. Cantalupo, who was 60, died of a suspected heart attack at a huge convention
in Orlando, Florida, for more than 12,000 employees, suppliers, owners, and oper-
ators of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide. It was the sort of big meet-the-troops
event that the affable Mr. Cantalupo enjoyed.
Those members of the board already in Florida quickly assembled and others joined
by phone. Within six hours, Charlie Bell, a 43-year-old Australian who had been
appointed chief operating officer by Mr. Cantalupo and had been working closely
with him, was made chief executive. Andrew McKenna, 74, the board’s presiding
director and also the boss of Schwarz, which supplies McDonald’s with lots of pack-
aging materials, was appointed non-executive chairman.
The speech that Mr. Cantalupo was due to give to welcome the delegates was later
given by Mr. Bell, who joined the McDonald’s empire when, aged 15, he got a part-
time job in an outlet in a suburb of Sydney. So he knows how to flip a burger. The
delegates were clearly saddened, but they gave Mr. Bell, the first non-American to
lead the company, a resounding reception. Mr. Cantalupo would have approved.
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 11
So did Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, head of the Chief Executive Leadership Institute at Yale
University. ‘‘It was a board operating at its finest,’’ says Mr. Sonnenfeld, author of
‘‘The Hero’s Farewell,’’ a book about the contentious job of selecting a new boss.
Concerning Mr. Cantalupo, the McDonald’s board has twice acted impressively, he
says. First, it acted decisively in reversing course and turning to Mr. Cantalupo when
things went wrong. Second, it acted swiftly to execute a succession plan that Mr.
Cantalupo himself had put into place, even though he was expected to remain in
the job for several more years. Mr. Bell had been widely acknowledged as Mr.
Cantalupo’s heir apparent.
Succession planning can be fraught with difficulty, and is all too often neglected.
Vodafone had no succession strategy in place when, in December 2002, Sir Christo-
pher Gent, its chief executive, said he would leave. A search for a replacement led to
Arun Sarin, a non-executive director, being given the job. Now Vodafone operates a
succession-planning process in every country where it has a business. But more
formal procedures, though on balance superior, can cause difficulties, especially if
an officially anointed heir starts to get restless (i.e., Prince Charles syndrome). And
it takes a trusting, well-disciplined board to stick to a succession plan, as the Gen-
eral Electric board did when Jack Welch groomed three potential contenders for his
job.
A sudden death can be the toughest kind of succession to deal with. Some bosses
are said to leave a sealed envelope holding the name of a preferred successor in
the event of a fatality. Yet the succession at McDonald’s, forced on it by tragic
circumstances, contrasts sharply with that now under way at Coca-Cola. Ever since
Roberto Goizueta, Coke’s pioneering boss, died of lung cancer in 1997, the firm
has been beset by troubles. Douglas Ivester was appointed quickly to replace Mr.
Goizueta, but two years later was forced to step down. In February, his successor,
Douglas Daft, suddenly announced that he would retire by the end of this year.
Coke is said to want James Kilts, the boss of Gillette, for the top job—but he may
not want it. Publicly looking outside its ranks for a leader is interpreted by some
analysts as evidence of management weakness within.
McDonald’s could not be accused of that, although Mr. Bell still has to prove his
worth. New menus, featuring smaller portions and such healthier things as salads
and bottled water, are reviving the company’s image. But at the same time the
company cannot afford to drive away its many fans of burgers and fries. Simply
getting them to come back more often could do wonders for McDonald’s profits.
There are valuable lessons to be learned from successful markets, such as Australia
and France—both places where Mr. Bell has worked. But there remains a long way
to go, and things could yet become extremely difficult. Even planning well ahead
and having a chosen successor ready and waiting, though better than not doing so,
is no guarantee that the successor will actually be a success.
Source: ‘‘Business: The Big Mac Succession: Face Value,’’ The Economist 371:8372 (2004), 74. Used with permission of The
Economist.
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12 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
double loop learning).5 Stated in another way, SP&M is a way to ensure the continued
cultivation of leadership and intellectual talent, to manage the critically important
knowledge assets of organizations, and to encourage the continuation of social rela-
tionships critical to business continuity and success.
Distinguishing SP&M from Replacement Planning,
Workforce Planning, Talent Management, and
Human Capital Management
Terminology can be confusing. That fact is as true for succession planning and man-
agement as it is for anything else. So how can succession planning and management
be distinguished from replacement planning? Workforce planning? Talent manage-
ment? Human capital management?
Distinguishing SP&M from Replacement Planning
Succession planning and management should not be confused with replacement plan-
ning, though they are compatible and often overlap. The obvious need for some form
of replacement planning is frequently a driving force behind efforts that eventually
turn into SP&M programs—as Vignettes 1 and 2 dramatically illustrate. That need
was only heightened by the 1996 plane crash of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron
Brown, which also claimed the lives of over 30 other top executives.
In its simplest form, replacement planning is a form of risk management. In that
respect it resembles other organizational efforts to manage risk, such as ensuring that
fire sprinkling systems in computer rooms are not positioned so as to destroy valuable
computer equipment in case of fire or segregating accounting duties to reduce the
chance of embezzlement. The chief aim of replacement planning is to limit the chance
of catastrophe stemming from the immediate and unplanned loss of key job incum-
bents—as happened on a large scale when the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
collapsed and on an individual level when the CEO of McDonald’s was stricken by a
sudden heart attack. Replacement planning typically does that by focusing attention
on each organizational unit—division, department, or work group—and asking the
manager of each unit to identify up to three people from inside the organization as
possible backups.
However, SP&M goes beyond simple replacement planning. It is proactive and
attempts to ensure the continuity of leadership by cultivating talent from within the
organization through planned development activities. It should be regarded as an
important tool for implementing strategic plans.
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 13
Distinguishing SP&M from Workforce Planning
Workforce planning connotes comprehensive planning for the organization’s entire
workforce.6 Few organizations actually do that. The more common approach is to fill
positions as vacancies become available or as demand requires people to do the work.
The result is that the organization builds up a large number of legacy employees who
may be ill-suited to help an organization meet its strategic objectives.
To some people, succession planning and management refers to top-of-the-organi-
zation-chart planning and development only. In short, the focus is only on preparing
people to assume top-level leadership positions. But in this book, succession planning
and management refers more broadly to planning for the right number and right type
of people to meet the organization’s needs over time.
Distinguishing SP&M from Talent Management
‘‘Talent management is the process of recruiting, on-boarding, and developing, as
well as the strategies associated with those activities in organizations.’’7 Like so many
terms in human resources (HR), ‘‘the phrase talent management is used loosely and
often interchangeably across a wide array of terms such as succession planning,
human capital management, resource planning, and employee performance manage-
ment. Gather any group of HR professionals in a room and you can be sure to have
a plethora of additional terms.’’8 Some organizational leaders associate talent manage-
ment with efforts to devote special attention to managing the best-in-class talent of
the organization—the upper 1 to 10 percent. Not limited to top-of-the-house plan-
ning, it may refer to investing money where the returns are likely to be greatest—that
is, on high-performing, highly knowledgeable, or high-potential talent at any organi-
zational level. Hence, efforts to develop talent that is strategically important for the
organization’s future means the strategic development of talent.9
Distinguishing SP&M from Human Capital Management
Human capital management (HCM) theory is all about individuals and their eco-
nomic value. Unfortunately, HCM has been (too) broadly interpreted to mean that
individuals are calculating players who act out of self-interest only, that the only value
of individuals is as economic commodities (and thus the saying, ‘‘People are our
greatest assets’’), and that the social value of developing human resources resides only
in summing the total value of individual development efforts.10 Like talent manage-
ment, HCM is also a term in search of meaning. Indeed, ‘‘out of 49 organizations
surveyed, just 11 said they attempted to measure human capital—and many of these
confessed to being unsure what the term meant.’’11
But a key point about human capital management is that people are valuable for
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14 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
more than the labor they can produce. Human beings are enormously creative—a
key thing that sets them apart from machines, gizmos, and gadgets—and this ability
to think creatively has economic value. Individuals, not computers, discover new
ideas that can be turned to profit. As entrepreneurs, they found companies. They also
discover new ways to serve customers, find new customers or markets for old prod-
ucts, and devise ways to improve work processes to increase productivity.
A key issue in HCM, then, is that creativity and innovation have value. So does
the institutional memory that individuals carry in their heads. So do the professional
contacts that workers have made while doing company business. Though more will
be written about that later in this book, it is worth emphasizing at this point that
succession planning can mean more than just finding warm bodies to fill vacancies.
Additional issues should be considered—such as the value of institutional memory
and creativity and the value of social relationships.
The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) has published an
important white paper on best practices in HCM that is worth reviewing.12 The U.S.
General Accountability Office has also done work to emphasize the importance of
HCM in U.S. government work.13
Making the Business Case for Succession
Planning and Management
Many requirements must be satisfied if organizations are to survive in a fiercely com-
petitive environment. One key requirement is that well-qualified replacements must
be available as quickly as possible to assume critically important positions as they
become vacant. Indeed, ‘‘succession planning, like a relay race, has to do with passing
on responsibility. . . . Drop the baton and you lose the race.’’14
Numerous surveys over the years have emphasized the importance of SP&M.
Chief executives consistently cite the issue as one of their major concerns. Leadership
succession has also surfaced as an issue of concern to corporate boards:15 A survey of
corporate board member policies and practices by Korn/Ferry International asked
chairpersons to assess the importance of issues facing their companies in the next
five years. Those typically seen as trendsetters—the billion-dollar companies—rated
management succession as the third most important issue, on the heels of financial
results and strategic planning. According to Lester Korn, CEO of the search firm,
boards are beginning to realize that they have ‘‘the same obligations to protect the
human resource asset base for the shareholders as they do to protect the balance sheet
of the corporation.’’
There are several reasons that both CEOs and corporate boards are so interested
in SP&M.
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 15
First, top managers are aware that the continued survival of the organization
depends on having the right people in the right places at the right times to do the
right things and get the right results. Strategic success is, in large measure, a function
of having the right leadership. Leaving the development of those leaders to chance
and hoping for the best may have worked at one time. Ignoring the development of
leaders and depending on headhunters to find replacements for key people may also
have worked at one time. But these approaches are not working now—and are even
less likely to work in the future. Some effort must be made to ensure that the organi-
zation is systematically identifying and preparing high-potential candidates for present
and possible future key positions.
Second, as continuing downsizing and other cost-containment efforts have deci-
mated the middle management ranks—a traditional training ground and source of
top management talent—there are simply fewer people available to advance to the
top ranks from within. That means that great care must be taken to identify promising
candidates early and actively cultivate their development and retention. Individuals
who are both high performers on their present jobs and high potentials for future
leadership positions should not be taken for granted, even in difficult economic times,
when exceptionally talented workers, like star athletes, can still barter their abilities to
the highest bidders. The reason is that slimmed-down organizations have reduced
their absolute numbers. Worse yet, members of this group are differentially affected
by downsizing because, as work is redistributed after a downsizing, high performers
end up shouldering more of the burden to get the work out while (in most cases) the
rewards they receive are held constant. They are thus more likely to become disen-
chanted and leave the organization than their less productive peers. To avoid that
problem—which can be disastrous for the leadership continuity of the organization—
top managers must take active steps to identify, reward, and advance high performers
through vertical and horizontal career moves in a manner commensurate with their
increased contributions.
Third, when SP&M is left informal and thus unplanned, job incumbents tend to
identify and groom successors who are remarkably like themselves in appearance,
background, and values. They establish a ‘‘bureaucratic kinship system’’ that is based
on ‘‘homeosocial reproduction.’’16 As Rosabeth Moss Kanter explained:
Because of the situation in which managers function, because of
the position of managers in the corporate structure, social similar-
ity tends to become extremely important to them. The structure
sets in motion forces leading to the replication of managers as the
same kind of social individuals. And the men who manage repro-
duce themselves in kind.17
As a consequence, white males tend to pick as successors other white males. (It is
worth noting that white males are not the only ones guilty of picking people like
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16 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
themselves because people of other sexes, races, and backgrounds do likewise.) That
practice, of course, perpetuates such problems as the so-called glass ceiling and other
subtle forms of employment discrimination. To avoid these problems and to promote
diversity and multiculturalism in the workplace, systematic efforts must be made to
identify and groom the best successors for key positions, not just rely on managers to
clone themselves.
Succession planning and management is important for other reasons as well.
Indeed, it ‘‘forms the basis for (1) communicating career paths to each individual;
(2) establishing development and training plans; (3) establishing career paths and
individual job moves; (4) communicating upward and laterally concerning the man-
agement organization; and (5) creating a more comprehensive human resources plan-
ning system.’’18
As I have toured the United States—and other countries—to do public speaking
and consulting about succession, I am often asked, ‘‘How do we make the case for
succession in our organizations?’’ To answer that, I ask whether the questioners face
supportive or skeptical CEOs. If the CEO is supportive, then the most important
customer has already been convinced. But if the CEO is skeptical, then some effort
should be made to analyze the risks that the organization may face. (This is called risk
analysis.)
One way to do that is to request from the payroll department the projected retire-
ment dates for the organization’s entire workforce. That should also be done for
three-year rolling periods to assess what percentage of the workforce is eligible to
retire at various points in time. Then the percentage of workers eligible to retire can
be assessed by location, job code, or level on the corporate hierarchy. The goal is to
see if some areas, levels, or regions will be more at risk than others. If the results are
shocking (and sometimes they are), then the data may convince a skeptical CEO that
something must be done to develop talent—and to preserve the specialized knowledge
and special social contacts, gained from experience, of those who are about to
leave—in areas deemed particularly at risk.
Reasons for a Succession Planning
and Management Program
Why should an organization support a systematic SP&M program? To answer that
question I updated a survey that I first sent out in 1993 for the first edition of this book.
The survey for the fourth edition was sent out in January 2009 to members of the
Human Resource Planning Society (HRPS), and the results were compiled in February
2009. Exhibit 1-3 presents demographic information about the respondents’ industries
from the 2009 survey; Exhibit 1-4 charts the sizes of the respondents’ organizations;
Exhibit 1-5 presents information about the respondents’ job functions; and Exhibit 1-6
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 17
Exhibit 1-3. Demographic Information about Respondents to a 2009
Survey on Succession Planning and Management: Industries
Question: In what industry is your organization classified?
Percentage Valid
Industry Frequency (%) Percentage (%)
Manufacturing 6 15.4 15.8
Transportation/communication/
electronics/gas 3 7.7 7.9
Finance/insurance/real estate 6 15.4 15.8
Health care 2 5.1 5.3
Government/armed forces 2 5.1 5.3
Other 19 48.7 50.0
Missing 1 2.6
Total 39 100.0 100.0
Note: Not all respondents chose to answer this question.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
Exhibit 1-4. Demographic Information about Respondents to a 2009
Survey on Succession Planning and Management: Size
Question: How many people does your organization employ?
Size Frequency Percentage (%)
0–99 5 12.8
100–249 4 10.3
250–499 4 10.3
500–1,999 5 12.8
2000–4,999 6 15.4
5,000 or more 15 38.5
Missing 0 0.0
Total 39 100.0
Note: Not all respondents chose to answer this question.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
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18 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 1-5. Demographic Information about Respondents to 2009 Survey
on Succession Planning and Management: Job Functions of Respondents
Question: What is your job function?
Function Frequency Percentage (%) Valid Percentage (%)
Trainer 1 2.6 2.7
HR manager 13 33.3 35.1
Other 23 59.0 62.2
Missing 2 5.1
Total 39 100.0 100.0
Other functions:
• ID 3: CEO
• ID 7: Director of OD
• ID 8: SVP, Consulting
• ID 9: Talent management
• ID 10: VP of Leadership and OD
• ID 11: Managing director (Operation and HR)
• ID 15: Director
• ID 16: HR director
• ID 17: Business unit president
• ID 18: Leader
• ID 20: Owner
• ID 21: Program manager
• ID 22: Director
• ID 23: Professor
• ID 26: CEO
• ID 28: TM director
• ID 29: Assistant Director of Corporate Relations & Executive Development
• ID 32: Consultant
• ID 33: SVP, HR
• ID 34: VP to whom HR reports
Note: Not all respondents chose to answer this question.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
summarizes the respondents’ perceptions about the chief reasons their organizations
operate systematic SP&M programs. These reasons are discussed further in the sections
that follow. Each reason corresponds to a possible goal to be achieved by the SP&M
program, an important place to start when thinking about SP&M programs.
Reason 1: Contribute to Implementing the Organization’s
Strategic Business Plans
Succession planning and management should not be conducted in a vacuum; rather,
it should be linked to, and supportive of, organizational strategic plans, human re-
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 19
Exhibit 1-6. Reasons for Succession Planning and Management Programs
Question: There are many reasons decision makers may wish to establish a Succes-
sion Planning program in an organization. For each reason listed in the left column
below, please circle a response code in the right column indicating how important
you believe that reason to be for your organization. Use the following scale: 1 �
Not at all important; 2 � Not important; 3 � Somewhat important; 4 � Important;
5 � Very important.
Reason N Mean SD
1 Contribute to implementing the organization’s
Strategic Business Plans 16 4.38 1.15
2 Cope with effects of downsizing or other staff
reductions 15 2.07 0.96
3 Cope with the effects of voluntary separation
programs—such as early retirement offers and
employee buyouts 15 2.13 0.99
4 Help individuals realize their career plans within the
organization 16 3.69 1.01
5 Improve employee morale 15 3.13 1.06
6 Improve employees’ ability to respond to changing
environmental demands 15 3.07 1.16
7 Reduce headcount to essential workers only 15 1.60 0.74
8 Increase the talent pool of promotable employees 16 4.56 0.63
9 Identify ‘‘replacement needs’’ as a means of targeting
necessary training, employee education, and
employee development 16 4.25 0.68
10 Decide what workers can be terminated without
damage to the organization 15 2.07 1.43
11 Encourage the advancement of diverse groups—
such as minorities or women—in future jobs within
the organization 16 3.81 1.33
12 Provide increased opportunities for ‘‘high potential’’
workers 16 4.31 0.87
13 Untap the potential for intellectual capital in the
organization 14 4.07 0.92
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
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20 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
source plans, human resource development plans, and other organizational planning
activities.
Strategic planning is the process by which organizations choose to survive and
compete. It involves formulating and implementing a long-term plan by which the
organization can take maximum advantage of its present internal organizational
strengths and future external environmental opportunities while minimizing the im-
pacts of present internal organizational weaknesses and future external environmental
threats.
To implement a strategic plan, organizations require people with the right talents.
Without them, strategic plans cannot be realized. Hence, leadership identification and
succession are critical to the successful implementation of organizational strategy.
Particularly at top management levels, as Thomas Gilmore explains, ‘‘performance
criteria are rarely cut and dried. They often flow from a strategic plan which the chief
executive is responsible for developing and carrying out.’’19 At least five different
approaches may be used to integrate strategic plans and succession plans:20
1. The Top-Down Approach. Corporate strategy drives SP&M. Leaders identified
through a systematic SP&M process support the successful execution of
strategy.
2. The Market-Driven Approach. Succession planning and management is gov-
erned by marketplace needs and requirements. As necessary talent is required
to deal with competitive pressures, it is sought out.
3. The Career Planning Approach. Succession planning and management is tied
to strategic plans through individual career planning processes. In consultation
with their organizational superiors and others, individuals examine their own
career goals in light of the organization’s strategy. They can then make deci-
sions about how they can best contribute to emerging organizational needs
while also improving their own chances for eventual career advancement.
4. The Futuring Approach. Succession planning and management becomes a vehi-
cle for anticipating talent needs stemming from corporate strategy. It is viewed
as a way to scan external environmental conditions and match the organiza-
tion’s internal talent to the demands created by those conditions.
5. The Rifle Approach. Succession planning and management is focused on solv-
ing specific, identifiable problems confronting the organization, such as
higher-than-expected turnover in some organizational levels or job categories.
(One trend is to single out and track the turnover of high potentials in the
organization, which is called critical turnover.)
Consider what role SP&M should play in supporting the strategic plans of your
organization. In doing that, realize that ‘‘there is no one universal approach that
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works well across all companies; rather, effective companies match their succession
strategies to their business strategies.’’21
Related to strategic planning is human resource planning (HRP), which is ‘‘the
process of analyzing an organization’s human resource needs under changing condi-
tions and developing the activities necessary to satisfy these needs.’’22 HRP is compre-
hensive in scope, examining an organization’s workforce and work requirements. One
result of HRP should be a long-term plan to guide an organization’s personnel poli-
cies, programs, and procedures.23
Few authorities dispute the growing importance of HRP. As Manzini and Gridley
note in a classic treatment, ‘‘The need for people with increasingly specialized skills,
higher managerial competencies, and commitment to new levels of excellence, with
professional qualifications in disciplines that did not exist a few decades ago—at costs
commensurate with their contribution to organizational objectives—is and will con-
tinue to be the overriding ‘business’ concern of the organization.’’24 Succession plan-
ning and management is integrally related to HRP, though SP&M is usually focused
more on leadership needs and leadership skills. Many techniques and approaches that
have evolved for use in HRP may also be applied to SP&M.
Succession planning and management should focus on identifying and developing
critically important leadership talent. But it can do more than that as well. Moreover,
SP&M may rely on means other than planned learning or promotion from within to
meet talent requirements. For instance, critical succession needs may be met by exter-
nal recruitment, internal transfer, internal promotions, or other means.
Reason 2: Identify Replacement Needs as a Means of Targeting
Necessary Training, Employee Education, and Employee
Development
A second reason for organizations to sponsor systematic SP&M is to identify replace-
ment needs as a means of targeting necessary training, employee education, and em-
ployee development. In other words, SP&M becomes a driving force to identify
justifiable needs. Training helps employees meet their current job responsibilities;
employee education prepares them to advance to future responsibilities; and em-
ployee development can be a tool for individual enlightenment, organizational learn-
ing, or competency acquisition.
Reason 3: Increase the Talent Pool of Promotable Employees
A third important reason for SP&M programs is to increase the talent pool of promot-
able employees. Succession planning and management formalizes the process of pre-
paring people to fill key positions in the future. Of course, the term talent pool may
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22 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
mean a group of individuals—rather than one identifiable successor—from which
possible successors for key positions may be selected.
Reason 4: Provide Increased Opportunities for High-Potential
Workers
A fourth important reason to sponsor systematic SP&M is to provide increased op-
portunities for ‘‘high potential’’ workers. Although definitions of high potentials
(HiPos) may differ, they are usually regarded as employees who have the potential for
future advancement. Hence, a very important reason for SP&M is to identify appro-
priate ways to accelerate HiPo development and improve the retention of talented
people with potential.25 A few important retention strategies are summarized in Ex-
hibit 1-7.
Reason 5: Tap the Potential for Intellectual Capital in the
Organization
Intellectual capital refers to the value of the human talents in an organization. Tapping
the potential for intellectual capital is a fifth important reason for an SP&M program
in an organization. SP&M is thus important in making and realizing investments in
intellectual capital in the organization.
Reason 6: Help Individuals Realize Their Career Plans Within the
Organization
Organizations make a substantial investment in the training of their employees. Em-
ployee performance may improve with experience as individuals advance along a
learning curve on which they master organization-specific and job-specific knowl-
edge. When individuals leave an organization, their loss can be measured.26 If they
remain with one employer to realize their career plans, then the employer benefits
from their experiences. In this sense, then, SP&M can serve as a tool by which individ-
uals can be prepared for realizing their career plans within the organization.
Reason 7: Encourage the Advancement of Diverse Groups
The workforce in the United States is becoming more diverse, reflecting the nation’s
increasingly diverse population. Unfortunately, not all workers have historically been
treated equally or equitably. Discrimination, while prohibited by federal and state
laws, still occurs. Indeed, the realization of that prompted Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall to explain that, as a black in America in 1991, he did not feel
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Exhibit 1-7. Strategies for Reducing Turnover and Increasing Retention
Possible Causes of Turnover Possible Strategies for
Increasing Retention
People leave the organization
because they:
Are dissatisfied with their � Assess the extent of this problem by
future prospects in the organi- using attitude surveys (paper-based or
zation or believe they have online), by using exit interviews with
better prospects for the future departing workers, and by running
in another organization. selected focus groups to gather informa-
tion.
� Give people hope by establishing and
communicating about a succession
planning and management program.
� Establish or improve job posting pro-
grams, job rotations, and other efforts to
give people more exposure and visibility
within the organization.
� Improve communication about the fu-
ture of the organization and what that
might mean for individuals in it.
Dislike their supervisors and/ � Assess the extent of this problem by
or their supervisors’ approach using attitude surveys (paper-based or
to supervision. online) and by using exit interviews with
departing workers.
� Improve supervisory training, with spe-
cial emphasis on addressing sources of
dissatisfaction that influence turnover.
� Establish or improve job posting pro-
grams, job rotations, and other efforts to
give people more exposure and visibility
within the organization.
Dislike the kind of work that � Assess the extent of this problem by
they do or the kind of assign- using attitude surveys (paper-based or
ments that they have been online), by using exit interviews with
given. departing workers, and by running
selected focus groups to gather infor-
mation.
� Establish or improve job posting pro-
grams, job rotations, and other efforts to
give people more exposure and visibility
within the organization.
(continues)
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Exhibit 1-7. (continued)
Possible Causes of Turnover Possible Strategies for
Increasing Retention
People leave the organization
because they:
Dislike their wage or salary � Assess the extent of this problem by
level, believe it is not competi- using attitude surveys (paper-based or
tive, or believe they are not online), by using exit interviews with
compensated in a way com- departing workers, and by running
mensurate with their contribu- selected focus groups to gather infor-
tions. mation.
� Conduct regular wage and salary sur-
veys outside the organization.
� Clarify the organization’s philosophy of
rewards (‘‘Do we want to pay only at
competitive levels? If so, why?’’).
� Make use of innovative reward and
compensation practices that go beyond
mere considerations of wages to include
alternative reward and alternative
recognition programs and ‘‘cafeteria
rewards’’ tailored to individual needs.
Are stressed out or burned out � Assess the extent of this problem by
from too much work or too using attitude surveys (paper-based or
little personal rest and recre- online), by using exit interviews with
ational time. departing workers, and by running
selected focus groups to gather infor-
mation.
� Take steps to add a component on
work-life balance in descriptions of
high-potentials and high performance
and communicate that change to the or-
ganization.
� Add to the social life of the organization
by stepping up social activities and re-
examining to whom and how work is
allocated.
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free.27 While reactions to that view may vary, there is increasing recognition of a
need to promote multiculturalism, which involves increasing the consciousness and
appreciation of differences associated with the heritage, characteristics, and values of
many different groups, as well as respecting the uniqueness of each individual. In this
approach, diversity has a broad meaning that encompasses sex and ethnic groups
along with groups based on such attributes as nationality, professional discipline, or
cognitive style.28
Organizations have a responsibility to pursue diversity at all levels. It is thus
a seventh important reason for organizations to sponsor systematic SP&M. Many
organizations build into their SP&M programs special ways to accelerate the develop-
ment of protected labor classes and diverse groups.
Reason 8: Improve Employee Morale
Succession planning and management can be a means by which to improve employee
morale by encouraging promotion from within. Indeed, promotions from within
‘‘permit an organization to utilize the skills and abilities of individuals more effec-
tively, and the opportunity to gain a promotion can serve as an incentive.’’29 Once
that goal is achieved, the promoted employee’s example heartens others. Moreover,
particularly during times of forced layoffs, promotions from within and ‘‘inplace-
ment’’ (movements from within of individuals otherwise slated for layoff ) can boost
morale and can help offset the negative effects of ‘‘survivor’s syndrome.’’30
Reason 9: Improve Employees’ Ability to Respond to Changing
Environmental Demands
A ninth reason to sponsor systematic SP&M is to improve employees’ ability to re-
spond to changing environmental demands. ‘‘One role of the leader,’’ writes Gilmore,
‘‘is to shield the organization from ambiguity and uncertainty so that people can do
their work.’’31 Organizations sponsor SP&M as one means by which to prepare people
to respond to—or even anticipate—changing environmental demands. People
groomed for key positions transform the ambiguity and uncertainty of changing ex-
ternal environmental demands into vision and direction.
Reason 10: Cope with the Effects of Downsizing
A tenth reason for organizations to sponsor systematic SP&M is to cope with effects
of downsizing. Downsizing has been—and continues to be—a fact of life in corporate
America. Downsizing has continued unabated since before the first edition of this
book was published in 1994. Middle managers and professionals have been particu-
larly affected. Although jobs may be eliminated, work does not go away. As a conse-
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26 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
quence, there is often a need to identify those who can perform activities even when
nobody is assigned special responsibility for them. Succession planning and manage-
ment can be a tool for that purpose, as shown in Exhibit 1-8.
Reason 11: Decide Which Workers Can Be Terminated Without
Damage to the Organization
Although downsizing is often considered bad because of the morale problems it can
create among the survivors, the reality is that organizations often hold onto people
even when they are no longer productive in their present jobs or promotable to future
jobs. Though managers often claim that it is impossible, or nearly so, to fire bad
performers because they must go through so many steps in a typical progressive
disciplinary system, a downsizing often affords the opportunity to reduce staff. One
way it can be used effectively is to pare down the workforce to those who are the most
productive. In short, a downsizing can have a positive benefit if it is used to reduce
the ranks of those who are not productive or promotable. And doing so usually leads
to less bad feelings and fewer lawsuits, union grievances, or discrimination claims.
Exhibit 1-8. Workforce Reductions Among Survey Respondents
Question: In the last 5 years, has your organization experienced organization
change? Circle all responses in the right column below that apply.
In the last 5 years, has your
organization experienced . . .? Frequency Percentage (%)
A layoff 16 18.2
An early retirement offer 6 6.8
A reduction in force or downsizing 23 26.1
A hiring freeze 18 20.5
Reduction by attrition 21 23.9
Other 4 4.5
Missing 0 0.0
Total 88 100.0
Other changes listed in the survey:
• Internal mobility to parent company (financial services �40,000 employees)
• Project-based work so we have to flex or downsize based on project. Overall, our total number of
employees has increased by 150 since 2006.
• Unpaid time off
• We have reduced staff due to the elimination of three poorly performing businesses over the course
of past four years, resulting in reductions in force.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
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Reason 12: Reduce Head Count to Essential Workers Only
The twelfth reason for organizations to sponsor succession planning and management
is to reduce head count to essential workers only. In an age of fierce competition,
processes must be improved to decrease cost, reduce cycle time, and increase quality
and output. Processes must be reexamined in light of results required, not as activities
that have traditionally been performed. In such environments, ‘‘companies don’t need
people to fill a slot, because the slot will only be roughly defined. Companies need
people who can figure out what the job takes and do it, people who can create the
slot that fits them. Moreover, the slot will keep changing.’’32 Head count will also shift
to keep pace with shifting requirements.
Reasons to Launch Succession Planning and Management
Depending on Global Location
Not all nations share the same needs for succession planning and management pro-
grams. One size does not fit all. In Western countries, such as the United States and
European Union nations, succession planning needs are driven by aging workforces
that may (or may not) retire when eligible. Expected retirements may thus drive
succession needs. But in Far Eastern countries, such as China and India, succession
planning and management programs may be driven to address two needs: those cre-
ated by large, aging workforces and the need for talent to continue explosive business
growth.
The Current Status of Succession Planning:
What Research Shows
As I talk to various groups about succession planning, I am often asked many of the
same questions. This section is intended to answer some of the most common ones.
‘ How Do Adverse Economic Conditions Affect Succession Planning? ‘‘The first of
78 million Baby Boomers turned 60 two years ago, and 2008 was supposed to
see a huge number of retirements. But then the economy faltered, housing
values plummeted, retirement portfolios shrank, and boomers who thought
they had planned for financial security decided to postpone retirement for a
few years. When the economy does recover, employers will face an even larger
wave of exiting employees.’’33
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28 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
‘ What Are the Benefits of Developing Internal Talent? According to a 2007 study
of 775 organizations, conducted by Bersin & Associates, organizations with
the most sophisticated programs for developing internal leadership talent ben-
efited dramatically. Among the findings: (1) a ‘‘600 percent increase in overall
business impact from leadership development’’; (2) a ‘‘640 percent improve-
ment in leadership bench strength’’; (3) a ‘‘480 percent improvement in leader
engagement and retention’’; and (4) a ‘‘570 percent improvement in overall
employee retention.’’34
‘ According to a small-scale study conducted by the Society for Human Re-
source Management in 2006 in which a survey was sent to 2,778 SHRM mem-
bers but only 385 (a 16 percent response) responded, 75 percent of succession
plans cover senior executives, 67 percent include executives, 56 percent in-
clude middle managers, and only 17 percent include nonmanagement posi-
tions.’’35 In 40 percent of the responding firms, HR is given the primary
responsibility for succession planning program implementation. In 47 percent
of the firms, the succession plan is evaluated and updated annually.
‘ The Issue of Talent Management and Succession Planning is Global. ‘‘In a study
conducted by Equaterra of 250 HR decision makers representing various in-
dustry groups (60 percent from North America, 20 percent from organizations
with European/Middle Eastern/Africa operations, and 18 percent from organi-
zations with Asian operations) during the first two weeks of October 2008,
more than 70 percent of survey respondents indicated that HR should focus
attention on human capital management—including recruiting top talent,
creating effective pay practices focused on performance, transferring knowl-
edge from more to less experienced workers, and developing leadership.’’36
‘ What Groups Are the Focus of Succession Planning? In a survey of 456 employ-
ers conducted in October 2008, Workscape, a Massachusetts corporation that
provides HR solutions software, found that ‘‘55 percent [of respondents] re-
ported having no formal succession planning strategy. Those firms with such
a program reported that, most often, the application of the plan was limited
to only the most senior level of executives.’’37
‘ What Percentage of Organizations Have Succession Plans? ‘‘The survey also
tracked patterns of firms with active or formal programs to identify future
leaders. Overall, 39.2 percent said they had such programs, and 60.8 percent
said they did not, but the responses varied greatly by firm size. Only 17.6
percent of firms with fewer than 25 full-time employees said they had such a
program, compared to a whopping 87.5 percent of firms with more than 250
staff who said they did.’’38
‘ How Many Organizations Extend Succession Planning to Include Middle Manag-
ers? ‘‘When it comes to feeding that leadership pipeline, nearly half of large
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 29
organizations that perform succession planning are extending it to the middle
manager level, according to new research. The survey results are from a na-
tionwide Internet survey of 2,556 senior HR and training and development
executives conducted in December 2007 for Novations Group, a global con-
sulting firm based in Boston. Research that Bersin & Associates conducted in
2007 found similar results. Although succession planning for most organiza-
tions tends to focus at the top end—64 percent of 750 companies it surveyed
have such plans for senior executives—26 percent are using it for first-line
managers and 47 percent for functional leaders.’’39
‘ What Competencies Are Most Important for Success? In a survey of 200 employ-
ers conducted in September 2008, respondents indicated that ‘‘leaders aren’t
being rewarded for their most important qualities. Soft skills such as ‘the abil-
ity to inspire and motivate,’ ‘communication skills,’ and ‘people management
skills,’ were ranked as the most important leadership qualities in today’s econ-
omy. In contrast, ‘keen decision-making’ and ‘financial acumen’ were seen as
most rewarded. ‘Managing through change’ is the most challenging workforce
issue for leaders.’’40
‘ According to a 2008 survey conducted by IOMA, ‘‘personal attributes
outranked all other qualities as the most important factor in identify-
ing the quality of current leadership.’’41
‘ ‘‘Results varied by size of firm. At very large firms—firms with more
than 250 full-time employees—gut feeling and unspecified personal
attributes ranked first [in being chosen as a successor], while in midsize
firms, ‘relationship to present leadership’ was far more important—a
kind of nepotism factor. Business development ranked highest in firms
sized 101 to 250 full-time employees, a score of 38.5 percent.’’42
‘ In a study of 7,389 managers from 1988 to 1992 and 7,410 managers
from 2004 and 2006, ‘‘managerial skills important in the 1980s are
relevant today. However, the importance of relationships, administra-
tive/organizational ability and time management shifted over the last
15 years’’43
The Most Famous Question in Succession:
To Tell or Not To Tell
The most famous question in succession planning is the well-known one: Should
successors be told, or not told, that they are successors? Though this question will be
addressed later in the book, the real issue here is that this question really poses a false
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30 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
choice. Indeed, the issue may not to be to tell everyone or not to tell everyone whether
they are listed on succession plans. A better series of questions relates to when to tell,
who to tell, and how to tell.
But first to answer the question. Most U.S. firms do not tell people that they are
in a succession plan. There are advantages and disadvantages to both telling and not
telling.
Consider the disadvantages to telling. If individuals are told that they are listed as
replacements in a succession plan, they may kick their feet up and relax, assuming
that they have a promotion in the bag. They may stop working as hard or may even
stop preparing for the new competencies they will need if promoted. Worse, their
peers may hear of it. Some of these otherwise excellent employees may lose hope—
and start looking for work elsewhere, where they can be considered for promotion.
And the organization’s leaders lose flexibility to choose appropriate people when the
need arises.
Of course, there are advantages to telling. One is that it is likely to motivate
successors to learn more or be willing to build their competencies in anticipation of
future promotion. It is also likely to lead named successors to be less willing to leave
the organization.
The advantages of not telling are similar to the disadvantages of telling, and the
disadvantages of not telling are similar to the advantages of telling.
Management Succession Planning, Technical Succession
Planning, or Social Network Succession Planning:
What Are You Planning For?
Succession planning and management is usually associated with preparing people for
possible future promotions. In that sense, it is linked to the possible future leadership
needs of an organization. Traditional SP&M is about getting people ready for promo-
tion, for movement up the organization chart. It can thus be understood as manage-
ment succession planning because it usually prepares people for assuming higher-level
management responsibility.
But there are alternatives. When experienced workers leave the organization, they
take with them more than leadership skill or one pair of hands to do the work. In
point of fact, experienced workers also possess special knowledge about the way past
decisions have been made and why. That is called institutional memory.
Technical and professional workers—such as engineers, system analysts, accoun-
tants, and research scientists—also possess highly specialized knowledge about the
nature of an organization’s products and services. That knowledge is vital for future
competitive advantage. After all, it is rarely possible to communicate valuable infor-
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 31
mation to the next generation without knowledge of what came before it. When
succession planning focuses on transferring knowledge from more to less experienced
workers, it can be called technical succession planning to distinguish it from manage-
ment succession planning, which is focused on promotability.
In addition, experienced workers have built a social network of people who help
them accomplish their goals. For instance, an experienced salesperson may know just
the right people in a customer’s place of business to make a decision regarding a large
sale. But a successor will not necessarily know those people and may require years to
establish a track record with important social contacts. When succession planning
focuses on transferring social relationships or contacts from more to less experienced
people, it can be called social network or social relationship succession planning.
Best Practices and Approaches
Numerous studies have been conducted of SP&M in recent years.44 Exhibit 1-9 sum-
marizes some of the key best practices identified from those studies.
There are numerous approaches to SP&M. They may be distinguished by direc-
tion, timing, planning, scope, degree of dissemination, and amount of individual
discretion.
Direction
Who should make the final decisions in SP&M? The answer to that question has to
do with direction. A top-down approach to succession planning and management is
directed from the highest levels. The corporate board of directors, CEO, and other
top managers oversee program operations—with or without the assistance of a part-
time or full-time SP&M coordinator, a leadership development specialist, or a human
resource generalist assigned to help with the program. The highest-level leaders make
decisions about how competence and performance will be assessed for present posi-
tions, how future competence and potential will be identified, and what develop-
mental activities—if any—will be conducted with a view toward preparing individuals
for advancement and building the organization’s bench strength of leadership talent.
In contrast, a bottom-up approach to SP&M is directed from the lowest levels.
Employees and their immediate supervisors actively participate in all activities per-
taining to SP&M. They are also on the lookout for promising people to assume leader-
ship positions. Decisions about SP&M are closely tied to individual career-planning
programs, which help individuals assess their present strengths, weaknesses, and fu-
ture potential. Top managers receive and act on decisions made at lower levels based
on a track record of accomplishments.
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32 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 1-9. Summary of Best Practices on Succession Planning and
Management from Several Research Studies
Based on several research studies of SP&M programs, best practices are:
Best Practices According to Robert M. Fulmer
Deploying a Succession Management Process
� Best-practice organizations make succession planning an integral corporate
process by exhibiting a link between succession planning and overall business
strategy. This link gives succession planning the opportunity to affect the corpora-
tion’s long-term goals and objectives.
� Human resources is typically responsible for the tools and processes associated
with successful succession planning. Business or line units are generally responsi-
ble for the ‘‘deliverables’’—i.e., they use the system to manage their own staffing
needs. Together, these two groups produce a comprehensive process.
� Technology plays an essential role in the succession planning process. Ideally,
technology serves to facilitate the process (make it shorter, simpler, or more flexi-
ble) rather than becoming the focus of the process or inhibiting it in any way.
Identifying the Talent Pool
� Best-practice organizations use a cyclical, continuous identification process to
focus on future leaders.
� Best-practice organizations use a core set of leadership and succession manage-
ment competencies.
Engaging Future Leaders
� Best-practice organizations emphasize the importance of specific, individualized
development plans for each employee.
� Individual development plans identify which developmental activities are needed,
and the ‘‘best practice’’ firms typically have a mechanism in place to make it
simple for the employee to conduct the developmental activities. Typically, divi-
sional human resource leaders will monitor employee follow-up in developmental
activities.
� Best-practice partners rely on the fundamental developmental activities of coach-
ing, training, and development most frequently and utilize all developmental ac-
tivities to a much greater extent than the sponsor organizations.
� In addition to traditional executive education programs, best-practice partners
increasingly use special assignments, action learning, and Web-based develop-
ment activities.
Source: Robert M. Fulmer, ‘‘Choose Tomorrow’s Leaders Today: Succession Planning Grooms Firms for Success.’’ Downloaded
on 19 July 2004 from http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/021/succession.html. Used with permission.
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Key Best Practices According to William Rothwell
� Use a ‘‘big picture roadmap or model’’ to guide the effort.
� Ensure hands-on involvement by the CEO and other senior leaders.
� Use competency models to clarify what type of talent the organization’s leaders
want to build.
� Develop and implement an effective performance management system.
� Lead the target by clarifying what competencies will be needed for the future if
the organization is to achieve its strategic objectives.
� Use individual development plans to narrow developmental gaps.
� Develop descriptions of the values and ethical standards required and assess
people relative to those as well as competencies.
� Build a viewpoint that high-potential talent is a shared resource rather than owned
by specific managers.
� Use leadership development efforts to build shared competencies needed for the
future.
Source: William Rothwell, Ed., Effective Succession Management: Building Winning Systems or Identifying and Developing Key
Talent (Lexington, Mass.: The Center for Organizational Research [a division of Linkage, Inc.]). See http://www.cfor.org/News/
article.asp?id�4. Used with permission.
Four Key Best Practices According to Chief Executive Magazine
1. Identify. Find HiPo candidates in the organization by using consistent, objective
criteria.
2. Diagnose. Assess individual candidates’ strengths and weaknesses compared to
the organization’s needs.
3. Prescribe. Provide the right development to build competencies in the organiza-
tion.
4. Monitor. Make sure that the succession process works to build leaders over time.
Source: ‘‘Succession Management: Filling the Leadership Pipeline,’’ Chief Executive, April 2004, pp. 1, 4. Used with permission.
A combination approach attempts to integrate top-down and bottom-up ap-
proaches. Top managers are actively involved in establishing SP&M procedures, and
they remain involved in the SP&M program. Employees and their immediate supervi-
sors are also actively involved in every step of the process. Some effort is made to
integrate SP&M and individual career planning. Often, a succession plan without a
career plan is a wish list because designated HiPos may not aspire to the career goals to
which managers think they should aspire, and a growing number of people do not want
the hassles that come with a promotion for the tiny increase in salary that it usually
brings. A career plan without a succession plan is a road map without a destination.
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34 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Timing
How much time is devoted to SP&M issues, and when is that time devoted to it? The
answer to that question has to do with timing. Succession planning and management
may be conducted fitfully, periodically, or continuously. When handled fitfully, sys-
tematic SP&M does not exist because no effort is made to plan for succession—with
the result that every vacancy can become a crisis. When handled periodically, SP&M
is carried out on a fixed schedule, usually quarterly or annually. Often it distinctly
resembles an employee performance appraisal program, which is typically part of the
SP&M effort. Managers complete a series of forms that may include a performance
appraisal, an individual potential assessment (or full-circle, multirater assessment),
an individual development plan (IDP), and a replacement chart for their areas of
responsibility. This information is then turned over to the human resources depart-
ment and/or to an individual assigned responsibility for SP&M. They may also meet
to vet their opinions.
When handled continuously, SP&M requires ongoing decision making, informa-
tion gathering, and action taking. Less attention is devoted to forms than to results
and developmental activities. Employees at all levels are expected to contribute to
the continuous improvement of themselves and others in the organization through
mentoring, networking, sponsorship, coaching, training, education, development,
and other means.
Planning
How much planning is conducted for succession? The answer to that question has to
do with the planning component of an SP&M program. Succession planning and
management may be a systematic effort that is deliberately planned and is driven by
a written, organization-wide statement of purpose and a policy. On the other hand,
it may be an unsystematic effort that is left unplanned, informal, and even haphazard.
An unsystematic effort is driven by the idiosyncrasies of individual managers rather
than by a deliberate plan and strategy for developing individuals for advancement
and for ensuring leadership continuity.
Scope
How many—and what kinds—of people in the organization are covered by succes-
sion plans? The answer to that question has to do with program scope. Succession
planning and management may range from the specialized to the generalized. A spe-
cialized program targets leadership continuity in selected job categories, job levels,
functions, or locations. Often, such programs grow out of crises—such as excessive
turnover in selected areas of the organization. On the other hand, a generalized pro-
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gram aims to prepare individuals for advancement in all job categories, job levels,
functions, and locations. It is often a starting point for identifying individualized
training, education, and development needs and for meeting individual career goals.
Degree of Dissemination
How many people participate in SP&M processes? The answer to that question has to
do with the program’s degree of dissemination. It is a philosophical issue that stems
from—and influences—the organization’s culture. The degree of dissemination may
range from closed to open.
A closed SP&M program is treated as top secret. Managers assess the individual
potential of their employees without the input of those affected by the assessment
process. Decisions about whom to develop and how to develop them are limited to a
need-to-know basis. Individual career goals may or may not influence these decisions.
Top managers are the sole owners of the SP&M program and permit little or no
communication about it. Secrecy is justified on two counts: (1) succession issues are
proprietary to the organization and may reveal important information about strategic
plans that should be kept out of the hands of competitors, and (2) decision makers
worry that employees who are aware of their status in succession plans may develop
unrealistic expectations or may ‘‘hold themselves hostage.’’ To avoid these problems,
decision makers keep the SP&M process and its outcomes confidential.
On the other hand, an open SP&M program is transparent and is treated with
candor. Work requirements, competencies, and success factors at all levels are identi-
fied and communicated. The SP&M process and its possible outcomes are described
to all who ask. Individuals are told, truthfully but tactfully, how they are regarded.
However, decision makers do not promise high performers with high potential that
they are guaranteed advancement; rather, they send a clear message: ‘‘You must con-
tinue to perform in an exemplary way in your current job and take active steps to
prepare yourself for the future to benefit from it. While no promises will be made,
preparing yourself for the future will usually help you qualify for advancement better
than not preparing yourself.’’
Amount of Individual Discretion
How much say do individuals have in assessing their current job performance and
their future advancement potential? The answer to that question has to do with the
amount of individual discretion. There was a time in U.S. business when it was as-
sumed that everyone wanted to advance to higher levels of responsibility and that
everyone was willing, as a rite of passage, to relocate geographically whenever asked
to do so. Such assumptions are no longer safe to make: Not everyone is willing to
make the sacrifices that go with increased responsibility; not everyone is willing to
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sacrifice work-life balance; and not everyone is willing to relocate due to the complex-
ities of dual-career families and situations where elderly parents may require care.
Mandated succession planning and management ignores individual career goals.
Decision makers identify the best candidates for jobs, regardless of individual prefer-
ences. Whenever a vacancy occurs, internal candidates are approached first. Though
given right of refusal, they may also be pressured to accept a job change for the good
of the organization.
Verified succession planning and management appreciates the importance of the
individual in SP&M. Decision makers identify desirable candidates for each job and
then verify their interest in it by conducting career planning interviews or discussions.
When a vacancy occurs, internal candidates are approached, but decision makers are
already aware of individual preferences, career goals, and interests. No pressure is
exerted on the individual; rather, decision makers seek a balance in meeting organiza-
tional succession needs and individual career goals.
Ensuring Leadership Continuity in Organizations
There are two main ways to ensure leadership continuity and thereby fill critically
important positions. These may be generally classified as traditional and alternative
approaches. Each can have important implications for SP&M. Hence, each warrants
a brief review.
Traditional Approaches
In 1968, Haire noted that people can make only six types of job movements in any
organization: in (entry), out (termination), up (promotion), down (demotion), across
(lateral transfer), or progress in place (development in the current position).45 Any one
or all of these traditional approaches can, of course, be used as a means to meet
succession needs for key positions. Of course, newer approaches to addressing staffing
issues have been added as well as these traditional ones, such as telecommuting, work-
ing as a vendor, working as permanent part time, and working as a temp, among
others.
Moving people into an organization (entry) is associated with recruitment and
selection. In short, hiring off the street is one way to find successors for key positions.
However, people hired from outside represent a gamble. They have little stake in the
organization’s status quo, though they may have valuable knowledge in which the
organization is otherwise deficient. They may generate conflict trying to put new ideas
into action. That conflict may be destructive or constructive. Top managers may be
reluctant to hire more than a certain percentage of outsiders for key positions because
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they represent a gamble. Their track records are difficult to verify, and their ability to
work harmoniously in a new corporate culture may be difficult to assess. If they fail,
outsiders may be difficult to terminate both because managers can be reluctant to fire
people and because wrongful discharge litigation is always an issue of concern.
Moving people out of an organization (termination) is associated with layoffs,
downsizings, reductions in force, firings, and employee buyouts. It is generally viewed
negatively, continuing to carry a social stigma for those who are let go and to be a
public relations concern for organizations that regularly terminate individuals with
or without cause. Yet, if properly used, termination can be an effective tool for remov-
ing less-than-effective performers from their positions, thereby opening up opportu-
nities for promising high-potential employees with proven track records.
Moving people up in an organization (promotion) is associated with upward mo-
bility, advancement, and increased responsibility. Succession planning and manage-
ment has long been linked with this approach more than any other. Indeed,
replacement charts remain tools of SP&M in many organizations. They usually imply
an upward progression from within the organization—and often within the same
division, department, or work unit. Career maps show the competency requirements
necessary for advancement and are often substituted now for replacement charts. Job-
posting programs can also be paired with replacement charting or career maps so as to
communicate vacancies and provide a means of allowing movement across functions,
departments, and locations.
Promotion from within has distinct advantages: It sustains (or improves) em-
ployee morale, and it smoothes transitions by ensuring that key positions are filled by
those whose personalities, philosophies, and skills are already known to others in the
organization. However, experts advise limiting the percentage of positions filled
through internal promotion. One reason is that it tends to reinforce the existing
culture. Another reason is that it can end up perpetuating the racial, sexual, and
ethnic composition already present in the leadership ranks.
There are other problems with strict promotion-from-within approaches to
SP&M. First, exemplary job performance in one position is no guarantee of success
in a higher-level position. Requirements at different organizational levels are not iden-
tical, and that is particularly true in management. Effective promotion from within
requires planning and rarely occurs merely by luck.
Moving people down in an organization (demotion), like terminating them, is
commonly viewed negatively. Yet it, too, can be an effective source of leadership talent
on some occasions. For instance, when an organizational unit is being disbanded,
effective performers from that unit may fill vacancies in other parts of the organiza-
tion. Individuals may even accept demotions voluntarily if they believe that such
moves will increase their job security or improve their long-term career prospects.
Moving people across an organization (lateral transfer) is becoming more common
in the wake of downsizing. (It is sometimes linked to what has come to be called
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inplacement.46) That, too, can be a valuable means by which to cross-fertilize the
organization, giving new perspectives to old functions or activities. Job rotations,
either temporary or permanent moves from one position to others as a means of
relieving ennui or building individual competencies, are a unique form of transfer
that can also be used in succession planning and management.47
Progress in place (development in the current position) represents a middle
ground between lateral transfer and upward mobility. It has become more common
as opportunities for advancement have diminished. Progress in place is based on the
central premise that no job—no matter how broad or complex—fully taps individual
potential. As a result, individuals can be developed for the future while remaining
where they are, doing what they have always done, and gradually shouldering new
duties or assignments. Stagnation is thus avoided by loading the job horizontally or
vertically. Horizontal loading means adding job responsibilities similar to what the
individual has already done; vertical loading means offering new job responsibilities
that challenge the individual to learn more.
Related to progress in place is the notion of dual-career ladders in which individu-
als may advance along two different career tracks: a management track (in which
advancement is linked to increasing responsibility for people) and a technical track
(in which advancement is linked to increasingly sophisticated responsibility within a
given function or area of expertise). The organization may establish special rewards,
incentives, and compensation programs to encourage advancement along dual-career
tracks.
Alternative Approaches
Experienced managers know that there is more than one way to fill a critical posi-
tion.48 Job movements, described in the previous section, represent a traditional
approach, commonly associated with SP&M. Alternative approaches are probably
being increasingly used as managers in cost-sensitive organizations struggle to meet
SP&M challenges while finding themselves restricted in the external hiring and inter-
nal promoting that they may do.
An alternative approach might be called organizational redesign. When a vacancy
occurs in a key position, decision makers do not automatically move someone into
that place; rather, they break up the work duties and reallocate them across the re-
maining key positions or people. The desired effect is to reduce head count while
holding results constant. It also develops the remaining key people by giving them
exposure to a new function, activity, or responsibility. However, if rewards do not
match the growing workload, exemplary performers who have been asked to do more
may grow disenchanted. There is also a limit to how much can be loaded on people
before they are incapable of performing effectively.
A second alternative approach is process redesign. Decision makers do not auto-
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What Is Succession Planning and Management? 39
matically assume that a key position needs to be replaced when it becomes vacant;
rather, they review that function from top to bottom, determining whether it is neces-
sary at all and, if it can be done in new ways that require fewer people.
A third alternative approach is outsourcing. Rather than assume that all work
needs to be performed internally, decision makers periodically reassess whether activi-
ties can be more cost-effectively handled externally. If head count can be reduced
through outsourcing, the organization can decrease succession demands.
A fourth alternative approach involves trading personnel temporarily with other
organizations. This approach builds on the idea that organizations can temporarily
trade resources for their mutual benefit. Excess capacity in one organization is thus
tapped temporarily by others. An advantage of this approach is that high performers
or high potentials who are not immediately needed by one organization can be pooled
for use by others, who usually offset their salaries and benefits. It can also develop
them for future responsibility, serving as a possible test and as a stretch assignment.
A disadvantage is that lending organizations risk losing these talented workers com-
pletely if they are spirited away by those having greater need of their services and
greater ability to reward and advance them.
A fifth alternative approach involves establishing talent pools. Instead of identify-
ing one likely successor for each critical position, the organization sets out to develop
many people for many positions. That can be accomplished by job rotations so that
high potentials gain exposure to many organizational areas and are capable of making
multifaceted contributions. Though that sounds fine in theory, there are practical
difficulties with this approach. One is that productivity can decline as new leaders
play musical chairs and learn the ropes in new organizational settings.
A sixth alternative approach is to establish an acceleration pool. That is done in
cases of emergency, perhaps when many members of a group are at or beyond retire-
ment eligibility at the same time. Imagine if all members of a top management team
were retirement eligible at once and there were no promotable employees in the
organization. In that event, the organization’s leaders might want to hire people to
shadow them—and to go through an accelerated development program.
A seventh alternative approach is to establish two-in-the-box arrangements. Mo-
torola has been known to use this approach. ‘‘Since most Motorola businesses are run
by a general manager and an assistant general manager, the assistant slot is used to
move executives from one business to another for a few years so they can gain a
variety of experiences.’’49 A form of overstaffing that would not be appealing to some
organizations, this approach permits individual development through job rotations
while preserving leadership continuity. It is akin to forming an executive team in
which traditional functional senior executives are replaced by a cohesive team that
collectively makes operating decisions, effectively functioning in the place of a chief
operating officer.50
An eighth alternative approach is to establish competitive skill inventories of high-
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40 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
potential workers outside the organization. Rather than develop organizational talent
over time, an organization identifies predictable sources of high-potential workers
and recruits them on short notice as needed. A disadvantage of this approach is that
it can engender counterattacks by organizations that have been ‘‘robbed’’ of talent.
Of course, there are other ways to meet successor needs in key positions. Here is
a quick review of a few:
‘ Temping. The organization makes it a practice to hire individuals from outside
on a short-term basis to fill in during a search for a successor. The ‘‘temps’’
become candidates for consideration. If they do not work out, however, the
arrangement can be severed on short notice.
‘ Job Sharing. An experienced employee in a key position temporarily shares the
job with another as a means of on-the-job training or of assessing how well
the candidate can perform.
‘ Part-Time Employment. Prospective candidates for key positions are brought
in on a part-time basis. They are carefully assessed before employment offers
are made.
‘ Consulting. Prospective candidates for key positions are brought in as consul-
tants on projects related to the position duties. Their performance is carefully
assessed before employment offers are made.
‘ Overtime. Prospective candidates from within the organization are asked to
work in other capacities in addition to their current jobs. This represents
overtime work. The employer then assesses how well the individuals can per-
form in the key positions, making allowances for the unusual pressure under
which they are functioning.
‘ Job Rotation. Prospective candidates for key positions are developed from
within by rotating, for an extended time span, into another job or series of
jobs in preparation for the future.
‘ Action Learning Teams. Workers who have been trapped in their functional
areas (so-called ‘‘silos’’) may need cross-functional exposure before being pro-
moted to higher-level responsibilities. Action learning teams can be used to
give people that exposure. A team is assembled to tackle a real business prob-
lem. They are expected to get results but also to learn from each other in the
process. This approach can also be used virtually, giving people virtual expo-
sure to other cultures.
‘ Retirees. The organization looks to individuals with proven track records to
return to critical positions temporarily or permanently. This is likely to be a
key focus of interest in the future.51
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The important point about SP&M is that numerous approaches may be used to
satisfy immediate requirements. However, a continuing and systematic program is
necessary to ensure that talent is being prepared inside the organization. As a starting
point for describing what is needed to decision makers in your organization, begin by
reviewing the frequently asked questions in Appendix I.
Summary
This chapter opened with six dramatic vignettes to illustrate the importance of succes-
sion planning and management (SP&M), which was defined as any effort designed to
ensure the continued effective performance of an organization, division, department,
or work group by making provision for the development, replacement, and strategic
application of key people over time. A succession planning and management program
was defined as a deliberate and systematic effort by an organization to ensure leader-
ship continuity in key positions, retain and develop intellectual and knowledge capital
for the future, and encourage individual advancement. Succession planning and man-
agement is proactive and should not be confused with replacement planning, which
is a form of risk management and is more limited in scope and reactive.
Succession planning and management is important for several reasons: (1) The
continued survival of the organization depends on having the right people in the right
places at the right times; (2) as a result of recent economic restructuring efforts in
organizations, there are simply fewer people available to advance to the top ranks
from within; (3) succession planning and management is needed to encourage diver-
sity and multiculturalism in organizations and to avoid homosocial reproduction
by managers; and (4) succession forms the basis for communicating career paths,
establishing development and training plans, establishing career paths and individual
job moves, communicating upward and laterally, and creating a more comprehensive
human resources planning system.
Approaches to succession planning and management may be distinguished by
direction, timing, planning, scope, degree of dissemination, and amount of individual
discretion. Succession needs may be met through traditional and alternative ap-
proaches. Succession planning and management should be linked to and supportive
of strategic plans, human resource plans, human resource development plans, and
other organizational planning activities.
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C H A P T E R 2
jjj
Trends Influencing Succession
Planning and Management
Succession planning and management (SP&M) must be carried out against the back-
drop of increasingly dynamic organizations.1 Those organizations are responding, ei-
ther proactively or reactively, to changes occurring in their external environments. As
Leibman explains, ‘‘today’s dynamic environment filled with global competition and
business discontinuities defines the arena in which succession planning must flourish.
To do so, a much more active orientation is required, one that is better characterized
by succession management and its emphasis on ongoing and integrated processes.’’2
For Leibman, succession management is more active than succession planning and
must be carried out in a way that is tied to organizational strategy and is responsive
enough to deal with rapidly changing organizational settings. That is an accurate view.
To be effective, SP&M programs must anticipate—and not just react to—the changes
wrought by an increasingly dynamic business environment. It should be applied daily
by managers, who are charged with and held accountable for developing the organiza-
tion’s bench strength for the future.
Conducting studies of trends is a popular pursuit. Some organizations specialize
in trends.3 And some futurists have predicted the future for human resources (HR).
Among the predictions: (1) People-centric ISO certifications will require HR prac-
titioners to partner more with operating managers; (2) interest is growing in experi-
menting with alternative organizational designs, which will mean that HR
practitioners must contribute to finding new ways to support organizational struc-
tures that are not as familiar as many in the past; and (3) HR is being completely
outsourced, which challenges in-house HR practitioners to demonstrate real value-
added efforts if internal HR departments are to survive.4
Many trends drive the future workplace and workforce. Among them are:5
1. Changing technology.
2. Increasing globalization.
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Trends Influencing Succession Planning and Management 43
3. Continuing cost containment.
4. Increasing speed in market change.
5. The growing importance of knowledge capital.
6. An increasing rate and magnitude of change.
These trends demand a new role for managers. They also call for a new, more
strategic role for HR practitioners.6 Trends such as these frame the future of SP&M
efforts, and effective SP&M programs are built to help organizations manage and
even capitalize on the effects of these trends.
This chapter examines key trends influencing SP&M. The chapter opens with an
activity for you to consider on the drivers of change and trends. It then focuses on
answering the question, ‘‘What trends are influencing SP&M?’’ The chapter directs
attention to ten key trends exerting special influence on SP&M:
1. The need for speed
2. A buyer’s market for skills
3. Reduced loyalty among employers and workers
4. The importance of intellectual capital and knowledge management
5. The importance of values, ethics, and competencies
6. More software to support succession
7. The growing activism of the board of directors
8. Growing awareness of similarities and differences in succession issues globally
9. Growing awareness of the similarities and differences of succession programs
in special venues: government, nonprofit, education, small business, and fam-
ily business
10. Managing a special issue: CEO succession
The chapter then offers conclusions about what these trends mean for SP&M.
But first, take a moment to rate your organization on its handling of SP&M against
the backdrop of the competitive environment. Complete the assessment questionnaire
in Exhibit 2-1. When you finish, score the results of your assessment. Then continue
reading the chapter.
The Ten Key Trends
Trend 1: The Need for Speed
Time has emerged as a key strategic resource.7 If you doubt that, then consider how
often the phrase ‘‘reduction in cycle time’’ is used in companies today. Also consider
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44 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 2-1. Assessment Questionnaire: How Well Is Your Organization
Managing the Consequences of Trends Influencing Succession Planning and
Management?
Directions
Use this questionnaire to structure your thinking about how well your organization is
positioned to manage the consequences of key trends influencing succession plan-
ning and management. For each item listed in the left column, rate how well you
feel your organization is prepared to manage the consequences of the trends as
they may influence succession planning and management.
Use the following scale to rate your opinions on how well the organization is pre-
pared to manage the consequences of the trend as it influences succession planning
and management:
1 � Not at all prepared
2 � Very unprepared
3 � Unprepared
4 � Somewhat prepared
5 � Prepared
6 � Well prepared
7 � Very well prepared
If you wish, ask decision makers in your organization to complete this assessment
questionnaire individually. Then compile the results and feed them back to the deci-
sion makers so that they may see their collective views.
The Questionnaire
Trend How well is your organization positioned to
manage the consequences of the trend as it
influences succession planning and
management?
Not at Very Well
All Prepared Prepared
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. The need for speed 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. A buyer’s market for skills 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3. Reduced loyalty among
employers and workers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4. The importance of
intellectual capital and
knowledge management 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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Trends Influencing Succession Planning and Management 45
5. The key importance of
competencies, ethics, and
values 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Totals — — — — — — —
Scoring: Add up the totals of the columns and place the sum in the box. �
Interpreting the score: If your score is lower than 19, then your organization is not
well prepared to manage the consequences of the trends as they may influence
succession planning and management.
how fast the speed of processing time in computers is advancing. Slashing the time it
takes to get results is seen as a goal in its own right. This effort includes:
‘ Finding faster ways to transform basic research into applied research so as to
create new products or services and thereby beat competitors to production
or service delivery.
‘ Entering new markets faster.
‘ Reducing unnecessary or redundant steps in the production process through
process improvement.
‘ Improving, through just-in-time inventory methods, the time match between
the need for raw materials and their use in production so as to reduce inven-
tory holding costs.
‘ Reducing the time it takes to fill an order or ship a product from producer to
consumer.
Speed is likely only to become more important in the future. That sensitivity to
speed is affecting human resources (HR) practices as well. Many companies keep
statistics to see how long it takes to:8
‘ Justify a position.
‘ Recruit for, and fill, a vacancy.
‘ Find talent to meet immediate needs or to synchronize efforts.
‘ Train people.
In a more stable era, it might have been acceptable to permit a long lead time
between the justification and filling of a position, or the selection of a qualified person
and the realization of full productivity from that worker following training. But stable
times are gone. Time is a resource easily wasted, and people must be found and
oriented so that they can become productive as quickly as possible. For this reason, it
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46 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
is increasingly important to identify high-potential talent more quickly (such as
within six weeks after time of hire) and to accelerate development time. The race goes
to the swift, and competitive advantage now goes to the organizations that move
faster with better results. That fact bodes ill for old-time bureaucracies that require
long lead times to reach decisions.
Trend 2: A Buyer’s Market for Skills
A major change—wrought by the severe recent global economic downturn—is the
transformation of a seller’s market for skills into a buyer’s market. Top talent can
now be acquired, at least for the foreseeable future, at bargain-basement prices. But
watch out: Organizations that do not manage retention carefully—and that includes
teaching managers how to treat people with civility and courtesy as well as with
empathy—will experience a dramatic uptick in turnover of top talent when business
conditions improve. It is entirely possible that, as economic conditions gradually
improve, burned-out Baby Boomers will indeed exit workplaces, creating a vacuum
of talent at the top that affects lower-level positions also as organizations promote
from within.
Historically, employers in the United States, as in many other parts of the world,
have traditionally taken workers for granted. Many managers still assume that, if their
organizations will only pay enough, they can always find the people they need to fill
a position. In the current climate, some managers assume that workers should regard
themselves as lucky to have a job. But the assumption that talent will always be
plentiful is not always valid anymore. There are several reasons why.
First, the U.S. population is aging.9 Fewer workers are entering at the bottom of
organizational pyramids because there are fewer workers of traditional entry-level age.
Those new workers have a work ethic and values different from those of previous
generations. Many prize a balance of work and personal life that does not match the
frenetic pace of many organizations today, where the number of work hours for the
average manager is on the rise.10 Current poor economic conditions only make the
stress levels higher for the survivors of downsizing, and they are (not surprisingly)
looking for ways out of pressure-cooker settings. Second, more people are reaching
traditional retirement ages. Some authorities contend that this will lead to a leadership
shortage as senior managers, traditionally the oldest age group, take advantage of
generous retirement plans.11 Other authorities, however, caution against assuming
that people will retire at traditional ages in the future, because retirement plans and
other benefits are less secure than they once were.12 It is possible that both groups of
authorities are right and that some will retire and some will continue to work. Em-
ployers may be forced to reconsider how much and how often they recruit, develop,
and even seek to retain older workers who are compelled to work due to declining
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retirement benefits and increasing health insurance costs that are pushed on to retir-
ees living on fixed or declining incomes. Moreover, employers that have not taken
steps to capture, distill, and transfer the specialized knowledge of older workers may
have to draw on their special expertise even after they leave their organizations.
Many U.S. organizations have instituted retention programs to hold down turn-
over.13 That is ironic, considering that many organizations are also, at the same time,
implementing selective staff reduction plans through downsizings, layoffs, employee
buyouts, and early retirement programs designed to slash payroll and benefits costs.
But, while downsizings continue in the wake of rapid market changes and corporate
mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers, many decision makers in organizations are still
looking for ways to attract and retain the most productive and promotable talent.
Trend 3: Reduced Loyalty Among Employers and Workers
There was a time when employees believed that they would get a job with one com-
pany and stay with that company until retirement. A stable employment record was
considered an advantage during job interviews. Likewise, employers often assumed
that, when they extended a job offer, they were establishing a long-term relationship
with the worker. Even poor performers were tolerated, and sometimes moved out of
the way and into harmless positions to preserve workers’ feelings of trust and security
with their employers.
This, of course, is no longer the case. One result of downsizing has been that
employers have changed the employment contract.14 As competitive conditions be-
came more fierce, organizational conditions became less stable. No longer were em-
ployers making a long-term commitment to their employees.
A legacy of this change is that employees have become more interested in short-
term gains, especially in salaries, titles, development opportunities, and benefits. They
want immediate rewards for good performance because they distrust their employers’
abilities to reward them in the future for hard work performed in the present.15 They
have changed from showing a tolerance for delayed gratification to demanding imme-
diate gratification. This change in the employment contract has profound implica-
tions for traditional SP&M practices. Employees can no longer trust their employers
to make good on promises of future advancement. And, given that attitude, employers
can no longer count on high potentials or exemplary performers patiently performing
for long periods before receiving rewards, advancement, or professional development.
Speed is now as important in managing succession issues as it is in managing
other aspects of organizational practice. Managers must manage against a backdrop
of possibly losing valuable talent if they do not identify it fast enough and offer
prompt rewards and development opportunities.16
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Trend 4: The Importance of Intellectual Capital and Knowledge
Management
Intellectual capital can be understood, at least in one sense, as the collective economic
value of an organization’s workforce.17 The effective use of intellectual capital is
knowledge management.18 It is important to emphasize that, as the speed of decision
making increases in organizational environments and operations, intellectual capital
increases in value because it is essential for customers to deal with workers who
know how to serve them quickly and effectively. This demands improved knowledge
management of the workforce.
Though land, capital, and information can be readily obtained from other
sources—and, on occasion, leased, outsourced, or purchased—the organization’s
workforce represents a key asset. Without people who know what the organization
does to serve its customers and how it does that, no organization could continue to
function. In one example I like to use with my students, I ask them this question,
‘‘What would a university be without its faculty, administrators, staff, and students?’’
The answer is that it would be nothing more than assets ready for liquidation: land,
buildings, equipment, and capital. Without the people, there would be no way to
achieve the mission of the university by teaching, research, and service.
The same principle applies to business organizations. While traditional managers
may view people as a cost of doing business, thought leaders realize that people repre-
sent the only asset that really matters in a competitive environment. People dream up
new products and services. People make the leap from the results of basic research to
the commercialization of applied research. People come up with technological advance-
ments and use them to improve productivity and quality. People serve the customers,
make the products, ship them to consumers, bill them, deposit the proceeds, and man-
age the organization’s resources. Without people, the competitive game is lost. That is
a lesson that is, unfortunately, too easy to forget at a time when many people are awed
by rapid technological advancements, which of course are pointless unless people make
use of them. To dramatize the point, consider that Microsoft would not exist as a
company had it not been for the genius of an entrepreneur like Bill Gates.
The implications of intellectual capital and knowledge management are impor-
tant for SP&M. In a sense, succession planning and management is a means to an
end. It is a tool of knowledge management, a means of ensuring that intellectual
capital is properly serviced, retained, cultivated, and protected.
Trend 5: The Importance of Values, Ethics, and Competencies
People in organizations have high expectations of their leaders, and their expectations
are unlikely to diminish in the future. People want leaders who can get results and
can, at the same time, model appropriate ethics. For these reasons, values, ethics, and
competencies have emerged as crucial to success in organizations.
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As a later chapter will define them, values can be understood to mean deeply held
beliefs. It has to do with what is regarded as good and bad. Ethics has to do with
what is regarded as right and wrong. In the wake of high-profile scandals in the U.S.
government, in other governments such as those of Japan and China, and in many
businesses, values and ethics have emerged as key issues of importance in organiza-
tional settings. Many multinational companies, for instance, have tried to address
cultural differences by establishing core values honored internationally under one
corporate umbrella and codes of conduct that span geographical boundaries.19
Competencies, while having different definitions,20 have also emerged as key to
management decision making, human resource practice,21 and SP&M programs. Eth-
ics represent a moral dimension to how leadership is exercised and work is per-
formed.22 Competencies can represent the distinguishing features between high
performers and average or below-average performers. More flexible than work activi-
ties or tasks, competency models are the glue that holds together a succession plan-
ning effort. The use of competency models is a distinguishing characteristic between
traditional and cutting-edge SP&M programs. As work becomes more dynamic and
divorced from the traditional boxes on organization charts, there must still be a way
to describe what performance is expected. Competency models have the advantage of
providing that flexibility.
Trend 6: More Software to Support Succession
More software than ever is available to support SP&M, though it sometimes masquer-
ades under such alternative names as talent management, talent development, work-
force planning, or human capital software. That is both a blessing and a curse. It is a
blessing because, when well formulated and implemented, software permits individu-
als and groups that are dispersed geographically to collaborate. Software can facilitate
decision making on competency identification, values clarification, 360-degree assess-
ment, individual development planning, and identification of developmental re-
sources to help build competencies (and thereby close developmental gaps). It can
also help management track individual progress (and thus encourage accountability),
inventory available talent, and even measure individuals’ progress and the support
provided by immediate supervisors.
But it can be a curse because some people believe that, when they buy a technol-
ogy solution, they are also buying the solutions to their succession problems. They
think that the software will give them ready-made, off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all com-
petency models, 360-degree assessments, individual development plans, talent track-
ing systems, and developmental methods. Of course, that is not true. Technology is
like an empty glass. HR practitioners and senior managers cannot avoid the responsi-
bility of filling the glass with corporate-culture-specific competencies, overseeing indi-
vidual progress, providing real-time mentoring and coaching, and offering much
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more than is embedded in the technology. In short, technology can ease the work but
not remove it. (A later chapter of this book describes unique issues associated with
the application of online technology to SP&M.)
Trend 7: The Growing Activism of the Board of Directors
Boards of directors are beginning to take a more active role in SP&M. The evidence
clearly points in that direction. One reason has been the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
(See Exhibit 2-2.) A key effect of that act is to increase board accountability in busi-
ness operations. And, of course, finding qualified successors for CEOs and for others
on down the organization chart is an important issue that corporate boards must
perennially address.23
Trend 8: Growing Awareness of Similarities and Differences in
Succession Issues Globally
One size does not fit all—and that is as true of succession planning as it is of anything
else. Unfortunately, it is a lesson that some multinational corporations (MNCs) have
Exhibit 2-2. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has swept the corporate world, leading to wide-
spread change.a Introduced in the wake of the spate of scandals that began with
Enron, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act does have an impact on succession issues. It has
prompted corporate boards of directors to take a more active role in succession
issues. It has also prohibited practices that were previously regarded as retention
strategies for key executives, such as permitting personal loans to executives or
allowing CEOs to remain in the room as corporate boards deliberate financial pack-
ages.b Sarbanes-Oxley has also put real teeth in corporate codes of conduct and
strengthened ethics programs in corporate settings. One indicator: ‘‘the ethics offi-
cer association, a Waltham, Mass.–based organization for managers of ‘ethics,
compliance and business conduct programs,’ has seen membership jump more
than 25 percent since last year.’’c
Notes
a. Steven C. Hall, ‘‘Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002,’’ Journal of Financial Service
Professionals 57:5 (2003), 14.
b. Dale Buss, ‘‘Corporate Compasses,’’ HR Magazine 49:6 (2004), 127–128,
130, 132; Robert J. Grossman, ‘‘HR on the Board,’’ HR Magazine 49:6 (2004),
56–63.
c. Ibid., p. 128.
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never learned. An all-too-common scenario is that the corporate headquarters in
Europe, the United States, or Japan will establish succession planning guidelines and
then roll them out worldwide, forgetting that the world is a big place and national
cultural differences play a role in effective succession planning practices. The result is
that, whatever the approach, it is only partly effective. An English-language-only liter-
ature search uncovered articles about SP&M in Europe,24 the United States,25 Asia,26
the Middle East,27 and New Zealand.28 As Will Hickey notes in writing of SP&M in
China, ‘‘a continued negligence of a systemic succession plan is seemingly retarding
the growth and career development of domestic employees to localize the organiza-
tion.’’29 The same could, unfortunately, be said of many other locales around the
world.
What are some of the problems that a global rollout may uncover? Here are a
couple of typical problems and their causes:
‘ U.S. firms will generally prize individualists who can claim credit for what they
have done on their own. That is not true in other cultures, where a willingness
to ‘‘stick one’s head above the crowd may mean it is cut off ’’ (to paraphrase
an old Chinese saying). In short, allowances may have to be made for cultures
in which individual efforts are prized, while an individual’s willingness and
skill in influencing groups may have to be identified and rewarded in collectiv-
istic cultures where team efforts are prized.
‘ Some European firms—and some firms in developing nations—will prize family
heritage. Ultimately, coming from the European tradition of aristocracy, this
principle means that not all people are created equal. Some people, as George
Orwell once noted in Animal Farm, are ‘‘more equal than others’’ by virtue
of birth family, socioeconomic status, schools attended, and social networks
developed from school and family connections. In short, it means that one’s
family may mean that one is destined to be a senior executive no matter what
corporate leaders in other nations may want because that is just the way things
are done in the local culture.
If a universal approach will not work globally, then what approach will work?
There is no simple answer to that question. Goals may be established at corporate
headquarters. But if the approach is to be effective, corporate leaders should launch
facilitated sessions that bring together regional leaders to have input on the goals,
hear about best practices in Western nations (which may have the most advanced
approaches), and (most importantly) discover what results are to be achieved by those
practices. Then the regional leaders should engage in facilitated discussions where
they can ‘‘invent’’ local approaches that will ‘‘work’’ in their home cultures and that
will comply with the relevant employment laws of each nation.
It is true that such an approach takes time, resources, patience, and hard work.
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But in the long run, that approach has the advantage of leading to global goals but
using local approaches to achieve them. It will work.
The alternative is to do as many companies do and just roll out something from
corporate headquarters. Local people will shake their heads in wonderment, amazed
that global corporate leaders know so little about differences in local cultures, local
realities, and even local labor laws. A rollout just undermines the credibility of corpo-
rate leaders. As globalization exerts increasing influence, these one-size-fits-all ap-
proaches will be increasingly out of step with good business practice. That is especially
true when rapidly advancing technology makes it possible to have videoconferenced
and real-time online discussions cross-culturally to facilitate ideas and approaches.
Trend 9: Growing Awareness of Similarities and Differences of
Succession Programs in Special Venues: Government, Nonprofit,
Education, and Small or Family Business
Just as one size of SP&M program may not fit all locales internationally, one approach
to SP&M will not work in all venues. Though there are many similarities in effective
SP&M programs across business, government, and nonprofit sectors, there are some
important differences as well. The same is true in settings such as educational institu-
tions, small businesses, and family businesses.
Government
There are two key differences in succession planning programs between business and
in governmental settings. (And it is worth pointing out that governmental entities
may themselves differ across international, federal, state, municipal, county, and other
governmental bodies.)
One difference is that some governmental entities have civil service systems that
prohibit (by law) the naming of individuals to fill positions without competitive job
searches. In some jurisdictions, all jobs must be posted. Individuals are then ranked
according to their qualifications compared to the requirements listed on job descrip-
tions. That approach means, in practical terms, that a government entity can develop
anyone who wishes to be developed—a method sometimes called a talent-pool ap-
proach. But identifying individual successors in advance may not be possible.
A second difference has to do with who may be regarded as the key customers of
the effort. In business, the CEO plays the single most important customer role. But
in some governmental entities, the agency director is a political appointee who carries
out the will of an elected official. In practical terms, the most important owners of
the SP&M process will be the government civil servants who do not change with the
winds of every political election. They possess the collective institutional wisdom of
the organization in their heads, and they must be appealed to on the grounds of a
legacy if a government-agency SP&M program is to work. In many cases, government
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succession programs bear different titles and are called workforce planning or human
capital management initiatives.30
Nonprofit
Nonprofit entities share characteristics with business and government. For that rea-
son, an effective SP&M program in a nonprofit organization will most likely be a
hybrid of what works in the private and public sectors. The senior-most leader must
back the effort if it is to succeed, and (in that respect) the nonprofit SP&M program
is like the private sector. But dedicated leaders who have made their careers in the
organization and who are committed to its worthwhile mission must also back the
effort. And in that respect, the SP&M program in a nonprofit organization is akin to
that of a governmental entity.
Education
Educational institutions vary widely in type, just as governmental entities do. Any one
SP&M program will not fit all. What works in a local school system may not work at
a world-famous research university.31 But it is clear that large universities are unique
for the simple reason that many people must move to other higher educational insti-
tutions if they are to be promoted from department head to dean, from dean to
provost or chancellor, or from chancellor or provost to president. That makes it
difficult for one institution to justify expenditures on identifying and grooming talent
for the future, since the beneficiaries of such efforts would most likely be other institu-
tions. (In a school district, on the other hand, it may be possible to groom people to
become principals because many such positions may be available.) Having said this,
however, some higher-educational institutions have committed to leadership develop-
ment programs to groom talent, and that kind of commitment is likely to be seen
more in the future, for the simple reason that so many college professors and univer-
sity administrators are at or near retirement age.
Small or Family Businesses
Succession planning in family businesses and succession planning in small businesses
are specialized topics, and much has actually been written about them.32 It should be
noted that not all family businesses are small businesses and not all small businesses
are family businesses. Some large, well-known companies like Ford were originally
family businesses. In Europe, the Middle East, or Asia, many large companies began—
and some still are—essentially family dynasties. That is also true in some companies
in the United States. And small businesses may be initiated by individuals without
families or in partnerships of talented but unrelated entrepreneurs.
Family businesses exert an enormously powerful influence on the U.S. economy.
Consider the following:33
It has been estimated that family businesses generate approximately nine out of
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ten new jobs. But despite the significant role they play in supporting the nation’s
economy, only about one in three survives to the second generation. The estimate of
successful transfers to the third generation ranges from only 10 to 20 percent.
Family businesses represent a special succession challenge for the simple reason
that many factors come into play. A founding entrepreneur, who is usually a parent
and spouse, establishes a business. But what happens when he or she passes from the
scene? Who carries on the legacy? In some cultures—and even in some parts of the
United States—the principle of primogeniture is still very apparent. Primogeniture is
the view that the eldest son should be the primary inheritor. Based on the way that
aristocratic titles have been passed down historically, it poses special problems in
family succession, for the simple reason that the eldest son of a founding entrepreneur
may not be the best equipped—by skills, vision, or motivation—to run the business.
Family succession is associated with issues in several areas: management, tax and
inheritance, the law, and finally what might be called family psychology. The manage-
ment issue has to do with answering this question, ‘‘Who is best equipped to run the
business when the founder passes from the scene?’’ Though founders may feel in-
clined to leave the business to a spouse or to an eldest son, that person may in fact
not be the best choice.
The real issue has to do with a conflict between the obligation to family and the
obligation to the business. Savvy founders will not necessarily let the obligation to the
family prevail. If they do, they may destroy the business. What happens if, upon the
founding entrepreneur’s sudden death or disability, the spouse or eldest child is ill
equipped to manage the business? The answer is likely to be bankruptcy or a selloff.
That may not be best for the business, the employees, or the communities in which
that business functions.
The second and third issues have to do with accounting and the law. Should the
business be handed over before the founder’s demise, in which case it is subject to
gift tax, or should the handoff occur after the founder’s demise, in which case it is
subject to inheritance tax? Those questions are best addressed by competent financial
and tax advisors. At the same time, if the business is handed over, it must be done
legally. That requires competent legal advice to write a will that cannot be easily
‘‘broken’’ or a handoff agreement that makes the founder’s relationship to the busi-
ness clear.
The fourth and final issue has to do with family psychology. If the founder decides
to hand over a controlling share of the business to one child in preference to others,
for instance, then the reasons for that should be clear before his or her demise and
the issue of financial fairness and equity addressed at that time. If the founder decides
to hand over a controlling share of the business to a child and ignore the living
spouse’s claim on the assets, that is also a problem. The point to be made here is that
conflicts should be worked through while all parties are alive. At times that may
require the help of a skilled family psychologist. To ignore the problem is to beg for
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trouble—and perhaps beg the dissolution of the business upon the founder’s death
or disability as family members squabble bitterly and ceaselessly over money.
Trend 10: Managing a Special Issue: CEO Succession
CEO succession has emerged as a special theme and research topic in the succession
literature.34 Because it is like other unique succession issues, like the impact of cultural
differences in making succession decisions, small business succession, and family
business succession, the special interest in CEO succession should come as no big
surprise. It has been a prominent topic for research, discussion, and investor interest.
In fact, it has been a focus of attention in much the same way that succession to the
throne has preoccupied citizens in nations where a monarch is the titular head of
state. The analogy between monarch and CEO is particularly apt when thinking about
the successors of founding entrepreneurs in small businesses, where a CEO’s unex-
pected and sudden loss can have particularly devastating effects on the business.35
CEO succession has also become a particular concern recently as CEO turnover
globally has increased.36 The findings of a study of CEO turnover,37 reported in The
Financial Executive, revealed that:
‘ Involuntary CEO successions increased by more than 70 percent from 2001
to 2002.
‘ Of all CEO departures globally in 2002, 39 percent were forced—compared to
35 percent in 2001.
‘ CEO turnover increased 192 percent in Europe and 140 percent in the Asia/
Pacific region but only 2 percent in North America since 1995.
‘ The Asia/Pacific region accounted for the largest change (19 percent), nearly
one in five CEO departures.
‘ North America accounted for only 48 percent of all successions worldwide in
2002 but accounted for a significantly higher 64 percent in 2001.
‘ Corporate boards have toughened their stance on CEO performance, since the
board dismissed CEOs in 2002 when shareholder returns were only 6.2 per-
cent below median regionally adjusted averages but at 11.9 percent below
median regionally adjusted averages in 2001.
But in 2008, CEO turnover in U.S. public companies actually declined. According
to Liberum Research, only ‘‘448 CEOs stepped down or were removed at U.S. public
companies, compared to 637 for all of 2007.’’38 In 2008, the average tenure of a CEO
was about 5.3 years. But ‘‘statistics show that fewer than 50 percent of boards in the
Standard & Poor’s 500 are ‘very confident’ about their succession plans, said Fred
Steingraber, chairman of Board Advisors.’’39
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One important conclusion that can be drawn from these results is that organiza-
tions must pay more attention to ways of selecting CEOs and assimilating them.40
Indeed, CEO succession is likely to continue to be a focus of attention. Most experts
predict that the pace and magnitude of change in the world will continue to increase.
As that happens, corporate boards are likely to be more demanding—and less forgiv-
ing—of CEO performance. And shareholders are more likely to hold corporate boards
accountable for managing succession if CEOs do not.
What Does All This Mean for Succession
Planning and Management?
What will these trends mean for succession planning and management? To be effec-
tive in the future, succession planning and management must:
‘ Be based on sensitivity to the need for speed.41
‘ Align organizational needs with individual needs in order to be responsive to
a seller’s market for skills.
‘ Emphasize a present orientation that will work in business settings where
neither individuals nor organizations possess long-term loyalty.
‘ Recognize and cultivate the critical importance in competitive success of the
organization’s intellectual capital.
‘ Rely on (but not be led by) technology.
‘ Be sensitive to unique needs by culture, industry, or economic sector, and
level on the chain of command.
According to research conducted by Blessing White, as cited by Angela Hills, five
key issues are essential to the success of succession planning: (1) Succession planning
is aligned with business strategy; (2) there is a way to assess leadership potential; (3)
involve people in planning for talent; (4) use a combination of methods to develop
people; and (5) cast a broad net for succession rather than assuming everyone should
be promoted from within.42
Summary
As noted at the opening of this chapter, succession planning and management must
be carried out against the backdrop of increasingly dynamic organizations. This chap-
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ter examined ten key trends exerting special influence on SP&M and then offered
conclusions about what these trends mean.
The next chapter makes the case for a newer approach to succession planning and
management, one that is responsive to—and helps organizations be more proactive
to—new competitive realities.
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C H A P T E R 3
jjj
Moving to a State-of-the-Art
Approach
What characteristics do state-of-the-art succession planning and management pro-
grams have in common? Read the cases appearing in Appendix II and then consider
the following summary of best practice characteristics. Though the cases do not neces-
sarily describe every best practice, they are helpful in seeing how succession planning
and management is handled among various organizations and in various industries.
Characteristics of Effective Programs
What characteristics of SP&M programs have most contributed to their effectiveness?
Research has been conducted to address this question. One study found, for instance,
that ‘‘effective succession planning has the following elements: (1) criteria that adhere
to the organization’s definition of critical leadership capability; (2) a consistent, spe-
cific readiness assessment process based on those criteria; (3) a guide for individual
development for those in the plan; (4) well-defined roles and responsibilities for those
responsible for succession planning; and (5) regular reviews of the plan and its effec-
tiveness.’’1 Another study revealed that effective succession planning programs effec-
tively align talent with the organization’s strategic objectives, ensure leadership
commitment from the top, and ascertain which positions are crucial to the organiza-
tion. ‘‘Once people have been identified as potential successors, their development as
leaders should be regarded as a strategic goal of the company. Gauging the effective-
ness of the management program’s outcome is essential to the success of the organiza-
tion’s strategic goals.’’2
Spend a moment to brainstorm the answer to this question: ‘‘What characteristics
do you believe are essential to an effective succession planning program?’’ Then com-
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Moving to a State-of-the-Art Approach 59
pare your answer with the following list of characteristics. (The list is not necessarily
complete and is not arranged in order of importance.)
Characteristic 1: Top Management Participation and Support
Top management participation and support must be strongly evident. The personal
involvement of top managers—and even that of the corporate board—should moti-
vate participants and ensure that other members of the management team devote
time and effort to the succession planning program. Without the CEO’s personal
attention, SP&M will probably receive far less attention than it presently does in these
companies. A 2006 research study conducted by Development Dimensions Interna-
tional (DDI) found that CEOs are increasingly involved with succession and talent
programs, devoting as much as 20 percent of their time to those programs.3 According
to another study conducted by DDI, ‘‘managers at most levels are dissatisfied with
opportunities for leadership development available at work. At the same time, HR
officials indicate there is a decline in trust that development opportunities are sup-
ported by senior leaders. The research indicates a growing decline in mutual trust on
delivering and supporting leadership development and succession planning.’’4
Characteristic 2: Needs-Driven with External Benchmarking
Some effort should be made to compare best practices in other organizations to the
organization where leaders feel the need to act on succession issues. How does the
organization compare to others that may have more sophisticated approaches? What
approach is really needed and favored by decision makers as compared to what HR
practitioners may feel is needed or wanted?
Characteristic 3: Focused Attention
Organizational leaders should not allow succession planning to occur casually or hap-
hazardly on its own. A systematic effort is focused on accelerating the development
of individuals with verified advancement potential. Again, it is not appropriate to
assume that successful performance at one level guarantees, or is even an indicator
of, success at higher levels of responsibility.
Characteristic 4: Dedicated Responsibility
If a goal deserves attention, someone must be held responsible for achieving it and
accountable for its consequences. That is as true of SP&M as it is of anything else.
Someone must be appointed to coordinate efforts and follow up to ensure that the
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60 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
necessary procedures are carried out on a timely basis. The CEO is unlikely to do this.
Who will?
Characteristic 5: Succession Planning and Management Extends
to All Levels
SP&M can (and often should) extend to all organizational levels. Note that the great-
est emphasis is placed in some organizations at the lowest management levels, where
the most positions and people exist. In the other cases, attention is devoted to the
levels where business needs or the risks of loss due to retirement are greatest. That
may be at higher levels on the organization chart because there is a correlation be-
tween level and age. Succession planning does not necessarily have to roll down from
the top, which is what novices often think; rather, it can target areas where predicted
retirement or turnover has been highest, be pilot-tested there first, and then be rolled
out as needed to other parts of the organization.
Characteristic 6: A Systematic Approach
In most organizations, continuing processes should be put in place to focus attention
on succession planning. It is best if the processes are in writing so that everyone is
sure what is supposed to happen and when. It is essential to success to integrate
internal job posting, external recruitment, and internal employee high-potential de-
velopment and high-potential retention practices.
Characteristic 7: A Comparison of Present Performance and
Future Potential
Management succession should not be a function of personal favoritism, of seniority,
or even of a demonstrated track record in past positions. Instead, the organization
should possess some means of comparing present job performance and promotion
potential. The organization should identify individual developmental needs to pre-
pare people for higher-level responsibilities that may be utterly unlike what they have
done in lower-level jobs.
Characteristic 8: Clarification of High-Level Replacement Needs
Organizational leaders should make the effort to determine the retirement plans of
key officers. (In this book the term key job incumbent refers to an individual presently
occupying a key position.) In that way, the organization is better able to identify
developmental time spans for specific key positions. Though there is a known correla-
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tion between high pay levels and the likelihood to accept retirement when eligible, it
takes time to develop people for higher-level responsibility. Lacking that, the organi-
zation’s leaders may be required to come up with special incentive packages to retain
top-level managers when they are eligible to retire.
Characteristic 9: An Obligation to Identify and Prepare
Successors
Each executive should take responsibility and be held accountable for identifying and
preparing successors. How organizations do that will differ, but lack of consequences
for not doing so will impact actions. If nothing happens to those who do not develop
successors, then they might do so only because they are good people. Do the organiza-
tion’s leaders trust everyone to do the right thing, or do they need to put in place
incentives for action and nonincentives for the lack of it? In a survey of 139 HR
executives in the United Kingdom conducted in May 2008, ‘‘alarmingly, the survey
found that more than two-thirds of organizations surveyed do not hold managers
accountable for developing talent.’’5 The same survey found that ‘‘only half the orga-
nizations surveyed are assessing, at least once, the capability of their employees, giving
them a fair chance to drive their career beyond their immediate supervisor.’’6
Characteristic 10: Specific Developmental Programs Established
and Conducted
Individuals thought to have high potential should participate in planned develop-
mental programs to prepare them for the future, without necessarily being promised
anything. Programs of this kind are often used in large corporations and may extend
over many years.7 Such programs may be viewed in three stages, which are based on
the level of participants’ experience with the organization. In stage 1, there is a rela-
tively large pool of prospective high potentials. They range from little experience
through eight years with the organization. They are taught general management skills.
Only 6 percent of those in stage 1 make it to stage 2, where they participate in tailor-
made developmental experiences, intensive on-the-job development, and specialized
courses and where they occupy important positions. A smaller percentage of those in
stage 2 progress to stage 3, where they occupy important positions while they are
carefully groomed for senior positions.
Characteristic 11: High Potentials Work While Developing
The organization should not emphasize classroom or online training or off-the-job
development to the exclusion of action learning or learning from experience.8 For this
reason, high-potential employees are expected to produce while participating in the
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62 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
developmental program. Nor should high potentials be cast adrift with no develop-
ment plans because top managers assume that their current success will immediately
translate into future success without the need for development.9
Characteristic 12: Developmental Programs Establish Familiarity
with Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
Large companies are so large that developmental experiences are, in part, established
to familiarize future leaders with the organization’s environment and stakeholders.
That is a key emphasis of some developmental programs. As a result, participants
become much more knowledgeable about the corporate culture: who does what, when
they do it, where business-related activities are performed, why they are worth doing,
and how they are accomplished. In this way, the internal development program em-
phasizes the knowledge, skills, and abilities unique to the organization and essential
to success in performing at higher organizational levels.
Characteristic 13: Developmental Experiences Encourage Critical
Questioning
Top managers who address high-potential employees find that they are occasionally
confronted with critical questions about ‘‘the way we have always done it.’’ Critical
questioning unleashes creative thinking by top managers, as well as by high-potential
employees. It should be encouraged.
Characteristic 14: Succession Planning Emphasizes the Qualities
Necessary to Surpass Movement to the Next Higher-Level Job
Exemplary SP&M programs emphasize more than merely preparing individuals to
move from one box on the organization chart to the next higher-level box. Instead,
they emphasize the building of competencies leading to advancement beyond the next
job. They are thus long term and strategic in scope and tend to build competencies
in line with a company’s business objectives and values.
Characteristic 15: Formal Mentoring Emphasized
Mentoring and coaching have been the subject of growing attention in recent years
as management writers have recognized that individual development is more heavily
influenced by the on-the-job work environment than by off-the-job training, educa-
tion, or development experiences.10 (Indeed, as much as 90 percent of an individual’s
development occurs on the job.11) A mentor or coach provides advice about dealing
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with challenges presented by the work environment, including interpersonal prob-
lems and political issues.
‘‘Mentoring occurs when a talented junior person forms an attachment to a sensi-
tive and intuitive senior person who understands and has the ability to communicate
with the individual.’’12 Mentors are teachers. They are not in positions of authority
over their protégés or mentees. Nor do they necessarily serve as special advocates and
cheerleaders for their protégés, as sponsors do. Mentors are typically chosen by the
protégé or mentee; hence, most mentoring occurs informally. However, some organi-
zations sponsor formal mentoring programs in which a special effort is made to
match promising junior employees with more experienced, high-performing senior
employees.
Other Characteristics
On your list, you may have identified other characteristics of an effective SP&M pro-
gram. In reality, of course, there are no right or wrong characteristics. Indeed, there
isn’t a foolproof formula for success. But there are certain essentials to a good succes-
sion process:13
‘ A systematic (rather than anecdotal) way of identifying candidates
‘ Cross-divisional sharing of people and information
‘ Leadership that rewards managers for promoting (rather than holding onto)
their best employees
‘ Career paths that move not just up a specialized ladder (silos) but across the
company
‘ Frequent opportunities for employees to accept new challenges
‘ Recognition that employees have a stake in the company and share its suc-
cesses
In my survey of succession planning practices, I asked about the characteristics of
effective SP&M programs. The 2009 survey results are presented in Exhibit 3-1. I have
used those results to create a questionnaire, shown in Exhibit 3-2, which you can use
to assess issues for inclusion in the SP&M program in your organization.
Common Mistakes and Missteps to Avoid
The cases appearing in Appendix II summarize several exemplary approaches to SP&M
in organizations of varying sizes and industry categories. However, not all organiza-
(text continues on page 70)
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Exhibit 3-1. Characteristics of Effective Succession Planning and Management Programs
Characteristics
Does your organization’s
succession planning program
have these characteristics?
(Frequency)
Yes No
How important?
N Mean SD
1 Tied the succession planning
program to the organizational
strategic plans?
13 2 15 3.87 0.83
2 Tied the succession planning
program to individual career
plans?
13 2 15 3.80 1.01
3 Tied the succession planning
program to training programs?
9 3 13 3.85 1.14
4 Prepared a written purpose
statement?
8 7 14 3.43 1.50
5 Prepared written program goals
to indicate what measurable
results the succession planning
program should achieve?
7 8 13 4.00 1.00
6 Established measurable
objectives for program
operation (such as number of
positions replaced per year)?
5 10 13 3.00 1.60
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7 Identified what groups are to be
served by the program in
priority order?
9 6 13 3.85 1.14
8 Review of possible
characteristics for effective
succession planning programs
across organizations?
8 7 14 3.29 1.54
9 Articulated a written philosophy
to guide the program?
8 6 12 4.08 0.79
10 Established a program action
plan?
12 3 15 4.00 0.93
11 Established a schedule of
program events based on the
action plan?
13 1 15 3.87 1.25
12 Fixed responsibility for
organizational oversight of the
program?
13 2 15 4.00 0.65
13 Fixed responsibility of each
participant in the program?
11 4 14 3.71 1.20
14 Established incentives/rewards
for identified successors in the
succession planning program?
3 12 13 2.69 1.49
15 Established incentives/rewards
for managers who develop
successors?
2 13 10 3.50 0.16
(continues)
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Exhibit 3-1. (continued)
Characteristics
Does your organization’s
succession planning program
have these characteristics?
(Frequency)
Yes No
How important?
N Mean SD
16 Developed a means to budget
for a succession planning
program?
6 9 13 3.77 1.30
17 Devised means to keep records
for individuals who are
designated as successors?
12 3 15 4.20 0.77
18 Created workshops to train
management employees about
their roles in the succession
planning program?
7 8 14 4.14 1.03
19 Created workshops to train
individuals about career
planning?
8 7 13 4.15 0.80
20 Established a means to clarify
present competencies?
9 6 14 4.29 0.83
21 Established a means to clarify
future competencies?
5 10 13 3.85 1.14
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22 Established a means to
appraise individual
performance?
12 2 13 4.00 0.71
23 Established a means to
compare individual
competencies to the
requirements of a future
position?
7 7 12 4.25 0.45
24 Established meeting(s) to review
organizational talent at least
annually?
13 2 15 4.00 0.00
25 Established a way to forecast
future talent needs?
10 4 15 4.00 0.65
26 Established a way to plan for
meeting succession planning
needs through individual
development plans?
11 4 15 4.00 0.93
27 Established a means to track
development activities that
prepare successors for eventual
advancement?
8 7 15 4.20 0.77
28 Established a means to evaluate
the results of the succession
planning programs?
5 10 14 4.29 0.47
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The
Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
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68 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 3-2. Assessment Questionnaire for Effective Succession Planning
and Management
Directions: Complete the following Assessment Questionnaire to determine how well
your organization is presently conducting SP&M. Read each item in the Question-
naire below. Circle (Y) for Yes, (N/A) for Not Applicable, or an (N) for No in the left
column opposite each item. Spend about 15 minutes on the Questionnaire. When
you finish, score and interpret the results using the instructions appearing at the end
of the Assessment Questionnaire. Then share your completed Questionnaire with
others in your organization. Use the Questionnaire as a starting point to determine
the need for a more systematic approach to SP&M in your organization.
The Assessment Questionnaire
Circle your
response
below: In your organization, would you say that SP&M:
Y N/A N 1. Enjoys top management participation, involvement,
and support?
Y N/A N 2. Is geared to meeting the unique needs of the organi-
zation?
Y N/A N 3. Has been benchmarked with best-in-class organiza-
tions?
Y N/A N 4. Is a major focus of top management attention?
Y N/A N 5. Is the dedicated responsibility of at least one high-
level management employee?
Y N/A N 6. Extends to all levels rather than being restricted to top
positions only?
Y N/A N 7. Is carried out systematically?
Y N/A N 8. Is heavily influenced by a comparison of present per-
formance and future potential?
Y N/A N 9. Is influenced by identification of high-level replace-
ment needs?
Y N/A N 10. Has sensitized each executive to an obligation to
identify and prepare successors?
Y N/A N 11. Has prompted the organization to establish and con-
duct specific developmental programs that are de-
signed to accelerate the development of high-
potential employees?
Y N/A N 12. Is guided by a philosophy that high-potential employ-
ees should be developed while working rather than by
being developed primarily through off-the-job experi-
ences?
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Y N/A N 13. Has prompted the organization to focus develop-
mental programs on increasing the familiarity of high-
potential employees with who does what, when they
do it, where they do it, why they do it, and how they
do it?
Y N/A N 14. Has prompted the organization to focus develop-
mental programs on the critical questioning of ‘‘the
way things have always been done’’?
Y N/A N 15. Emphasizes the qualities or competencies necessary
to surpass movement to the next higher-level job?
Y N/A N 16. Has prompted your organization to examine, and
perhaps use, formal mentoring?
Y N/A N 17. Is conducted in a systematic way?
Y N/A N 18. Encourages the cross-divisional sharing of people
and information?
Y N/A N 19. Is reinforced by a leadership that actively rewards
managers for promoting (rather than holding on to)
their best employees?
Y N/A N 20. Is supported by career paths that move not just up a
specialized ladder but across a continuum of profes-
sional competence?
Y N/A N 21. Is supported by frequent opportunities for employees
to accept new challenges?
Y N/A N 22. Is driven, in part, by recognition that employees have
a stake in the organization and share its successes?
Y N/A N 23. Has prompted an explicit policy favoring promotion
from within?
Total
Scoring and Interpreting the Assessment Questionnaire
Give your organization 1 point for each Y and a 0 for each N or N/A listed above.
Total the points from the Y column and place the sum in the line opposite to the
word TOTAL above. Then interpret your score in the following way:
(continues)
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70 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 3-2. (continued)
Score
Above 20 points Succession planning and management appears to be
handled in an exemplary manner in your organization.
18–20 points The SP&M efforts of your organization could stand im-
provement. However, SP&M is being handled effec-
tively, for the most part.
14–17 points Succession planning and management is a problem in
your organization. It deserves more attention.
Below 14 points Your organization is handling SP&M in a crisis mode. It
is very likely that successors for critically important posi-
tions have not been identified and are not systematically
developed. Immediate corrective action is desirable.
tions handle SP&M as effectively or efficiently. Indeed, two experts speaking at an
American Management Association Human Resources Conference indicated that suc-
cession planning is being woefully ‘‘ignored by a majority of American companies.’’14
Many problems bedevil current approaches to SP&M. Exhibit 3-3 summarizes
the chief difficulties in using succession planning that were described by the respon-
dents to my 2009 survey on succession planning practices. Additionally, I review seven
common problems affecting SP&M programs below.
Problem 1: Lack of Support
‘‘One of the major drawbacks HR managers face in establishing a company succession
plan is the lack of support from top company executives.’’15 Indeed, ‘‘the attitude of
too many corporation executives is ‘why bother?’ ’’16 If top managers lack a sense of
urgency, no SP&M program can be effective.
If top managers are unwilling to support a systematic approach to succession
planning, it cannot succeed. If that is the case, the best strategy is to try to win over
one or more credible idea champions. Especially promising for those roles are well-
respected top managers who have recently—and, if possible, personally—experienced
the work-related problems that stem from having no successor prepared to assume a
critically important position when a vacancy occurs.
Problem 2: Corporate Politics
Succession planning can be affected by corporate politics. Instead of promoting em-
ployees with the most potential or the best track record, top managers—or indeed
any level of manager—may ‘‘use the corporate ladder to promote friends and allies,
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Exhibit 3-3. Chief Difficulties with Succession Planning and Management
Programs
Question: What are the chief difficulties that your organization has experienced with
a succession planning program? Please describe them briefly below.
• Lack of data to support decisions, team leader bias, not enough direction or
control given by HR team
• Time, resources, and commitment
• Not a dynamic document (done annually). Identifying top talent can be difficult;
sometimes people fall off the list for development.
• Developing simple, low-cost ways to capture and sort information when succes-
sion planning is taken down to broader part of the population (and therefore
much information to track and sort on many people)
• Ensuring executives are committed to the program, meet often, and make deci-
sions to develop key folks and then follow through; making a living process, not
a chart in a drawer
• Lack of consistent valuing across the organization
• Lack of investment in training to develop individuals into roles
• Migration from one technology to another; resource constraints on developmental
assignments/rotations
• Lack of calibration in assessment of talent, overconcern with forms as opposed to
quality of development plans, etc.
• Keeping the ball rolling, keeping mentors involved, work getting in the way
• Identifying the most effective processes and approaches, including leadership
commitment to the effort. We have identified that not all of our leaders can be
good coaches and mentors. We currently use outside executive coaches and for
middle-management development are working to develop current executive team
competency.
• The time it takes for senior leaders to see the benefits, difficulty in calibrating the
team to assess talent effectively. We have needed an outside assessment to bal-
ance our view and continue to push accountability to the line organization.
• Poor software for the process
• Cost
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
while punishing enemies, regardless of talent or qualifications.’’17 If allowed to operate
unchecked, corporate politics can supplant performance and potential as an advance-
ment criterion.
To solve this problem, decision makers must insist on formal ways to identify
work requirements and assess performance and potential rather than permit subjec-
tive judgments to prevail. (Methods of conducting formal assessments will be de-
scribed in later chapters.) Informal judgments are notoriously prone to numerous
problems. Among them are recency bias (performance or potential is assessed with a
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72 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
heavier-than-desirable emphasis on recent and singular successes or failures); pigeon-
holing or stereotyping (supervisors develop impressions of individuals that are diffi-
cult to change); the halo or horn effect (supervisors are overly influenced in their
judgments of individuals by singular events); the Pygmalion effect (supervisors see
what they expect to see); and discrimination (treating people differently solely on the
basis of sex, race, age, or other factors unrelated to job performance). Left unchecked,
informal judgments may also lead supervisors to pick successors like themselves (the
like-me bias).
Problem 3: Quick-Fix Attitudes
Succession planning can encourage quick-fix attitudes. Effectiveness is sacrificed to
expediency. That attitude can have far-ranging consequences because ill-chosen lead-
ers can prompt higher-than-normal turnover among their followers, create employee
morale problems, and even bankrupt an otherwise sound business. Leadership mat-
ters, and leaders cannot be cultivated quickly or easily.18 Excellent leaders can only be
cultivated over time.
Problem 4: Low Visibility
Top-level executives do not always see the fast, direct benefits of SP&M. The further
they are removed from daily operations and from numerous direct reports, the less
valuable SP&M can seem to them. HR managers will propose and install various
SP&M efforts, but they will often be replaced when top-level executives see no imme-
diate benefits stemming from them.19
To solve this problem, succession must be made a high-visibility issue. Further, it
must enjoy the active support and direct participation of workers at all levels. Without
showing active support and participating directly, top managers will have no owner-
ship stake in succession efforts.
Problem 5: The Rapid Pace of Organizational Change
Traditional replacement planning once worked well enough in stable environments
and organizations. In those settings, vacancies could be predicted, candidates could
be trained for targeted jobs, and a homogeneous workforce led to easy transitions and
assured continuity.
But the rapid pace of organizational change has raised serious questions about
the value of the traditional, fill-in-the-box-on-the-organization-chart approach to re-
placement-oriented succession planning. Indeed, one management consultant has
asked, ‘‘Is succession planning worth the effort?’’20 And he arrived at this conclusion:
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‘‘The simple answer is no. Predicting succession (over, say, a three-to-five-year time
frame) in an era of constant change is fast becoming an impossibility.’’21
To solve this problem, decision makers need to look beyond a simple technologi-
cal solution, such as the use of succession planning software for personal computers
designed to accelerate the organization’s ability to keep pace with staffing needs and
changes. Software can help, but more dramatic solutions are needed. Possible exam-
ples are to:
‘ Focus on work requirements, competencies, and success factors to maximize
the value of developmental activities.
‘ Use full-circle, multirater assessments.
‘ Increase the use of job rotations to prompt management employees to become
more flexible.
‘ Use action learning and real-time education to equip management employees
with the flexibility they need to cope with rapid change.
‘ Establish team-based management so that key work requirements are devel-
oped and spread across individuals.
‘ Move beyond a focus on ‘‘filling boxes on an organization chart’’ to ‘‘meeting
work requirements through innovative means.’’22
Problem 6: Too Much Paperwork
Top managers in most organizations have a low tolerance for paperwork. A colleague
of mine jokes that ‘‘top managers in my organization won’t respond to a one-page
survey or read beyond the first page of a memo.’’ One reason for this is that top
managers are often overburdened with paperwork, because they receive it from so
many quarters. Technology, which was once seen as a blessed solution to information
overload, now appears to be a major cause of it—as stressed-out managers cope with
burgeoning messages from electronic mail, cell phones, faxes, and other sources.
Hence, one problem with the traditional approach to succession planning is that
it may require substantial paperwork to:
‘ Assess present work requirements or competencies.
‘ Appraise current individual performance.
‘ Assess future work requirements or competencies.
‘ Assess individual potential for advancement.
‘ Prepare replacement charts.
‘ Identify future career paths or career maps.
‘ Identify key positions requiring replacements.
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74 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
‘ Establish individual development plans (IDPs) to help individuals narrow the
gap between their present work requirements/performance and future work
requirements/potential.
‘ Follow up on IDPs.
Though full-time specialists or part-time HR generalists can provide assistance in
record keeping, they can seldom supply the details for every person, position, and
requirement in the organization. Perhaps the best approach is to minimize the
amount of paperwork, but that is difficult to do. Whenever possible, however, succes-
sion planning coordinators, management development professionals, or human re-
source professionals should supply information that is readily available from sources
other than the immediate organizational superiors of employees participating in suc-
cession planning efforts. Then superiors can focus their attention on defining the
talent needed to implement business strategy, identifying critical positions and high-
potential talent, and formulating and following through on developmental planning.
Problem 7: Too Many Meetings
Just as the traditional approach to succession planning can create massive paperwork,
so too can it require numerous and time-consuming meetings. For instance, to carry
out SP&M, management employees may need to participate in the following:
‘ Kickoff Meetings. If an annual SP&M procedure is in place, management em-
ployees may be required to attend kickoff meetings, conducted by the CEO,
that are intended to reinforce the importance of the effort.
‘ Organizational, Divisional, Functional, or Other Meetings. These meetings may
focus on SP&M for each job category, organizational level, function, or loca-
tion.
‘ Work Requirements Meetings. If the organization makes it a policy to base
succession on identifiable work requirements, competencies, success factors,
or other so-called objective criteria, then management employees will usually
be involved in meetings to identify them.
‘ Employee Performance Appraisal Meetings. In most organizations, management
employees appraise the performance of their immediate subordinates as a part
of the SP&M program.
‘ Career Path Meetings. If the organization attempts to identify predictable, de-
sirable, or historical relationships between jobs, then management employees
may be asked to participate in that effort by attending meetings or training.
‘ Career Planning Meetings. If the organization makes an effort to discover indi-
vidual career goals and interests as a means of doing a reality check on possible
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successors, then management may have to meet with each employee covered
in the succession plan.
‘ Potential Assessment Meetings. Assessing individual potential is future-oriented
and may require meetings different from those required for performance ap-
praisal.
‘ Development Meetings. Planning for individual development, as a means of
narrowing the gap between what individuals presently know or do and what
they must know or do to qualify for advancement, may require lengthy indi-
vidual meetings.
‘ Training, Education, and Developmental Meetings. As a means of implementing
succession plans, meetings that are centered on training, education, and devel-
opment may demand considerable time.
Though these types of meetings can be consolidated to save some time, each
serves an important purpose. Attending meetings can require a significant time com-
mitment from employees at all levels.
The Life Cycle of Succession Planning and
Management Programs: Five Generations
In my consulting practice, I have discovered that many decision makers in organiza-
tions without an SP&M program would like to leap in a single bound from nothing
to a state-of-the-art program. That is rarely possible or realistic. It makes about as
much sense as trying to accelerate an automobile from a standing stop to 100 miles
per hour in one second.
It makes much more sense to think in terms of a phased roll-out. In my view,
organizations go through a life cycle of development as they implement SP&M pro-
grams. At each generation, they gain sophistication about what to do, how to do it,
and why it is worth doing it.
The first generation of SP&M is a simple replacement plan for the CEO. This is
the easiest to sell if the organization does not have such a plan because most CEOs
realize what might happen to their organizations if they are suddenly incapacitated.
(See Exhibit 3-4.) The sole target of the SP&M program in the first generation is the
CEO, and involving the CEO ensures that he or she properly assumes an important
leadership role for the program and does not try to delegate it prematurely to human
resources or to other groups.
As I tell my clients, the CEO is the real customer for most SP&M efforts, and my
view is supported by the opinions of members of many boards of directors. When the
SP&M effort begins at the top, the CEO understands what is involved in establishing
a state-of-the-art SP&M program and is able to tailor it to suit his or her vision and
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76 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 3-4. Simple Exercise to Dramatize the Need for Succession Planning
and Management
For a dramatic and compelling exercise to emphasize the need for an SP&M pro-
gram, ask your CEO or the managers in your organization what the following people
share in common:
� Donald Terner, President, Bridge Housing Corp., San Francisco, Calif.
� Robert E. Donovan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Abb Inc., Norwalk,
Conn.
� Claudio Elia, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Air & Water Technologies
Corp., Somerville, N.J.
� Stuart Tholan, President, Bechtel-Europe/Africa/Middle East/Southwest Asia, San
Francisco, Calif.
� John A. Scoville, Chairman, Harza Engineering Co., Chicago, Ill.
� Leonard Pieroni, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Parsons Corp., Pasa-
dena, Calif.
� Barry L. Conrad, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Barrington Group,
Miami, Fla.
� Paul Cushman III, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Riggs International
Banking Corp., Washington, D.C.
� Walter Murphy, Senior Vice President, AT&T Submarine Systems Inc., Morristown,
N.J.
� Robert A. Whittaker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Foster Wheeler En-
ergy International, Clifton, N.J.
� Frank Maier, President, Ensearch International Ltd., Dallas, Tex.
� David Ford, President and Chief Executive Officer, Interguard Corp. of Guardian
International, Auburn Hills, Mich.
Answer:ThesewerethepeopleonboardtheplanewithCommerceSecretaryRonBrownwhenitcrashedin
1996.Don’tyouwonderiftheyhadreplacementsreadyintheirorganizations?
Used with permission from Nursing Management, 25:6 (June 1994), pp. 50–56, � Springhouse Corporation (www.Springnet
.com).
strategy. Furthermore, the CEO sets the example and sends a powerful message of
personal commitment and support that is needed to make subsequent efforts suc-
cessful.
It is worth noting that HR plays an important role but does not own this effort.
The owner is the CEO, who cannot delegate the responsibility. HR leaders can cer-
tainly help: They can coordinate the effort, once leadership by the CEO has been
exercised. They can provide advice and counsel about what to do, why it should be
done, and how it should be done. But the CEO must lead the effort and be personally
committed to it. Lacking the CEO’s active personal support, commitment, and partic-
ipation, any SP&M effort will fail.
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Moving to a State-of-the-Art Approach 77
The second generation is a simple replacement plan for the CEO and his or her
immediate reports—that is, the senior leaders of the organization, the senior executive
team. By extending the SP&M effort to the management tier below the CEO and by
identifying the successors of that group, senior managers are involved firsthand in
designing and implementing a succession effort. Because they are the targets of that
effort, they understand it, have a chance to refine it, and develop ownership in it. By
actively participating in the effort, they gain a thorough understanding of it so that
they can communicate to others in the third generation.
A key advantage of using the senior executive team as, in effect, guinea pigs is
that they are usually well developed in their positions and highly knowledgeable about
what it takes to succeed in the business, industry, and corporate culture. By participat-
ing in the development of the SP&M effort, they ensure that it fits the corporate
culture and aligns with organizational strategy. Further, they set an example and
thereby send a powerful message to others in the organization that the SP&M effort
is important and worthy of action, interest, and participation.
The third generation is an SP&M program for middle managers, who are usually
the direct reports of the senior executive team, and perhaps (if the organization’s
leaders support it) for others on the organization chart. It is at this point that the
model of SP&M, described later in this chapter, is first widely used. Policies and
procedures for SP&M are drafted if they were not already prepared formally in earlier
generations; competency models by department or hierarchical level are first devel-
oped if they were not already prepared formally in earlier generations; value state-
ments are crafted; and other key components of a modern SP&M program are
designed, developed, and refined. By extending to this third tier and by identifying
the successors of that group, middle managers are involved firsthand in designing and
implementing an effort. Because they are the targets of the succession effort, they
come to understand it and take ownership of it. They also help refine it for their level
and for those below them on the organization chart. The third generation is the
most risky because more people are involved and many new policies, procedures, and
practices are established, tested, and implemented.
The fourth generation moves beyond simple replacement plans to focus on the
development of internal talent pools, which are groups of people inside the organiza-
tion who are being developed for the future. Everyone is considered a possible succes-
sor for key positions and given such tools as career maps to help them prepare
themselves for the future. In this generation, succession issues are divorced from
the organization chart. Instead of targeting specific individuals to be successors, the
organization’s decision makers use the many tools put in place in the third generation.
It is possible in this generation to use competency models, performance appraisals,
individual development plans, full-circle multirater assessments, and other sophisti-
cated methods to help all workers develop to realize their potential.
The fifth generation focuses on the development of external talent pools, which
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78 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
are groups of people outside the organization who are possible sources of talent for
the future. Instead of waiting until key positions come open to source talent, the
organization’s decision makers include in their talent pools temporary and contingent
workers, retired workers, outsourcing agents, vendors, consultants, and perhaps even
members of their organization’s supply and distribution channels. In addition to de-
veloping internal talent, decision makers look around the organization’s external en-
vironment for talent that could be tapped there. In that way, they lead the target and
slash the time needed to fill critical positions.
The fifth generation of SP&M is the most sophisticated. Making a single leap
from no SP&M effort to this complicated approach is not easy—and usually is not
even possible—for an organization. For this generation to work, a great deal of infra-
structure and management support is needed, not to mention the learning that occurs
in generations one through four. The risks of failure in making such a leap are very
high. (Also, not all organizations need a fifth-generation approach.)
A better approach is a gradual phase-in, moving to whatever generation that
meets the needs of the organization. That kind of phase-in can occur fastest in organi-
zations that are small, that face a stable market, and that possess low turnover in the
management ranks. The phase-in occurs more slowly in organizations that are large,
that operate in dynamic or fiercely competitive markets, and that experience high
turnover in the management (or high-potential) ranks.
Another way to think about the generations of succession planning programs is,
of course, possible. As an example, the Dow Chemical Company case (see Exhibit
3-5) presents such an alternative view of the life cycle of succession planning and
management programs.
Integrating Whole Systems Transformational Change and
Appreciative Inquiry into Succession: What Are These
Topics, and What Added Value Do They Bring?
Since the publication of the second edition of this book, much excitement has sur-
rounded two relatively new developments in change management: whole systems
transformational change and appreciative inquiry. Both can have a bearing on SP&M
programs and therefore deserve attention.
What Is Whole Systems Transformational Change, and How Can
It Have a Bearing on SP&M?
Whole systems transformational change (WSTC) is ‘‘an adaptable and custom-
tailored wisdom-creating learning experience that often results in a paradigm shift.’’23
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Moving to a State-of-the-Art Approach 79
Exhibit 3-5. Dow Chemical Company’s Formula for Succession
Ben & Jerry’s, in its challenge to Haagen-Dazs in the great American ice cream
wars, actually considered the issue of the succession of a chief executive through an
essay contest dubbed ‘‘Yo, I wanna be your CEO.’’ Cooler heads prevailed, and
Ben & Jerry’s is now headed by an experienced executive.
Nevertheless, today’s business headlines are too full of corporate embarrassments
in the form of chief executives staying on too long and stifling potential successors
or rivals, divided boards which are often out of touch with shareholders’ interests,
internal power struggles which lead to a mass exodus of talent when a new chief
executive is finally selected, and damage to the company as an all-too-public search
erodes confidence and impedes the smooth running of the business.
Helping to select the right successor is the ultimate obligation of a chief executive.
While this is done in concert with the board of directors, the responsibility for the
quality of candidates and the attractiveness of the job rests with current manage-
ment. Among the key tasks addressed by boards, succession is often the most ne-
glected. This is because the issue arises relatively infrequently.
Succession strategy in most companies must make six transitions:
1. From an Annual Event to a Continuous Process. Companies need to create an
environment of continuous succession ‘‘thinking’’ rather than annual succession
‘‘planning.’’ There should be more frequent senior-management meetings, more
time devoted to follow-up at regular staff meetings, more emphasis on succession
issues in business planning and greater incorporation of succession issues into per-
formance evaluation and management. For example, managers should be develop-
ing at least one person as their potential replacement.
2. From a Short-Term Replacement Strategy to a Long-Term Development and Re-
tention Strategy. A balance must be struck between the need for immediate replace-
ments and the need for a steady supply of ready talent. Employees will obviously
appreciate the attention paid to their development and continuous improvement.
3. From an Emphasis on Whom a Company Has to an Emphasis on What a Firm
Needs. Companies must create an atmosphere in which external talent can be hired
to fill critical skill gaps, independent of job openings. Dow mainly promotes from
within, but, says Popoff, ‘‘the benefit and vigor that accrue to us in matching an
outside hire with a clear internal need is not lost on employees, managers or share-
holders.’’
4. From Position Blockage to Appropriate Turnover in Key Positions. Companies must
promote and reward capable managers of people, rather than emphasizing techni-
cal over managerial skills. If all of a company’s managers are good at managing
(continues)
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80 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 3-5. (continued)
people, they can routinely assess the potential of incumbents in key positions, de-
velop appropriate action plans, avoid positions becoming blocked and generate
appropriate turnover.
5. From Insufficient Bench Strength to a Pool of Ready Talent. Dow has created a
Genesis award to recognize people development. In a company with many highly
competent technical and professional people, the award program provides insight
on who is actually practicing good people management. The Genesis award is
Dow’s most-sought-after award. Winners of the award are introduced at the annual
shareholders’ meeting.
6. From Subjective Evaluation to an Emphasis on Results. Dow has established spe-
cific measurements to evaluate succession results. The measurements include: the
percentage of key jobs which have at least two ready successors; the percentage of
key posts filled externally; the percentage of developmental action plans imple-
mented; and the extent to which the process contributes positively to business results.
At Dow, all management directors must relinquish their management positions at
the age of 60, or five years after their last significant promotion, whichever is later.
But they remain on the board of directors until they reach the age of 65. During
their final five years on the board, they have no line-management responsibilities
and their pay is stepped down annually to their retirement salary at age 65.
Says Popoff: ‘‘These former members of management are some of the best, tough-
est, most knowledgeable, best intentioned and hardest working directors I have
come to know.’’ After years of service with the company, people such as the former
chief executive, the director of research and head of international operations know
where the bodies are buried. They are familiar with all the facts and myths of the
company. Along with the outside directors and the chairman, they play a key role in
ensuring an appropriate selection from the talent pool for all key executive posts.
Board members who are former Dow managers have a special ability to test the
internal heirs apparent and work with them to ensure a smooth transition, or to look
outside objectively if the internal pool of talent is lacking.
Succession planning plays a key role in the company’s ability to pursue its long-term
strategies and achieve lasting results. Clearly, good management does not happen
by itself, and succession planning is critical to its continuation. The good news is
that most firms now give succession planning a lot of attention. The bad news is that
too many companies still fail to get it right.
Time was when companies had different people dealing with career and succession
planning. But succession planning is increasingly being viewed in broader and inte-
grated terms, not least because firms are now less predictable and it is therefore
relatively pointless to identify specific successors for specific jobs for the future. Con-
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Moving to a State-of-the-Art Approach 81
tinual restructuring and reallocation of executive responsibilities to meet changing
priorities are now the normal practice. Within this context, companies need to pay
attention to the strategic process of succession management. The Dow Chemical
Company model would appear to have many virtues.
Note: This is a précis of an article entitled ‘‘Reflections on Succession,’’ which was originally published in Arthur D. Little’s Prism,
third quarter, 1996, pp. 109–116. The article is based on a presentation that Frank Popoff made to the Chief Executives’ Club of
Boston.
Source: ‘‘The Dow Chemical Company’s Formula for Succession,’’ Human Resource Management International Digest 5:1 (1997),
9–10. Used with permission of Human Resource Management International Digest.
It usually involves bringing together the key decision makers of an organization for
an intense event, usually lasting several days and planned for in advance. The ap-
proach involves everyone and leads to change at the speed needed in modern business.
Think of a problem-solving session that may involve hundreds or even thousands of
people, all focused on solving the same or related problems, and you have the idea.
How can WSTC have a bearing on SP&M? The answer is that, quite often, the
installation of an SP&M program requires many people to be involved. Additionally,
the human resources system may be missing many key elements to support an inter-
vention as robust as the introduction of such a program. For example, there may be
no competency models, no 360-degree capability, no individual learning plans, and
no technology to support the program. Creating these takes time and can lead to a
loss of faith in the SP&M program among executives or others. Worst of all, executives
and other senior leaders in the organization may not share the same goals or vision
for the SP&M program. Under normal circumstances, there are no easy ways to solve
these problems. But a WSTC brings the key stakeholders together, facilitating a proc-
ess whereby they thrash out the key decisions, build key support systems, and com-
municate among themselves to achieve some comparability in goals. The WSTC is, in
short, a tool—though it is also a philosophy—for bringing about the rapid but large-
scale change needed to support a SP&M intervention.
What Is Appreciative Inquiry, and How Can It Have a Bearing
on SP&M?
Is a glass half empty or half full? That simple question actually has profound implica-
tions. It speaks to the difference between a problem-centered orientation to the world
and a strength-leveraging orientation. Most managers are problem oriented. They do
not believe in fixing what is not broken. Hence, they tend to focus on the negative:
what is wrong, what the problems are, and what peoples’ deficiencies or gaps are. But
the problem with always focusing on the negative is that it shuts people down and
depresses or demotivates them.
Appreciative inquiry (AI), however, requires a paradigm shift. It takes its name
quite literally from asking about (that is, inquiring) what is going well (that is, ap-
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82 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
preciation). The phrase appreciative inquiry literally means ‘‘asking questions about
things worth appreciating.’’ Appreciative inquiry thus focuses on what is going right,
what the strengths are, and what people’s unique talents or abilities are.24
How can this idea be applied to SP&M? There are many answers to that simple
question, and the space here is insufficient to treat them all. Suffice it to say that,
instead of focusing on what deficiencies or gaps people possess, a better approach is
to identify individuals’ strengths and talents, and then capitalize or build on them.
One goal is to energize people with positive feelings about what they can achieve,
what they do well, and what is good about them. Another goal is to encourage people
to discover and capitalize on their strengths and talents.
Though there are many potential applications of AI to SP&M, I will point out
just one. In conducting a 360-degree assessment, an organization will typically collect
scores on individuals and then schedule a session to discuss in what competencies
that individual is deficient. A goal is to pinpoint developmental gaps and then discuss
ways to fill them by using developmental experiences, such as training or coaching.
When AI is used, the tenor of the feedback session shifts from what is wrong with
the person to what is uniquely right. Attention is devoted to discussing what others
perceive to be that person’s unique strengths, talents, and abilities. The individual is
encouraged to mentor others in areas where he or she is strong and encouraged to
think about how to better leverage his or her strengths. The difference in results can
be profound. Instead of walking out of the room depressed, an individual may walk
out energized and excited.
AI has many potential applications to SP&M.25 We have only scratched the sur-
face. But it is worth thinking about how AI may lead to new, fresh, and positive
approaches to developing people. Think about that as you read the rest of this book.
Requirements for a New Approach
Here are the minimum requirements for a new approach to SP&M:
‘ A policy and procedure statement, in writing, to govern SP&M
‘ A statement of values guiding the effort (which may be included in the policy
and procedure statement)
‘ Competency models for the groups targeted
‘ Full-circle, multirater assessment efforts (or other ways to assess individual
potential)
‘ Individual development plans
‘ Skill inventories for talent pools inside and outside the organization
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Of course, it goes without saying that senior management involvement and sup-
port are essential, particularly the personal commitment and participation of the CEO.
Key Steps in a New Approach
How should systematic SP&M be carried out in organizational settings? Though the
answer to this question may vary by national culture, organizational culture, and top
management values, one way is to follow a seven-pointed star model for systematic
succession planning and management, as illustrated in Exhibit 3-6. The steps in the
Exhibit 3-6. Seven-Pointed Star Model for Systematic Succession Planning
and Management
Step 1:
Make the
Commitment
Step 6:
Close the
Developmental Gap
Step 7:
Evaluate the Succession
Planning Program
Step 2:
Assess Present Work/People
Requirements
Step 3:
Appraise Individual
Performace
Step 5:
Assess Future
Individual Potential
Step 4:
Assess Future Work/People
Requirements
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84 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
model provide the foundation for this book—and the foundation for many best prac-
tice SP&M programs in many organizations.
Step 1: Make the Commitment
As a first step, the organization’s decision makers should commit to systematic SP&M
and establish a program. To some extent, this is a leap of faith in the value of planned
over unplanned approaches to SP&M. In this step the organization’s decision makers
should:
‘ Assess current problems and practices.
‘ Assess and demonstrate the need for the program.
‘ Determine the organization’s exact SP&M program requirements.
‘ Link the SP&M program directly to organizational and human resource stra-
tegic plans.
‘ Benchmark SP&M practices in other organizations.
‘ Clarify the roles of different groups in the program.
‘ Formulate a program mission statement.
‘ Write a policy and procedures to guide the program.
‘ Identify target groups to be served by the program.
‘ Establish measurable goals and program priorities.
‘ Prepare an action plan to guide the program.
‘ Communicate the action plan.
‘ Conduct SP&M meetings as necessary to unveil the program and review prog-
ress continually.
‘ Train those involved in the program as necessary.
‘ Counsel managers about SP&M problems in their areas of responsibility.
‘ Clarify the accountabilities of each group involved in the program.
Step 2: Assess Present Work and People Requirements
As a second step, decision makers should assess the present work requirements in key
positions. Only in that way can individuals be prepared for advancement in a way
that is solidly grounded on work requirements. In this step, decision makers should
clarify where key leadership positions exist in the organization and apply one or more
approaches to determining work or competency requirements. They may also clarify
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Moving to a State-of-the-Art Approach 85
key individuals who would be exceptionally tough to replace due to their unique
talents, special knowledge, or other reasons.
Step 3: Appraise Individual Performance
How well are individuals presently performing their jobs? The answer to this question
is critical because most SP&M programs assume that individuals must be performing
well in their present jobs in order to qualify for advancement. As part of this step, the
organization should also begin establishing an inventory of talent so that it is clear
what human assets are already available.
Step 4: Assess Future Work and People Requirements
What will be the work or competency requirements in key leadership positions in the
future? To answer this question, decision makers should make an effort to assess
future work requirements and competencies to align with the organization’s strategic
direction. In that way, future leaders may be prepared to cope with changing require-
ments and organizational strategic objectives.
Step 5: Assess Future Individual Potential
How well are individuals prepared for advancement? What talents do they possess,
and how well do their talents match future work requirements? To answer these
questions, the organization should establish an objective process, or a series of proc-
esses, to assess future individual potential. That future-oriented process should not
be confused with past- or present-oriented employee performance appraisal.
Step 6: Close the Developmental Gap
How can the organization meet SP&M needs by developing people internally or by
using other means to meet succession needs? To answer this question, the organiza-
tion should establish a continuing program for leadership development to cultivate
future leaders internally. Decision makers should also explore alternatives to tradi-
tional promotion-from-within methods of meeting succession needs.
Step 7: Evaluate the Succession Planning Program
To improve, the SP&M program must be subjected to continual evaluation to assess
how well it is working. That is the seventh and final step of the model. The results of
evaluation should, in turn, be used to make continuous program improvements and
to maintain a commitment to systematic SP&M.
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Summary
This chapter listed the characteristics that are found in exemplary succession planning
and management programs and presented a star model for systematic SP&M. It then
summarized typical problems afflicting succession planning and management pro-
grams and suggested possible solutions to them.
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C H A P T E R 4
jjj
Competency Identification, Values
Clarification, and Ethics: Keys to
Succession Planning and
Management
Competency identification and values clarification are increasingly important founda-
tions for an effective succession planning and management program. But what are
competencies? How are competencies used in SP&M? How are competencies identi-
fied and used to guide SP&M efforts? What are values, and what is values clarification?
How are values used in SP&M? How are values clarification studies conducted and
used for SP&M? What are ethics, and how are ethics used in SP&M? This chapter
answers these questions.
What Are Competencies?
The word competence was first linked to a human trait in 1959.1 Using that work as a
starting point, David McClelland focused attention on competencies in 1973.2
McClelland noticed that standardized intelligence tests were not good predictors of
job success, and he questioned why. Competencies, as understood today, stemmed
from this initial question. Other authors and researchers, of course, contributed to
the development of competency identification, modeling, and assessment as known
and practiced today.3
Although the term job competency has different meanings, it can be understood
to mean ‘‘an underlying characteristic of an employee (i.e., motive, trait, skill, aspects
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88 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
of one’s self-image, social role, or a body of knowledge) that results in effective and/
or superior performance in a job.’’4 It is worth emphasizing that competencies are
about work performance and results. Competency identification is the process of dis-
covering these job competencies.5 A competency model is the result of competency
identification.6 Competency assessment is the process of comparing an individual to an
existing competency model,7 and that can be done by many means—including full-
circle, multirater assessment, assessment centers, or other ways.
Organizations have made extensive use of competency models in recent years,
which have been widely accepted.8 One reason is that competency models can help
to clarify differences between outstanding (exemplary) and average performers—an
increasingly important issue in a fiercely competitive global business environment. A
second reason is that competency models are superior to work-based approaches,
which rely on job descriptions of work activities only, in pinpointing what people
need to be successful. Increasingly, knowledge is only part of what is needed to be a
successful performer. Also needed are appropriate attitudes, motivation, and interper-
sonal skills, none of which are well examined in traditional job descriptions or tradi-
tional performance appraisals.
How Are Competencies Used in Succession
Planning and Management?
Competency models are essential building blocks on which to base an SP&M effort.
Without them, it is difficult to:
‘ Link and align the organization’s core competencies (strategic strengths) to
job competencies.
‘ Define high potentials, high professionals, high performers, or other broad
categories of employees.
‘ Clarify exactly what present and future competencies are essential to success
in the organization and in its various departments, jobs, or occupations.
‘ Provide a basis for performance management by creating a work environment
that encourages high performance among all workers.
‘ Establish clear work expectations for the present and future.
‘ Create full-circle, multirater assessments that are tailor-made to the unique
requirements of one corporate culture.
‘ Devise competency menus that describe how individuals might be developed
for the future.
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Competency Identification, Values Clarification, and Ethics 89
‘ Formulate individual development plans (IDPs) to help individuals narrow
the developmental gap between what competencies they need to be successful
(as described by the competency model) and what competencies they pres-
ently possess (as identified by a full-circle, multirater assessment or other ap-
proaches to examining current performance or future potential).
‘ Establish competency inventories that describe unique talents possessed by
individuals.
Conducting Competency Identification Studies
Competency studies may have different goals. The goals must be clear before the
resulting studies will be useful. Those who set out to conduct competency studies
should be clear on what they are trying to do, why they are doing it, and what their
stakeholders (such as the CEO) are seeking. Elaborate studies do little good if nobody
knows what they are for, nobody really wanted them, or nobody knows how to use
them.
A present competency study focuses on one department, job category, or occupa-
tional group. In conducting a competency study of this kind, it is sometimes impor-
tant to create two distinct groups for the department or other unit studied: exemplary
performers and average performers. The goal is usually to discover the difference
between the highest performers and the average performers in the group. When com-
pleted, the competency study clarifies the currently essential competencies for success.
A future competency study also focuses on one department, job category, or occu-
pational group. But in conducting a competency study of this kind, it is usually im-
portant to start by describing the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. What
results will the organization seek in the future? Why will those results be sought?
What competencies are necessary to realize those results so that the human talent at
all levels of the organization aligns with its strategic objectives? The approach is there-
fore different from that in a present competency study. Sometimes nobody in the
organization is an exemplary performer when compared to future requirements. It
may thus be necessary to do scenario planning to discover the competencies needed
in a future business environment. That also requires a level of sophistication that few
internal practitioners possess—or have time to use if they do.
A derailment competency study focuses on the characteristics linked to failure—or
to falling off the fast track—for those in one department, job category, or occupa-
tional group. In conducting a derailment study, it is usually important to identify
individuals who have failed assignments, dropped off the high-potential list, experi-
enced career plateauing, or otherwise become ineligible for a list of successors or
high potentials. The goal is to determine why people who were once considered high
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90 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
potentials fell off the track or reached a career plateau. Once that is known, of course,
strategies can be formulated to help them surmount their failures and help others
avoid similar problems. Causes of derailment might include problems with morals
(such as sexual indiscretions) or health issues (such as alcoholism or drug-related
ailments).
Different approaches to competency identification have been devised. Though
space is not available here to review all of them, those who are serious about SP&M
will search out information about them. They will select an approach that is compati-
ble with the organization’s corporate culture, because introducing competency mod-
eling to an organization that has not used it before is really a change effort in its own
right.
Competency modeling offers a newer way to identify characteristics linked to
exemplary job performance than traditional job analysis. An advantage of competency
modeling is its rigor. Another is its ability to capture the (otherwise ineffable) charac-
teristics of successful job performers and job performance. It can provide valuable
information on key positions and high-potential employees on which to base SP&M
practices.
Unfortunately, competency modeling has its disadvantages. One is that the term’s
meaning can be confusing. Another, more serious, disadvantage is that rigorous ap-
proaches to competency modeling usually require considerable time, money, and
expertise. Rarely can they be done internally except by the largest organizations. These
can be genuine drawbacks when the pressure is on to take action and achieve results
quickly. That can lead to what I have seen too often as a consultant in too many
organizations—what I call ‘‘voodoo competency studies.’’ These studies are under-
taken by well-meaning but clueless people who do not understand that competencies
become the blueprint of the talent needed for an organization’s future and that a
different blueprint is needed at each hierarchical level.
Using Competency Models
Competency models have emerged as a foundation for state-of-the-art SP&M pro-
grams. Lacking them, organizations will rarely be able to proceed beyond a simple
replacement approach to SP&M. These models provide a blueprint at each level or in
each functional area for building competence needed at present or in the future, and
they provide a norm or criterion against which to measure individual development
requirements. They are especially important when an organization commits to devel-
oping talent pools because they furnish a standard against which all individuals may
be assessed.
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Competency Identification, Values Clarification, and Ethics 91
Newest Developments in Competency Identification,
Modeling, and Assessment
One development is that competency modeling seems to have caught on. Businesses
in the United States are estimated to be spending about $100 million per year in
identifying competency models for their organizations.9 And yet much work remains
to be done. Not all competency modeling efforts are effective. One reason is that HR
professionals and operating managers alike are not properly trained in, or do not
understand, what competency models are for and how they relate to organizational
requirements.
Another development is that differences in thinking and philosophical views
about competency modeling are becoming more pronounced. A key question is,
‘‘What does the competency model focus on?’’ It is, of course, possible to study
derailers—that is, what leads to failure. It is also possible (and many organizations do
this) to focus on what is required to reach minimum competence for each rung on
the organization chart. But perhaps most important, it is possible to focus on what
measurable productivity differences may exist between the most productive and pro-
motable performers in a job category (called exemplars or sometimes high potentials)
and those who are fully trained but who are not the most productive (called fully
successful performers). The real value added is in discovering what differences exist
between exemplary and/or high-potential performers and fully successful perform-
ers and then integrating hiring, succession planning and management, and career-
development efforts to attract, develop, and retain more exemplary or high-potential
performers.10 The goal is to leverage the organization’s competitive advantage by hav-
ing more high performers and therefore higher productivity, pound for pound, than
other organizations in the same industry.
Another issue is what to focus on. Should the goal be to meet deficiencies, leverage
individual strengths, or do both? Should the goal be to focus on differences by level
(as in management-oriented competency models) or by functional area (as in so-called
technical or functional competency models)?
A third development is that many technology packages are now available to sup-
port competency identification and modeling efforts. They often come packaged as
part of larger HR information systems (HRISs) or human capital management
(HCM) suites and should be sought using those keywords. They may also appear in
learning management systems (LMSs).
Unfortunately, some practitioners think that the competency software will do
their thinking for them, which is, of course, not the case. Effective competency identi-
fication, assessment, and modeling are hard work.11 Technology is no shortcut to
effective practice, and sometimes it only causes a short circuit.
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What’s the Focus: Management or
Technical Competencies?
As noted in the previous section, more than one kind of competency exists. Manage-
ment competencies focus on the similarities of managers at the same level. It is, of
course, important to understand what competencies all senior managers (for in-
stance) should have in common if the organization is to determine how to prepare
middle managers for upward mobility. Normally that involves assessing the compe-
tencies possessed by the individual middle manager and then comparing them to the
competency profile required by all senior managers. That becomes the basis for plan-
ning development activities to narrow developmental gaps.
But it is also possible to focus attention on technical, sometimes called functional,
competencies. These differ from management competencies in that they are centered
in functional areas. HR professionals, for instance, must possess competencies in their
area of responsibility—HR—to carry out the work.
Technical/functional competencies are particularly important when organizations
focus attention on dual-career ladders. In that case, ‘‘promotions’’ can be defined
as either upward mobility or mobility across a continuum of technical knowledge/
competence.
Technical/functional competencies are also important when an organization fo-
cuses on knowledge transfer from more to less experienced technical or professional
workers. What experienced workers have learned becomes critical to business conti-
nuity because it is linked, on the one hand, to institutional memory and proprietary
knowledge unique to the business and, on the other hand, to its competitive advan-
tage. For instance, what a seasoned engineer has learned about a cell phone company’s
engineering processes and issues may be essential to move the business to the next
generation of cell phone.
At present, many organizations are struggling with the identification of technical
competencies. Sometimes the task is coordinated with efforts to ensure knowledge
transfer; sometimes it is undertaken on its own, separate from management succes-
sion planning efforts, as a means of planning knowledge transfer. Though it is rela-
tively easy to find off-the-shelf treatments of management competencies, it is not so
easy to find starting points for technical competencies across many areas.
In most cases, those working in the area of technical competencies will find them-
selves needing to rely on competency libraries that are being built (see, for instance,
http: / / www.nacuboprep.org / Events / EventsByTopic / TechnicalCompetencies / Pages /
def ault.aspx). That seems to be the focus of the next generation of many succession
planning programs. Another option is to approach professional associations in the
occupation, such as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for HR,
various engineering associations for specific types of engineering, IT associations for
MIS professionals’ competencies, and so forth.
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Competency Identification, Values Clarification, and Ethics 93
Identifying and Using Generic and Culture-Specific
Competency Development Strategies to
Build Bench Strength
How is it possible to build competencies? The answer is to use competency development
strategies, which are methods by which individuals can improve their competencies.
Competency development strategies close gaps between what should be (as described
in a competency model) and what is (as measured by approaches such as 360-degree
assessments and assessment centers). Examples of competency development strategies
are:
‘ Attending a classroom training course.
‘ Participating in online training.
‘ Reading a book.
‘ Reading an article.
‘ Listening to an audiotape.
‘ Watching a videotape.
These are just examples, and many other approaches are possible. Of course, to
be successful, the developmental strategy must be focused on developing a compe-
tency (or even the behaviors by which a competency is recognized). Hence, if the
competency to be developed is budgeting skill, then the developmental strategy
should be focused on that topic.
Competency development strategies may be divided into two categories: (1) ge-
neric and (2) specific to corporate culture. A generic competency development strategy
is necessarily general. To build budgeting skill, then, any book on the topic will do,
or any training program on budgeting will do. No effort is made to tie the develop-
ment strategy to the unique conditions prevailing in the corporate culture.
A corporate-culture-specific development strategy, on the other hand, is specific to
the organization. To build budgeting skill, for example, an individual might:
‘ Watch (shadow) someone in the organization who is especially good at bud-
geting.
‘ Perform budgeting with someone in the company.
‘ Interview someone experienced in the company about what is necessary for
an acceptable or even exemplary budget.
Many resources exist to identify generic development strategies.12 Those can be
purchased from outside vendors, found in books, or uncovered on Web sites. Many
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large organizations have incorporated these generic development strategies into their
Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Individuals and their immediate supervisors
have the resources to build behaviors or competencies so that individual development
plans can be focused suitably. All that is needed is to identify appropriate but general
material linked to every competency in a competency model.
Corporate-culture-specific development strategies require investigation. One ap-
proach is to identify exemplary performers—individuals who are particularly good at
demonstrating a competency—and then interview them. For example, ask:
‘ Who in this organization would you advise people to talk to if they want to
build this competency?
‘ What kind of work activities or assignments should individuals be given if they
are to build this competency in this organization?
‘ Where should people go to find centers of excellence for this competency in
this organization?
‘ How would you advise someone in this company who wants to build this
competency to go about learning how it is done here?
Use the interview guide in Exhibit 4-1 for this purpose. Then feed back the inter-
view results to exemplary performers, verify that the assignments would actually build
the targeted competencies (and behaviors) required for success in the company, and
put them online so that individuals can access them as they prepare their IDPs.
What Are Values, and What Is Values Clarification?
Simply stated, values are beliefs about what is good or bad. Values clarification is the
process of making clear what values take priority over others, what is more important
than other things. Though competencies clarify differences between individual per-
formers, values add a new dimension. They describe what is perceived to be good and
bad in a corporate culture.
Values have commanded increasing interest in organizational settings. Consider
the following: At a meeting of Eli Lilly and Company, Chairman and CEO Randall
Tobias extended the meeting by over two hours to discuss the core values of the
company and their importance to the future of the organization.13 Similarly, in an
interview in Organizational Dynamics, Herb Kelleher, Chairman and CEO of South-
west Airlines, discussed the central role that values play in that organization.14 Fortune
magazine reported some time ago that over 50 percent of U.S. corporations have
values statements—more than double that of a decade ago.15
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Exhibit 4-1. Interview Guide to Collect Corporate-Culture-Specific
Competency Development Strategies
Directions: Use this interview guide to collect information about how to build com-
petencies in the context of your organization’s unique corporate culture. Select sev-
eral exemplary performers who have been identified as especially good (exemplary)
at demonstrating a given competency. Indicate that competency next to the label
‘‘competency’’ below. Then spend about 15 minutes to interview each exemplary
performer using the questions appearing below. When you are finished, analyze the
results by identifying common themes or patterns across all the interview results.
Competency:
Name Title
Years of Experience in Job Date
Interviewed by:
1. Think of a time when you were asked to demonstrate this competency.
What was the situation?
When did this situation occur?
What did you do?
How do you believe the experience helped you demonstrate this competency?
If your mentee participated in an experience like this, would it help to build the
competency?
2. Who are some people in the organization who are exceptionally good at demon-
strating this competency to whom you could refer your mentee?
3. What are some work experiences in the organization that you believe your
mentee should be given to build or demonstrate the competency?
(continues)
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96 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
Exhibit 4-1. (continued)
4. How might the pressure to produce by specific deadlines help to build or demon-
strate the competency?
5. Where would you send people—that is, what geographical locations—to build
and /or demonstrate this competency? (Where are the centers of excellence for
this competency in the organization, and why do you think so?)
6. List special and specific work assignments that would be particularly useful in
building or demonstrating this competency.
7. If someone asked you for advice on how to build this competency in this organi-
zation, what advice would you give them?
8. Could you think of some upcoming or pending company projects that might be
especially useful to build this competency? What would they be, and why do you
think they could help to build the competency?
How Are Values Used in Succession
Planning and Management?
Values statements and values clarification, like competency models, are essential
building blocks on which to base a succession planning and management effort. With-
out them, it is difficult to add a new dimension to the development of people in
various departments, job categories, or occupations. Much like competency models,
they help to:
‘ Link and align the organization’s core values to group and individual values.
‘ Define high potentials or other broad categories of employees based on what
the corporate culture perceives to be ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad.’’
‘ Clarify exactly what present and future values are essential to success in the
organization and in its various departments, jobs, or occupations.
‘ Provide a basis for performance management by creating a work environment
that encourages values-based performance.
‘ Establish the values underlying work expectations for the present and future.
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Competency Identification, Values Clarification, and Ethics 97
‘ Create full-circle, multirater assessments that are tailor-made to the unique
requirements of a corporate culture.
‘ Provide another basis to formulate IDPs to enable individuals to develop
themselves to meet present and future challenges.
Conducting Values Clarification Studies
Many tools and techniques are available to help organizations clarify their values.
Some organizations undertake values clarification through small group activities.16
Others use unique approaches, such as teaching championship automobile racing.17
At least two other approaches may be used. One is simple; the other is more compli-
cated but may be more meaningful.
A Simple Approach: Top Management Values Clarification
A simple way to clarify the values of the organization is to ask top managers what
values are the most important. To use this approach, provide a brief introduction to
what values are, why they are important, and how they are used. Then ask senior
executives—either in a meeting or online—to describe what they believe to be the
most important values for the organization at present and in the future. When that
list has been gathered, feed it back to the contributors, allow them to discuss it, and
ask them to vote on the most important one. When they finish this activity, ask them
to define each value and state its importance to the organization and to individuals.
A More Complicated Approach: Values Clarification from Top
Performers
A more complicated approach to carrying out values clarification is to ask top per-
formers or high potentials in the organization to describe their values. That can be
done through behavioral event interviewing—a rigorous method used in competency
modeling in which individuals are asked to describe the most difficult situation they
have ever faced in their jobs and describe what they were thinking, feeling, and doing
at each step as they faced that situation. The values statements should appear as part
of their discussion. (If they do not, then the interviewer should be sure to ask probing
questions to elicit comments about the values in which the high potentials believe.)
The values identified by individual high potentials can then be summarized. What is
important is not what one person says but rather what thematic patterns surface
among the many respondents.
Once the values have been identified, they can be fed back to the high potentials
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98 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
in focus groups for further discussion and refinement. When that process is com-
pleted, the value statements can be given to top managers for approval or modifica-
tion. In this way, the values clarified for the organization match the work-related
beliefs of the best performers and are validated by top managers.
Using Values Clarification
Values clarification provides an additional and increasingly important dimension to
SP&M. Without it, individuals may be equipped with sound competencies but lack
the grounding in what the corporate culture perceives to be good and bad. Values can
also be integrated with competency models so as to create a success profile or descrip-
tion of leadership requirements essential at all organizational levels, departments, job
categories, or occupations in the future. Alternatively, it is possible to prepare values
lists and assessment instruments against which to compare individuals.18 In other
words, values can be used as a driving force for building high potentials and compe-
tence in organizations. Like competencies, then, values can be the glue that holds
together all key aspects of a SP&M program.
What Are Ethics, and How Are Ethics Used in SP&M?
Ethics do not mean the same thing as values or competencies. A value is what is good
or bad. Ethics add a moral dimension of right and wrong.
The Need for an Emphasis on Ethics
So many scandals have rocked the business world that some organizations have even
set up Web sites to chronicle them. In 2008 alone, U.S. companies like Countrywide
Financial, AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Citibank—along with the Big 3
automakers—were the focus of various major or minor scandals. Bernie Madoff was
convicted of creating and maintaining a massive $58 billion Ponzi scheme whose
collapse rippled globally, affecting many investors. Lehman Brothers’ CEO Richard
Fuld ‘‘earned’’ $240 million between 2005 and 2007, which led him to receive the
dubious distinction of being dubbed ‘‘Overpaid CEO of 2008’’ by the Financial Times.
Broadcom CEO Henry T. Nicholas III was indicted for many charges, including con-
spiracy, drug possession, and securities fraud when it came to light that he had built
a so-called sex cave on his California estate so that he could indulge his perverse tastes
for prostitutes, cocaine, and Ecstasy. Lawyer Marc Dreier allegedly swindled $100
million from investors.
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Competency Identification, Values Clarification, and Ethics 99
Many more such examples can be cited just from the financial crisis of 2008
alone. Consider that Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis received a base salary of $1.5
million but ‘‘earned’’ between $16.4 and $24.8 million in 2007; JPMorgan Chase
Chairman and CEO James Dimon received a $1 million salary but got a total pay
package of $30 million in one year alone; and Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO
Lloyd Blankfein received a total pay package valued at over $70 million in a single
year. And all these senior managers earned this pay while bankrupting or nearly bank-
rupting their companies and begging for a U.S. government bailout. (Pay for perform-
ance does not seem to mean the same for top executives as it does for others.) The
ethics scandal over executive pay was so bad that it prompted U.S. President Barack
Obama to say that ‘‘what gets people upset—and rightfully so—are executives being
rewarded for failure—especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. tax-
payers.’’
As one consequence of these scandals, ethical issues are growing ever more impor-
tant. As evidence of that, the major accrediting body for business schools in the
United States has issued guidelines to its member universities to enhance how ethics
are taught. In addition, many organizations have established ethical codes of conduct
to guide their employees. Such codes describe what attitudes people should display
and what behaviors they should exhibit in the workplace.
A study reported in early 2009 by KPMG revealed an equally dismal picture. The
pressure to do whatever it takes to achieve business goals continues as the primary
driver behind corporate fraud and misconduct, regardless of the impact on public
trust. Among the study’s findings:
74 percent of surveyed employees said they had personally ob-
served misconduct within their organizations during the prior 12
months; 46 percent reported that what they observed ‘‘could cause
a significant loss of public trust if discovered’’; 72 percent of those
whose companies had no formal ethics and compliance program re-
ported having observed misconduct during the previous year;
meanwhile, at companies with ethics and compliance programs, 55
percent of respondents reported witnessing wrongful activity.
Among those to whom respondents said they would be comfortable
reporting misconduct are local managers (61 percent), peers (57
percent), HR (57 percent), hotline (57 percent), legal department
(52 percent), senior executives (43 percent), internal audit (40
percent), and board members (32 percent). Though 89 percent of
the survey respondents said they would be ‘‘doing the right thing’’
to report an incident, some 34 percent suggested a lack of confi-
dence that appropriate action would be taken. Only 47 percent be-
lieved those involved would be appropriately disciplined, no matter
their position.19
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100 Background Information About Succession Planning and Management
How Ethics Are Used in SP&M
Interest is growing in developing objective assessments of how well individuals follow
the codes of conduct in their organizations as part of an assessment of promotability.20
With public opinion about business ethics on the decline, many corporate leaders
realize that good performance is not enough for future organizational leaders. They
must walk the walk of sound ethics as well as talk the talk. That means individuals
should be separately assessed for their performance, their potential, their values, and
their ethics. And the more objective those assessments can be, the better. Few organi-
zations today meet all the standards for having an ethics program that include:
(1) Written standards of ethical workplace conduct; (2) Means for
an employee to anonymously report violations of ethics standards;
(3) Orientation or training on ethical workplace conduct; (4) A spe-
cific office, telephone line, e-mail address or Web site where employ-
ees can get advice about ethics-related issues; (5) Evaluation of
ethical conduct as part of regular performance appraisals; and (6)
Discipline for employees who commit ethics violations.21
Bringing It All Together: Competencies, Values, and Ethics
Organizations today need competencies, values, and ethics. Making people good per-
formers is not enough. They must adhere to the values espoused by the organization
and should be capable of being looked to as role models on ethical issues by employ-
ees and society at large. Individuals perceived as high potentials must be embodiments
of their organization’s values and ethics, as well as of high performance. Otherwise,
people cannot be successful in the long term and cannot bring credit to the organiza-
tion. The challenge is to translate competencies, values, and ethics into recognizable
behaviors so that individuals can be assessed against objective measures rather than
on the basis of managers’ perceptions.
Summary
As this chapter emphasized, competencies, values, and ethics are increasingly impor-
tant foundations for an effective succession planning and management program. The
chapter defined all three—competencies, values, and ethics—and explained how they
are used in succession planning and management. A major point of the chapter was
that, without these essential blueprints for the talent to be created at present and in
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the future, creating a state-of-the-art succession planning and management program
will be difficult.
The next chapter describes how to lay the foundation for an SP&M program by
taking subsequent steps in planning and implementing a program that will be success-
ful in a particular organizational setting or corporate culture.
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jjj
P A R T I I
Laying the Foundation for a
Succession Planning and
Management Program
• Assessing current problems and practices
• Demonstrating the need for SP&M
• Determining organizational requirements
• Linking SP&M activities to organizational strategy and human
resource strategy
• Benchmarking SP&M practices in other organizations
• Obtaining and building management commitment to
systematic SP&M
• Clarifying program roles
• Formulating a mission statement
• Writing policy and procedures
• Identifying target groups
• Setting program priorities
• Addressing the legal framework in SP&M
• Establishing strategies for rolling out an SP&M program
• Preparing a program action plan
• Communicating the action plan
• Conducting SP&M meetings
• Training on SP&M
• Counseling managers about succession planning problems
in their areas
Part I
Background Information About
Succession Planning and Management
Part IV
Closing the “Developmental Gap”:
Operating and Evaluating a Succession
Planning and Management Program
Part III
Assessing the Present and the Future
Part II
Laying the Foundation for a
Succession Planning and
Management Program
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C H A P T E R 5
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Making the Case for Major Change
For many years, introducing and consolidating change has been a centerpiece of de-
bate among managers and writers about management. Many believe that the essence
of management’s job is to be an instrument for progressive change—or, at least, for
creating an environment suitable for change. ‘‘ ‘Managing through change’ is now the
most challenging workforce issue for leaders.’’1
Establishing a systematic succession planning and management program in an
organization that never had one is a major change effort. It requires a quantum leap
from the status quo, what some call a ‘‘transformational change.’’ Success depends on
demonstrating, at the outset, a need for change. The only exception is the rare case in
which decision makers have already reached a consensus to depart radically from past
practice.
To make the case for change in SP&M it will usually be necessary to:
‘ Assess current problems and practices.
‘ Demonstrate the need.
‘ Determine organizational requirements.
‘ Link SP&M to the strategic plan and human resource plan.
‘ Benchmark SP&M processes in other organizations.
‘ Obtain and build management commitment to systematic SP&M.
These issues are the focus of this chapter. They may seem to be monumental
issues—and sometimes they are—but addressing them is essential to laying a solid
foundation on which to build a systematic SP&M program.
Assessing Current Problems and Practices
Information about current problems and practices is needed before a convincing case
for change can be made. Planning for the future requires information about the past
and present.
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106 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Assessing Current Problems
Crisis is a common impetus for change. As problems arise and are noticed, people
naturally search for solutions. As the magnitude and severity of the problems increase,
the search for a solution intensifies.
The same principles apply to SP&M. If the organization has experienced no crises
in finding qualified successors, retaining talented people, maintaining leadership con-
tinuity, or facilitating individual advancement, then few decision makers will feel an
urgent need to direct attention to these issues. On the other hand, SP&M is likely to
attract increasing attention when problems like these surface:
‘ Key positions are filled only after long delays.
‘ Key positions can be filled only by hiring from outside.
‘ Key positions have few people ready now to assume them (weak bench
strength).
‘ Vacancies in key positions cannot be filled with confidence.
‘ Key positions are subject to frequent or unexpected turnover.
‘ Replacements for key positions are frequently unsuccessful in performing
their new duties.
‘ High performers or high-potential employees are leaving the organization in
droves.
‘ Individuals routinely leave the organization to advance professionally or to
achieve their career goals.
‘ Decision makers complain about weak bench strength.
‘ Employees complain that decisions about whom to advance are not based on
who is best qualified but rather on caprice, nepotism, and personal favoritism.
‘ Employees and decision makers complain that decisions about whom to pro-
mote into key positions are adversely affected by discrimination or by expedi-
ency.
To build a case for a systematic approach to SP&M, ask decision makers if
they face problems like these. Additionally, focus attention on identifying the most
important problems the organization is facing and review how those problems are
influenced by existing SP&M practices. If possible, document actual succession prob-
lems that have been experienced in the past—including horror stories (anecdotes
about major problems) or war stories (anecdotes about negative experiences), if possi-
ble. Although anecdotes do not necessarily provide an accurate indication of existing
conditions, they can be powerfully persuasive and can help convince skeptical deci-
sion makers that a problem warrants investigation. Use them to focus attention on
the organization’s present SP&M practices and, when appropriate, on the need to
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Making the Case for Major Change 107
change them from informal to systematic. Also, consider using approaches to identify
and overcome objections to a SP&M program. (See Exhibit 5-1.)
In my 2009 survey, I asked the respondents to indicate whether SP&M had be-
come more important to their organizations over the last few years. Their answers
are revealing, indicating that many current problems have emerged that necessitate
increased attention to SP&M. (See Exhibit 5-2.)
Assessing Current Practices
In large organizations with an informal approach to SP&M, nobody is aware of the
methods being used within the organization. Nor should they be. After all, in those
Exhibit 5-1. Demographic Information About Respondents to 2009 Survey
on Succession Planning and Management: Job Functions of Respondents
Question: What is your job function?
Function Frequency Percentage (%) Valid Percentage (%)
Trainer 1 2.6 2.7
HR manager 13 33.3 35.1
Other 23 59.0 62.2
Missing 2 5.1
Total 39 100.0 100.0
Other functions:
• ID 3: CEO
• ID 7: Director of OD
• ID 8: SVP, Consulting
• ID 9: Talent management
• ID 10: VP of Leadership and OD
• ID 11: Managing director (Operation and HR)
• ID 15: Director
• ID 16: HR director
• ID 17: Business unit president
• ID 18: Leader
• ID 20: Owner
• ID 21: Program manager
• ID 22: Director
• ID 23: Professor
• ID 26: CEO
• ID 28: TM director
• ID 29: Assistant Director of Corporate Relations & Executive Development
• ID 32: Consultant
• ID 33: SVP, HR
• ID 34: VP to whom HR reports
Note: Not all respondents chose to answer this question.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
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Exhibit 5-2. Importance of Succession Planning and Management
Question: Has succession planning become more important to your organization
over the last few years? If yes, briefly tell why; if no, briefly tell why.
Frequency Percentage (%) Valid Percentage (%)
Yes 15 68.2 93.8
No 1 4.5 6.3
Missing 6 27.3
Total 22 100.0 100.0
Comments (Reasons for ‘‘yes’’):
• As supply shortages increase, we are attempting to put in place an integrated top-to-bottom
approach to succession planning/talent management that incorporates career development with it.
• There is a global shortage of skills and expertise. It is part of the organizational strategy to upskill
the organization. It follows our philosophy of inculcating a leadership culture in the organization.
• Because business needs are rapidly changing, having internal talent that knows and understands our
business ready to backfill key positions is preferable to searching outside the organization for talent.
• We need to ensure we have workers and leaders ready when we need them. We can’t always buy
off the street when we need them due to the highly specialized nature of the work.
• We need to forecast talent needs.
• The current talent portfolio is not well aligned to strategic goals. There has been significant turnover
at the president level over last five years (five presidents).
• We have replaced approximately 50% of senior staff, so we want to ensure that they are the right
folks and that they have successors in place.
• Global growth, acquisitions, and new business opportunities
• It has always been important.
• The limited supply of a quality candidate pool today and in the future requires us to focus on
succession planning and talent development within our organizations.
• We will have a large drain of talent as many of our workers/leaders reach retirement.
• Aging workforce
• We need to avoid some risk.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
settings SP&M is handled idiosyncratically—or not at all—by each manager. As a
consequence, nobody is aware of the organization’s existing practices.
A good place to start, then, is to find out what practices are currently being used.
Exemplary, albeit isolated, approaches may already be in use, and they may serve as
excellent starting points for a systematic approach. They enjoy the advantage of a
track record because they have already been tried out in the organization and proba-
bly have the support of one or more managers.
To emphasize this point, I am aware of one Fortune 500 corporation that uses an
informal approach: Managers establish their own SP&M approaches as they feel they
are warranted, and those activities vary dramatically. Most managers make no effort
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Making the Case for Major Change 109
to conduct SP&M. As vacancies occur, replacements are frantically sought. Filling key
positions is a crisis-oriented activity. (That is often true in organizations without
systematic SP&M programs, as my 2009 survey revealed; see Exhibit 5-3.)
But even in this organization, a major operating division has established a practice
of circulating a confidential memo each year to department managers to request their
nominations for their own replacements. No attempt is made to verify that the candi-
dates possess the requisite knowledge and skills suitable for advancement; no attempt
is made to verify that the candidates are willing to accept new assignments; and no
attempt is made to ensure their availability, if needed, or to prepare them for advance-
ment. However, the practice of circulating a memo is an excellent place to start a
systematic approach to SP&M. It can be a focal point to direct attention to the issue—
and to the need to adopt a systematic approach.
There are three ways to assess the current status of SP&M in the organization: (1)
talk to others informally; (2) send out an electronic mail question; or (3) conduct a
written survey.
Exhibit 5-3. Making Decisions About Successors in Organizations Without
Systematic Succession Planning and Management
Question: How are decisions made about successors for positions in your organiza-
tion? Circle all appropriate response codes below.
Reason Frequency Percentage (%)
We usually wait until positions are vacant
and then scurry around madly to find successors. 6 35.3
We ‘‘secretly’’ prepare successors. 3 17.6
Whenever a position opens up, we rely on
expediency to identify someone to fill it,
hoping for the best. 8 47.1
Other methods 0 0.0
Total 17 100.0
Other methods:
• It depends on the position. For some unique type jobs or some higher managerial, we are planning
succession ahead; otherwise do not plan.
• Do cross-training to assure backups at lower levels but nothing at higher levels.
• We keep our ears and eyes open in the marketplace for people who could be good employees.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
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110 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Talk to Others Informally
Ask key decision makers how they are handling SP&M practices. Begin by talking to
the chairman or chief executive officer, if possible, because that person is likely to be
more aware of the processes than others. Then discuss the matter with other top
managers. Pose questions such as the following:
‘ How is the organization presently handling SP&M? What is being done at the
highest levels? At the lower levels? In different divisions? In different locales?
‘ In your opinion, what should the organization be doing about SP&M, and
why do you think so?
‘ What predictable losses of key personnel are anticipated in your area of re-
sponsibility? For example, how many pending retirements are you aware of ?
Will pending promotions lead to a domino effect in which a vacancy in one
key position, filled by promotion from within, will set off a chain reaction that
leads to a series of vacancies in many other positions?
‘ What people or positions are absolutely critical to the continued successful
operation of your division, function, department, or location? How would you
handle the sudden and unexpected loss of a key person? Several key people?
‘ Have you experienced the loss of a key person in the last year or two? How
did you handle it? If you had to do it again, would you handle it the same
way? If so, why? If not, why not?
‘ What regular efforts, if any, do you make to identify possible replacements for
key people or positions in your part of the organization? For example, do
you discuss this issue as part of management performance appraisals, during
business planning activities, or in other ways?
‘ What efforts, if any, do you make to identify individuals with the potential to
advance beyond their current positions?
‘ How do you prepare individuals to advance when you perceive they have
potential? What systematic efforts are made to train, educate, or develop them
for future positions?
‘ What strongly held beliefs do you have about SP&M? For instance, do you
believe the organization should inform possible successors of their status (and
thereby risk creating a crown prince problem) or conceal that information
(and risk losing high-potential employees who are tapped for better advance-
ment prospects elsewhere, perhaps by other organizations or even by competi-
tors)? How do you believe the organization should handle plateaued workers,
who will advance no further, and blocked workers, who are unable to advance
because workers are plateaued above them?
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When you finish interviewing decision makers, prepare a summary of the results
about SP&M practices. Cite individual names only if given explicit permission to do
so. Include a summary of current information on effective SP&M practices obtained
externally—from sources such as this book—and then ask if more attention can be
devoted to the topic. The reactions you receive should provide valuable clues to how
much interest and support exist among key decision makers to explore a systematic
approach to SP&M.
Send Out an Electronic Mail Question
A top manager in a large corporation focused attention on systematic SP&M merely
by sending out an e-mail message to his peers. He posed this question: ‘‘Assume that
you lost a key department manager on short notice through death or disability. (You
can choose any department you wish.) Who is ‘ready’ to assume that position? Name
anyone.’’
That question provoked a flurry of responses. By merely posing this question, he
served an important role as a change champion and drew attention to weak bench
strength in the organization’s supervisory ranks. Try the same approach in your orga-
nization or find just one top manager who will pose a similar question to colleagues
by e-mail. That will certainly draw attention to the issue. It may also open debate or
create an impetus for change.
Conduct a Written Survey
A written survey may be used as an alternative to informal discussions. Unlike infor-
mal discussions, however, a written survey is a high-profile effort, and many people
will probably see it. For that reason, be sure to follow the organization’s protocol for
authorizing a written survey. That may mean discussing it, prior to distribution, with
the CEO, the vice president of human resources, or others they suggest. Ask for their
approval to conduct the survey, and solicit their input for questions of interest to
them. In some organizations they may also wish to attach their own cover letters to
the survey, which is desirable because it demonstrates their awareness and support—
and may even increase the response rate.
Use the survey appearing in Exhibit 5-4 as a starting point, if you wish. It may
save you time in developing your own survey, tailor-made to your organization’s
needs.
Once the survey has been completed, feed the results back to the decision makers.
They can read for themselves what their peers have to say about the organization’s
current approach to SP&M. That can help them focus on specific problems to be
solved and on achieving a consensus for action among themselves. However, conduct-
ing surveys is not without risk. They may, for instance, bring to the surface influential
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112 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 5-4. Questionnaire for Assessing the Status of Succession Planning
and Management in an Organization
Cover Memo
To: Top Managers of Corporation
From:
Subject: Survey on Succession Planning and Management Practices
Date:
Succession planning and management may be understood as ‘‘any effort designed
to ensure the continued effective performance of an organization, division, depart-
ment, or work group by making provision for the development, replacement, and
strategic application of key people over time.’’ It may be systematic or informal. In
systematic SP&M, an organization’s managers attempt to prepare successors for key
positions; in informal succession planning, no effort is made to prepare succes-
sors—and, as vacancies occur in key positions, managers respond to the crises at
that time.
Please take a few minutes to respond to the questions appearing below. When you
are finished, return the completed survey to (name) by (date) at (location). Should
you have questions, feel free to call me at (phone number).
Thank you for your cooperation!
The Survey
Directions: Please take a few minutes to write down your responses to each question
appearing below. This questionnaire is intended to be anonymous, though you are
free to sign your name if you wish. You will receive a confidential report that summa-
rizes the key responses of all respondents and recommends action steps.
1. In your opinion, how well is this organization presently conducting SP&M ?
(Circle your response in the left column)
Very Well Briefly explain why you feel as you do:
Adequately
Inadequately
Very Poorly
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2. Should this organization establish/improve its approaches to SP&M?
Yes Briefly explain why you feel as you do:
No
3. In your area of responsibility, have you established:
(Circle your response in the center column below)
Question
Response
Your CommentsYes No
A. A systematic means to identify pos- Yes No
sible replacement needs stemming
from retirement or other predict-
able losses of people?
B. A systematic approach to perform- Yes No
ance appraisal so as to clarify
each individual’s current perform-
ance?
C. A systematic approach to identify- Yes No
ing individuals who have the po-
tential to advance one or more
levels beyond their current posi-
tions?
D. A systematic approach by which to Yes No
accelerate the development of in-
dividuals who have the potential to
advance one or more levels be-
yond their current positions?
E. A means by which to keep track of Yes No
possible replacements by key posi-
tion?
4. What special issues, if any, do you believe that a systematic SP&M program
designed and introduced in this organization should be careful to address?
(continues)
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114 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 5-4. (continued)
5. What other comments do you have to make about a systematic SP&M program?
Please return the completed survey to (name) by (date) at (location). Should you
have questions, feel free to call me at (phone number ). You will receive a summary
of the anonymous survey results by (date).
Thank You for Your Cooperation!
opposition to a systematic SP&M program. That will make it more difficult to make
the case for that approach in the future.
Demonstrating the Need
Few decision makers are willing to invest time, money, or effort in any activity that
they believe will yield few benefits. It is thus essential to tie SP&M issues directly to
pressing organizational problems and to the organization’s core mission. But exactly
how is that done?
The answer to that question varies across organizations. Each organization is
unique; each organization has its own culture, history, and leadership group. Yet there
are several possible ways by which to demonstrate the need for a systematic SP&M
program.
Hitchhiking on Crises
The first way to demonstrate need is to hitchhike on crises. As key positions become
vacant or key people depart unexpectedly, seize the opportunity to poll decision mak-
ers informally. Begin by summarizing the recent crisis. Contrast what happened with
what could have happened if a systematic approach to SP&M had been used. Describe
the impact of poorly planned SP&M on customers and employees, if possible. Then
describe possible future conditions, especially future staffing needs that may result
from recent downsizing, early retirement offers, or employee buyouts. Ask decision
makers whether they believe it is time to explore a systematic approach to meeting
succession needs. Then be ready to offer a concrete proposal for the next steps to
take.
Seizing Opportunities
A second way to demonstrate need is to seize opportunities. In one organization, for
example, the human resources department studied top managers’ ages and projected
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retirement dates. The results were astonishing: All the top managers were due to retire
within five years, and no replacements had been identified or developed. In that case,
the HR department detected a brewing crisis and helped avert it. The organization
subsequently established a systematic SP&M program that enjoyed strong support
and great success.
Any major strategic change will normally create opportunities. For instance, as
electrical utilities are deregulated, decision makers realize that the future success and
even survival of these organizations often depend on identifying and developing new
leaders who can thrive in a highly competitive, market-driven environment. That
raises questions about the developmental needs of successors who had been nurtured
during a period of regulation. It also prompts developmental activities to increase the
market-oriented skills of future leaders.
Use the worksheet appearing in Exhibit 5-5 to focus attention on ways to hitch-
hike on crises and to seize opportunities.
Showing the Bottom-Line Value
Making the case for an SP&M program by showing the bottom-line value can be tough
to do. As Jac Fitz-enz writes:
One of the difficulties in trying to measure the work of planners is
that their output is primarily a plan of the future. By definition, we
will not know for 1, 3 or perhaps 5 years how accurate their predic-
tions were. In addition no one is capable of predicting future
events, and therefore it is not fair to blame the planner for unfore-
seeable events. It is impossible to measure the value of a long-term
plan in the short term. Planners thus often feel frustrated because
they cannot prove their worth with concrete evidence.2
Those involved in succession planning and management may feel that they face
exactly the same frustrations to which Fitz-enz alludes. However, he has suggested
ways to measure each of the following:
‘ Workload. How many positions need to be filled?
‘ Speed of Filling Positions. How long does it take to fill positions?
‘ Results. How many positions were filled over a given time span?
Succession planning and management may thus be measured by the number of
key positions to be filled, the length of time required to fill them, and the number of
key positions filled over a given time span. Of course, these measures are not directly
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116 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 5-5. Worksheet for Demonstrating the Need for Succession
Planning and Management
Directions: How can the need for a systematic SP&M program be demonstrated in
an organization? Use the questions below to help you organize your thinking. An-
swer each question in the space appearing below it. Then compare your responses
to those of others in the organization. Add paper if necessary.
1. What crises, if any, have occurred in placing high-potential individuals or filling
key positions in recent years? Describe the situations and how the organization
coped with them. Then describe what happened (the outcomes of those strate-
gies).
Make a list of the crises, if any, and briefly describe:
2. What opportunities, if any, have you noticed that may affect the knowledge,
skills, and abilities that will be needed by workers in the organization in the
future? (In particular, list strategic changes and then draw conclusions about
their implications for knowledge, skills, and abilities.)
Make a list of Describe how those strategic changes are likely to af-
strategic changes: fect the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by
workers in the organization in the future:
tied to such bottom-line results for an organization as return on equity, return on
investment, or cost-benefit analysis. But they are good places to start.
As Fitz-enz rightly points out, the central questions to consider when quantifying
program results are these:3
‘ What variables are really important to the organization?
‘ What results can be influenced by action?
Meaningful, quantifiable results can be obtained only by focusing attention di-
rectly on answering these questions. Decision makers must be asked what they believe
to be the most important variables and actions that can be taken by the organization.
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This information then becomes the basis for establishing the financial benefits of an
SP&M program.
When measuring SP&M results, decision makers may choose to focus on such
issues as these:
‘ How long does it take to fill key positions? Measure the average elapsed days per
position vacancy.
‘ What percentage of key positions are actually filled from within? Divide the num-
ber of key positions filled from within by the total number of key positions.
‘ What percentage of key positions are capable of being filled from within? Divide
the number of high-potential workers available by the number of expected
key position vacancies annually.
‘ What is the percentage of successful replacements out of all replacements? Divide
the number of retained by all replacements made to key positions.
Of course, issues of importance to top managers and appropriate measures of
bottom-line results will vary across organizations. The point is that these issues must
be identified before appropriate criteria and bottom-line measures can be assigned.
Indeed, the best ways to measure SP&M results come from the goals and objectives
established for the program.
Another way to view the bottom-line measure of an SP&M program is to compare
the expenses of operating the program to the benefits accruing from it. Doing that
may be difficult, but it is not impossible. As a first step, identify direct and indirect
program expenses. Direct expenses result solely from operating an SP&M program.
An example might be the salary of a full- or part-time SP&M coordinator. Indirect
expenses result only partially from program operations. They may include partial
salary expenses for managers involved in developing future leaders or the cost of
materials to develop high potentials.
As a second step, identify direct and indirect program benefits. (This can be
tricky, but the key is involving decision makers so that they accept and have owner-
ship in the claimed benefits.) Direct benefits are quantifiable and financially oriented.
They might include savings in the fees of search firms. Indirect benefits might include
the goodwill of having immediate successors prepared to step in, temporarily or per-
manently, whenever vacancies occur in key positions.
As a third step, compare the costs and benefits. Will the organization gain finan-
cially if a systematic approach to SP&M is adopted? In what ways? How can the
effectiveness of the program be related directly to the organization’s pressing business
issues and core mission?
For additional information on cost-benefit analysis, review the numerous ap-
proaches that have been suggested for evaluating the bottom-line value of training
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118 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
programs.4 Use those approaches to clarify the costs and benefits of a systematic SP&M
program.
Of course, other ways—apart from hitchhiking on crises, seizing opportunities,
and showing the cost-benefit ratio for program operations—might be used to demon-
strate the need for a systematic approach to SP&M. How has the need been successfully
demonstrated for other new programs in the organization? Can similar approaches be
used to demonstrate a need for a systematic SP&M program?
Determining Organizational Requirements
All organizations do not share identical requirements for SP&M programs. Differ-
ences exist owing to the organization’s industry, size, stage of maturity, management
values, internally available expertise, cost, time, and other considerations. Past surveys
confirm that these issues—among others—can affect the appropriate design of SP&M
programs.5
However, top management goals are always key considerations. What do top
managers believe to be essential for an SP&M program? The most important ques-
tions on which to focus attention might include the following:
‘ How eager are top managers and other decision makers to systematize the
organization’s SP&M processes?
‘ How much time and attention are decision makers willing to devote to as-
sessing key position requirements? Identifying leadership competencies? Iden-
tifying success factors for advancement in the organization? Conducting
multirater assessments? Appraising individual performance? Preparing and
implementing individual development plans to ensure the efficient prepara-
tion of individuals for advancement into key positions?
‘ How stable is the current organizational structure? Work processes? Can ei-
ther—or both—be reliably used to plan for leadership continuity or replace-
ments?
‘ How willing are decision makers to devote resources to cultivating talent from
within?
‘ How much do decision makers prefer to fill key position vacancies from inside
rather than from outside the organization?
‘ How willing are decision makers to use innovative alternatives to simple re-
placements from within?
Begin determining the essential requirements of an SP&M program by interview-
ing top managers. Pose the questions on the preceding list, and add others as perti-
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nent to the organization. (As a starting point, use the interview guide appearing in
Exhibit 5-6 for this purpose.) Then prepare and circulate a written proposal for an
SP&M program that conforms to the consensus opinion of key decision makers.
Linking SP&M Activities to Organizational
and Human Resource Strategy
Succession planning and management should be linked to organizational and human
resource strategy. However, achieving those linkages can be difficult.
Linking Organizational Strategy
Organizational strategy is the way in which a business chooses to compete. Important
steps in the process are (1) determining the organization’s purpose, goals, and objec-
tives; (2) scanning the external environment to identify future threats and opportuni-
ties; (3) appraising the organization’s present strengths and weaknesses; (4)
examining the range of strategies; (5) choosing a strategy that is likely to seize maxi-
mum advantage from future opportunities by building on organizational strengths;
(6) implementing strategy, particularly through changes in structure, policy, leader-
ship, and rewards; and (7) evaluating strategy periodically to assess how well it is
helping the organization to achieve its strategic goals and objectives.
Effectively linking organizational strategy and SP&M is difficult for three major
reasons. First, even though effective strategy implementation depends on having the
right people in the right places at the right times, it is not always clear who the right
people are, where the right places are, and when those people will be needed. Second,
strategy is frequently expressed in a way that does not lend itself easily to developing
action plans for SP&M. For instance, decision makers may focus attention on increas-
ing market share or increasing return on investment—without describing what kind
of leadership will be needed to achieve those ambitious goals. Third, organizational
strategy, as practiced, may differ from organizational strategy as theorized,6 which
complicates the process of matching leadership to strategy. That can happen when
the daily decisions do not match the written organizational strategy.
To overcome these problems, decision makers must take active steps to build
consideration of SP&M issues into the formulation of strategic plans. During the
review of organizational strengths and weaknesses, for instance, decision makers
should consider the organization’s leadership talent. What kind of expertise is pres-
ently available? During strategic choice and implementation, decision makers should
also consider whether the organization has the right talent to make it happen. Who
possesses the knowledge and skills that will contribute most effectively to making the
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120 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 5-6. Interview Guide for Determining the Requirements for a
Succession Planning and Management Program
Directions: Use this interview guide to help you formulate the requirements for a
systematic SP&M program for an organization. Arrange to meet with top managers
in your organization. Pose the questions appearing in the left column below. Record
notes in the right column below. Then use the results of the interview as the basis for
preparing a proposal for a systematic SP&M program for the organization. (You
may add questions to the left column, if you wish.)
Questions Notes on Responses
1. What are your thoughts about approaching
succession planning and management in this
organization in a planned way?
2. How should we define key positions in this or-
ganization?
3. How should we clarify the requirements to
qualify for key positions? (Some people call
these competencies—characteristics of suc-
cessful performers.)
4. How should we assess current individual job
performance?
5. How stable do you believe the current organi-
zational structure to be? Will it be adequate to
use as the basis for identifying key positions re-
quiring successors in the future?
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6. How do we determine the qualifications or re-
quirements (competencies) for each key posi-
tion in the future?
7. How do you feel that we can identify individu-
als who have the potential to meet the qualifi-
cations for key positions in the future?
8. What do you believe are the essential re-
sources that must be provided by the organiza-
tion in order to accelerate the development of
high-potential employees?
9. How should we keep track of high-potential
employees?
10. What other thoughts do you have about the
essential requirements for an effective succes-
sion planning and management program in
this organization? Why do you believe they are
essential?
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strategy a reality? How can individuals be developed to help them acquire that knowl-
edge and those skills? How can the organization establish an action plan to manage
its human assets as effectively as its financial assets? Only by answering these ques-
tions—and taking active steps to narrow the gap between the available and needed
talent—can the organization link its strategy and its succession planning and manage-
ment.
Linking Human Resource Strategy
Human resource strategy is the means that the organization chooses to make the most
effective use of its HR programs and activities to satisfy organizational needs. Impor-
tant steps in this process parallel those in organizational strategy making: (1) deter-
mining the purpose, goals, and objectives of the HR function; (2) scanning the
external environment to identify future threats and opportunities affecting HR inside
and outside the organization; (3) appraising the organization’s present HR strengths
and weaknesses; (4) examining the range of HR strategies available; (5) choosing an
HR strategy that is likely to support the organizational strategy; (6) implementing
HR strategy through changes in such programs as training, selection, compensation,
benefits, and labor relations; and (7) evaluating HR strategy periodically for how well
it supports organizational strategy.
Unfortunately, efforts to integrate HR strategy and organizational strategy have
met with only mixed success. As Golden and Ramanujam write, ‘‘the lack of integra-
tion between human resource management (HRM) and strategic business planning
(SBP) processes is increasingly acknowledged as a major source of implementation
failures. It is often alleged that companies develop strategic plans based on extensive
marketing and financial data but neglect the human resource requirements necessary
to successfully implement them.’’7 Numerous theories have been developed over the
years to identify ways to link organizational and HR strategy.8 However, little evidence
exists to show that great strides have been made in this area.9
To link HR planning and SP&M, decision makers should examine how HR poli-
cies and practices help or hinder leadership continuity, individual advancement, and
the cultivation of internal talent. Specifically:
‘ How does the organization conduct recruitment, selection, and placement?
How much consideration is given during this process to long-term retention
and development of prospective or new employees?
‘ How does the organization conduct training, education, and development?
How much (relative) attention is given to the long-term cultivation of em-
ployee talent, as opposed to focusing attention on training individuals to meet
immediate requirements?
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‘ How well do existing compensation and benefit practices support internal
placement? Transfers? Promotions? Are actual disincentives established to dis-
suade employees from wanting to accept promotions or assume leadership
roles?
‘ How do existing labor relations agreements affect the organization’s promo-
tion, rotation, transfer, and other employment practices?
To integrate HR strategy and SP&M, examine existing HR program efforts—such
as selection, training, compensation, and benefits—to ensure that they support meet-
ing SP&M needs. Identify HR practices that could encourage or that presently dis-
courage effective SP&M. Then take active steps to ensure that HR practices facilitate,
not impede, long-term efforts to groom talent from within.
Benchmarking Best Practices and Common Business
Practices in Other Organizations
Discussions with top managers and other key decision makers in an organization
should yield valuable information about the needs that an SP&M program should
meet. But that information can be supplemented by benchmarking SP&M practices
in other organizations. Moreover, the results of benchmarking may intensify the in-
terests of key decision makers in SP&M because they may see that other organizations
are using more effective methods. As Robert C. Camp explains, ‘‘Only the approach
of establishing operating targets and productivity programs based on industry best
practices leads to superior performance. That process, being used increasingly in U.S.
business, is known as benchmarking.’’10
Benchmarking has also been used in recent years as a powerful tool for improving
organizational work processes and is frequently associated with Total Quality Man-
agement (TQM). Its primary value is to provide fresh perspectives and points for
comparison from other organizations. It can thereby accelerate the process of intro-
ducing a state-of-the-art program by comparing existing practices in one organization
to the best practices already in use elsewhere.
Although benchmarking can be conducted by various means, Camp suggests that
it should be carried out in the following way:11
1. Identify what is to be benchmarked.
2. Identify comparable companies.
3. Determine a data collection method and collect data.
4. Determine the current performance gap.
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124 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
5. Project future performance levels.
6. Communicate benchmark findings and gain acceptance.
7. Establish functional goals (based on the results of the benchmarking study).
8. Develop action plans (based on the results of the benchmarking study).
9. Implement specific actions and monitor progress.
10. Recalibrate benchmarks.
Typically, then, benchmarking begins when decision makers make a commitment.
They clarify their objectives and draft questions for which they seek answers. Compa-
rable organizations, often but not always in the same industry, are chosen. A suitable
data collection method is selected, and written questionnaires and interview guides
are frequently used. Site visits (field trips) are arranged to one or more organizations
identified as being best-in-class.
Benchmarking should not be pursued as a fishing expedition; rather, it should be
guided by specific objectives and questions. Participants should start out with some
familiarity with the process, such as SP&M practices. (They may have to be briefed
before participating in a site visit.) Several key decision makers should go on the site
visits so that they can compare practices in other organizations with their own. That
is an excellent way, too, to win over skeptics and to demonstrate that ‘‘the way we
have always done it here’’ may not be the best approach.
Most Fortune 500 companies are well-known for their effective succession plan-
ning and management practices. Blue-chip firms such as Motorola, Xerox, IBM,
AT&T, General Electric, Coca-Cola, and General Motors—among others—are recog-
nized for conducting effective succession planning and management, and they may
rightly be considered best-in-class companies. Appropriate contacts at these organiza-
tions should be located through such professional societies as the Human Resource
Planning Society (P.O. Box 2553, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163), the
American Management Association (1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019), the
American Society for Training and Development (1640 King Street, Alexandria, VA
22313), or the Society for Human Resource Management (606 N. Washington Street,
Alexandria, VA 22314).
Always develop questions before making a site visit. (See the list of possible
benchmarking questions in Exhibit 5-7.) Then contact representatives from two or
three of those organizations and ask if benchmarking visits to their locations are
possible. If so, send them the questions in advance of the visit so that they have time
to prepare their responses. Sometimes they will ask to see the questions in advance
before they commit to a visit.
It may be difficult to arrange benchmarking visits on SP&M. Many organizations
consider the process sensitive to their operations and revealing of their corporate
strategies. Consequently, one approach is to seek access to organizations where you
(text continues on page 128)
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Exhibit 5-7. Interview Guide for Benchmarking Succession Planning and
Management Practices
Directions: Use this interview guide to help you prepare questions in advance of a
benchmarking visit to another organization. Share these questions before your visit
to an organization known for its effective SP&M practices. (Add questions as appro-
priate for your organization.) Pose the questions appearing in the left column below.
Then record notes in the right column. Use the results in formulating a proposal for
improving SP&M practices in your organization.
Questions Notes on Responses
1. What mission statement has been established
for succession planning and management in
your organization?
2. What goals and objectives have been estab-
lished for succession planning and manage-
ment in your organization?
3. What policy and philosophy statement has
been written to guide succession planning and
management in your organization? (Would it
be possible to obtain a copy?)
4. How does your organization define key posi-
tions? What positions, if any, are given special
attention in your succession planning pro-
gram? Why are they given that attention?
(continues)
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126 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 5-7. (continued)
5. How does your organization identify, describe,
or clarify the requirements of key positions?
(For example, has your organization made an
effort to identify job responsibilities, competen-
cies, or success factors by level?)
6. How does your organization assess current job
performance for succession planning and
management purposes? (Do you use the orga-
nization’s existing performance appraisal sys-
tem—or something else?)
7. Does your organization use replacement charts
based on the current organization chart? (If
not, why?)
8. How does your organization determine the
qualifications, requirements, or competencies
for each key position in the future?
9. How does your organization attempt to inte-
grate succession planning and management
with organizational strategy? With human re-
source strategy?
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Questions Notes on Responses
10. How does your organization identify successors
for key positions?
11. How does your organization identify high-
potential employees (who are capable of
advancing two or more levels beyond their
current placement)?
12. How does your organization establish individ-
ual development plans (IDPs) to plan, guide,
and accelerate the development of high-
potential employees?
13. What special programs, if any, has your orga-
nization established to accelerate the develop-
ment of high-potentials?
14. What special computer software, if any, does
your organization use in its succession plan-
ning and management activities? Why was it
chosen?
15. How does your organization evaluate the re-
sults of succession planning and management
activities?
(continues)
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128 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 5-7. (continued)
16. What special problems has your organization
encountered with succession planning and
management? How have those been solved?
or others in your company have personal contacts. If necessary, begin with local
organizations that have successfully established SP&M programs. Identify them by
talking to your peers in local chapters of the American Society for Training and
Development (ASTD), the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), or
other professional societies.
Obtaining and Building Management Commitment
Securing management commitment to systematic SP&M may not occur rapidly.
Skeptics are difficult to convince in short order. It will take time and proof of tangible
evidence of success to win them over.
Opinions About Succession Planning and Management
My 2009 survey of SP&M practices revealed sharp disparities in opinions about sys-
tematic SP&M programs. Examine Exhibit 5-8. Then consider how you would answer
those questions about top management opinions in your organization. Turn then
to Exhibit 5-9, and consider how you would characterize your own opinions about
systematic SP&M in comparison to other HR professionals.
Understanding How to Secure Management Commitment
To understand how to secure management commitment, Diane Dormant’s classic
ABCD model remains a helpful tool.12 ‘‘ABCD’’ is an acronym based on the first
letter of several key words. Dormant’s model suggests that large-scale organizational
change—such as the introduction of a systematic SP&M program—can be under-
stood by examining adopters (who is affected by the change?), blackbox (what is the
change process?), change agent (who is making the change?), and domain (the change
context).13
The most valuable feature of Dormant’s model is her view that different strategies
are appropriate at different stages in the introduction of a change. The change agent
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Exhibit 5-8. Opinions of Top Managers About Succession Planning and
Management
Question: How would you summarize the opinions of top managers in your organi-
zation about a succession planning program? Circle all response codes below that
apply.
Opinion Frequency Percentage (%)
They don’t believe succession planning is
worth the time required for it. 3 13.0
They have no clue why such a program
might be worthwhile. 1 4.3
They believe that a succession planning
program is worthwhile but are not aware of
how to manage it efficiently and
effectively. 6 26.1
They believe a succession planing
program is worthwhile and that a formal
program is better than an informal program. 10 43.5
I don’t know what they think about a
succession planning program. 0 0.0
Other opinions 3 13.0
Total 23 100.0
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
should thus, to facilitate change, take actions that are keyed to the adopter’s stage in
accepting an innovation.
Dormant believes that adopters progress through five identifiable stages in accept-
ing an innovation.14 During the first stage—awareness—adopters have little informa-
tion about the innovation. They are passive and are generally unwilling to seek
information. In that stage, change agents should advertise the innovation, making
efforts to attract attention and provide positive information.
In the second stage—self-concern—adopters are more active. They express con-
cern about how they will be individually affected by a change and pose questions
about the consequences of an innovation. Change agents in this stage should enact
the role of counselor, answering questions and providing relevant information.
In the third stage—mental tryout—adopters remain active and ask pointed ques-
tions related to their own applications of an innovation. Change agents should enact
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Exhibit 5-9. Opinions of Human Resource Professionals About Succession
Planning and Management
Opinion Frequency Percentage (%)
I don’t believe such a program is important. 1 5.0
I believe that other methods work better in
identifying and preparing possible successors. 1 5.0
I believe a succession planning program is
worthwhile but other programs are now
important for this organization right now. 1 5.0
I believe a succession planning program is
important. 4 20.0
Succession planning is critically important
to this organization at this time. 12 60.0
Other opinions 1 5.0
Total 20 100.0
Comments:
• Succession planning that emphasizes planning and does not spend time and effort creating an
appropriate culture will fail. We believe in creating a leadership culture and in providing people at
all levels with the skills necessary to lead. This creates an environment where the best leaders will
rise to the top in an environment that values leadership.
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
the role of demonstrators, providing relevant examples and demonstrating to adopt-
ers how they may apply an innovation to their unique situations.
In the fourth stage—hands-on trial—adopters are interested in learning how to
apply an innovation to their own situations. Their opinions about the innovation are
being formed from personal experience. Change agents should provide them with
training and detailed feedback about how well they are applying the innovation. Testi-
monials of success will be persuasive during this stage, helping to shape the conclu-
sions reached by the adopters about an innovation.
Adoption is the fifth and final stage. By this point, adopters have integrated the
innovation into their work and are interested in specific problem solving that is re-
lated to their own applications. Change agents should provide personal support, help
adopters find the resources they need to perform effectively, and provide rewards for
successful implementation.
Applying these stages to the process of obtaining and building management sup-
port for systematic SP&M should be apparent. The appropriate strategies that change
agents should use depend on the stage of acceptance. (See Exhibit 5-10.)
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Exhibit 5-10. Actions to Build Management Commitment to Succession
Planning and Management
Stage of Acceptance Appropriate Actions
Awareness � Advertise SP&M to management employees.
� Provide general information about SP&M.
Self-Concern � Answer questions.
� Provide relevant information.
Mental Tryout � Provide relevant examples of applications of
SP&M policy/practices to specific functions or activities
within the organization.
� Demonstrate how SP&M may be used in each organi-
zational area.
Hands-on Trial � Offer training on SP&M.
� Meet with top managers individually to discuss SP&M
in their areas.
� Collect and disseminate testimonials of success.
Adoption � Provide personal support to top managers on applica-
tions of systematic SP&M.
� Help program users perform effectively through indi-
vidualized feedback and counseling.
� Identify appropriate rewards for SP&M.
An important point to bear in mind is that a succession planning program will
be effective only when it enjoys support from its stakeholders. Indeed, the stakehold-
ers must perform SP&M for it to work. In short, they must own the process. Hence,
obtaining and building management commitment to SP&M is essential for a system-
atic program to work.
The Key Role of the CEO in the Succession Effort
The CEO’s role in the SP&M process is the key to success—or failure—in private-
sector organizations. Let me state it clearly: It is a make-or-break role. Though it may
seem that CEOs are asked to be involved in everything, which is sometimes interpre-
ted to mean ‘‘give lip service to it and then delegate it,’’ SP&M does not fall in that
category. To put it bluntly, if the CEO is not hands-on involved in leading the succes-
sion effort, it will fail. SP&M cannot be delegated to the HR department, for the
simple reason that HR cannot hold senior executives accountable for talent develop-
ment in the same way that the CEO can. Well-known CEOs, like former GE Chairman
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132 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Jack Welch, devote much of their time to thinking about and acting on succession
issues.15
Fortunately, several factors have come together to put SP&M on the CEO’s per-
sonal radar screen. One is that boards of directors are becoming more involved with
succession. In fact, succession planning has become the second most important topic
discussed by boards. (At the top of the list is making sure that the right chief executive
is in place to begin with.) The frequency with which chief executives come and go
adds to the pressure. The average chief executive’s tenure has dwindled in the past
decade from eight years to fewer than five. That leaves little time to groom the next
generation. Big companies rarely pick from outside because doing so is usually a sign
that they are in trouble. So, for the board, drawing up a succession plan is a good way
to spot future problems. But there are advantages for the boss, too. After all, one way
to secure a sort of immortality is to pick one’s own successor. In most companies, the
succession process is controlled mainly by the chief executive. Yet many CEOs are
uncooperative, partly because they hate the idea of retirement.
Even Disney now listens. Sarah Teslik, executive director of the Council of Institu-
tional Investors, a lobbying group, says that she has demanded for years that Disney
draw up a succession plan, but Michael Eisner, the company’s domineering CEO, has
refused to allow it. When she talked to senior Disney executives two months ago, they
assured her that a plan now existed, although they refused to say what it is. Ms. Teslik
thinks that behavior has been changed by the insistence in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
that boards meet in ‘‘executive session’’—that is, without the executives present. ‘‘I
personally asked Mr. Sarbanes for this provision for that purpose,’’ she recalls. ‘‘How
can directors talk about your succession while you are in the room?’’16
A survey of boardroom practice by Korn/Ferry International, another search con-
sultancy, found that only 33 percent of boards had a management succession commit-
tee or process in 2001. By 2009, that had leapt to 77 percent.
A second factor is that aging senior executives have placed personal pressure on
CEOs to pay attention to succession, lest they find themselves saddled with the work-
load of a retiring senior executive while harried HR staff try to source a qualified
replacement. A third factor is that terrorism has made succession a prudent risk-
management issue—one sure to be brought up by increasingly cautious auditors.
But what exactly should CEOs do? Here are some practical suggestions:
1. Discuss the issue with the board, his or her key reports, and the vice president
of HR to decide what succession program would be most desirable for the
organization. Of course, that information can be gathered by an external con-
sultant—often a good idea—and then handed to the CEO in a report that
recommends actions and next steps.
2. Become familiar enough with issues associated with succession to be able to
discuss the topic intelligently. That includes otherwise arcane topics—to CEOs
at least—such as competency modeling.
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Making the Case for Major Change 133
3. Insist on an action plan that senior executives can buy into.
4. Hold senior executives accountable for grooming talent in their divisions and
departments, perhaps by changing the executive bonus plan to put a portion
of the bonus at risk for making or not making measurable goals for talent
development.
5. Chair periodic meetings of senior executives to discuss how they are grooming
talent—and especially HiPos—in their areas.
Of course, CEOs can do much more, but they must be convinced of the impor-
tance of SP&M to do anything. Just as a basis for reflection, rate your CEO on his or
her role in SP&M, using the simple rating sheet in Exhibit 5-11.
The Key Daily Role of Managers in the Succession Effort
A common problem is that operating managers at all levels are unclear about, or they
utterly reject, what their roles should be in the SP&M program. Some managers,
unfortunately, think that succession is a top-management or HR challenge, something
they are powerless to influence on a daily basis. Even if managers accept that they do
have an important daily role to play in SP&M, often they do not know what it is or
else claim they lack the time to do it.
The point is that managers at all levels have a daily responsibility to get the work
out and to build the competencies of their reports so that they are promotable. To
that end, senior organizational leaders must establish accountabilities for talent devel-
opment at all levels. Managers may, for instance, be measured through their key
performance indicators on how many promotable workers they attract, develop, and
retain in their areas of responsibility.
It is worth emphasizing that operating managers actually have the most important
daily role to play because what they do influences workers’ decisions to stay, to leave,
or to develop themselves. Managers also influence, through the encouragement they
give or hold back, how workers see and feel about themselves.
Sustaining Support for the Succession Effort
Because many SP&M programs fail after they are launched, the organization’s leaders
must plan for sustainability as they start up a program. There are several ways to do
that.
First, because CEO turnover has reached record levels, top-management champi-
ons of SP&M programs should plan for their own successors and for future champi-
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134 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 5-11. Rating Your CEO for His or Her Role in Succession Planning
and Management
Directions: For each item listed in the left column below, check a box in the right
column to indicate whether your organization’s CEO is actively performing success-
fully. Be honest.
The CEO of My Organization: Yes No
Takes a hands-on approach to succession issues. � �
Sets a positive example by choosing his or her own � �
successor.
Sets a positive example by developing his or her own � �
successor.
Considers succession issues whenever he or she � �
makes business decisions of strategic import.
Discusses his or her thinking about succession issues � �
with others.
Holds managers accountable for succession issues. � �
Holds managers accountable for developing talent. � �
Rewards managers for developing talent. � �
Chairs ‘‘talent shows’’ of the organization in which � �
the developmental needs of promising people are
discussed and by which senior managers are held ac-
countable for developing the people they have.
Total Score Number Number
( Add up the yes and no boxes and then insert the of Yes of No
sums where indicated at right. Obviously, the more Boxes Boxes
yes boxes your CEO has, the closer his/her role is to
being successfully engaged in the succession plan-
ning and management efforts of your organization.)
ons to lead the way by supporting the programs. That is very important: Programs
fail commonly because they lose their champion at the top.
Second, HR leaders should back up themselves. HR turnover at the top is also
high as many organizations undergo HR transformation. Sometimes the HR leader
who has been coordinating the SP&M program is replaced. When that happens, some
provision should have been made beforehand to prepare an in-house backup.
It is very important to involve all managers in the organization in making succes-
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Making the Case for Major Change 135
sion part of the taken-for-granted aspects of the corporate culture.17 That issue can
be proposed and discussed in management retreats and in similar settings to come up
with ways to ensure sustainability at a time when so many SP&M programs fail for
the lack of it. Indeed, many times low retention rates, high turnover among good
employees, and poor job performance are due to employees’ dissatisfaction with their
managers.18 To create better relationships with their employees, managers should: (1)
establish shared goals and job relevance, (2) guarantee substantial knowledge and
resources, and (3) provide effective communication.19 When managers convey a bet-
ter understanding of goals, employees feel valued, making for better communication
and teamwork. To create more knowledgeable employees, managers need to provide
continuous training that stresses employee relationships, personal development, and
organizational needs. Effective interaction gives both managers and employees an
opportunity to learn and collaborate, leading to greater employee satisfaction.
Summary
When preparing to introduce a systematic succession planning program, begin by
assessing the organization’s current succession planning and management problems
and practices, demonstrating the business need for SP&M, determining the organiza-
tion’s unique succession planning and management requirements, linking the succes-
sion planning and management program to the organization’s strategic plans and
human resource plans, benchmarking succession planning and management proc-
esses in other organizations, and obtaining and building management commitment.
It is also important to clarify the roles of key stakeholder groups—such as the CEO,
HR leaders, and managers—and to plan for the long-term sustainability of SP&M
programs.
This chapter has reviewed these steps and demonstrated ways to make the case
for change. The next chapter emphasizes the importance of clarifying the roles of each
level of management in the succession planning and management program; develop-
ing a program mission statement, policy, and philosophy; identifying target groups;
and setting program priorities.
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C H A P T E R 6
jjj
Starting a Systematic Program
An organization should be ready to start a systematic succession planning and man-
agement program once the case has been persuasively made that one is needed. Start-
ing such a program usually involves making decisions about where, with whom, and
how to start and about:
‘ Taking such actions as conducting a risk analysis and building a commitment
to change.
‘ Determining roles in the SP&M program.
‘ Formulating a mission statement.
‘ Writing a program policy.
‘ Clarifying the procedures.
‘ Identifying groups targeted for action.
‘ Defining the roles in the SP&M program of the CEO, senior managers, and
others.
‘ Setting program priorities.
This chapter focuses on these issues.
Strategic Choices of Where and How to Start
Refer to the Quick Start Guide at the opening of this book for ideas about ways to get
started fast in setting up a succession planning program.
Note that there is more than one right way to get started in a systematic SP&M
program. The real question is to clarify what business needs it will meet and to get
top managers in agreement on the program objectives. Many programs fail simply
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Starting a Systematic Program 137
because top managers are not of one mind about what they want. And, of course, if
they do not agree on what they want, you cannot possibly satisfy them.
Novices at SP&M programs usually want to start at the top, beginning with the
CEO and senior leaders. Some organizations stop there. Others extend it farther down
on the organization chart in time. A top-down approach is the riskiest because an
SP&M program needs logistical support—HR staff with the credibility and expertise
to coordinate efforts and an HR information system (HRIS) that is robust enough to
support data gathering and record keeping—especially as a program is extended to
the relatively large numbers of middle managers and frontline managers. But there
are alternatives to starting at the top.
One is to start with a hot spot, a place ‘‘in pain.’’ That could be a division, a
department, or a work unit that is especially important to the business (as engineering
is to manufacturing) and that is experiencing higher-than-desired turnover, is losing
high potentials, or is expecting a higher percentage of people eligible for retirement
than other divisions or departments. Starting with one place usually allows pilot-
testing and can enjoy the support of managers in that area because it deals with a
recognized problem, either currently or in the future.
A second alternative is to start with solving the problem of knowledge transfer—
that is, technical succession planning—rather than focusing on management succes-
sion planning. That will usually appeal more to CEOs who come from technical areas,
such as engineering.
A third option is to start with solving the problem of passing on social contacts—
that is, social relationship succession planning—rather than focusing on management
or technical areas. That will appeal to certain groups, such as sales and marketing, in
which personal relationships are sometimes key to getting business results.
There are other options, of course. It all boils down to what problems the organi-
zation is experiencing that can be best solved by an SP&M program and how much
long-term agreement that can be gained from decision makers to implement such a
program. Lacking business needs or clarity of goals, you will find it difficult to launch
and sustain an SP&M program.
Conducting a Risk Analysis and Building
a Commitment to Change
Where do an organization’s leaders begin in conducting a risk analysis or in building
a commitment to change? These are, of course, related questions.
A risk analysis is simply an assessment of what level of risk an organization faces
owing to the loss of key people. (Key people exist at all levels and not just at the top.)
The risk analysis is conducted in one of several ways. An example has been mentioned
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138 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
earlier in this book. First, the organization’s payroll system is used to project the
estimated dates of retirement eligibility for the entire workforce. Second, the percent-
age of the whole organization eligible for retirement over rolling three-year periods is
assessed. Third, the same analysis is done by job code, geographical location, func-
tional area or department, and hierarchical level. The aim is to cast a wide net, looking
for special trouble spots where high percentages of a whole group, such as the entire
accounting department or the St. Louis office, for example, would be eligible for
retirement during, say, a three-year period. Use three-year periods because problems
may not surface in a single year. But if the cumulative percentage of the retirement-
eligible workforce over a rolling three-year period is high—say, over 50 percent—then
you can mark it as a trouble spot and move on.
The goal of this exercise is to find parts of the organization with high risks of
losing people. Though skeptical managers may not see a need for a succession pro-
gram for an entire organization, they can be convinced to do something if they foresee
losing a high percentage of the entire workforce in an affected area. And the person
likely to be most interested is the supervisor or manager of that group.
There are other ways to do risk analysis. Sometimes they can be just as effective
and persuasive to decision makers. For instance:
‘ Do What-If Scenarios. Pose questions to decision makers. How long would it
take to replace a key person owing to sudden death, disability, or resignation?
And what would the organization do in the meantime to ensure that the work
gets done? Ask decision makers to estimate the economic or other impacts
that would result from the sudden loss of a key person at any level.
‘ Do Historical Studies. Look to the past. Ask what key people losses the organi-
zation has experienced in the past. How long did it take to find a replacement,
and how well did that replacement work out? (I have found that the sudden
loss of a handpicked successor for the CEO’s job is sometimes a most persua-
sive way to launch an SP&M program, for the simple reason that the CEO
feels the pain personally and will not suffer in silence for long.)
‘ Build Awareness. Prepare a simple visual aid with the organization chart show-
ing, in red, the percentage of people at risk of loss owing to retirement; prepare
another visual aid that shows the years of experience at risk of loss in key
departments.
Other approaches to building persuasive cases for action are possible. Data and
measurements can help. Just think: What data are most likely to convince decision
makers of the need to establish a succession program, and how can that data be
gathered? Then set out to collect the information, analyze it, and present it to decision
makers. Do not forget, however, that decision makers, once convinced of the need
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Starting a Systematic Program 139
for action, will expect you to have in hand a proposal for action about how to get
started on the SP&M program.
Clarifying Program Roles
What are roles? How can roles in an SP&M program be clarified so that organizational
members know what they should do to support the effort? This section answers these
questions.
Understanding Roles
A role is an expected pattern of behaviors and is usually linked to a job in the organiza-
tion. Although most organizations outline responsibilities in job descriptions, few job
descriptions specify how job incumbents should carry out their duties or interact
with others. However, roles do permit such clarification. Indeed, ‘‘a role may include
attitudes and values as well as specific kinds of behavior. It is what an individual must
do in order to validate his or her occupancy of a particular position.’’1
Role theory occupies a central place in writings about management and organiza-
tions. Internalizing a role has often been compared to the communication process.
(See Exhibit 6-1.) Role senders (role incumbents) bring to their roles expectations
about what they should do, how they should do it, and how they should interact with
others. Their expectations are influenced by their previous education, experience,
values, and background, as well as by what they are told about the role during the
recruitment, training, and selection process. Role receivers—others in the organization
with whom role senders interact—observe these behaviors and draw conclusions from
Exhibit 6-1. Model for Conceptualizing Role Theory
Role senders
(with
internalized
expectations
about their
role).
Take
action.
Role receivers
(with
internalized
expectations
for the role).
Interpret
action. Provide
feedback
about match
or mismatch
with role
expectations.
Feedback may change role senders’ expectations.
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140 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
them based on their own expectations. They provide feedback to indicate whether the
behavior matches what they expect. That feedback, in turn, may affect the role send-
ers’ expectations and behaviors.
To complicate matters, individuals play more than one role in organizations. For
instance, they may serve as superiors, colleagues, and subordinates. They may also
have roles outside the organization, such as spouse, parent, child, citizen, churchgoer,
or professional. Each role may carry its own culturally bound expectations for be-
havior.
Enacting multiple roles can lead to role conflict. For example, supervisors may be
expected by their employers to act in the best interests of the organization, and so
they must occasionally make hard-eyed business decisions. On the other hand, super-
visors may also be expected to represent the interests and concerns of their subordi-
nates to the employer. To cite another example, human resource managers may
perceive their role to be facilitative and feel that they should provide advice to operat-
ing managers as they decide on HR issues. But operating managers may expect them
to act forcefully and proactively on their own, spearheading new initiatives and taking
steps to avert future HR problems. In both examples, conflicting expectations may
lead role incumbents to experience pressure and frustration. Effective performance is
influenced by congruence in role expectations. Role senders can achieve desired re-
sults only when they know what they are expected to do and when role receivers make
their expectations clear.
Applying Role Theory to Succession Planning and Management
As role theory indicates, performance is influenced by shared role expectations. As
one step in establishing systematic SP&M, clarify program roles so that individuals
throughout the organization are aware of what they are expected to do and how they
are expected to behave.
At the outset, direct attention to the roles needs to be enacted by three important
groups: (1) management employees, (2) program facilitators, and (3) program parti-
cipants. These roles may overlap. In each case, however, it is important to bring to
the surface what group members already believe about their roles in SP&M, feed
that information back to them, provide information about alternative roles, and seek
consensus on desirable roles.
Think of the roles of management employees as ranging along a continuum from
active to passive and along another continuum from supporter to opponent. (See the
grid in Exhibit 6-2 to help conceptualize those roles.) Management employees who
take an active role believe that SP&M should occupy much of their time. Like CEO
superhero Jack Welch when he was running GE, they are willing to roll up their sleeves
and devote personal time to developing people. They should be defining present work
requirements, planning for future work requirements, appraising individual perform-
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Exhibit 6-2. Management Roles in Succession Planning and Management:
Grid
Active � Champions succession � Opposes succession
planning efforts vigor- planning vigorously.
ously. � Views management’s
Level of � Views management’s role as one geared to
Effort role as one geared to making profits—even
developing and motiva- when that means demot-
ting people. ivating people.
Passive � Expresses general sup- � Prefers to devote time to
port for succession plan- other activities.
ning, with reservations
about some approaches.
� Wishes more ‘‘study’’
and ‘‘analysis’’ to be
conducted.
Supporter Opponent
Level of Support
ance, assessing individual potential, planning for individual development, and partici-
pating in developmental activities. On the other hand, management employees who
take a passive role believe that issues other than SP&M should occupy their time. A
supporter sees systematic SP&M as a valuable activity; an opponent has reservations
about it.
Think of facilitators’ roles as ranging along a continuum from directive to nondi-
rective. Facilitators who take a directive role indicate what they expect from those
participating in a systematic SP&M program. They then attempt to enforce these
expectations, providing briefings, training, or written directions to help others under-
stand what they are supposed to do. Operating managers and top managers who are
assigned responsibilities as SP&M coordinators may adopt that role, particularly dur-
ing the start-up phase when many may be confused about what they are supposed to
do.
On the other hand, facilitators who take a nondirective role attempt to identify
what various stakeholders want from the program and what behaviors the stakehold-
ers believe to be associated with the desired program results. They collect information
from stakeholders, feed it back to them, and help them establish their own roles and
action plans. Much time may be spent individually, helping managers and employees
at different levels understand what their roles should be.
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142 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Participant roles range along a continuum from aware to unaware and along an-
other continuum from organizationally focused to personally or individually focused.
Participants are those tapped by the organization to be involved in the SP&M process,
usually designated to be developed for one or more future positions. They may be
aware or unaware that they have been so designated. They may be focused on satisfy-
ing their personal needs in the future (an individual focus) or on satisfying the organi-
zation’s needs (an organizational focus).
To clarify roles, ask managers, facilitators, and participants to answer the follow-
ing questions:
‘ What are you presently doing to help the organization meet its succession
needs in the future?
‘ How much time are you personally devoting to this activity?
‘ What should you do to help the organization establish a systematic SP&M
program to meet succession needs in the future?
‘ What do you believe should be the roles of managers and employees in sup-
porting an effective SP&M program in the organization?
Pose these questions in group or staff meetings or circulate them in written sur-
veys as appropriate. (If neither approach will work owing to a desire to keep an SP&M
program ‘‘secret,’’ then ask top managers these questions and ask how roles to sup-
port SP&M may be clarified at other levels in the organization.)
In many cases it helps to codify roles by creating role descriptions. Like job descrip-
tions, these clarify the expectations for key stakeholder groups in the SP&M program.
Role descriptions can be prepared for the CEO, other top managers, HR professionals,
operating managers, and even individuals. In that way, accountabilities are made
clear, and people can be held accountable for getting results in line with their roles.
Formulating a Mission Statement
Why is the organization undertaking a systematic succession planning program? What
outcomes do stakeholder groups desire from it? These questions should be answered
during the program start-up phase in order to achieve agreement among stakeholders
about the program’s purpose and desired results.
The lack of a mission statement has been called the Achilles’ heel of SP&M pro-
grams. As Mahler and Drotter pointed out years ago, these programs have too often
been established without careful thought given to purpose or desired outcomes.
‘‘Company after company,’’ they write, ‘‘rushed into program mechanics. Time went
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Starting a Systematic Program 143
by and disillusionment set in. The programs did not live up to their promises.’’2 The
reason for this, they believe, is that the program mission was never adequately clarified
at the outset.
What Is a Mission Statement?
A mission statement describes the purpose of a program or the reason for its exis-
tence. Sometimes it is called a purpose statement. Mission and purpose may be regarded
as synonymous.
Formulating a mission statement is a first step in organizational planning. Writers
on organizational strategy suggest that formulating an organizational mission should
precede formulating strategy. An organizational mission statement answers a number
of questions: Why is the organization in business? What results is it trying to achieve?
What market does it serve? What products or services does it offer?
Mission statements may also be formulated for organizational functions (such as
operations, finance, marketing, or personnel), divisions, locations, or activities. At
sublevels within the organization, mission statements for functions, divisions, loca-
tions, or activities should answer such questions as these:
‘ Why does the function, division, location, or activity exist?
‘ How does it contribute to achieving the organization’s mission? Its strategic
plans?
‘ What outcomes or results are expected from it?
Mission statements may also provide philosophical statements (What do we be-
lieve?), product or service descriptions (What is to be made or sold?), customer de-
scriptions (Whose needs are to be served?), and rationale (Why is the mission worth
performing?).
What Questions Should Be Answered by a Mission Statement?
Like any organizational effort, an SP&M program should have a mission statement to
explain why it exists, what outcomes are desired from it, why those outcomes are
valuable, what products or services will be offered, who will be served by the program,
and other issues of importance. However, mission statements for SP&M programs
will vary across organizations. After all, not all programs are designed to serve the
same purpose, achieve the same results, or offer the same products or services. So
what specific issues should a mission statement address?
One way to answer that question is to focus on issues of particular importance to
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144 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
the organization. In that way, decision makers will formulate the program’s mission.
Such issues are:
‘ What is a key position?
‘ What is the definition of a high potential (HiPo)?
‘ What is the organization’s responsibility in identifying HiPos, and what
should it be?
‘ What is the definition of an exemplary performer?
‘ What is the organization’s responsibility in identifying and rewarding exem-
plary performers? What should it be?
‘ How should the organization fill key positions?
‘ What percentage of vacancies in key positions should be filled from within?
From outside? Handled through other means?
‘ What percentage of key positions should have at least one identifiable backup
(successor)?
‘ In what percentage of key positions should there be holes (that is, no desig-
nated successors)?
‘ What is the maximum time that exemplary performers should remain in their
positions?
‘ What should be the maximum allowable percentage of avoidable turnover
among high potentials? Exemplary performers? What should be done to re-
duce it?
‘ What should be the maximum allowable percentage of failures in key posi-
tions after individual advancement?
‘ What percentage of key positions should be filled with employees from legally
protected labor groups—such as women, minorities, and the disabled?
‘ How desirable are international assignments for designated successors?
‘ How should HiPos be prepared for advancement?
‘ What should be the role and responsibility of each employee and the HR
department in the process of developing HiPos?
‘ How much should individual career goals be exposed, considered, and tracked
in succession planning?
‘ How openly should the organization communicate with individuals who are
identified to be HiPos about their status?
Of course, additional questions may also be posed to help clarify program pur-
pose. Use the worksheet appearing in Exhibit 6-3 to clarify the mission of SP&M in
an organization.
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Exhibit 6-3. Worksheet to Formulate a Mission Statement for
Succession Planning and Management
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you formulate the mission of the succession
planning and management (SP&M) program in your organization. For each ques-
tion posed in the left column, write an answer in the right column. When you finish,
circulate the worksheet among decision makers. Compile their responses and then
feed them back as a catalyst for subsequent decision making about the mission
statement of the succession planning and management program in the organiza-
tion. Add paper or questions appropriate to your organization as necessary.
Questions Answers
1. What is a key position?
2. What is the definition of a high-
potential (HiPo)?
3. What is the organization’s responsi-
bility in identifying HiPos, and what
should it be?
4. What is the definition of an exem-
plary performer?
5. What is the organization’s responsi-
bility in identifying and rewarding
exemplary performers? What
should it be?
6. How should the organization fill key
positions?
7. What percentage of vacancies in
key positions should be filled from
within? From without? Handled
through other means?
8. What percentage of key positions
should have at least one identifi-
able backup (successor)?
9. In what percentage of key positions
should there be holes (that is, no
designated successors)?
(continues)
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146 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-3. (continued)
Questions Answers
10. What is the maximum time that ex-
emplary performers should remain
in their positions?
11. What should be the maximum al-
lowable percentage of avoidable
turnover among high-potentials?
Exemplary performers? What
should be done to reduce it?
12. What should be the maximum al-
lowable percentage of failures in
key positions after individual ad-
vancement?
13. What percentage of key positions
should be filled with employees
from legally protected labor
groups—such as women, minori-
ties, and the disabled?
14. How desirable are international as-
signments for designated succes-
sors?
15. How should HiPos be prepared for
advancement?
16. What should be the role and re-
sponsibility of each employee and
the HR Department in the process
of developing HiPos?
17. How much should individual career
goals be surfaced, considered, and
tracked in succession planning?
18. How openly should the organiza-
tion communicate with individuals
who are identified to be HiPos
about their status?
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Starting a Systematic Program 147
19. Write a draft mission statement for
the succession planning and man-
agement program of the organiza-
tion in this space. Be sure to answer
these questions: (1) Why does the
program exist? (2) How does it con-
tribute to achieving the organiza-
tion’s mission and strategic plans?
and (3) What measurable out-
comes or results should be ex-
pected from it?
How Is a Mission Statement Prepared?
Prepare a mission statement by using any one of at least three possible approaches:
‘ Ask, formulate, and establish.
‘ Recommend and listen.
‘ Facilitate an interactive debate.
In the ask, formulate, and establish approach, someone takes an initial step by
asking questions about succession planning in the organization. That launches a dia-
log to establish the program mission. Often that duty falls to human resource general-
ists, human resource development specialists, or management development
specialists, although others—such as the CEO, a vice president of human resources,
or a specially appointed SP&M coordinator—could function as change champions to
focus attention on the need for change. As a second step, change champions compile
the answers received from the decision makers. They then formulate and circulate a
proposal based on those answers. As a third and final step, decision makers hammer
out their own responses, using the proposal as a starting point. In so doing, they
establish a mission statement for an SP&M program.
A key advantage of this approach is that it requires little initial effort from busy
top managers. Others undertake the groundbreaking work to collect information
about SP&M, compile it, and base recommendations on it. (That is what officers in
the armed services call staff work.) On the other hand, a key disadvantage of this
approach is that executives do not participate in the information-gathering process,
so they will have no collective ownership in the results. A subsequent step is thus
required to capture their support and thereby achieve consensus on the necessary
actions to take.
The recommend and listen approach is different. It relies on considerable expertise
by the HR generalists, HRD specialists, or management and leadership development
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148 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
specialists. To use this approach, they must start out with a thorough grasp of the
organization’s culture, top management desires and values, and state-of-the-art
SP&M practices. From that perspective, they recommend a starting point for the pro-
gram, providing their own initial answers to the key questions about the program
mission listed in Exhibit 6-3. They prepare and circulate their recommendations for
a systematic SP&M program, usually in proposal form. Then they listen to reactions
from key decision makers, using the initial proposal as a catalyst to stimulate debate
and discussion.
The advantage of this approach is that it usually has a shorter cycle time than ask,
formulate, and establish. It also relies more heavily on expert information about state-
of-the-art SP&M practices outside the organization, thereby avoiding a tendency to
reinvent the wheel. But these advantages exist only when those using the approach
have a thorough grasp of the organization’s current SP&M problems and practices,
culture, decision-maker preferences, and state-of-the-art practices. Otherwise, it can
provoke time-consuming conflicts among decision makers that will only prolong ef-
forts to achieve top-level consensus.
The most complex approach is to facilitate an interactive debate. HR generalists,
HRD specialists, management and leadership development specialists, or others func-
tion as group facilitators rather than as expert consultants. The first step is to prepare
a forum for key decision makers to carry out an interactive debate about the SP&M
program’s mission. Though the forum’s content may be dictated by the CEO or even
by the board of directors, HR professionals set up the process for the debate. (Content
refers to the issues on which the forum will focus; process refers to the means by which
those issues are examined.) That usually means that the CEO and the HR professional
(or the CEO and an external facilitator) must work closely together to plot the best
means by which to explore the most important succession planning and management
issues. Such a debate may take the form of an offsite retreat lasting several days or
several meetings spread across several months. During the debate, top-level decision
makers work through numerous small group activities to clarify the mission, philoso-
phy, and procedures governing the SP&M program.
The second step is to summarize the results. Someone must prepare a written
statement that contains key points of agreement after the retreat or after each meeting.
That task usually falls to an HR professional or to an external facilitator, who prepares
a presentation or handout. However, the CEO or other top-level decision makers feed
these key points back to the retreat participants.
To ensure agreement, the third and final step is to conduct follow-up activities,
which may be conducted in several ways. One is to hold a follow-up meeting with the
participants to surface any points of confusion or disagreement. This can be done in
small groups (at the end of a retreat) or individually with participants (after the
retreat). Another way is to establish a top-level committee to govern SP&M in the
organization and/or at various levels or locations of the organization.
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Starting a Systematic Program 149
An interactive debate focuses initial attention on key issues that should be ad-
dressed to formulate a clear program mission statement. That is an advantage of the
approach. But it also requires much time and strong personal involvement from the
CEO and others. That is its chief disadvantage.
Writing Policy and Procedures
Why is the organization undertaking an SP&M program? What results are desired
from it? How can consistent program operations be ensured? Decision makers may
answer these questions by preparing written program policy and procedures.
What Is an SP&M Policy, and What Are SP&M Procedures?
Policy is a natural outgrowth of mission. Typically stated in writing, it places the
organization on record as supporting or opposing an approach to action. Procedures
flow from policy and provide guidelines for applying it. Writing a policy on SP&M
clarifies what the organization seeks to do; writing procedures clarifies how the policy
will be applied. Typical components of an SP&M policy include a mission statement,
philosophical statements, and procedures. A sample SP&M policy appears in Exhibit
6-4.
How Are Policies and Procedures Written?
Succession planning and management policy and procedures should usually be writ-
ten only after decision makers agree on program mission and goals. Crises, problems,
or issues of importance should provide clues about what to include in the policy and
procedures, and they will usually be implicit in the mission. As decision makers pre-
pare a mission statement, they will typically consider what may be rightfully included
in a written program policy and procedure.
In many cases, the appropriate approach to use in writing policies and procedures
stems from the approach used in preparing the mission statement. For instance, if an
ask and formulate approach was used in formulating the mission statement, then
prepare a draft SP&M policy and procedures to accompany the proposal submitted
to executives. If a recommend and listen approach was chosen, then draft an SP&M
policy and procedures to accompany the mission statement in the initial proposal to
management. If the approach chosen was to facilitate an interactive debate, then
committees in the organization will usually draft policy and procedures, oversee re-
finements, and issue updates or modifications to policy and procedures.
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150 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-4. Sample Succession Planning and Management Policy
Mission Statement
The purpose of the succession planning and management program in [company or
organization name] is to ensure a ready supply of internal talent for key positions at
all times. This organization is fully committed to equal employment opportunity for
all employees, regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or
disability.
Policy and Philosophy
It is the policy of the [company or organization name] to help employees develop to
the full extent of their potential and, to the extent possible for the organization, to
help them achieve realistic career goals that satisfy both individual and organiza-
tional requirements.
This organization is firmly committed to promotion from within, whenever qualified
talent is available, for key positions. This organization is also firmly committed to
helping employees develop their potential so that they are prepared and qualified
to assume positions in line with individual career goals and organizational require-
ments.
Procedures
At least once each year, the organization will sponsor:
� A replacement planning activity that will assess how well the organization is
positioned to meet replacement requirements by promotions or other per-
sonnel movements from within.
� Individual performance appraisal to assess how well individuals are meeting
their current job requirements.
� Individual potential assessment to assess how well individuals are presently
equipped for future advancement. Unlike performance appraisal—which is
typically focused on past or present performance—the focus of individual
potential assessment will be on the future.
� Individual development planning to provide the means for action plans to
help individuals narrow the developmental gap between what they already
know or can do and what they must know or do to qualify for advancement.
The succession planning and management program will rely heavily on the proc-
esses listed above to identify individuals suitable for advancement. The program will
work closely in tandem with an in-house career planning program, which is de-
signed to help individuals identify their career goals and take proactive steps to
achieve them.
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Starting a Systematic Program 151
Identifying Target Groups
Who should be the focus of the SP&M program? Should the program be geared to
top-level executive ranks only? Should it encompass other groups, levels, or parts of
the organization? Answering these questions requires decision makers to identify tar-
get groups.
Most of what has been written about SP&M programs has directed attention to
replacing top-level executive positions. Substantial research has been conducted on
SP&M for the CEO3; other writings have focused on the CEO’s immediate reports.
Relatively little has been written about SP&M for other groups, though many experts
on the subject concede that the need has never been greater for effective SP&M efforts
at lower levels. Indeed, interest in multiskilled, team-based management and cross-
training stems from the recognition that more time, resources, and attention must be
focused on systematically developing human capabilities at all levels and across all
groups.
The results of my 2009 survey on SP&M practices revealed that the respondents’
organizations are not consistently identifying and developing successors for all groups
in organizations. Successors for job incumbents are more routinely identified in some
job categories than in others. (See Exhibit 6-5.)
Establishing Initial Targets
Where exactly is the organization weakest in bench strength? The answer to that
question should provide a clue about where to establish initial targets for the SP&M
program. (See the activity in Exhibit 6-6. If necessary, circulate it to top managers, or
ask them to complete it in an initial program kickoff meeting or mission statement
retreat.)
Direct attention to three specific areas first because they are a common source of
problems: successors for top management positions; successors for first-line supervi-
sory positions; and successors for unique, tough-to-fill technical or professional posi-
tions.
Top management positions are the fewest in absolute numbers, but they are often
critically important for formulating and implementing organizational strategy. They
may grow weak in bench strength in organizations that experience significant em-
ployee reductions in the middle management ranks as a result of forced layoffs, em-
ployee buyouts, or early retirement offers.
Supervisory positions are the largest in absolute numbers, so continuing turnover
and other personnel movements leave these ranks subject to the greatest need for
replacements. As a port of entry to the management ranks, supervision is also criti-
cally important because many middle managers and executives start out in the super-
visory ranks. Supervisors are often promoted from the hourly ranks, lacking
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152 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-5. Targeted Groups for Succession Planning and Management
Succession planning may not carried out with all groups in an organization. For
each group listed below, indicate whether your organization makes a deliberate
effort to identify and develop successors.
Does your organization Does your organization
make a deliberate make a deliberate
effort to identify effort to develop
successors in this group? successors in this group?
Group Yes No Yes No
Executives 16 0 13 2
Middle managers 15 1 12 3
Supervisors 8 7 9 6
Professionals 9 6 9 6
Technical workers
(Engineer, computer
specialists) 6 10 7 8
Sales workers 1 12 3 10
Clerical and secretarial
workers 2 12 3 11
Hourly production or
service workers 2 11 0 13
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management
Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
management experience, or are hired from outside the organization. They are areas
of weakness in organizations that have not planned management development pro-
grams or that provide little or no incentive for movement into supervision, such
as organizations in which unionized hourly workers earn substantially more than
supervisors, who are ineligible for overtime pay but must work overtime anyway.
Tough-to-fill technical or professional positions are often limited in number. Man-
agers may be kept awake at night, tossing and turning, at the mere thought of losing
a member of this group because recruiting or training a successor on short notice is
difficult or nearly impossible.
Choose one group or all three as initial targets for the SP&M program if the
results of the activity in Exhibit 6-6 demonstrate the need. Otherwise, use the activity
results to identify the initial targets for the program. Verify the groups chosen with
decision makers.
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Starting a Systematic Program 153
Exhibit 6-6. Activity for Identifying Initial Targets for Succession Planning
and Management Activities
Directions: Use this activity to identify initial target groups for the SP&M program in
an organization. For each job category listed in the left column below, list the priority
(1 � highest priority) order in the center column. Then, in the right column, briefly
explain why the job category was assigned that level of priority. Circulate this activity
to decision makers and ask them to complete it. Compile the results and feed them
back to decision makers to emphasize what job categories were generally perceived
to be the rightful target for the SP&M program. Add paper as necessary. (If appro-
priate, modify the list of job categories so they coincide precisely with any special
labels/titles associated with them in the organization.)
List by
Priority Order
Job Category (1 � Highest) What Is Your Reasoning?
1. Executives
2. Individuals Preparing
for Executive Positions
3. Middle Managers
4. Individuals Preparing
for Middle Manage-
ment
5. Supervisors
6. Individuals Preparing
for Supervision
7. Professional Workers
8. Individuals Preparing to
Be Professional
Workers
9. Technical Workers
10. Individuals Preparing to
Become Technical
Workers
11. Sales Workers
12. Individuals Preparing to
Become Sales Workers
13. Clerical Workers
(continues)
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154 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-6. (continued)
List by
Priority Order
Job Category (1 � Highest) What Is Your Reasoning?
14. Individuals Preparing to
Become Clerical
Workers
15. Hourly Production or
Service Workers
16. Individuals Preparing to
Become Hourly Produc-
tion or Service Workers
17. Other Job Categories
Some other jobs—such as those in government relations, public relations, sales
and marketing—may be unique for the social relationships (personal contacts) en-
joyed by the job incumbents. When the incumbents leave for greener pastures, they
sometimes take with them key contacts with important people—suppliers, customers,
distributors, or other stakeholders of the organization—who may be essential to get-
ting the work done. That may require social relationship succession planning in which
experienced people with professional contacts and a network mentor possible succes-
sors to build the confidence that the successors will be as trustworthy as the individu-
als they replace.4
Expanding Succession Planning and Management to
Other Groups
Although the organization may have neither the time nor the resources to establish a
systematic SP&M program that encompasses all people and positions, decision mak-
ers may agree that such a goal is worth achieving eventually. For that reason, periodi-
cally administer Exhibit 6-6 to decision makers to assess which groups should be
targeted for inclusion and in what order.
Of course, decision makers may wish to prioritize groups in ways other than by
job category. For instance, they may feel that bench strength is weakest in any of the
following areas:
‘ Geographical locations
‘ Product or service lines
‘ Functions of organizational operation
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Starting a Systematic Program 155
‘ Experience with specific industry-related or product/service-related problems
‘ Experience with international markets
‘ Experience with key stakeholders outside the business
‘ Specialized knowledge, skills, or abilities that are not easily replaced through
external recruiting or internal placement
Ask decision makers about where they perceive the organization to be weak in
bench strength. Then target the SP&M program initially to improve strength at that
level. While continuing efforts at that level, gradually extend the effort to include
other groups.
Clarifying the Roles of the CEO,
Senior Managers, and Others
What roles should be played in the SP&M program by the CEO, senior managers, the
HR program, individuals, and other groups?
The Roles of the CEO and Other Senior Managers
As noted in Chapter 5, the CEO’s role in the success of an effective SP&M program
is of make-or-break importance. If the CEO is willing to provide hands-on involve-
ment, the program begins with an excellent chance of success. On the other hand, if
he or she classifies SP&M as something that everyone else should do, then the pro-
gram begins with the hallmarks of a disaster in the making. Only the CEO can hold
other senior executives accountable for grooming talent, and only he or she can re-
ward or punish them for their results. The VP of HR cannot do that.
An excellent starting point is to sit down with the CEO and ask:
‘ What role do you want to play in SP&M?
‘ Why do you want to play that role?
‘ What results do you want to see from the SP&M program?
‘ What role do you think you should play in helping to achieve those results?
Given the answers, HR staff or others may prepare a role description of what part
the CEO wants to play. The same approach may be used with other senior managers.
By clarifying expected roles—and the actions associated with them—accountability is
being established. That is particularly important for CEOs themselves because their
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156 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
turnover is at record highs as boards of directors lose patience and expect miraculous
results fast.5
The Role of the HR Department
What should be the role of the HR department in the SP&M effort? The reality is that
many roles are possible. And if the role of HR is not clarified, it can wreak havoc on
the effort as expectations clash with realities.
In most organizations, including best practice firms, HR’s role is coordinative.
The term coordinative basically means that: (1) Someone in HR is given responsibility
for collecting information and following up to gather it for the SP&M effort; (2)
the HR function must also supply the technology to support data gathering about
individuals, organizational needs, present and future competencies, present perform-
ance and future potential, individual development plans, competency development
strategies, and so on.
A common problem in starting SP&M programs is that HR has no staff available
or at least not staff with sufficient credibility. Another problem is that the HR function
is lacking the infrastructure to support a succession program: the technology, compe-
tency models, working performance management systems, 360-degree assessment
tools (or other methods of assessing potential), individual development plans (IDPs),
or anything else needed for the effort.
There is no simple solution to this problem. Someone must be assigned the re-
sponsibility—someone who is an exemplary performer in HR, perhaps even a HiPo,
because that person must have credibility with the CEO, senior managers, and even
board members. That HR person must then receive training on succession. Though
many HR people end up self-taught on this topic, it is still helpful to send the assigned
person to whatever training might be available.
The Role of Individuals
Of course, other useful questions to ask—and ones that are too often lost in the
shuffle of thinking about getting the SP&M program up and rolling—are these:
‘‘What roles should individuals play in developing themselves for the future?’’ and
‘‘How do we discover what career goals people have set for themselves for the future?’’
It should not be assumed, of course, that everyone wants to be promoted. Some
people look at what their bosses go through and say ‘‘No, thanks.’’ Decision makers
must learn sensitivity to the desire for work-life balance, a topic of growing interest.
Career planning programs can, of course, be very helpfully integrated with SP&M
programs in this respect.
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Starting a Systematic Program 157
The Roles of Other Stakeholders
The board of directors may want to play a role in the organization’s succession effort.
If so, board members must be asked what role they want to play. Perhaps even a
board committee will be established to oversee succession, and this approach is rec-
ommended because it focuses the attention of the CEO and other senior leaders on
the issue, ensuring accountability. And it also helps to protect shareholder interests,
at least in companies whose stocks are traded, against the devastating impact of a
sudden loss of key people such as the CEO or other senior leaders.6
Setting Program Priorities
Much work needs to be done to establish a systematic SP&M program, but rarely, if
ever, can it be accomplished all at once. Someone has to set program priorities, both
short term and long term. That may be done by top-level decision makers, by a full-
or part-time SP&M coordinator, or by a committee representing different groups or
functions within the organization.
Initial priorities should be set to address the organization’s most pressing prob-
lems and to rectify the most serious weaknesses in bench strength. Subsequent priorit-
ies should be set to reflect a long-term plan for systematic SP&M in the organization.
In addition to the activities already described in this chapter—such as clarifying
roles, formulating a mission statement, writing a program policy, clarifying program
procedures, and identifying the program’s targeted groups—other actions have to be
undertaken. Priorities should be established on what actions to take—and when—
depending on the organization’s needs. These activities include:
‘ Preparing an action plan to guide program start-up
‘ Communicating the action plan
‘ Training managers and employees for their roles in the systematic SP&M pro-
gram
‘ Organizing kickoff meetings and periodic briefing meetings to discuss the pro-
gram
‘ Counseling managers on handling unique succession planning problems, such
as dealing with poor performers, managing high performers, grooming and
coaching high potentials, addressing the special problems of plateaued work-
ers, and managing workplace diversity
‘ Defining present and future work requirements, processes, activities, responsi-
bilities, success factors, and competence
‘ Appraising present individual performance
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158 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
‘ Assessing future individual potential
‘ Providing individuals with the means by which to carry out career planning
within the organization
‘ Tracking performance and potential
‘ Preparing and following through on individual development plans to help
close gaps between what people know or do and what they must know or do
in the future to qualify for advancement and ensure leadership continuity
‘ Tracking innovative efforts to meet replacement needs
‘ Establishing effective approaches to evaluating the benefits of systematic
SP&M
‘ Designing and implementing programs geared to special groups (such as high-
potentials, plateaued workers, high performers, or low performers) or to meet
special needs (such as reducing voluntary turnover of key employees after
downsizing, handling cultural diversity, using succession planning in autono-
mous work teams, and integrating SP&M with such other organizational ini-
tiatives as quality or customer service)
Depending on an organization’s unique needs, however, some issues may demand
immediate attention and action.
Take this opportunity to consider program priorities in the organization, using
the activity in Exhibit 6-7 to establish initial priorities. If you are the coordinator of
the SP&M program, you may choose to circulate the activity to key decision makers
for their reactions, feed back the results to them, and use their reactions as a starting
point for setting program priorities. Alternatively, share the activity with the standing
committee on SP&M in the organization, if one exists. Ask committee members to
complete the activity and then use the results as a basis for setting initial program
priorities. Revisit the priorities at least annually. Gear action plans according to the
established program priorities.
Addressing the Legal Framework
Legal issues should not be forgotten in SP&M, especially with employee complaints
filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the increase
in recent years. Those responsible for formulating and implementing an SP&M pro-
gram should familiarize themselves with government laws, rules, regulations, and
other requirements—both in the United States and, if the company does business
internationally, in other nations. Competent legal advice should be sought when the
organization’s decision makers have reached agreement on the goals and objectives of
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Starting a Systematic Program 159
Exhibit 6-7. Activity for Establishing Program Priorities in Succession
Planning and Management
Directions: Use this activity to help establish priorities for the succession planning
program in an organization. For each activity listed in the left column below, set a
priority by circling a number for it in the right column. Use the following scale:
1 � A top priority that should be acted on now
2 � A secondary priority that is important but that can wait awhile for action
3 � A tertiary priority that should only be acted on after items prioritized as 1
or 2 have received attention
Circulate this activity among decision-makers as appropriate. If you do so, compile
their responses and then feed them back as a catalyst for subsequent decision mak-
ing. Add paper as necessary. (You may also wish to add other activities of interest.)
Priority
Top Secondary Tertiary
Activity 1 2 3
1. Preparing an Action Plan to Guide Program
Start-Up 1 2 3
2. Communicating the Action Plan 1 2 3
3. Training Managers and Employees for
Their Roles in the Systematic Succession
Planning Program 1 2 3
4. Organizing Kickoff Meetings and Periodic
Briefing Meetings to Discuss the Program 1 2 3
5. Counseling Managers on Handling Unique
Succession Planning Problems 1 2 3
6. Defining Present and Future Work Require-
ments, Processes, Activities, Responsibili-
ties, Success Factors, and Competencies 1 2 3
7. Appraising Present Individual Performance 1 2 3
8. Assessing Future Individual Potential 1 2 3
9. Providing Individuals with the Means by
Which to Carry Out Career Planning
Within the Organization 1 2 3
(continues)
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160 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-7. (continued)
Priority
Top Secondary Tertiary
Activity 1 2 3
10. Tracking Performance and Potential 1 2 3
11. Preparing, and Following Through on, Indi-
vidual Development Plans (IDPs) 1 2 3
12. Using, and Tracking, Innovative Efforts to
Meet Replacement Needs 1 2 3
13. Establishing Effective Approaches to Evalu-
ating the Benefits of Systematic Succession
Planning 1 2 3
14. Designing and Implementing Programs
Geared to Meeting Special Needs 1 2 3
15. Other (specify) 1 2 3
the SP&M program. Additionally, employers should take special care to avoid real or
perceived employment discrimination of all kinds. Private sector employers should
also take care to ensure that SP&M programs are consistent with company human
resource policies and procedures as described in company documents (such as em-
ployee handbooks or policy and procedure manuals). Public sector employers falling
under state or federal civil service rules should double-check their program descrip-
tions to ensure that SP&M programs are consistent with policies and procedures
governing hiring, promotion, training, and other policies.
A complex web of employment law exists at the federal level in the United States.
Key national employment laws are summarized in Exhibit 6-8. Under the supremacy
clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal laws take precedence over local laws unless no
federal law exists or federal law specifically stipulates that local laws may be substi-
tuted. In addition to national labor laws, each state, county, and municipality may
enact and enforce special laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances affecting employment
in a local jurisdiction. Any or all of these legal requirements may influence succession
planning and management practices.
Of special importance to SP&M programs is the Uniform Guidelines on Em-
ployee Selection Procedures. Private sector employers must ensure that all employ-
ment decisions are in compliance with these procedures. If they do not do so, they
may risk a grievance under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a
right-to-sue letter when mediation efforts with the EEOC fail. Public sector employers
(text continues on page 167)
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Starting a Systematic Program 161
Exhibit 6-8. U.S. Labor Laws
Name of Law
and Date of
Enactment Legal Citation Brief Description of Key Provisions
Davis-Bacon 40 U.S.C. and The Davis-Bacon Act applies to federal con-
Act (1931) sect; 276 et struction and repair contracts over $2,000.
seq. The Act requires contractors to pay their em-
ployees a specified minimum wage deter-
mined by the Secretary of Labor to be
prevailing for similar work in that geographic
area. Over 60 other federal laws make com-
pliance with Davis-Bacon provisions a precon-
dition for state and local contracts when a
portion of the funding for those contracts
comes from the federal government. The Act is
enforced by the Wage and Hour division of the
Department of Labor.
The National 29 U.S.C. and The National Labor Relations Act protects the
Labor Relations sect; 151 et right of employees to choose whether to be
Act (Wagner seq. represented by a union. The Act protects
Act and Taft- against coercion by employers or unions in
Hartley Act) making this choice and establishes the ground
(1947) rules for union representation elections. The
Act establishes collective bargaining between
employers and unions. The Act is enforced by
the National Labor Relations Board.
Fair Labor Stan- 29 U.S.C. and The Fair Labor Standards Act provides mini-
dards Act sect; 201 et mum wage and overtime requirements. Under
(1938) seq. the FLSA all nonexempt employees are entitled
to cash overtime for all hours worked over 40
in a workweek. The Act is enforced by the
Wage and Hour Division of the Department of
Labor and private lawsuits.
Labor- 29 U.S.C. and The Labor-Management Reporting and Dis-
Management sect; 401 et closure Act, or the Landrum-Griffin Act, estab-
Reporting and seq. lishes a set of rights for employees who are
Disclosure Act members of unions. They include the right to
(Landrum- vote, attend meetings, meet and assemble with
Griffin Act) other members, and freely express views and
(1959) opinions. The Act also requires all labor
(continues)
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162 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-8. (continued)
Name of Law
and Date of
Enactment Legal Citation Brief Description of Key Provisions
unions to adopt a constitution and bylaws, and
contains certain reporting requirements for
labor organizations, their officers, and em-
ployees. This Act is enforced by the Office of
Labor Management Standards of the Depart-
ment of Labor.
Contract Work 40 U.S.C. and This Act sets a standard 40-hour workweek for
Hours Safety sect; 327 et employees of federal contractors and regu-
Standards Act seq. lates work in excess of the standard week in-
(1962) cluding the requirement to pay overtime. The
Act is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division
of the Department of Labor.
Equal Pay Act 29 U.S.C. and The Equal Pay Act prohibits discrimination in
(1963) sect; 201 et pay and benefits on the basis of sex for jobs in
seq. the same establishment that require equal skill,
effort, and responsibility and that are per-
formed under similar working conditions. The
Act is enforced by the Equal Employment Op-
portunity Commission.
Title VII of the 42 U.S.C. and Title VII makes it unlawful for an employer with
Civil Rights Act sect; 2000 et 15 or more employees to discriminate against
(1964) seq. individuals with respect to hiring, compensa-
tion, terms, conditions, and privileges of em-
ployment on the basis of race, color, religion,
national origin, or sex. Title VII is enforced by
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-
sion.
Executive 42 U.S.C.A. Executive Order 11246 prohibits job discrimi-
Order 11246 and sect; nation by employers holding Federal contracts
(1965) 2000e or subcontracts on the basis of race, color, sex,
national origin, or religion and requires af-
firmative action to ensure equality of opportu-
nity in all aspects of employment. The Order is
enforced by the Office of Federal Compliance
Contract Programs of the Department of
Labor.
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Starting a Systematic Program 163
Service Con- 41 U.S.C. and This Act is analogous to the Davis-Bacon Act
tract Act (1965) sect; 351 et in the area of service contracts performed by
seq. private companies doing work for the federal
government. The Act requires contractors that
provide services to the federal government to
provide their employees a specified minimum
wage and fringe benefits plan determined by
the Secretary of Labor to be prevailing in the
locality. The Act is enforced by the Wage and
Hour Division of the Department of Labor.
Age Discrimi- 29 U.S.C. and The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, or
nation in Em- sect; 621 et ADEA, makes it unlawful for an employer with
ployment Act seq. 20 or more employees to discriminate against
(1967) individuals that are 40 years or older, with re-
spect to hiring, compensation, terms, condi-
tions, and privileges of employment on the
basis of age. The Act is enforced by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission.
Federal Coal 30 U.S.C. and This Act empowers the Secretaries of Labor
Mine Health sect; 801 et and Health and Human Services to promul-
and Safety Act seq. gate health and safety standards for the mining
(1969) industry. The Act is enforced by the Mine Safety
and Health Administration of the Department
of Labor.
Occupational 29 U.S.C. and The Occupational Safety and Health Act, or
Safety and sect; 553, 651 OSHA, requires all employers to provide a
Health Act et seq. workplace that is free from recognized hazards
(1970) that cause, or are likely to cause, death or seri-
ous physical harm to employees. The Act also
establishes the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration, which is responsible for
promulgating workplace safety standards and
regulations for various industries. The Act is
enforced by the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration.
Rehabilitation 29 U.S.C. and The Rehabilitation Act prohibits employers that
Act (1973) sect; 701 et receive federal grants, loans, or contracts from
seq. discriminating in their employment practices
against individuals with disabilities. The Act is
enforced by the Department of Labor.
(continues)
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164 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-8. (continued)
Name of Law
and Date of
Enactment Legal Citation Brief Description of Key Provisions
Employee 29 U.S.C. and The Employment Retirement Income Security
Retirement In- sect; 301, Act, or ERISA, governs the operation of pen-
come Security 1001 et seq. sions and retirement benefits provided by pri-
Act (1974) vate sector employers to their employees. The
Act does not require that employers provide
such benefits, but regulates the conduct of em-
ployers that do provide such plans. The Act is
enforced by the Pension and Welfare Benefits
Administration of the Department of Labor.
Vietnam Era 38 U.S.C. and VEVRAA makes it unlawful for employers to
Veterans’ sect; 4301 et discriminate against veterans of the Armed
Readjustment seq. Forces in their employment practices. It also
Assistance Act provides veterans with certain reemployment,
(1974) seniority, health benefits, and pension rights
with respect to prior employment. The Act is
enforced by the Office of Veterans Employ-
ment and Training of the Department of Labor.
Black Lung 30 U.S.C. and This Act provides benefits to coal miners who
Benefits Reform sect; 901 et are totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis
Act (1977) seq. and to the surviving dependents of miners
whose death was a result of this disease. The
Act is enforced by the Office of Workers’ Com-
pensation Programs of the Department of
Labor.
Labor- 29 U.S.C.A. The Labor-Management Cooperation Act en-
Management and sect; 141 courages the establishment and operation of
Cooperation note, 173, joint labor-management activities designed to
Act (1978) 175a improve labor relations, job security, and or-
ganizational effectiveness. The Act authorizes
the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Ser-
vice to provide assistance, contracts, and
grants to joint labor-management committees
that promote these purposes.
Pregnancy Dis- 42 U.S.C. and The PDA, a 1978 amendment to Title VII of the
crimination Act sect; 2000 et 1964 Civil Rights Act, makes it unlawful for an
(1978) seq. employer to discriminate on the basis of preg-
nancy or childbirth. The Act is enforced by the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
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Starting a Systematic Program 165
Multi-Employer 29 U.S.C. and This Act regulates the operation of multi-
Pension Plan sect; 1001a et employer pension plans and provides protec-
Amendments seq. tion and guarantees for the participants and
Act (1980) beneficiaries of distressed plans. The Act is en-
forced by the Pension and Welfare Benefits Ad-
ministration of the Department of Labor.
Job Training 29 U.S.C. and This Act creates Private Industry Councils com-
Partnership Act sect; 1501 et posed of business owners and executives as
(1982) seq. well as representatives of organized labor to
assist state and local governments in the devel-
opment and oversight of job training pro-
grams. The Act is enforced by the Employment
and Training Administration of the Department
of Labor.
Migrant and 29 U.S.C. and This Act governs the terms and conditions of
Seasonal sect; 1801 et employment for migrant and seasonal agricul-
Agricultural seq. tural workers and regulates the employment
Protection Act practices of agricultural employers, agricul-
(1983) tural associations, and farm labor contractors.
The Act is enforced by the Wage and Hour Di-
vision of the Department of Labor and by pri-
vate lawsuits.
Immigration 29 U.S.C. and The Immigration Reform and Control Act, or
Reform and sect; 1802 et IRCA, requires employers to verify that appli-
Control Act seq. cants for employment are authorized to work
(1986) in the United States. The Act provides civil and
criminal penalties for knowingly employing un-
authorized aliens and also prohibits discrimi-
nation based on national origin or citizenship
if the alien is authorized to work. The Act is
enforced by the Department of Justice and the
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Economic Dis- 29 U.S.C. and This Act provides federal funds to the states for
location and sect; 1651–53 basic readjustment and retraining of workers
Worker Adjust- et seq. who have been terminated because of layoffs
ment Assistance or plant closures and who are unlikely to return
Act (1988) to their previous occupations. The Act is man-
aged by the Employment Standards Adminis-
tration of the Department of Labor.
(continues)
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166 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Exhibit 6-8. (continued)
Name of Law
and Date of
Enactment Legal Citation Brief Description of Key Provisions
Employee Poly- 29 U.S.C. and This Act makes it unlawful for an employer to
graph Protec- sect; 2001 et require, request, suggest, or cause an em-
tion Act (1988) seq. ployee or applicant to submit to a lie detector
test. In addition, it prohibits the employer from
threatening or taking any adverse employment
action against an employee or applicant who
refuses to take a lie detector test. The Act is
enforced by a private right of action in the fed-
eral district courts.
Worker Adjust- 29 U.S.C. and The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifi-
ment and sect; 2101 et cation Act, or WARN, requires employers with
Retraining No- seq. 100 or more employees to give 60 days ad-
tification Act vance notice to employees of impending plant
(1988) closings or layoffs involving 50 or more em-
ployees. The Act is enforced by private law-
suits.
Whistleblower 10 U.S.C. and The Whistleblower Protection statutes protect
Protection sect; 2409; 12 employees of financial institutions and govern-
Statutes (1989) U.S.C.; 1831j; ment contractors from discriminatory and re-
31 U.S.C. and taliatory employment actions as a result of
sect; 5328; 41 reporting violations of the law to federal au-
U.S.C. and sect; thorities. The Act is enforced by the Wage and
265 et seq. Hour Division of the Department of Labor.
Americans with 42 U.S.C. and The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA,
Disabilities Act sect; 12101 et makes it unlawful for an employer with 15 or
(1990) seq. more employees to discriminate against quali-
fied individuals with disabilities with respect to
hiring, compensation, terms, conditions, and
privileges of employment. The Act is enforced
by the Equal Employment Opportunity Com-
mission.
Older Workers 29 U.S.C. and This amendment to the Age Discrimination in
Benefit Protec- sect; 623 et Employment Act makes it unlawful for an em-
tion Act (1990) seq. ployer to discriminate with respect to employee
benefits on the basis of age. It also regulates
early retirement incentive programs. The Act is
enforced by the Equal Employment Opportu-
nity Commission.
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Starting a Systematic Program 167
Civil Rights Act 42 U.S.C. and The Civil Rights Act of 1991 amended the
(1991) sect; 1981 et 1964 act, and the Americans with Disabilities
seq. Act (ADA), to allow compensatory and punitive
damages, but places caps on the amounts that
can be awarded. The Act also provides for jury
trials in suits brought under these laws.
Family and 29 U.S.C. and The Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA,
Medical Leave sect; 2601 et requires that employers with 50 or more em-
Act (1991) seq. ployees provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid
leave, within any 12-month period, to employ-
ees for the care of a newborn or adopted
child, for the care of a seriously ill family mem-
ber, or for treatment and care of the employ-
ee’s own serious medical condition. The Act is
enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of
the Department of Labor.
Congressional 2 U.S.C. and When many of the above laws were enacted,
Accountability sect; 1301 et Congress was expressly exempted from com-
Act (1995) seq. pliance. The Congressional Accountability Act
extends coverage of eleven laws to Congress
in its capacity as an employer.
Source: Originally downloaded from Labor Policy Association. (1997). U.S. Employment Laws. Website: http://www.lpa.org/lpa/
laws.html. Washington, D.C.: Labor Policy Association. See also http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/guide.htm.
may find themselves subject to different standards established by the applicable
branch of government.
Establishing Strategies for Rolling Out the Program
As an increasing number of employers begin to implement SP&M programs, they
face dilemmas in how to roll them out—a frequent issue for consultants specializing
in this area. I advise my clients to start at the top, with the CEO. The CEO is the real
customer who must be satisfied, and it is wise to ‘‘follow the generations’’ in a rollout
strategy; that is, begin with the CEO and select his or her immediate successors
first—a simple replacement strategy. The CEO and his immediate reports—that is,
the senior executive team—should be next. That, too, is a simple replacement plan.
However, as internal consultants from human resources or as external consultants
work with the senior executive team, they begin to understand what issues are impor-
tant in such a program and experience it firsthand. Their involvement and participa-
tion ensure their ownership and understanding. Next, middle managers are included.
That is a third-generation plan. As middle managers are included, the program for-
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168 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
mulated by the senior executives is fire-tested with middle managers. That sets the
stage for the talent pools and skill inventories that characterize generation-four and
generation-five plans.
Of particular importance is the communication strategy, another issue that
should be addressed separately from the action plan. The CEO and senior executives
should pay careful attention to how the SP&M programs are described to middle
managers and other stakeholders. If they do not give special attention to the commu-
nication strategy, so as to make the business goals and the policies and procedures
clear, they risk broadscale failure. Human resource practitioners cannot do it all. They
need to work with the CEO and senior executive team—and sometimes with external
consultants as well—to craft a communication strategy that explains how the SP&M
program works and why it exists.
Summary
Starting up a systematic SP&M program usually requires an organization’s decision
makers to:
‘ Conduct a risk analysis and build a commitment to change.
‘ Clarify the desired program roles of management, employees, facilitators, and
participants.
‘ Prepare a program mission statement.
‘ Write a program policy and procedures.
‘ Identify groups targeted for program action, both initially and subsequently.
‘ Clarify the roles of the CEO, senior managers, and others.
‘ Establish program priorities.
‘ Address the legal framework in succession planning and management.
‘ Plan strategies for rolling out a succession planning and management pro-
gram.
The next steps in starting the program are covered in the following chapter: pre-
paring a program action plan, communicating it, training management and employ-
ees for enacting their roles in the program, and conducting program kickoff meetings,
program briefing sessions, and counseling periods.
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C H A P T E R 7
jjj
Refining the Program
Beyond startup, some additional steps usually need to be taken before a systematic
succession planning and management program becomes operational:
‘ Preparing a program action plan
‘ Communicating the action plan
‘ Conducting SP&M meetings
‘ Training on SP&M
‘ Counseling managers to deal with SP&M issues uniquely affecting them and
their work areas
This chapter briefly reviews each of these topics, providing tips for effectively
refining an SP&M program in its early stages.
Preparing a Program Action Plan
Setting initial program priorities is only a beginning. Turning priorities into realities
requires dedication, hard work, and effective strategy. Preparing a program action
plan helps conceptualize the strategy for implementing systematic SP&M. An action
plan activates and energizes an SP&M program. It is a natural next step after setting
program priorities because it indicates how they will be met.
Components of an Effective Action Plan
An action plan is akin to a project plan. It answers all the journalistic questions:
‘ Who should take action?
‘ What action should they take?
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170 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
‘ When should the action be taken?
‘ Where should the action be taken?
‘ Why should the action be taken?
‘ How should action be taken?
In this way, an action plan provides a basis for program accountability.
How to Establish the Action Plan
Establishing an action plan takes several steps. First, list priorities. Second, indicate
what actions must be taken to achieve each priority. Third, assign responsibility for
each action. Fourth, indicate where the actions must be performed. Fifth and finally,
assign deadlines or time indicators reflecting when the actions should be completed
or when each stage of completion should be reached. The result of these steps should
be a concrete action plan to guide the SP&M program. (Fill in the worksheet appear-
ing in Exhibit 7-1 to clarify the program action plan.)
Communicating the Action Plan
Few results will be achieved if an action plan is established and then kept secret. Some
effort must be made to communicate the plan to those affected by it and to those
expected to take responsibility for implementing it. Communication is particularly
critical when an organization encounters the trough of a business cycle, such as a
recession. Indeed, a poll was conducted online between June and October 2008 with
a total of 704 mid- to senior-level executives from a wide range of industries and
functions. In that poll, Right Management found that a leader’s ability to communi-
cate effectively is critical in keeping employees from getting sidetracked with assump-
tions and speculation, which can be rife when workers might be expecting a
downsizing due to low sales. Right Management President and COO Douglas J. Mat-
thews recommends: ‘‘(1) When communicating, understand the unique needs of your
individual employees and that ‘one size does not fit all’; (2) Provide consistent and
open communication that informs on strategy, goals and current performance met-
rics; (3) Offer context so employees understand how they are contributing to the
success of the organization and how they can positively impact results going forward;
(4) Don’t make predictions, state facts; and (5) Be authentic, show compassion and
empathy.’’1
Problems in Communicating
Communicating about an SP&M program presents unique problems that are rarely
encountered in other areas of organizational operations. The reason: Many top man-
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Refining the Program 171
Exhibit 7-1. Worksheet for Preparing an Action Plan to Establish the
Succession Planning and Management Program
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you formulate an action plan to guide the
startup of an SP&M program in your organization. In column 1, list program priorit-
ies (what must be done first, second, third, and so on?) and provide a rationale (why
are these priorities?). In column 2, list what tasks must be carried out to transform
priorities into realities (how will priorities be achieved?). In column 3, assign respon-
sibility for each task. In column 4, indicate (if applicable) special locations (where
must the tasks be accomplished or the priorities achieved?). In column 5, assign
deadlines or time indicators.
Circulate this worksheet among decision makers—especially top-level managers
who are participating on an SP&M committee. Ask each decision maker to complete
the worksheet individually. Then compile their responses, feed them back, and meet
to achieve consensus on this detailed action plan. Add paper and/or priorities as
necessary.
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4 Column 5
Program Deadlines/
Priorities Time
and Rationale Tasks Responsibility Location(s) Indicators
(By when (How will pri- (Who is re- (Where must (Assign dead-
should each orities be sponsible for tasks be ac- lines or time
task be com- achieved?) each task?) complished, indicators.)
pleted? What if that is ap-
must be done plicable?)
in order of
importance,
and why are
these priori-
ties?)
agers are hesitant to share information about their programs widely inside or outside
their organizations. They are reluctant to share information outside the organization
for fear that succession plans will reveal too much about strategy. If an SP&M pro-
gram is closely linked to, and supportive of, strategic plans—and that is desirable—
then revealing information about it may tip off canny competitors to what the
organization intends to do.
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They are reluctant to share information inside the organization for fear that it will
lead to negative consequences. High-performing or high-potential employees who are
aware that they are designated successors for key positions may:
‘ Become complacent because they think advancement is guaranteed. This is
called the crown prince phenomenon.
‘ Grow disenchanted if organizational conditions change and their status as
successors is no longer assured.
‘ Hold themselves for ransom by threatening to leave unless they receive esca-
lating raises or advancement opportunities.
Of course, the opposite can also happen. If high potentials are kept unaware of
their status, they may seek advancement opportunities elsewhere. Equally bad, good
performers who are not presently identified as successors for key positions may grow
disenchanted and demotivated, even though they may already be demonstrating that
they have that potential. A poorly handled communication strategy can therefore lead
to increases in avoidable or critical turnover, thereby costing the organization pre-
cious talent and driving up training costs.
Choosing Effective Approaches
As part of the SP&M program, decision makers should review how the organization
has historically communicated about succession issues and consider how it should
communicate about the action plan. Establishing a consistent communication strat-
egy is vital.
Valuable clues about the organization’s historical communication strategy may be
found in how key job incumbents were treated previously and how wage and salary
matters are handled. If key job incumbents did not know that they were designated
successors before they were eligible for advancement or if the organization’s practice
has been not to publish salary schedules, then a closed communication strategy is
probably preferred: Information is kept secret, and successors are not alerted to their
status. On the other hand, if key job incumbents did know that they were designated
successors, then an open communication strategy is preferred: People are treated with
candor.
Choose an approach to communication based on the preferences of decision
makers. If their preferences seem unclear, ask questions to discover what they are:
‘ How, if at all, should employees be informed about the SP&M program? (For
instance, should the SP&M mission statement and/or policy and procedures
be circulated?)
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‘ How should the organization characterize the roles of employee performance
appraisal, individual potential assessment, and individual development plan-
ning in SP&M?
‘ How should decisions about individual selection, promotion, demotion,
transfer, or development in place be explained to those who ask?
‘ What problems will result from informing individuals about their status in
succession plans? What problems will result from not informing them?
‘ What problems will result from informing employees about the SP&M pro-
gram? What problems will result from not informing them?
Ultimately, the organization should choose a communication policy that is con-
sistent with the answers to these questions. Often the best approach is to communi-
cate openly about the SP&M program in general but to conceal the basis for
individual personnel actions in line with good business practice and individual pri-
vacy laws. Individuals should be strongly encouraged to develop themselves for the
future, but should understand at the same time that nothing is being promised; quali-
fying is a first step but does not in itself guarantee advancement.
Conducting Succession Planning
and Management Meetings
Rarely does an organization not need at least one meeting to lay the foundation for a
systematic SP&M program. Often, four meetings are necessary during startup: one of
top decision makers to verify the need for the program; a second, larger meeting to
seek input from major stakeholders; a third, smaller committee meeting of change
champions to hammer out a proposal to guide program startup; and a fourth meeting
to introduce the program and reinforce its importance to management employees
who will play critical roles in cultivating, nurturing, coaching, and preparing the
leaders of the future at all levels. Later, periodic meetings are necessary to review
program progress and ensure continuous improvement.
Meeting 1: Verifying the Need
In the first meeting, a handpicked group—usually limited to the ‘‘top of the house’’—
meets to verify that a genuine need exists to make SP&M systematic. In this meeting
it is common to review current practices and problems that stem from an informal
approach to SP&M. This meeting usually stems directly from a crisis or from the
request of one who wants to introduce a new way to carry out SP&M.
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174 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
Meeting 2: Seeking Input
In the second meeting, a larger group of key decision makers is usually assembled to
surface SP&M problems and to galvanize action. This meeting may take the form of
an executive retreat. Executives should properly be involved in the program formula-
tion process, since—regardless of the initial targeted group for the SP&M program
and its initial priorities—such a program has important strategic implications for the
organization. Despite recent moves to involve employees in organizational decision
making, it has long been held that executives have the chief responsibility for organi-
zational strategy formulation. That fact is borne out by numerous research studies of
executive roles.2 It is also consistent with the commonsense view that someone must
assume leadership when beginning new initiatives.3
Planning an executive retreat focused on SP&M should usually be a joint under-
taking of the CEO and a designated coordinator for the SP&M program. (The coordi-
nator may be the vice president of personnel or human resources, a high-level staff
generalist from the HR function, the training director, an organizational design direc-
tor, or a management development director.) A designated coordinator is needed
because busy CEOs, though they should maintain active personal involvement in the
SP&M program if it is to work, will seldom have the time to oversee daily program
operations. That responsibility should be assigned to someone, or it will be lost in the
shuffle of daily work responsibilities. Hence, naming a program coordinator is usually
advisable.
A designated coordinator may be selected from a high level of the line (operating)
management ranks, and that choice will be a necessity in small organizations not
having an HR function. The individual chosen for this responsibility should have:
‘ A strong commitment to SP&M.
‘ Considerable knowledge about the organization’s HR policies and procedures,
as well as applicable HR laws.
‘ Expertise in state-of-the-art management and leadership development and
human resource development practices.
‘ In-depth knowledge about the organization’s culture.
‘ Credibility with all levels of the organization’s management.
(It doesn’t hurt, either, if the individual is perceived to be a high potential in his
or her own right.)
The CEO and the SP&M coordinator should meet to hammer out an action plan
for the executive retreat focused on collecting input. The retreat should be held soon
after the CEO announces the need for a systematic SP&M program and names a
program coordinator. Invitations should be extended to the CEO’s immediate re-
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ports. The retreat should usually be held offsite, at a quiet and secluded location, to
minimize interruptions. The focus of the retreat should usually be on:
‘ Explaining the need for a systematic approach to SP&M.
‘ Formulating a (draft) program mission statement.
‘ Identifying initial target groups to be served by the program.
‘ Setting initial program priorities.
An executive retreat is worthwhile because it engages the attention and involve-
ment of key players in the organization’s strategic planning activities, thereby creating
a natural bridge between SP&M and strategic planning. The retreat’s agenda should
reflect the desired outcomes. Presentations may be made by the CEO, the SP&M
coordinator, and the vice president of HR. Outsiders may be invited to share informa-
tion about SP&M, including testimonials about succession programs in other organi-
zations, war stories about the problems that can result when SP&M is ignored, and
descriptions of state-of-the-art SP&M practices. An important component of any re-
treat should be small group activities geared to surfacing problems and achieving
consensus. (Many of the activities and worksheets provided in this book can be
adapted for that purpose, and the CD-ROM accompanying this book contains a
briefing on succession that is suitable for such a meeting.) In many cases, a retreat
will end when the CEO appoints a standing committee to work with the succession
planning coordinator to report back with a detailed program proposal.
In some organizations, the CEO or the SP&M coordinator may prefer the retreat
to be facilitated by third-party consultants. That is desirable if the consultants can be
located and if they possess considerable expertise in SP&M and in group facilitation.
It is also desirable if the CEO feels that third-party consultants will increase the credi-
bility and emphasize the importance of the program.
Meeting 3: Hammering Out a Proposal
A standing SP&M committee should be established to continue the program formula-
tion process begun in the executive retreat. A committee format is really the best
approach to (1) maintain high-level commitment and support, (2) conserve the time
required to review the fruits of the committee’s investigations, and (3) provide a
means for senior-level involvement in SP&M. The SP&M coordinator should be auto-
matically named a committee member, though not necessarily committee chair. If the
CEO can be personally involved—and that is highly desirable—he or she should be
the chair. Committee members should be chosen for their interest in SP&M, their
track records of exemplary performance, their proven ability to develop people, and
their keen insight into organizational culture.
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In most organizations, a committee of this kind should meet frequently and regu-
larly during program startup. Initial meetings should focus on investigating organiza-
tional SP&M needs, benchmarking practices in other organizations, and drafting a
detailed proposal to guide the SP&M program.
Meeting 4: The Kickoff Meeting
In the fourth meeting, the program is introduced to those previously involved in
the second meeting and any others, as appropriate. This is typically called a kickoff
meeting.
In most cases, this meeting should focus on program details and on the part that
the meeting participants should play to ensure program success. In short, a kickoff
meeting should seek answers to two questions: (1) What is the SP&M program in
the organization? (2) What do the participants need to do to make the program
successful?
When organizing a kickoff meeting, pay attention to the following questions:
1. Who will be invited?
2. What exactly should participants know or be able to do upon leaving the
meeting?
3. When should the kickoff meeting be held? For instance, would timing it to
follow a strategic planning retreat be desirable?
4. Where should the kickoff meeting be held? If maximum secrecy is desired, an
offsite location is wise.
5. Why is the meeting being held? If the aim is to reinforce the importance of
this new effort, then the CEO should usually be the keynote presenter.
6. How will the meeting be conducted?
Later, specific training on program details can be offered on establishing work re-
quirements, appraising present individual performance, assessing future individual
potential, establishing career goals, creating individual development plans (IDPs), and
using training, education, and development to help meet succession needs.
Meeting 5: Periodic Review Meetings
Conduct periodic review meetings after the succession planning program has been
established. These meetings should focus on such issues as:
‘ The linkage between SP&M and organizational strategic plans (that may be
handled during strategic planning retreats)
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‘ The progress made in the SP&M program
‘ Any need for revisions to the program’s mission statement, governing policy
and procedures, target groups, priorities, action plans, communication strate-
gies, and relevant training
‘ The status of succession issues in each organizational component, including
periodic meetings between the CEO and senior executives
The last of these should be familiar to executives in most major corporations.
Once a quarter, senior executives from each part of the corporation meet with the
CEO and a top-level committee to review the status of SP&M in that part of the
corporation. Common topics in such meetings are: (1) reviewing employee perform-
ance, (2) identifying and discussing high potentials, (3) discussing progress made on
individual development plans, and (4) addressing critical strengths and weaknesses
having to do with individual development. Such meetings serve to keep the SP&M
program on target and to emphasize its importance to senior executives, who should
be held accountable for people development as much as for market or financial devel-
opment.
Training in Succession Planning and Management
Implementing a systematic approach to SP&M requires new knowledge and skills
from those expected to cultivate the organization’s internal talent. Some means must
be found to train them so that they are efficient and effective in their new role.
Matching Training to Program Planning
Training to support SP&M should be designed to match program priorities. Indeed,
to plan training on SP&M, examine program priorities first, and use them as clues
for designing initial training efforts. In most cases, when organizations establish sys-
tematic SP&M, training should be undertaken to answer the following questions:
‘ What is the organization’s SP&M program? What are its mission, policy, pro-
cedures, and activities?
‘ What are the desirable roles of management employees, succession planning
and management facilitators, and individual employees in the SP&M pro-
gram?
‘ What is the organization’s preferred approach to clarifying present and future
work requirements? How should it relate to SP&M as a source of information
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178 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
about activities, duties, responsibilities, competencies, and success factors in
key positions?
‘ What is the organization’s performance appraisal system, and how should it
relate to succession as a source of information about individual job perform-
ance?
‘ What is the organization’s formally planned individual career planning pro-
gram (if one exists), and how does it relate to succession as a source of infor-
mation about individual career goals and aspirations?
‘ What is the organization’s potential assessment program (if one exists, as it
should), and how does it relate to succession as a source of information about
individual potential for future advancement?
‘ How do the organization’s training, education, and development programs
relate to preparing individuals for succession and advancement?
‘ What is an individual development plan? Why is planning for individual de-
velopment important? How should programs for individual development be
designed? Implemented? Tracked?
‘ How does the organization keep track of its human talent?
‘ How should the organization evaluate and continuously improve its SP&M
program?
‘ How should the organization handle special issues in SP&M—such as high
performers, high potentials, and plateaued workers?
‘ How should the SP&M program be linked to the organization’s strategy? To
HR strategy? To other plans (as appropriate)?
Refer to the draft training outlines appearing in Exhibit 7-2 and to the training
material provided on the CD-ROM accompanying this book as starting points for
developing in-house training sessions on SP&M. Note that such training should be
tailor-made to meet organizational needs. Another good resource is one of my recent
books on this topic and written for operating managers.4
As an alternative, decision makers may prefer to contract with qualified external
consultants to design and deliver training on SP&M for the organization. Such con-
sultants may be located through word-of-mouth referrals from practitioners in other
organizations, among those who have written extensively on SP&M, or through orga-
nizations listed on the Web. They are especially appropriate to use when in-house
expertise is limited, when external consultants will lend initial credibility to the pro-
gram, when the pressure is on to obtain quick results, or when in-house staff members
are unavailable. If decision makers decide to use external assistance, then the consul-
tants should be invited in for a day or two to discuss what assistance they can provide.
They should be asked for references from previous organizations with which they
(text continues on page 183)
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Exhibit 7-2. Sample Outlines for In-House Training on Succession Planning
and Management
Purpose
To provide an opportunity for skill-building on employee performance appraisal,
potential assessment, and individual development planning
Targeted Participants
Individuals, such as key position incumbents and immediate organizational superi-
ors of high-potentials, who have important roles to play in implementing the action
plan governing the succession planning program
Objectives
Upon completion of this training, participants should be able to:
1. Explain the organization’s business reasons for establishing an SP&M pro-
gram and the relationship between SP&M and strategic planning and
human resources planning.
2. Describe the mission, policy, procedures, and activities of the SP&M pro-
gram.
3. Review the roles and responsibilities of managers in preparing their em-
ployees to assume key positions in the organization.
4. Explain how the organization clarifies work requirements and identifies key
positions.
5. Explain the role of employee performance appraisal in SP&M and describe
the organization’s performance appraisal procedures.
6. Conduct effective employee performance appraisal interviews.
7. Explain the role of employee potential assessment in SP&M and describe
the organization’s procedures for potential assessment.
8. Conduct effective employee potential assessments.
9. Explain the role of individual development planning in SP&M and describe
the organization’s procedures for individual development planning.
10. Select and oversee appropriate internal development approaches.
11. Explain when promotion from within is—and is not—appropriate for filling
key vacancies.
12. Review the organization’s approach to inventorying human talent.
(continues)
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Exhibit 7-2. (continued)
Outline—Session 1
‘‘Introducing Succession Planning and Management’’
I. Introduction
A. Purpose of the session
B. Objectives of the session
C. Organization (structure) of the session
II. Defining Succession Planning and Management (SP&M)
A. What is it?
B. Why is it important generally?
III. Relating SP&M to the Organization
A. What are present organizational conditions?
B. What are the organization’s strategic plans/goals?
C. What are the organization’s human resources plans and goals?
D. What is the need for SP&M, given organizational strategy and human
resource plans?
IV. The Purpose of the SP&M Program
A. Mission
B. Policy
C. Procedures
D. Activities
V. Roles in SP&M
A. What should be the role of the immediate organizational superior?
B. What should be the individual’s role in SP&M?
VI. Defining Work Requirements
A. Job Analysis/Competency Models
B. Job Descriptions and Specifications/Competency Models
C. Other Approaches
VII. Identifying Key Positions
A. How are they defined?
B. Where are they located?
C. How will key positions change in the future—and why?
VIII. Conclusion
A. Summary
B. Action planning for on-the-job action
C. Session evaluations
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Outline—Session 2
‘‘Conducting Effective Employee Performance Appraisals for
Succession Planning and Management’’
I. Introduction
A. Purpose of the session
B. Objectives of the session
C. Organization (structure) of the session
II. Defining Employee Performance Appraisal
A. What is it?
B. Why is it important generally?
III. Relating Employee Performance Appraisal to SP&M
A. Approaches
B. Current method
C. Relationship between appraisal and SP&M
IV. Reviewing the Organization’s Performance Appraisal Procedures
A. Overview
B. Step-by-step description of procedures
V. Conducting Effective Performance Appraisal Interviews
A. Overview
B. Using the form to structure the interview
VI. Role Plays (practice appraisal interviews)
VII. Conclusion
A. Summary
B. Action planning for on-the-job action
C. Session evaluations
Outline—Session 3
‘‘Conducting Effective Employee Potential Assessment for
Succession Planning and Management’’
I. Introduction
A. Purpose of the session
B. Objectives of the session
C. Organization (structure) of the session
II. Defining Employee Potential Assessment
A. What is it?
B. Why is it important generally?
III. Relating Employee Potential Assessment to SP&M
A. Approaches
B. Current method
C. Relationship between potential assessment and SP&M
(continues)
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Exhibit 7-2. (continued)
IV. Reviewing the Organization’s Potential Assessment Procedures
A. Overview
B. Step-by-step description of procedures
V. Conducting Effective Potential Assessment
A. Overview
B. Using existing forms and procedures
C. Gathering individual career planning information for use with potential
assessment
VI. (Optional ) Role Plays (practice potential assessment interviews)
VII. Conclusion
A. Summary
B. Action planning for on-the-job action
C. Session evaluations
Outline—Session 4
‘‘Conducting Effective Individual Development Planning’’
I. Introduction
A. Purpose of the session
B. Objectives of the session
C. Organization (structure) of the session
II. Defining Individual Development Planning
A. What is it?
B. Why is it important generally?
III. Relating Individual Development Planning to SP&M
A. Approaches
B. Current method
C. Relationship between individual development planning and SP&M
IV. Reviewing Approaches to Individual Development Planning
A. Overview
B. Step-by-step description of approach
V. Facilitating Effective Individual Development Planning
A. Overview
B. Approaches to individual development planning
C. Relating individual career planning to individual development planning
VI. Conclusion
A. Summary
B. Action planning for on-the-job action
C. Session evaluations
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have worked. Before their arrival, they should also be given detailed background in-
formation about the organization and its existing SP&M programs and challenges.
Many external consultants will begin by meeting individually with key decision
makers and then provide a brief group presentation about SP&M issues. Both can
serve a valuable purpose. Individual meetings will emphasize the importance of the
issue. Group meetings will help to informally educate participants about state-of-the-
art practices outside the organization, which can create an impetus for change.
Ensuring Attendance at Training: A Key Issue
Perhaps the single most challenging aspect of offering training on SP&M is securing
the critical mass necessary to ensure consistent approaches throughout the organiza-
tion. It is particularly difficult to ensure that key managers will attend group training,
and they are the most important to reach because they exert the greatest influence on
SP&M issues. But no matter how much is done, some key managers will claim that
they have too much work to do and cannot spare valuable time away from their work
sites. Others will not attend and offer no explanation. It may therefore prove to be
impossible to get them into any group training schedule.
No magic elixir will solve these problems. It amounts to a matter of commitment
and accountability. If the board of directors and the CEO are genuinely committed
to ensuring effective succession planning, they will become personally involved to
ensure the attendance of the targeted training participants. They will also attend
themselves—and perhaps help deliver the training—and thereby demonstrate hands-
on interest and support. Moreover, they must set the example and follow the policies
established for the organization. Their participation and involvement will exert a
powerful, but subtle, inducement for others to attend. If they are unwilling to be
involved, no amount of cajoling or threatening is an effective substitute.
Here are a few tips for securing attendance at group SP&M training, assuming
adequate top management commitment:
‘ Draft a memo for the chairman or CEO to initial to go out with training
invitations. Stress who will be in attendance, what issues will be discussed, and
why the training is important.
‘ Pick an opportune time. Check dates to make sure that the dates chosen for
training do not conflict with other predictable dates.
‘ If possible, tie the training to other events—such as strategic planning re-
treats—which the targeted participants are already scheduled to attend.
‘ Field-test the training materials on a small, handpicked group of supportive
managers. Be sure that all time is effectively used and that every training activ-
ity relates directly to SP&M practices in the organization.
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‘ If possible, videotape a well-rehearsed practice session and share it before the
session with the chairman, CEO, or other key management personnel. Ask for
their suggestions about revision before the session.
Other Approaches to Training Management Employees
There will always be some management employees who will be unable to attend group
training on SP&M, even when vigorous steps are taken to ensure attendance. They
will have legitimate reasons for not attending, but that will not alter the fact that they
missed the training. They are the group most likely to operate inconsistently with
organizational policy because they missed the opportunity to learn about it firsthand.
Deal with this audience through a form of guerrilla warfare. Make sure that it is
clear who they are. Then use any of the following tactics to train them:
‘ Train them individually, if their numbers are small enough and they are not
so geographically dispersed. Deliver the training personally.
‘ Videotape a practice session of the training and send it to those unable to
attend. Then follow up with them later for their questions and reactions.
‘ Ask another manager who did attend—such as the CEO—to describe to them
the key lessons of the training in his or her own words. (That should reinforce
the importance of the message.)
Training Participants in SP&M
Training for participants in SP&M will be greatly affected by the organization’s com-
munication strategy. If decision makers do not wish to inform individuals of the
organization’s SP&M practices, then typically no training will be given; on the other
hand, if the organization adopts a policy of openness, then training on SP&M may be
offered.
The training can be delivered in three general ways: (1) direct training, (2) train-
ing integrated with other issues, and (3) training tied to career planning.
Direct Training
In direct training, employees are informed of the organization’s SP&M policy and
procedures. They are briefed in general terms, usually without specific descriptions of
how the program is linked to existing organizational strategy. They learn how the
SP&M program is connected to defining work requirements and job competencies,
appraising present employee performance, assessing future individual potential, and
establishing individual development plans.
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Training Integrated with Other Issues
When training on SP&M is integrated with other issues, employees are told how their
training, education, and development efforts factor into qualifying for advancement.
No promises are made; rather, the value of the planned learning activities is stressed
as one means by which the individual can take proactive steps to qualify for leadership
positions.
Training Tied to Career Planning
Organizational succession planning and individual career planning are mirror images
of each other. Succession planning and management helps the organization stay
equipped with the talent needed to survive and succeed. On the other hand, individual
career planning helps the individual establish career goals and prepare for meeting
those goals, either inside or outside the organization.
When training on SP&M is tied to training on career planning, individuals are
furnished with information about work requirements at different levels and in differ-
ent functions or locations. They also learn about performance requirements in various
job categories and about future success factors. With this information, they can estab-
lish their own career goals and take active steps to prepare themselves for advance-
ment by seeking the appropriate training, education, and development experiences.
Counseling Managers About Succession
Planning Problems in Their Areas
Succession planning and management coordinators should make a point of meeting
periodically with managers to discuss SP&M issues in their work areas and to offer
individualized counseling about how to deal with them. If that counseling is re-
quested, it indicates that executives have accepted SP&M, that they value advice about
people management issues, and that they are making honest efforts to meet the
SP&M needs of their organization.
The Need for Individual Counseling Sessions
Executives sometimes need third-party advice. In some cases they will be reluctant to
share those needs with anyone—including the CEO—for fear that they will be per-
ceived as unable to manage tough-to-handle management situations. Individual
counseling with these executives by the SP&M coordinator can serve an invaluable
purpose for improving SP&M practices. For this reason, the CEO and other decision
makers in the organization should actively encourage such sessions.
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Who Should Conduct the Sessions?
The SP&M coordinator should arrange to meet with senior executives to conduct
individual counseling sessions on a regular basis. (Until the coordinator has gained
sufficient credibility to be sought out for help by executives, he or she must take the
initiative to arrange the meetings.) The SP&M coordinator should call each senior
executive periodically and ask when they can meet. Although these individual meet-
ings can be time-consuming, they are the best way to demonstrate commitment to
the effort—and get real payoffs from it. Individual meetings are usually best timed
ahead of periodic SP&M meetings, such as those held quarterly in many corporations.
By meeting ahead of time, the coordinator and the executive in charge of that work
area can discuss sensitive personnel issues that executives may be reluctant to bring
up in group meetings or share over the phone or by mail.
Essential Requirements for Effective Counseling Sessions
To conduct effective counseling sessions, follow these general guidelines:
1. Send your questions in advance, making the purpose of the session clear.
2. Tailor the questions to issues that will be treated in regularly scheduled group
meetings with the CEO so that their relevance is immediately apparent.
3. Keep the meeting short and on target unless asked to offer advice on specific
issues.
4. Always assume that everything is said in strictest confidence. (This point de-
serves strong emphasis.)
5. Be alert to casual remarks or questions that may indicate problems, probing
with additional questions to learn more as appropriate.
Common SP&M Problems—and Possible Solutions
Succession planning and management coordinators who meet to counsel managers
on the people problems unique to their areas should be prepared to deal with complex
challenges. Many events may derail the progress of otherwise high-potential employ-
ees, and an SP&M coordinator should be prepared to offer advice on what to do
about such problems. Reclaiming high-potential employees on the verge of derailing
their careers is an important role and one that is often informally loaded on the
SP&M coordinator.
Over the years I have been asked to offer executives advice on how to counsel
high potentials experiencing many problems that threatened to derail their futures.
Here are a handful of samples of the problems that the SP&M coordinator might
encounter:
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‘ An executive engaged in a high-profile extramarital affair with a subordinate
‘ An executive accused of blatant sexual harassment—but the accusation could
not be substantiated
‘ An executive, slated for the CEO spot, who was recognized as an alcoholic by
everyone except himself
‘ A male executive who was grossly insubordinate to his female superior
‘ An executive renowned for her technical knowledge who was notorious for
her inability to work harmoniously with her peers
‘ An executive who experienced a major personality conflict with his immediate
superior
Although few SP&M coordinators are trained psychologists or psychiatrists, they
should be able to apply the following steps, which I have found helpful when advising
executives about people problems.
‘ Step 1: Ask for information about the present situation. What is happening
now? Where is the executive obtaining information? When and how was this
information revealed? Was the information obtained firsthand, or is the execu-
tive relying on intermediaries, rumors, or speculation? What steps have been
taken to separate fact from fancy?
‘ Step 2: Ask for information about corrective actions already attempted. What
efforts, if any, have already been made to correct the problem? What were the
results? What efforts have been made to alert the affected individual to the
problem or to clarify the desired behavior or performance?
‘ Step 3: Determine the problem’s cause, if possible, and assess whether it can be
solved. What does the executive believe is the cause of the problem? Does the
person who is experiencing the problem know what to do? (If not, it may
indicate a training need.) Is the person engaging in undesirable behavior delib-
erately and maliciously? (If so, it may indicate a disciplinary problem.) Has
anyone asked the person experiencing the problem to identify its cause and
possible solution(s)? Can the individual avoid derailing his or her career, or
have matters already gone so far that others have lost all hope for improve-
ment?
‘ Step 4: Establish an action plan. Emphasize the importance of properly manag-
ing the organization’s human resources to the executive who is receiving the
counseling. Express strong confidence in the executive’s ability to deal with
the problem. Offer to help in any way possible. Suggest such steps as these:
(1) Put the problem in writing and meet with the affected person to make it
as clear as possible; (2) encourage the executive to clarify, in writing, what
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188 Laying the Foundation for an SP&M Program
needs to be done, how it should be done, and what will happen if it is not
done.
‘ Step 5: Follow up. After meeting with the executive who has had a problem,
the SP&M coordinator should make a point of following up later to see how
the problem was resolved or is being managed.
By following these five steps, SP&M coordinators should be able to identify and
resolve most people problems. Getting people back on track when they are in danger
of derailing is a valuable service in its own right to an organization.
Summary
This chapter focused on refining the succession planning and management program.
It summarized what was needed to prepare a program action plan, communicate the
action plan, and counsel managers on SP&M problems—particularly people prob-
lems—unique to their areas of responsibility.
To be successful, however, any SP&M program should be based on systematic
analyses of present job requirements or competencies, future job requirements or
competencies, present individual performance, and future individual potential. Con-
ducting such analyses is not for the fainthearted, the ill prepared, or the uncommitted.
These processes require hard work and diligence, as the next section of this book will
show.
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P A R T I I I
Assessing the Present
and the Future
• Identify key positions.
• Use approaches to determine work requirements in key positions.
• Use full-circle, multirater assessment.
• Appraise performance.
• Create talent pools.
• Identify key positions for the future.
• Use approaches to determine future work requirements in key
positions.
• Assess individual potential.
Part I
Background Information About
Succession Planning and Management
Part II
Laying the Foundation for a
Succession Planning and
Management Program
Part IV
Closing the Developmental Gap:
Operating and Evaluating a Succession
Planning and Management Program
Part III
Assessing the Present and the Future
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C H A P T E R 8
jjj
Assessing Present Work
Requirements and Individual
Job Performance
Leaders must know the present before they can plan the future.1 They must realisti-
cally view the organization’s strengths and weaknesses before they can navigate
around future external threats and seize opportunities as they arise. The task can be a
daunting one because leaders are biased observers: They are, after all, accountable in
large measure for an organization’s strengths and weaknesses. It is thus easy for them
to overlook weaknesses because the causes of those weaknesses may be rooted in their
own past decisions; it is easy for them to overlook strengths, which they may take for
granted. Managers, it has been shown,2 will persist in an ill-fated course of action
because they fall prey to the gambler’s fallacy, specifically that more effort will lead to
a big payoff. But some efforts never pay off; they just lead to mounting losses. That is
why organizations replace leaders after a string of repeated failures.
Many of the same basic principles apply to succession planning and management.
Before leaders can effectively plan for succession, they must be aware of the organiza-
tion’s work requirements and of the strengths and weaknesses of its leadership. In-
deed, having the right person for the right job at the right time is a strategic issue of
key importance that has long been a major challenge to top managers. But to know
who those people are and what they must do, the organization must first be able to
furnish answers to such questions as these:
‘ What are the organization’s key positions?
‘ What are the work requirements or competencies required in the key posi-
tions?
‘ How should individual performance be appraised?
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192 Assessing the Present and the Future
This chapter focuses on answering these questions. It thus emphasizes examining
present conditions. The next chapter focuses on anticipating future conditions. Taken
together, they are a starting point for long-term and systematic SP&M.
Identifying Key Positions
To achieve maximum benefits from a systematic succession planning program, begin
by identifying the key positions. The key positions underscore and dramatize impor-
tant work processes that must be carried out and results that must be continuously
accomplished. Key positions warrant attention because they represent strategically
vital leverage points affecting organizational success. When they are left vacant—or
when the work is left undone, for whatever reason—the organization will not be able
to meet or exceed customer expectations, confront competition successfully, or follow
through on efforts of crucial long-term significance.
Ways to Identify Key Positions
A key position exerts critical influence on organizational activities—operationally,
strategically, or both. Key positions have traditionally been viewed as those at the
pinnacle of the organization’s chain of command, obviously because the important
decision making has been done at the top of most organizations and imposed down-
ward. But, as decision making has become decentralized as a result of increasing
employee involvement and the application of principles linked to high-involvement
work organizations, key positions have become diffused throughout organizations.
Hence, they may reside at many points on the organization chart.
Key positions are not identical across organizations, for several reasons. One is
that all organizations do not allocate work in exactly the same way. Positions sharing
job titles in different organizations do not necessarily perform identical duties. A
second reason is that the top managers in different organizations do not share the
same values. As a result, they may vest job incumbents with more or less responsibil-
ity, which is influenced by their own perceptions (and values) about which activities
are the most important. A third reason is that organizations do not share identical
strengths and weaknesses or face identical environmental threats and opportunities.
Hence, a key position in one organization may not be key in another. Key positions
are thus unique to an organization.
Let’s focus on six ways to identify key positions:
1. By the Consequences (Uproar) Resulting from a Pending or Existing
Vacancy
When the organization lacks a key position incumbent—defined as someone occupy-
ing a key position at any level, in any function, or at any location—important deci-
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Assessing Present Work Requirements and Individual Job Performance 193
sions cannot be reached, orders cannot be shipped, production cannot proceed,
customers’ needs cannot be satisfied, or bills are left unpaid. In short, a vacancy in a
key position creates an uproar because an important activity is placed on hold until
the right talent is secured to make an informed decision, complete a process, or
achieve results. This delay can prove costly, placing an organization at risk at the
hands of competitors who do not have to work with such a handicap. The possible
effects include loss of customers, market share, and (in the worst cases) bankruptcy.
One way, then, to recognize a key position is by the consequences of—or uproar
caused by—not filling a vacancy when it exists or is expected. I call this the uproar
method of identifying key positions. Generally, the greater the uproar created by an
existing or a pending vacancy, the greater the importance of that key position and the
work process(es) over which it exerts influence.
2. By Organization Charting
Prepare a current organization chart showing all functions. List the leader’s name in
each function, if the organization is sufficiently small to make that possible. Then list
the number of people assigned to carry out the function. Pose these questions: (1)
‘‘What does this function uniquely contribute to the organization’s mission?’’ (2)
‘‘Could this function operate effectively if the leader were gone?’’
The answer to the first question provides valuable clues about organizational
processes. It should be expressed in terms of the inputs, transformational processes,
and outputs of that function relative to the organization’s work. That tells why the
function is important and what it does to accomplish the desired results.
The answer to the second question yields clues about key positions. If the answer
is no, then the next question is, ‘‘Why is that leader so valuable? What is it that makes
him or her important and potentially tough to replace? Is it a specialized expertise or
specialized work duties?’’ (If so, then it is a key position.) ‘‘Do the staff members
collectively assigned to that function lack the ability to achieve results in the absence
of a leader?’’ (If so, then a potential replacement need has been identified that should
be shored up. If not, then the question is, ‘‘Why is the function able to operate
without the leader? Are others particularly critical to its operation?’’ If that is the case,
then the leader does not occupy a key position, but one or more workers do.)
If this activity is carried to its natural conclusion, key positions should be easily
identified on the organization chart. Each key position is tied to a critically important
organizational function, result, or work process. A vacancy in any key position will
represent a hole, a gap between an organizational requirement and the human talent
needed to meet that requirement.
3. By Questioning
Most senior executives have a keen grasp of their areas of responsibility. Ask them
what they regard as key positions within their own areas by posing a question like,
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194 Assessing the Present and the Future
‘‘What positions in your area of responsibility are so important that, if they suddenly
became vacant, your part of the organization would face major problems in achieving
results?’’ Ask for the titles of the positions to be listed, not the names of job incum-
bents. Then ask, ‘‘Why are these positions so important?’’ Don’t provide clues; rather,
allow executives to furnish their own rationales. This tactic is likely to lead to the best
information.
4. By Historical Evidence
Has the organization experienced crises or uproars in the past resulting from unex-
pected departures by key job incumbents? Use evidence of past uproars as indicators
of where key positions are located. Scan personnel records to obtain the names and
job titles of people who departed in the last few years. Then contact their former
supervisors in the organization to find out which departures posed the greatest prob-
lems for the organization and why they posed problems. Were they in tough-to-fill
positions? Did they possess unique, difficult-to-replace knowledge and skills? What
was it exactly that made these losses so important? How was the uproar handled? If a
vacancy occurred in the same position again, would it still cause an uproar? Why?
Compile the answers to these questions as evidence of key positions.
5. By Network Charting
Network charting is a technique of communication analysis that has been used in
identifying employment discrimination.3 But its applications are potentially much
more powerful in charting the decision-making process in organizations. The idea is
a simple one: Trace the path of communication flows during one or more decisions
to answer such questions as: ‘‘Who is included?’’ ‘‘Who is excluded?’’ ‘‘Why are some
individuals included or excluded?’’
A key assumption of network charting is that decision makers will seek informa-
tion only from individuals who occupy important positions and/or who are viewed
as credible, trustworthy, and knowledgeable about the issues. Significantly, it has also
been shown that decision makers prefer to include people like themselves—and ex-
clude people unlike themselves—from decision-making processes. Hence, communi-
cation flows in the same way that succession decisions are often made: through
homeosocial reproduction,4 the tendency of leaders to perpetuate themselves by spon-
soring people who are in some way like themselves. As Kanter describes the process,
‘‘Because of the situation in which managers function, because of the position of
managers in the corporate structure, social similarity tends to become extremely im-
portant to them. The structure sets in motion forces leading to the replication of
managers as the same kind of social individuals. And the men who manage reproduce
themselves in kind.’’5
Network charting can be carried out by interviewing people or by retracing com-
munication flows. But another way, though time-consuming, is to shadow a key deci-
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sion maker to determine firsthand what positions and what individuals are included
in making a decision and why they are included. In this application of network chart-
ing, the aim is not to uncover employment discrimination but rather to determine
which positions are considered key to decision making in each part of the organiza-
tion. The results should yield valuable information about key positions in the organi-
zation and the route of work processes through it.
6. By Combination
A sixth and final approach is to combine two or more of these approaches. Academic
researchers call this triangulation6 because it involves verifying information by double-
checking it from multiple sources. Radar and sonar operators originated the ap-
proach, as a way to obtain a definite fix on an object. Practically speaking, however,
many organizations have neither the time nor the resources to double-check key
positions. Often, only one approach is used.
What Information Should the Organization Maintain
About Key Positions?
Once key positions have been identified, additional questions will present themselves.
For example:
‘ Who occupies the key positions now? What are their qualifications? What
background, education, experience, or other specialized knowledge did they
bring to their positions?
‘ What are the work requirements in key positions? (See the next section.)
‘ When are those key positions likely to become vacant? Can some key vacancies
be predicted based on the announced retirement or career plans of the incum-
bents?
‘ Where are key positions located in the organization? (Answer that question
based on the organization’s structure, job categories, and geographical loca-
tions.)
‘ How is performance appraised in the organization? How well do performance
appraisal practices match up to information about work requirements or com-
petencies by position?
‘ How well are the key position incumbents presently performing? Did their
backgrounds, education, and experience properly equip them to perform? If
not, what are they lacking?
‘ How did key job incumbents secure their positions? Were they groomed, re-
cruited from outside, or transferred from within, or did they reach their posi-
tions through other means?
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By answering these questions, the organization can begin to establish an informa-
tion system to track key positions, key position incumbents, and individual perform-
ance.
Three Approaches to Determining Work
Requirements in Key Positions
Once key positions have been identified, direct attention to determining the work
requirements in those positions. After all, the only way that individuals can be pre-
pared as replacements for key positions is to clarify first what the incumbents do and
what kind of characteristics they possess. At least three ways may be used to do that.
1. Conducting Job and Task Analysis
Job analysis summarizes or outlines the activities, responsibilities, duties, or essential
functions of a job. Task analysis goes a step beyond job analysis to determine what
must be done to carry out each activity or to meet each responsibility, duty, or essen-
tial function. The result of a job analysis is called a job description; the result of a task
analysis is called a task inventory.
Some authorities distinguish between the terms job and position. A job consists of
a group of related activities and duties. Ideally, the duties of a job should consist of
natural units of work that are similar and related, and they should be clear and distinct
from those of other jobs to minimize misunderstanding and conflict among employ-
ees and to enable employees to recognize what is expected of them. For some jobs,
several employees may be required, each of whom will occupy a separate position.
A position consists of different duties and responsibilities performed by only one
employee.7
It is thus important to distinguish between a job description, which provides infor-
mation about an entire job category (such as supervisors, managers, or executives),
and a position description, which provides information unique to one employee. In
most cases, the focus of determining work requirements for SP&M is on positions
because the aim is to identify work requirements unique to key positions.
What Is a Position Description?
A position description summarizes the duties, activities, or responsibilities of a posi-
tion. Hence, it literally describes a position in one organizational setting. It answers
this question: ‘‘What are incumbents in the position expected to do in the organiza-
tion?’’
No universal standards exist either for job descriptions or for position descrip-
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tions.8 In most organizations, however, position descriptions list at least the title,
salary or wage level, location in the organization, and essential job functions. An
essential job function, a legal term used in the Americans with Disabilities Act, is an
activity that must be conducted by a position incumbent. More specifically, it ‘‘is [a
job activity] that’s fundamental to successful performance of the job, as opposed to
marginal job functions, which may be performed by particular incumbents at particu-
lar times, but are incidental to the main purpose of the job. If the performance of
a job function is only a matter of convenience, and not necessary, it’s a marginal
function.’’9
Some organizations add other features to job descriptions, and the same features
may be added to position descriptions as well. These additions may be, for instance,
the approximate time devoted to each essential job function, the percentage of a
position’s total time devoted to each function, the relative importance of each func-
tion to successful performance, and a job specification listing the minimum qualifica-
tions required for selection.
How Is Position Analysis Conducted?
Position analysis is conducted in the same way as job and task analysis. As Carlisle
notes, ‘‘the process of analyzing jobs and tasks involves at least three key steps. First,
the job or task is broken down into its component parts. Second, the relationships
between the parts are examined and compared with correct principles of perform-
ance. Third, the parts are restructured to form an improved job or task, and learning
requirements are specified.’’10
Use the worksheet appearing in Exhibit 8-1 as a guide for preparing a current key
position description. For ideas about what essential job functions to list, see The
Dictionary of Occupational Titles (published by the U.S. Department of Labor), works
on the Americans with Disabilities Act,11 and references about management job de-
scriptions.12
Advantages and Disadvantages of Position Descriptions
Position descriptions are advantageous for identifying work requirements for three
reasons. First, most organizations have at least job descriptions, which can be an
important starting point on which to base more individualized position descriptions.
Second, position descriptions can be the basis for making and justifying many person-
nel decisions—including selection, appraisal, and training—and not just decisions
linked to succession planning and management. Third and finally, legislation—
particularly the Americans with Disabilities Act—has made written expressions of
work requirements important as legal evidence of what is necessary to perform the
work.13
However, position descriptions are by no means foolproof. First, they tend to
focus on activities, not much on results. Second, they may leave out important per-
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Exhibit 8-1. Worksheet for Writing a Key Position Description
Directions: Give careful thought to the process of writing this position description,
since it can be critically important in recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, ap-
praising, and developing a job incumbent for a key position. The best approach is
to ask the key position incumbent to write the description and then to review it
several levels up, down, and across the organization. (In that way, it should be
possible to obtain valuable information about the desired results necessary for this
position at present—some of which even the current position incumbent may be un-
aware of.) For now, focus on what the position incumbent is presently doing and what
others in the organization want the key position incumbent to be doing in the future.
Add paper if necessary.
Title: (Fill in the position title)
Salary Level: (Note the present pay grade)
Organizational Unit/Department: (Note the present placement of the position in
the organizational structure)
Immediate Supervisor: (Note to whom the position incumbent presently reports on the
organization chart by title)
Position Summary: (In one or two sentences, summarize the purpose—or mission
statement—for this position. Answer this question: why does it exist?)
Position Duties/Responsibilities/Activities/Key Results/Competencies/Essential Func-
tions: (Make a list in the left column below of the most important position duties,
responsibilities, activities, key results, competencies, or essential functions. If neces-
sary, use a separate sheet to draft the list and then record the results of your delibera-
tions in priority order in the space below. Be sure to list the most important duty,
responsibility, activity, key result, or essential function first. Begin each statement with
an action verb. Then, in the right column, indicate the approximate percentage of
time devoted to that activity.)
List of Position Duties/ Approximate % of
Responsibilities/Activities/ Time Devoted to
Key Results/Essential Functions: Each:
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sonal characteristics that are crucial to successful job performance. Third, they date
quickly, and keeping them updated can be a time-consuming chore.
2. Identifying Competencies and Developing a Competency
Model
Competency identification is a possible step beyond job and task analysis as a means
of clarifying key position requirements. In this context, competency refers to ‘‘an un-
derlying characteristic of an employee (that is, motive, trait, skill, aspects of one’s self-
image, social role, or a body of knowledge) that results in effective and/or superior
performance in a job’’14; competency identification pinpoints competencies; and a com-
petency model ‘‘includes those competencies that are required for satisfactory or exem-
plary job performance within the context of a person’s job roles, responsibilities and
relationships in an organization and its internal and external environments.’’15
Competency models have emerged as the mainstream approach used in many
organizations to integrate all facets of human resource management. Competency
identification was described at greater length in Chapter 4. Most well-known compa-
nies have based their succession programs on competency models, which become
blueprints of the talent to be developed.
3. Rapid Results Assessment
A new approach to competency modeling is needed to maximize the strengths and
minimize the weaknesses of traditional approaches. Such a new approach may involve
the marriage of a traditional approach to competency assessment, such as McLagan’s
Flexible Approach,16 with the so-called DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) method.17
It has been widely used in job and task analysis for technical positions and in estab-
lishing occupational curricula at community colleges. Seldom, however, has it been
described as a means by which to determine work requirements in management or
professional positions.
To use DACUM in its traditional sense, select a facilitator who is trained in the
approach. Convene a panel consisting of 8 to 12 people who are expert in the job.
Then take the following steps:18
1. Orient the committee to DACUM.
2. Review the job or occupational area of concern.
3. Identify the job’s general areas of responsibility.
4. Identify the specific tasks performed in each area of responsibility.
5. Review and refine task and duty statements.
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6. Sequence task and duty statements.
7. Identify entry-level tasks.
The result of a typical DACUM panel is a detailed matrix illustrating work activi-
ties, which are arranged in order of difficulty, from the simplest to the most complex.
In DACUM’s traditional application, panel members approach descriptions of per-
sonality characteristics as an additional activity. For instance, at the conclusion of the
DACUM session panel members may be asked a question such as, ‘‘What personal
characteristics describe an effective job incumbent?’’ That question should elicit re-
sponses from panel members such as ‘‘Punctuality,’’ ‘‘Good attendance,’’ ‘‘Ability to
work harmoniously with coworkers,’’ or ‘‘Dresses appropriately.’’ Rarely are such
characteristics linked to specific, measurable behaviors, though they may be critical
to successful job performance.
In practice, a DACUM panel usually meets in a quiet room for one or more days.
The facilitator asks panelists to list work activities, in round-robin fashion, in no
particular order. Each activity is written with a felt-tipped pen on a sheet of paper
and posted on a blank wall at the front of the room. Because panelists can list activities
quickly, most DACUM facilitators need one or two confederates to assist them by
writing the activities and posting them on the wall. Panelists who are unable to think
of an activity are skipped. The process continues until all the panelists run out of
activities to list.
At that point, the facilitator calls a break. With the help of confederates—and
perhaps one or more panelists or other job experts—the facilitator devises descriptive
categories for the activities and groups related activities. When finished, the facilitator
reconvenes the panel. Panelists add, subtract, or modify categories and verify activi-
ties. Finally, they sequence categories and activities from most simple to most com-
plex. These steps closely resemble classic brainstorming, which consists of two steps:
idea generation and idea evaluation.19
To use DACUM as a tool for competency assessment, facilitators should take
additional steps. Once a DACUM job matrix has been completed and verified, facilita-
tors should adjourn the panel and plan to convene at another time. Once the panel is
reconvened, facilitators should present panelists with the DACUM job matrix, either
as an individualized handout or as a large wall chart. Facilitators should then progress
around the room, focusing panelists’ attention on each cell of the job matrix, and
asking panelists to (1) list underlying motives, traits, aspects of self-image, social roles,
or body of knowledge that effective job incumbents should exhibit to carry out that
activity and (2) work outputs or results stemming from each activity. The answers
should be written inside each cell.
Once again, the panel should be adjourned briefly. As in the first panel meeting,
facilitators should make an effort to eliminate duplication and economically list per-
sonal characteristics and work outputs for each activity. When facilitators are finished,
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they should again reconvene the panel and seek verification and consensus on the
results. If the meeting runs long, facilitators may adjourn and follow up by written
survey, thereby turning traditional brainstorming into a modified Delphi process.20
The value of this approach should be apparent. First, it is much faster than tradi-
tional competency modeling. (That is a major advantage, and it is worth emphasiz-
ing.) Second, this approach—like traditional DACUM—has high face validity because
it uses experienced job incumbents (or other knowledgeable people). It should gain
ready acceptance in the organization. Third, it permits the personal involvement of
key decision makers, thereby building the ownership that stems from participation.
Fourth and finally, it enjoys the key advantage of a competency-based approach in
that the modified DACUM moves beyond the traditional focus on work activities or
tasks to include descriptions of underlying characteristics and/or outputs.
Of course, this new approach—which I have chosen to call rapid results assess-
ment—has its disadvantages. The results do not have the research rigor of other com-
petency assessment approaches. Hence, rigor is sacrificed for speed. Second, the
results of the approach will depend heavily on the credibility of the individual panel-
ists. If inexperienced people or poor performers participate, the results will be viewed
with suspicion.
Rapid results assessment can provide valuable information for succession plan-
ning and management. Though it can be used for management competency model-
ing, its greatest help can be in technical competency modeling. If the assessment
process is focused on key positions—and DACUM panels include immediate superi-
ors, peers, incumbents, and even subordinates—it can yield useful information about
role expectations for incumbents in these positions. It can also provide the basis, as
DACUM does, to select, appraise, train, reward, and develop people who are being
groomed for key positions.
Using Full-Circle, Multirater Assessments
Since the publication of the first edition of this book in 1994, many organizations
have begun to use full-circle, multirater assessments as a means to appraise an individ-
ual’s present performance or future potential.21 (And it is worth emphasizing that
those are two different things. Remember: Successful performance in a current position
is no guarantee of success at a higher-level position, for the simple reason that require-
ments differ by level.) Such assessments—sometimes called 360-degree assessments
because they examine individuals from a full circle around them—are useful ways to
collect much data from organizational superiors, subordinates, peers, or colleagues,
and even customers, suppliers, distributors, and family members. They usually indi-
cate how well an individual is performing (or has the potential to perform) when
compared to competency models or work requirements. Many full-circle, multirater
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202 Assessing the Present and the Future
assessment questionnaires can be purchased from commercial vendors or accessed
online, though off-the-shelf solutions should be used cautiously because they are not
specific to a given corporate culture.
Questions to Consider
Many questions arise when decision makers contemplate using full-circle, multirater
assessments. Among them are the following:
1. Who will be assessed, and by whom?
2. What will be assessed? Will it be present performance, future potential, or
both?
3. When will the assessment occur?
4. Why is the assessment being conducted? Since full-circle, multirater assess-
ment is expensive, will the benefits in improved accuracy and credibility of
results outweigh the costs?
5. How will the assessment be conducted? Will it be conducted online, on paper,
or by a combination of media? What will be done with the results, how will
the results be interpreted and fed back to the individuals, and how will they be
used?
These questions should be answered before the organization undertakes the use
of full-circle, multirater assessments. (Use the worksheet appearing in Exhibit 8-2 to
consider these questions.)
Advantages and Disadvantages of Full-Circle, Multirater
Assessments
There are many advantages to full-circle, multirater assessments. They consolidate
feedback from many people surrounding an individual about his or her present per-
formance or future potential. The feedback alone is powerful in creating an impetus
for change and individual development. Moreover, the ratings have much power in
tapping into multiple perspectives, since (as the old saying goes) ‘‘What you think
depends on where you sit in the organization.’’
But there are disadvantages too, and they should be considered before the organi-
zation incurs the expense of using such assessments. First, they can be expensive and
are thus worthwhile only when decision makers know what they want and why they
want it. Second, if individuals are rated against criteria such as competencies or work
requirements that are not unique to the corporate culture (as in the case of off-the-
shelf or online instruments that are used without modification), the results may not
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Exhibit 8-2. Worksheet for Considering Key Issues in Full-Circle,
Multirater Assessments
Directions: When decision-makers begin thinking about using full-circle, multirater
assessment, there are many issues they should clarify at the outset.
Use this worksheet to help guide their thinking. For each question appearing in the
left column below, take notes about their answers in the right column. There are no
‘‘right’’ or ‘‘wrong’’ answers in any absolute sense, of course. But it is important to
clarify the answers to these questions.
Questions Answers
1. Who will be assessed, and by whom
will they be assessed?
2. What will be assessed? Will it be
present performance, future
potential, or both?
3. When will the assessment occur?
4. Why is the assessment being
conducted?
5. How will the assessment be con-
ducted? (Will it be conducted online,
on paper, or by a combination?)
6. What will be done with the results,
how will the results be interpreted
and fed back to the individuals, and
how will they be used?
be too useful or meaningful. In fact, the results may be misleading. After all, perform-
ance and potential are influenced by the corporate cultural context in which individu-
als perform. Third, when large numbers of people are subjected to these assessments,
the task of data analysis can be daunting. (One person may have as many as 12 raters.
If 100 people are subjected to assessment, that means 1,200 ratings must be compiled
and fed back individually.)
Feeding Back the Results of Full-Circle, Multirater Assessments
Since the last edition of this book was published, I have had ample opportunity to
conduct full-circle, multirater assessments during consulting engagements. And one
insight I have gained is that the initial design of the assessment is not as important as
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the feedback session that occurs after the assessment. When the full-circle, multirater
assessment of an individual is finished, what is done with it? That is the key question,
and it is worthy of some consideration.
The results of full-circle, multirater assessments can be helpful in pinpointing
present performance gaps or future developmental gaps. The feedback session—
which can occur in a meeting conducted by an immediate supervisor, HR profes-
sional, external consultant, or some combination of these—must be well planned.
The goal should be to establish a plan for improvement (if the meeting focuses on
present performance), an individual learning plan (if the meeting focuses on future
potential), or both.
Begin the meeting by presenting the results of the assessment. Start with small
talk to set the person at ease. (If you wish, provide the assessment to the person before
the meeting so that the individual has had time to study it.) Then provide the feed-
back, hitting the high points. Walk the person through the results and then offer
interpretations. Be sure to mention strengths as well as weaknesses. If you wish, you
may ask what the person believes the results might mean, what could be done about
them, and what actions should be taken.
It is worth noting that individuals cannot necessarily identify the best strategies
for developing themselves for the future. That is input that the immediate supervisor
should provide, and that is why it is worth having the immediate supervisor in the
room if the feedback session on the full-circle, multirater assessment is provided by
an HR professional or external consultant. The immediate supervisor is best posi-
tioned not only to provide input about the corporate-culture-specific developmental
assignments that could build essential competencies, but also to describe specific situ-
ations that may explain an individual’s ratings. By the time the meeting is over, a
development plan should have been agreed to. It can then be filed or placed on an
online system for later review.
The Future of Full-Circle, Multirater Assessments
It is likely that full-circle, multirater assessments will be used more frequently in the
future. For that reason, those managing SP&M programs should become familiar
with sources that describe how to establish and use them.22
Appraising Performance and
Applying Performance Management
For an SP&M program to be effective, it must be based on information about work
requirements in key positions and about the performance of incumbents and prospec-
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Assessing Present Work Requirements and Individual Job Performance 205
tive successors. Hence, employee performance appraisal should be an important
source of information for SP&M. But what is performance appraisal, and how should
it be linked to SP&M?
Defining Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is the process of determining how well individuals are meeting
the work requirements of their jobs. Just as most organizations prepare job descrip-
tions to answer the question, ‘‘What do people do?’’ most organizations also prepare
performance appraisals to answer the question, ‘‘How well are people performing?’’
It is important to emphasize that performance appraisals are properly viewed within
the context of performance management,23 which is the process of creating a work
environment in which people want to perform to their peak abilities and are encour-
aged to develop themselves for the future. (See Exhibit 8-3.) Like so many terms in
the HR field, performance management can be a term in search of meaning and can
refer (variously) to after-the-fact performance appraisal, before-the-fact performance
planning, during-performance feedback, and the whole cycle of planning for perform-
ance, identifying and knocking down performance barriers, providing feedback dur-
ing performance, and giving feedback upon the completion of performance.
Performance appraisals are commonly used to justify pay raises, promotions, and
other employment decisions. They are also critically important for SP&M because few
organizations will advance individuals into key positions when they are not perform-
ing their present jobs adequately.
Though a fixture of organizational life, employee performance appraisal has not
been immune to criticism. Indeed, it is rare to find managers who will enthusiastically
champion the performance appraisal practices of their organizations. In recent years,
appraisals have been increasingly prone to litigation.24 Moreover, appraisals have been
attacked by no less than the late curmudgeonly guru of Total Quality Management,
W. Edwards Deming. Deming faulted employee performance appraisal for two pri-
mary reasons. First, he believed that performance appraisal leads to management by
fear. Second, appraisal ‘‘encourages short-term performance at the expense of long-
term planning.’’25 It prompts people to look good in the short run, with potentially
devastating long-term organizational effects.
The central point of Deming’s argument is that people live up to their superiors’
expectations of them. That is the Pygmalion effect, which takes its name from the
ancient artist who fell in love with his own sculpted creation of the woman Galatea.
The Pygmalion effect asserts that managers who believe that their employees are per-
forming effectively will create a self-fulfilling prophecy. The underlying assumption is
that the world is influenced by viewers’ beliefs about it.
When performance appraisal is conducted in a highly critical manner, it has the
potential to demotivate and demoralize people. Indeed, research evidence indicates
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Exhibit 8-3. Relationship Between Performance Management and
Performance Appraisal
Performance Management
(focuses on all aspects of the
work environment, work, and
worker that impact on
performance and can be past,
present, or future oriented)
Performance Appraisal
(usually focuses on past job
performance and is used to
make decisions on pay,
promotion, and other job
changes)
Performance management addresses this question: What is necessary to
encourage performance now and in the future?
Performance appraisal addresses this question: How well are people
performing their jobs?
that performance appraisal interviews focusing on what people are doing wrong can
actually lead to worse performance.
How Should Performance Appraisal Be Linked to SP&M?
Despite harsh attacks from critics, performance appraisal is likely to remain a fixture
of organizational life. One reason is that, despite their flaws, written appraisals based
on job-related performance criteria are superior to informal, highly subjective ap-
praisals at a time when employees are increasingly prone to litigate. In the absence of
written forms and formal procedures, managers do not cease appraising employees;
rather, they simply do it in a less structured fashion. Worse yet, they may face no
requirement to provide employees with feedback, with the result that the workers
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Assessing Present Work Requirements and Individual Job Performance 207
can never improve. Indeed, few can dispute that employees will not improve their
performance—or develop in line with succession plans—if they have received no
timely, concrete, and specific feedback on how they are doing or what they should do
to improve. Though annual performance appraisals are no substitute for daily feed-
back, they should be used together to help employees develop.26 Otherwise, the orga-
nization will have no records of employee performance, other than the faulty
memories and unarticulated impressions of supervisors and other employees, on
which to base pay, promotion, transfer, or other decisions.
There are many approaches to performance appraisal, and much has been written
on the subject.27 (Different types of appraisals are summarized in Exhibit 8-4.) To be
effective, however, performance appraisals should be based as closely as possible on
the work that employees do. Used in conjunction with individual potential assess-
ments, which compare individuals to future job assignment possibilities or future
competencies, they can be a powerful tool for employee improvement and develop-
ment. For that reason, the best appraisal is one that examines employee performance
point by point in the context of key performance indicators (KPIs) (which are tied to
priority work results) and behavioral indicators linked to work success at the individ-
ual’s current level of responsibility.
One way to do that is to begin with a position description. Employees should
then be appraised against each activity. In this way, the organization can maintain
precise and detailed records of employee performance in each facet of the individual’s
job, and employees will receive specific feedback about how well they are performing.
The problem is that such appraisals can be time-consuming to write and conduct.
And, in the case of individuals who are performing poorly, their immediate superiors
must take the time to explain what needs to be improved and how it should be
improved. To save time, some organizations attempt to develop simple, easy-to-fill-
out appraisals to ease the paperwork burden on supervisors. Unfortunately, the easier
an appraisal is to fill out, the less useful it is in providing feedback to employees.
To solve that problem, try developing free-form appraisals that use job descrip-
tions themselves or competencies as the basis for appraisal. (See Exhibit 8-5 for a
worksheet to help prepare such an appraisal.) Another approach is to develop apprais-
als so that they are geared to future improvement rather than past performance. In
that way, they are focused less on what employees are doing wrong and more on what
they can do right. If that approach is followed consistently, it can provide useful
information to employees about what they should do to prepare themselves for the
future and to qualify for succession.
Creating Talent Pools: Techniques and Approaches
A talent pool is a group of workers who are being prepared for vertical or horizontal
advancement. Vertical advancement usually means promotion up the organization’s
(text continues on page 211)
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208 Assessing the Present and the Future
Exhibit 8-4. Approaches to Conducting Employee Performance Appraisal
Approach Focus Brief Description
Global Rating Focuses on the individu- The appraiser is asked to char-
al’s overall job perform- acterize an individual’s overall
ance. job performance on a single
scale or in a single essay re-
sponse.
Chief Advantage:
Appraisers can make re-
sponses quickly.
Chief Disadvantage:
Performance is more com-
plex than a single rating can
indicate.
Trait Rating Focuses on traits related Appraisers are asked to char-
to the individual’s per- acterize an individual’s job
formance. Examples of performance over a specific
traits might include ‘‘ini- time span using a series of
tiative’’ or ‘‘timeliness.’’ traits. Often, trait ratings are
scaled from ‘‘excellent’’
through ‘‘unacceptable.’’ The
appraiser is asked to check an
appropriate point on the scale.
However, traits can also be as-
sessed by an essay response in
which the appraiser is asked to
write a narrative about the in-
dividual’s performance rela-
tive to the trait.
Chief Advantage:
Appraisers can make re-
sponses quickly.
Chief Disadvantage:
Traits can have different
meanings, so consistency of
rating and job-relatedness
of traits may be critical is-
sues to deal with.
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Dimensions/ Focuses on each job ac- Think of a dimensional rating
Activity Rating tivity, duty, responsibility, as a ‘‘job description that has
or essential function. been given scales to assess
performance.’’ Appraisers are
asked to rate individual per-
formance on each job activity,
duty, responsibility, or essen-
tial job function. Responses
may be provided by checking
a mark on a scale or by writing
an essay.
Chief Advantage:
This approach to appraisal
makes a deliberate effort to
tie performance appraisal to
job duties, thereby ensuring
job-relatedness.
Chief Disadvantage:
To work effectively, both ap-
praiser and performer must
agree in advance on the du-
ties. That means job de-
scriptions must be updated
regularly, and that can be-
come time-consuming.
Behaviorally Focuses on job behav- A BARS performance appraisal
Anchored iors—observable activ- typically consists of 5 to 10
Rating Scales ities—distinguishing vertical scales that are devel-
(BARS) exemplary from average oped through a critical inci-
performers. dent process to distinguish
effective from ineffective per-
formance. Each scale repre-
sents actual performance. A
BARS rating system is often
compatible with a compe-
tency-based approach.
Chief Advantage:
Since each BARS is tied di-
rectly to job activities, this
approach to performance
(continues)
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210 Assessing the Present and the Future
Exhibit 8-4. (continued)
Approach Focus Brief Description
appraisal enjoys high face
validity. It can also lead to
improved job performance
by clarifying for performers
exactly what behavior is de-
sirable and undesirable.
Chief Disadvantage:
To work effectively, BARS re-
quires considerable time
and effort to devise. That
can exceed the re-
sources—or commit-
ment—of many
organizations.
Management Focuses on the results of Before the appraisal period
by Objectives job performance rather begins, the appraiser and per-
(MBO) than processes to former jointly agree upon job
achieve results. results desired. At the end of
the appraisal period, the re-
sults are compared to the ob-
jectives established at the
outset of the appraisal period.
Chief Advantages:
The focus is on results rather
than on methods of achiev-
ing them. Both appraiser
and performer are involved
in establishing performance
objectives.
Chief Disadvantages:
For the appraiser and per-
former to reach agreement,
much time may be required.
Writing performance objec-
tives can turn the process
into a ‘‘paper mill.’’
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Exhibit 8-5. Worksheet for Developing an Employee Performance
Appraisal Linked to a Position Description
Directions: Use this worksheet to develop a ‘‘free-form’’ employee performance ap-
praisal that is based specifically on the position description. In the left column below,
indicate what the position description indicates are the duties, activities, responsibili-
ties, key result areas, competencies, or essential job functions. Then, in the right
column, indicate how performance in the position may be measured.
What are the position’s activities, How should performance be measured
duties, responsibilities? (List them from for each activity, duty, or responsibility?
an up-to-date position description.) (Indicate appropriate ways to measure
successful performance.)
chain of command. (Of course, in recent years, promotions have been diminishing in
number.) Horizontal advancement usually means that the individual’s competencies
are enhanced so that he or she has a broadened scope of knowledge, skills, and abili-
ties in keeping with the organization’s direction or the worker’s occupation.
The use of talent pools is one reason that SP&M is different from replacement
planning. Instead of identifying only one or several backups for key positions, as is
common in replacement planning, the idea of talent pools is to create as many back-
ups as possible among people who are willing to develop themselves. (Of course, there
are cost/benefit implications to committing to talent pools. Organizational leaders
should not promise them if they are not willing to pay for them.)
To create talent pools, organizations should possess competency models by de-
partments, job categories, hierarchical levels, or occupations. The competency models
may describe present competencies or desired future competencies. Also important,
as described in Chapter 4, are value statements that indicate the desired corporate
values or ethical conduct.
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212 Assessing the Present and the Future
Begin the process of creating a talent pool by clarifying targeted groups. Answer
such questions as these:
‘ Who is included?
‘ What is a talent pool? How many talent pools should exist in the organization?
‘ When is each talent pool to be formed?
‘ Where is each talent pool to be located? (What is its geographical scope?)
‘ Why is each talent pool desirable?
‘ How will the talent pool be analyzed for current bench strength and desired
future bench strength? How will the status of each talent pool be tracked and
assessed?
‘ How will individuals in the talent pool be developed for the future?
There are as many ways to define talent pools as there are to define competency
models. In other words, it is possible to have talent pools by department, by hierarchi-
cal level on the organization’s chain of command, by job category, by region, by
occupation, and by other criteria.
It is worth emphasizing that, if talent pools are formed, no one person should be
designated as a successor for a key position. Instead, the logic is that all people in the
talent pool will be developed in line with present and future organizational and indi-
vidual needs. To be effective, a talent pool should be paired with competency models,
appropriate performance management practices to encourage individual development
and performance, effective potential assessment strategies, and suitable developmental
efforts. When a vacancy occurs, the individuals compete. Instead of giving the job to
those with the longest time in position or those who are personal favorites of immedi-
ate supervisors, individuals are prepared to compete on the basis of demonstrated
track records in performing their work and developing themselves.
Thinking Beyond Talent Pools
What is beyond talent pools? After all, some organizational leaders have not even
committed to developing everyone who is willing to be developed, which is the funda-
mental philosophy that underlies talent pooling. But for the organizations that have
committed and have had some experience with them, opportunities may exist to push
the concept further.
One approach is to focus beyond talent pools to so-called acceleration pools.28
Though an acceleration pool can actually be more than one thing, one version is that
it is a concentrated effort focused on a few people to prepare them as quickly as
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Assessing Present Work Requirements and Individual Job Performance 213
possible for more demanding responsibility. (Think of it as a talent pool on steroids.)
Pease defines the acceleration pool approach as centering around eight key steps: ‘‘(1)
Have a leadership game plan; (2) Find and hire all-around athletes; (3) Test for suc-
cess; (4) Negate derailment factors; (5) Make stretch assignments; (6) Know the ropes
of development; (7) Bring in the coach; and (8) Keep score.’’29
One way to do that is to move away from thinking about developing people to
meet the minimum requirements for positions.30 Instead, a goal may be to leverage
the talent base of the organization by developing people to the level of exemplary
performers. (Of course, organizational leaders have to know who the exemplary per-
formers are, based on objective performance measures rather than perceptions that
may be biased.) To clarify the point by example, suppose the organization commits
to developing supervisors to department managers. Any supervisor who wishes to
join a program for that purpose is participating in a talent pooling effort. But suppose
the organization’s leaders decide that they do not want to set the bar at the lowest
level needed to qualify for consideration but rather at the highest level. To that end,
they will need to know what distinguishes the best-in-class (exemplary) department
managers from those who are merely fully successful.
Why would an organization’s leaders commit to do this? The answer seems clear.
Exemplary performers may be as much as 20 times more productive than their fully
successful counterparts. If the organization could get more exemplary performers,
then it would be more competitive, efficient, and effective.
There is yet another way to move beyond talent pooling. Many talent pooling
efforts focus only on building job competencies. But if that notion is expanded to
include psychological assessments, individual career planning, and value modeling
efforts, the notion of development can be moved beyond mere preparation for work
to the betterment of the person as a person.
Psychological assessment, in particular, seems to be the focus of much attention.
‘‘Psychologist Robert Hogan has administered personality tests to well over a million
people in the past three decades and claims that at least 55 percent of managers in
American corporations are unfit for their jobs,’’ writes Kaihla. ‘‘That may explain why
his company, Hogan Assessment Systems, and many major test vendors are reporting
double-digit growth this year over last. Business is booming for the headshrinkers.’’31
Growing awareness exists, and is bolstered by thinking from the competency
movement, that it is as much the person in the job as it is the work to be done that is
important. That realization has prompted organizations to rely on a growing number
of psychological assessments to help make or support employment decisions, includ-
ing succession decisions.32 The danger, of course, is that psychological assessments, or
assessments like the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), will be improperly used by
poorly trained people, or it will be used as the only reason to rule people out for
promotions for which they may otherwise be well qualified. A good strategy is to look
for instruments, like the Hogan (see www.hoganassessments.com/HPI.aspx) or the
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NEO (see http://www3.parinc.com/products/product.aspx?Productid�NEO-PI-R), that
are based on the Big Five personality characteristics. Those assessments should be
administered and interpreted only by people who know what they are doing. And HR
practitioners should train managers in the use of personality assessments in combina-
tion with other methods of assessment to examine an individual’s likelihood of suc-
cess in a future position. For more information on personality assessment, check out
such Web sites as http://www.personality.org/index.php.
This section was meant to stimulate thought: What could be done to move be-
yond talent pooling to achieve quantum leaps in improvement? I have offered several
ideas. Perhaps you have some as well.
Summary
This chapter has emphasized present conditions. More specifically, it addressed the
following questions:
‘ What are the organization’s key positions?
‘ What are the work requirements or competencies required in key positions?
‘ How should individual performance be appraised?
‘ What methods should be used to keep track of the organization’s work re-
quirements and individual performance?
The next chapter focuses on anticipating future conditions in terms of succession
planning and management. It thus discusses how to identify future work require-
ments in key positions and how to assess individual potential.
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C H A P T E R 9
jjj
Assessing Future Work
Requirements and
Individual Potential
Having information about present work requirements or competencies and individual
job performance provides only a one-dimensional picture. To make the picture more
complete—and thus provide the basis for systematic succession planning and man-
agement—information is also needed about future work requirements and individual
potential for promotion.1 Hence, this chapter focuses on assessing future work re-
quirements and individual potential. More specifically, the chapter addresses these
questions:
‘ What key positions and talent requirements are likely to emerge in the organi-
zation’s future?
‘ What will be the work requirements in those positions?
‘ What is individual potential, and how should it be assessed?
‘ What are some new developments in assessing individual potential for promo-
tion?
Identifying Key Positions and Talent
Requirements for the Future
Neither key positions nor their work requirements will remain forever static. The
reason, of course, is that organizations are constantly in flux in response to internal
and external pressures. As a result, SP&M coordinators need to identify future key
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216 Assessing the Present and the Future
positions and determine future work requirements if they are to be successful in
preparing individuals to assume key positions. They must, in a sense, cope with a
moving target where work requirements, key positions, and even high-potential em-
ployees are dynamic and frequently changing.2
But how can they be certain what positions will be key to the organization in the
future? Unfortunately, the unsettling fact is that no foolproof way exists to predict
key positions. About the best that can be done is to conduct careful reviews of changes
in work and people, and then draw some conclusions about the likely consequences
of change.
Applying Environmental Scanning
As a first step in predicting key positions in the future, begin by applying environmen-
tal scanning. This can be understood as a systematic process of examining external
trends.3 Focus attention on economic, governmental/legal, technological, social, geo-
graphical, and other issues and trends affecting the organization’s external environ-
ment. (Use the worksheet in Exhibit 9-1 for this purpose.) For best results, involve
decision makers in this process because key positions in the future should reflect the
organization’s strategic plans and changing work processes.
Applying Organizational Analysis
As a second step in predicting key positions in the future, turn next to organizational
analysis. This is the systematic process of examining how an organization is position-
ing itself to address future challenges.4 It can also be understood as any effort made to
assess an organization’s strengths and weaknesses. Consider the following questions:
‘ How well positioned is the organization presently to respond to the effects of
future trends?
‘ What action steps can the organization take to meet the threats and opportu-
nities posed by future trends?
‘ How can the organization maximize its strengths and minimize its weaknesses
as the future unfolds?
As these questions are answered, pay particular attention to likely changes in (1)
organizational structure/design (What will the reporting relationships be? How will
divisions, departments, work units, and jobs be designed?), and (2) work processes
(How will work flow into each part of the organization? What will be done with it?
Where will the work flow to?).
Structure and processes are important issues because key positions result from
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 217
Exhibit 9-1. Worksheet for Environmental Scanning
Directions: What trends evident in the external environment will affect the organiza-
tion in the future? Answering that question should prove valuable in strategic busi-
ness planning, human resource planning, and succession planning. Environmental
scanning attempts to identify those trends—and, more important, to predict their
effects.
Use this simple worksheet to structure your thinking about trends that will affect your
organization in the future and what their effects are likely to be. Answer each ques-
tion appearing in the worksheet below. Then compare your responses to what other
decision makers in the organization have written.
1. What trends outside the organization are most likely to affect it in the next 1–5
years? Consider economic conditions, market conditions, financial conditions,
regulatory/legal conditions, technological conditions, social conditions, and
other trends that might uniquely affect the organization.
List of trends likely to affect the organization:
2. For each trend you listed in response to question 1 above, indicate how you
think that trend will affect the organization. Describe the trend’s possible conse-
quence(s), outcome(s), or result(s). (While you may not be able to do that with
complete certainty, try to gaze into the crystal ball and predict what will happen
as a result of a trend.)
List effects/consequences:
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218 Assessing the Present and the Future
decisions made about how to structure responsibility and organize the work process.5
To direct attention to likely key positions in the future, then, decision makers should
examine how the organization will respond to external pressures by structuring re-
sponsibility and organizing work processes. Key positions will emerge and old ones
will fade based on how the organization chooses to respond to environmental de-
mands. (Use the activity in Exhibit 9-2 to help decision makers address these issues.)
Preparing Realistic Future Scenarios
As a third and final step in predicting key positions in the future, compare the results
obtained from environmental scanning and organizational analysis. Draw an organi-
zation chart as decision makers believe it should appear in the future. Write the
expected future mission of each organizational function on the chart. (Make several
versions of that chart at different future time intervals—at, say, one year, three years,
five years, and ten years into the future.) Then add the names of possible leaders and
their successors.
This process is called preparing realistic future scenarios. It is based on the process
of scenario analysis, which has been widely applied to futures research and strategic
planning.6 Use the activity appearing in Exhibit 9-3 to help decision makers structure
their thinking in preparing realistic scenarios to identify future key positions. Though
not foolproof or failsafe, this approach is one way to move beyond traditional think-
ing about SP&M to lead the target when identifying future key positions.
Three Approaches to Determining Future
Work Requirements in Key Positions
Determining future work requirements means predicting possible or probable work
activities, duties, and responsibilities in future key positions. Once likely future key
positions have been identified, direct attention to predicting work or competency
requirements for those positions. Move beyond present- or past-oriented descriptions
to assess future work or competency requirements in key positions. Toward that end,
apply one or more of the following three approaches.
1. Future-Oriented Job and Task Analysis
To conduct future-oriented job and task analysis for key positions, focus attention on
summarizing expected future activities, responsibilities, duties, or essential functions.7
Extend the analysis by examining future tasks linked to those activities, responsibili-
ties, duties, or essential job functions. Write position descriptions as they should exist
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 219
Exhibit 9-2. Activity on Organizational Analysis
Directions: How will your organization respond to the trends evident in the external
environment that will likely affect it in the future? Use this worksheet to help you
structure your thinking about how external environmental trends will affect work in
the organization.
Obtain answers to the activity appearing in Exhibit 9-1. Then answer each question
appearing in the worksheet below. Finally, compare your responses to what other
decision makers write. Use the responses to consider future work requirements in
the organization.
1. For each consequence, outcome, or result you listed in response to question 2
in Exhibit 9-1, indicate what functions/positions in the organization are most
likely to be affected and how you think those functions/positions will be—or
should be—affected.
List each consequence, out- Describe what functions/positions are
come, or result. most likely to be affected and how you
think they will be—or should be—
affected.
2. How should the organization respond to future trends? Should workflow
change? Should work methods change? Should the organization’s structure
change? Are any changes likely as a response to increasing external competitive
pressure? How does the organization’s strategic plan indicate that those chal-
lenges will be met? Will new key positions emerge as a result of changes to
organizational strategy? Will old key positions fade in importance while new
ones become more important? Will new competencies be required, and (if so)
what are they and where will they need to be demonstrated?
Provide your thoughts:
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220 Assessing the Present and the Future
Exhibit 9-3. Activity for Preparing Realistic Scenarios to Identify Future
Key Positions
Directions: The future can seem difficult to envision if predictions about it are left
vague. Use this activity to make predictions more tangible. Using responses to ques-
tions appearing in Exhibits 9-1 and 9-2, create a detailed description of the likely
future situation of your organization at the end of 5 years from the present. Do
that by answering the questions appearing below. When you finish answering the
questions, compare what you wrote to what other key decision makers/strategists
have written. Develop an overall scenario that describes the ‘‘best-guess situation’’
of the way the future will appear for the organization.
1. What is your ‘‘best guess’’ of how the organization will be functioning in 1 to 5
years, based on environmental scanning or organizational diagnosis? Describe
the organization’s situation, competition, profitability, and structure:
2. What positions do you believe will be key (that is, critically important) in 1 to 5
years? List their job titles below. What competencies will incumbents in those
positions need to possess/demonstrate to be successful?
at a future time if the organization is to be successful in meeting the competitive
challenges it faces. In this way, the effects of organizational strategic plans on key
positions can be mirrored in and thereby aligned with position descriptions and task
inventories. By comparing present and future position descriptions, decision makers
should be able to uncover important disparities and, accordingly, information about
desirable developmental opportunities to groom individuals for advancement. Use
the activity in Exhibit 9-4 to prepare future-oriented key position descriptions.
However, future-oriented position descriptions are no panacea. They are prone
to the same disadvantages as traditional (present-oriented) position descriptions: (1)
a focus on activities, not results; (2) a lack of details about all elements essential to
job success, including personal characteristics and attitudes; and (3) a requirement
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 221
Exhibit 9-4. Activity for Preparing Future-Oriented Key Position Descriptions
Directions: An organization’s strategic plans can seem vague to employees—and
even to strategists—until they are made job-specific. Use this activity to help clarify
how key positions should change to help the organization realize strategic goals
and implement strategic business plans.
In the left column below, list current job activities for each key position. Then, using
the results of Exhibits 9-1, 9-2, and 9-3, list how those job activities should change
between the present and 1 to 5 years in the future for the job incumbent to function
in line with expected environmental trends and organizational changes made to
cope with them.
Ask each key job incumbent to complete this activity for his/her position. Then ask
strategists to review the results of the activity for each key position in the organization
and identify the competencies needed. Use the results as a basis for future-oriented
succession planning.
Current Job Activities for How Should These Activities Be
Each Key Position Carried Out in 1–5 Years, and What
Competencies Should Job Incumbents
Possess/Demonstrate?
for continual and time-consuming revision because they get outdated so rapidly. Ad-
ditionally, they may be based on inaccurate (or simply wrongheaded) assumptions
about the future. However, such disadvantages may be outweighed by their specificity
and by helping individuals to envision the future into which they—and their organi-
zations—are headed.
2. Future Competency Models
Competency modeling lends itself to a future orientation better than any other ap-
proach.8 To give a future orientation to competency models, simply direct attention
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222 Assessing the Present and the Future
to the future rather than to the present or past. Ask the organization’s strategists to
review each key position for underlying employee characteristics (including motives,
traits, skills, self-image, social roles, or bodies of knowledge) that should, if assump-
tions about the future prove correct, result in superior performance and actions con-
sistent with organizational strategy. Apply competency modeling approaches with an
emphasis on future, rather than past or present, competencies. Then use the future-
oriented competency models as a guide to prepare individuals for advancement into
key positions.
Alas, future competencies may not be identical to present or past competencies.
Indeed, they may even conflict with them. For instance, think about such examples
as IBM after downsizing or AT&T after deregulation. In each case, what was required
for future success was not what had been historically required—or even desired—by
the organization. That shift in needs created a dilemma. Managers who succeeded
under the old conditions were suddenly outmoded and were even unfit to counsel a
new generation about what it would take for them to succeed. In these settings, man-
agers had to identify and cultivate talent that was quite different from their own if
their organizations were to survive. Exemplary future competence, then, is a moving
target, an ideal, a description of what people will probably have to know, do, or feel
to perform successfully amid the vague uncertainties of the future.9
Future-oriented competency models, like future-oriented position descriptions,
suffer from the same strengths and weaknesses as their traditional counterparts.
Though more rigorous than job analysis, a competency model can be confusing to
those who do not clearly understand what it is. Additionally, future-oriented compe-
tency models usually require considerable time and expertise to carry out successfully.
Their implementation may require strategists to devote significant time and resources
to it, which they may be reluctant to do.
3. Future-Oriented Rapid Results Assessment
This approach to competency identification has a very real potential to help decision
makers plan for future work requirements in key positions. Nor does it require sub-
stantial expertise, time, or resources to carry out. To use it, simply focus attention on
desirable future competencies, applying the steps depicted in Exhibit 9-5. Then use
those steps to examine competencies in each key position in the organization. Use the
results as the basis to plan for individual development and organizational SP&M
generally.10
Rapid results assessment enjoys important advantages: It can be conducted quickly;
it has high face validity because it bases position-specific information on experienced
and exemplary job incumbents (or other knowledgeable people); it permits the personal
involvement of key decision makers, thereby building their ownership in the results;
and it can be used to move beyond a focus on mere work activities or tasks to include
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 223
Exhibit 9-5. Steps in Conducting Future-Oriented Rapid Results Assessment
Step 1 � Assemble a group of 5–13 knowledgeable
individuals—including exemplary job incum-Orient the committee to
bents and their immediate exemplary superiors.the rapid results assess-
� Brief group members on the need to predictment procedure.
changing work requirements.
Step 2 � Assemble information about one or more
specific key jobs/positions in the organiza-Review current information
tion.about the job/occupation/
� Focus attention in this step on ‘‘what job in-function.
cumbents do now.’’
Step 3 � Brief group members on trends in the external
environment and the organization that mayReview external environ-
change—or require change—in job duties,mental factors affecting
activities, responsibilities, tasks, competen-the organization and likely
cies, or essential job functions.ways the organization will
respond to them.
Step 4 � Ask group members to identify how they be-
lieve key positions will be affected by chang-Identify specific activities
ing external environmental conditions.that are likely to be carried
� Go around the meeting room and ask eachout in the key position in
group member to list an activity that he or shethe future.
envisions will be carried out in the future—
and continue this process until group mem-
bers exhaust ideas.
Step 5 � Ask group members to review the activities
they defined in the previous step, eliminatingReview and refine the
redundancy and identifying names for gen-future-oriented task and
eral categories.activity statements.
Step 6 � Ask group members to sequence the future-
oriented task and activity statements theySequence future-oriented
identified in the previous step so that they aretask and activity state-
arranged from easiest to most difficult toments.
learn.
(continues)
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224 Assessing the Present and the Future
Exhibit 9-5. (continued)
Step 7 � Develop a ‘‘matrix’’ on a sheet of paper that
depicts future-oriented tasks and activities or-Construct a ‘‘future-
ganized by category and arranged from easi-oriented task and activity’’
est to most difficult to learn.matrix.
Step 8 � Review each task/activity on the matrix and
ask group members to identify appropriateExamine the appropriate
competencies/feelings/value orientations‘‘affective domain’’ is-
that are properly associated with each task/sues for each future-
activity.oriented task and activity
statement.
Step 9 � Review each task/activity on the matrix and
ask group members to identify appropriateExamine appropriate per-
ways to measure/assess/appraise perform-formance standards for
ance relative to the future-oriented task oreach future-oriented task
activity.and activity statement on
the matrix.
Step 10 � Use the results of the rapid results assessment
to position succession planning on a future-Establish procedures by
oriented, rather than present- or past-which to use the matrix for
oriented, footing.selecting, appraising, as-
sessing potential, and
other important activities.
descriptions of underlying characteristics or work outputs. However, it shares the disad-
vantages of its traditional counterpart: The results are not as rigorous or as complete as
other competency modeling methods, and the results are heavily dependent on the
credibility of the individual panelists. Additionally, as in other future-oriented ap-
proaches, it is only as good as the underlying assumptions about the future.
Assessing Individual Potential: The Traditional Approach
The centerpiece of most SP&M programs is some means by which to assess individual
potential. This effort seeks to determine how to make best use of the organization’s
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 225
existing human resource assets. However, assessing future potential should not be
confused with appraising present job performance. Performance appraisal is linked
to present job performance; potential assessment is linked to future advancement
possibilities. Potential assessment is a critically important activity, if only because as
many as one-third of all leadership positions (it has been estimated) would not be
filled by present incumbents if decision makers had it to do over again.11
What Is Individual Potential Assessment?
Individual potential assessment is a systematic process of examining individuals’ possi-
bilities for job change or movement. It is usually associated with determining whether
individuals have what it takes to advance to positions of greater management responsi-
bility or positions demanding greater technical knowledge. It should be linked to—and
serve as one basis for determining—employee training, education, and development
activities, which collectively comprise a vehicle to help an individual qualify for ad-
vancement.12 It should also be linked to individual career planning activities, which
have (unfortunately) been deemphasized between years 1990 and 2006, owing to
widespread downsizing and economic restructuring. Since year 2006, however, career
planning or career development programs are making a comeback both as recruit-
ment and as retention tools.
What Is a High Potential?
The term high potential has more than one possible meaning. High potentials, who
should be identified through an objective individual potential assessment process,
represent the organization’s inventory of future leaders. They are usually individuals
who are capable of advancing two or more levels beyond their present placement,
those who are slated for key positions, or those who have not reached a career plateau.
(Other definitions are also possible.13) It is important to define the term in a way
that is appropriate for the organization. In fact, each organization may have several
definitions.
Distinguishing Between Exemplary Performers and High
Potentials
Individuals who are high potentials are almost always exemplary performers who are
identified through the performance appraisal process and who exceed minimum job
expectations. Exceptional performance in the current job is usually a necessary pre-
requisite to advancement.14 However, not all exemplary performers are high potentials
because advancement potential is based on different criteria from those for present
performance.
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226 Assessing the Present and the Future
In any organization or organizational unit, individuals may be classified into four
distinct groups based on their performance and their potential. Think of a grid with
two axes15 (see Exhibit 9-6). One axis represents present performance and is divided
between high and low performance; the second axis represents future potential (pro-
motability) and is divided between high and low potential. The result is a perform-
ance/potential grid that closely resembles the Boston Consulting Group’s widely used
portfolio analysis technique for use in strategic planning. It is also a method for
making investment decisions.
As shown in Exhibit 9-6, stars (the upper left cell of the performance/potential
grid) are exemplary individual performers in their present positions and are perceived
to have high potential for future advancement.16 A major corporate asset, they are
properly regarded as high potentials and are a source of replacements for key posi-
tions. An effective HR strategy for stars involves a twofold effort to make the most of
their current performance while systematically preparing them for advancement—
and even accelerating their development, if possible. Above all, the organization
should make every effort to recruit and retain them, keeping their turnover minimal.
Workhorses (upper right) are exemplary performers in their current jobs who are
perceived to have poor future potential.17 Since they are highly productive where they
are, they should remain there. An effective strategy for workhorses is to harness their
Exhibit 9-6. How to Classify Individuals by Performance and Potential
The Performance/Potential Grid
Future Potential
High Low
High Stars Workhorses
HR strategy:
� Keep turnover low. � Keep turnover low.
� Take steps to acceler- � Keep them motivatedPresent
ate their development. and productive wherePerformance
they are.
Low Question Marks Deadwood
HR strategy:
� Convert them to stars. � Convert them to work-
� Counsel them to ac- horses.
celerate their develop- � Terminate them if they
ment. cannot be salvaged.
Source: George S. Odiorne, Strategic Management of Human Resources: A Portfolio Approach (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1984), p. 305. Adapted with permission of the publisher.
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 227
skills while keeping them motivated and productive. Turnover in their ranks, as with
stars, should be kept minimal.
Question marks (lower left) are poor performers in their present positions who
are perceived to have high future potential.18 The best HR strategy for dealing with
them is to focus on improving their present performance, thereby turning them into
stars. Their immediate supervisors should be trained to apply appropriate tech-
niques—such as coaching, mentoring, and (when warranted) corrective action
steps—to make them more productive.
Finally, deadwood (lower right) consists of individuals who are neither good per-
formers in their present jobs nor perceived to have future advancement potential.19
While their ranks may have been dramatically reduced in the 1990s owing to downsiz-
ing and other reductions in force, their ranks may be swollen in some international
subsidiaries where the national culture emphasizes good relationships between bosses
and subordinates rather than performance or results.
A twofold HR strategy is the most effective with deadwood. First, their immediate
organizational superiors should make every effort to help them improve their per-
formance. If successful, that strategy will convert deadwood to workhorses. If unsuc-
cessful, that strategy should be followed up by fair and evenhanded efforts, consistent
with the organization’s disciplinary policies and practices, to move them out of the
job or even out of the organization.
Identifying High Potentials
The organization can identify high potentials in several ways because approaches to
assessing individual potential are as diverse as employee performance appraisal, and
sometimes they resemble each other.
Global Assessment
One way to assess potential is to ask senior executives to furnish the names of individ-
uals in their areas of responsibility who they feel have high potential, in terms defined
by the organization. This is called global assessment. (See Exhibit 9-7 for a sample
worksheet to be used in making global assessments.)
It is a simple approach but not very effective, for several reasons. First, few senior
executives (except those in very small organizations) will know everyone in their areas
of responsibility. Second, unless the definition of high potential is made quite clear,
senior executives are likely to respond to a request for names based on their percep-
tions. Perceptions about individuals can be overly colored by recent events (recency
bias), extremely bad incidents (the horn effect), or extremely good incidents (the halo
effect). Indeed, perceptions can lead to personal favoritism, discrimination, or pigeon-
holing in which individual potential is difficult to change once assessed.
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228 Assessing the Present and the Future
Exhibit 9-7. Worksheet for Making Global Assessments
Directions: Use this worksheet to list individuals whom you consider to be ‘‘high-
potentials’’ in your organizational area of responsibility. A ‘‘high-potential’’ is an
individual who has the capacity to be promoted two or more levels. List the names
below, their present titles, and the time they have spent in the present positions. Be
prepared to discuss, in the future, why you believe these individuals have the capac-
ity to be promoted two or more levels. If possible, rank them by their potential—with
1 � highest potential. (Do not use current position as a basis for ranking; rather,
use your judgment about individual ability to perform at a higher level.)
Names Titles Time in Present Positions
Success Factor Analysis
A second approach to individual potential assessment is based on success factor analy-
sis, the process of examining traits or other characteristics perceived to lead to organi-
zational success or advancement. One research study, for instance, revealed that
successful women share such characteristics as exemplary educational credentials, a
track record of hard work and good performance, supportive mentoring relation-
ships, effective interpersonal skills, and a willingness to take career and work risks.
More recent research on succession has focused on gender issues.20
Success factors may be identified through various means. One way is to ask execu-
tives what traits they think will lead to success in the organization, and these traits
may then be collected as depicted in Exhibit 9-8. Executives can be asked to check off
what they believe those traits are. Lists completed by numerous executives may be
compiled and used as the basis for developing an individual potential assessment
form, like the one shown in Exhibit 9-9.
An alternative is to conduct critical incident interviews with organizational strate-
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 229
Exhibit 9-8. Worksheet to Identify Success Factors
Directions: Use this worksheet to identify success factors. A ‘‘success factor’’ is a
past experience or personal characteristic linked to, and correlated with, successful
advancement in the organization. Identify success factors by asking individuals who
have already achieved success—such as key position incumbents—about their most
important developmental experiences and about what they did (or skills they demon-
strated) in the midst of those experiences.
Pose the following questions to key position incumbents. Then compile and compare
the results. Ask other key position incumbents in the organization to review the re-
sults.
1. What is the single most difficult experience you encountered in your career?
(Describe the situation below.)
2. What did you do in the experience you described in response to question 1?
(Describe, as precisely as you can, what actions you took—and what results you
achieved as a result.)
3. Reflect on your answer to question 2. What personal characteristics do you feel
you exhibited or demonstrated in the action(s) you took? How do you feel they
contributed to your present success?
gists. This approach is based on critical incident analysis, used in training needs as-
sessment. Critical incidents were first identified for pilots during World War II. They
were asked what situations (incidents), if ignored, might lead to serious (critical)
consequences.
If this approach is used, individual interviews should be conducted with strategists
with a structured interview guide based on the results of a study like the one shown
in Exhibit 9-8. The results should then be analyzed and become the basis for establish-
ing success factors. These, in turn, can be used in assessing individual potential and,
when appropriate, in identifying developmental opportunities.
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230 Assessing the Present and the Future
Exhibit 9-9. Individual Potential Assessment Form
Directions: Individual potential may be assessed through many different ap-
proaches. One approach is to ask their immediate organizational superiors to rate
employees—particularly those felt to be high-potentials—against various success
factors, skills, competencies, values, or abilities that are felt to be correlated with
future success at a higher level of responsibility.
Ask key job incumbents to rate their subordinates on each of the following generic
success factors. (It is better to use success factors specific to the unique organiza-
tional culture.) A separate form should be completed on each high-potential. The
completed forms may then be used as one source of information about individual
strengths/weaknesses.
Ask the raters to place an x in the appropriate spot in the right column below the
scale and opposite the success factor listed in the left column. Then ask raters to
send their completed forms to the HR Department or to the organization’s Succes-
sion Planning Coordinator. There are no ‘‘right’’ or ‘‘wrong’’ answers in any absolute
sense. However, raters may vary in their potential assessments, depending on how
they interpret the success factors and the rating scale.
Scale
Success Factors
(or competencies Needs Exceeds
needed at a Improvement Adequate Requirements
targeted level) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Appraising
Budgeting
Communicating
Controlling
Dealing with Change
Developing Employees
Influencing Others
Making Changes
Making Decisions
Managing Projects
Effectively
Organizing
Planning
Representing the
Organization
Effectively
Staffing the Unit/
Department
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 231
Three Approaches to Individual Potential Assessment
There are three basic approaches to assessing individual potential. Each is based on a
different philosophy.
Leader-Driven Individual Potential Assessment
The traditional approach might be called leader driven and was probably first used in
business. Individual potential is assessed by the organization’s strategists and often
solely by key position incumbents for their own subordinates in their immediate areas
of responsibility.
The process may be a formal one, in which the organization has established forms
that are completed periodically on all employees or on a select group of employees
(such as those designated as high potentials). The process may also be informal: Each
function or organizational unit is asked to submit names of individuals who have
advancement potential.
This approach is characterized by secrecy. Employees have little or no say in the
process; indeed, they are not always aware that it is being carried out. No effort is
made to double-check individual potential assessment results with an employee’s ca-
reer aspirations or plans to ensure that an appropriate match exists. An advantage of
this approach is that it can be done quickly. Leaders simply fill out forms and return
them to the human resources department, the SP&M coordinator, or a designated
executive. Employees do not challenge the results because they are oblivious. The
organization thus retains strong control over SP&M and its results.
A disadvantage of this approach, however, is that employees have no stake in
outcomes that they did not help to shape. If the results are ever used in making
succession decisions, employees may refuse promotions or transfers that conflict with
their perceptions of their own desired work-life balance or their own career goals.
Participative Individual Potential Assessment
In a participative assessment approach, employees and their immediate organizational
superiors play important roles in the assessment process. Hence, the approach is
participative. Periodically—such as once a year—employees undergo an individual
potential assessment. It may be timed at the halfway point of the annual performance
appraisal cycle so that potential assessment is not confused with performance ap-
praisal.
Although there are many ways to carry out the process, one approach is to distrib-
ute individual assessment appraisal forms to employees and their immediate organiza-
tional superiors. Employees and superiors complete the forms, exchange them, and
later meet to discuss the individual’s advancement capabilities. As with performance
appraisals, the human resources department usually prepares the forms for individual
potential assessment, distributes them, and gathers the results for filing in personnel
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232 Assessing the Present and the Future
records. (Alternatives to that approach are possible. For instance, completed individ-
ual assessment appraisal forms may be retained by the leader of an organizational unit.)
An advantage of this approach is that it allows what might be called reality testing.
Individuals learn of possibilities for the future, which may interest them and motivate
them, and organizational representatives learn more about individual career goals and
aspirations, thereby improving the quality of their succession plans. In this way, the
assessment process provides an opportunity for mutual candor and information shar-
ing, and employees have a stake in the assessment process. If the organization should
have a need to make a succession decision, the likelihood is greater that employees
will accept offers of promotions or transfers that match their career goals and organi-
zational needs.
Key to this process is the individual potential assessment interview. It should be
carried out in a quiet, supportive setting that is free of interruptions. The employee’s
immediate organizational superior should set the pace, discussing his or her percep-
tions about the individual’s strengths and weaknesses for advancement, as well as the
realistic possibilities for advancement. (Having an agenda can make an interview of
this kind run smoothly.)
A disadvantage of this approach is that it can rarely be done quickly. Leaders and
employees must devote time to it if it is to be valuable. Indeed, to gain the full benefits
from it, leaders must be trained on effective interviewing skills. Another disadvantage
is that the value of the approach is a function of the interpersonal trust existing
between leaders and their employees. Trust is not always present, nor is complete
candor.
Several factors affect trust. Among them are past dealings between the organiza-
tion and individual, the perceived candor of the organization’s representative, and the
match between individual career goals and organizational opportunities. For example,
suppose an employee has personal aspirations that may eventually lead to her depar-
ture from the organization. She may be unwilling to share that information for fear
of how it might affect her prospects for promotion. Likewise, leaders may be unable
to share information about pending changes affecting the organization—such as the
sale of a division or the dissolution of a product line—that may also impact career
goals or succession plans.
Empowered Individual Potential Assessment
In this third approach, leaders provide guidance and direction but do not determine
the outcomes or make final decisions affecting individual potential. They just share
information and offer coaching suggestions. Individuals remain chiefly responsible
for their own self-assessment and self-development.
Once a year, employees are encouraged to complete individual potential assess-
ment forms, submit them to their immediate organizational superiors, and then
schedule meetings to discuss them with their superiors. (Some may even decide to
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 233
discuss their forms with their mentors.) The form is usually created and supplied by
the human resources department, but it may or may not be called individual potential
assessment form. Alternative names might include career planning assessment form or
individual potential assessment form (Exhibit 9-9). In this approach, the initiative
rests entirely with employees. They conduct their own individual assessments; they
schedule assessment meetings with their immediate organizational superiors or with
mentors in other parts of the organization; they are not required to participate in the
assessment process, which remains voluntary. As with other approaches, however, it
is usually kept separate from performance appraisals so as not to confuse present
performance and future potential. Individual potential assessment becomes a tool to
help individuals understand how to qualify for advancement within the framework of
the organization’s needs and their own career goals.
An advantage of this approach is that, like other empowerment efforts, it can be
quite motivating for employees. Further, it discourages a philosophy of entitlement
in which employees with a long service record feel that promotions are owed to them.
Instead, the responsibility for advancement rests squarely on their shoulders, and they
are expected to take an active role in setting their own career directions and finding
the necessary resources to develop in those directions.
Another advantage of this approach is that employees are not given the impres-
sion, which is possible with other approaches, that they are guaranteed advancement.
Management should state the message, loud and clear, that ‘‘We can’t guarantee pro-
motions, but we can guarantee that those who have taken the steps to obtain the
necessary qualifications for a higher-level position will be given due consideration.’’
The chief disadvantage of this approach is that the organization sacrifices control
over employees. Indeed, it may not always be apparent whether replacements exist
for each key position. The approach thus creates a talent pool rather than a position-
oriented succession plan. In practical terms, nobody in management knows at any
time if even one person is ready to assume important positions in the organization.
Empowered individual potential assessment is likely to remain important—a
mainstream approach. One reason is that it matches current thinking about the need
to decentralize decision making and give the control to those who deal with customers
or consumers daily. A second reason is that this approach can unleash individual
initiative rather than stifle it, thereby motivating people to want to qualify for ad-
vancement.
The Growing Use of Assessment Centers and Portfolios
Since the previous editions of this book appeared in print, the world has changed.
Organizations are now using assessment centers and portfolios to assess individual
potential. But what are they?
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234 Assessing the Present and the Future
Assessment Centers
Assessment centers are back as a tool for potential assessment in succession manage-
ment.21 Of course, an assessment center is a process and should not be confused with
a place. The idea is simple enough: Create a realistic simulation of the work performed
by those at targeted levels—for example, top management work—and then run indi-
viduals through the process to determine how well they perform in a higher-level (or
targeted) position.
Assessment centers went out of fashion for a time owing to the hard work and
expense involved in setting them up. After all, they must be based on the actual work
performed (rather than subjective impressions) or on the competencies linked to
successful performance. Individuals’ progress in the assessment center is rated by
trained assessors who must judge their performance. In some circles, there is still
concern about the time and cost involved in establishing and maintaining assessment
centers and about the possibility of not being able to defend against discrimination
complaints. An alternative is to send individuals through outsourced assessment cen-
ters, established by universities or by consulting companies. Unfortunately, the latter
approach means that individuals may be rated against some other organization’s com-
petency models, which could be a formula for misidentifying the abilities of individ-
uals.
Ten classic errors have been identified in the use of assessment centers, and orga-
nizations that set out to use them should do their best to avoid them:22
1. Poor planning
2. Inadequate job analysis
3. Weakly defined dimensions
4. Poor exercises
5. No pretest evaluations
6. Unqualified assessors
7. Inadequate assessor training
8. Inadequate candidate preparation
9. Sloppy behavior documentation and scoring
10. Misuse of results
Of course, the value of this approach is that it is thus possible to see individuals
in action before they are promoted. That is a significant advantage. Assessment cen-
ters also do a good job of identifying actual behaviors—that is, observable actions—
that are far more valid and reliable than notoriously weak job interviews.
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 235
Work Portfolios
How does an employer assess an individual’s relative readiness for a higher-level job?
One way is to focus on behaviors, which are essentially observable demonstrations.
Competencies can be manifested as behaviors. And, of course, full-circle, multirater
(i.e., 360-degree) assessment is one way to measure behaviors because raters are usu-
ally asked how often or how well they have seen an individual demonstrate behaviors
linked to competencies.
Of course, an alternative to measuring behaviors is to focus on the outputs or
outcomes of competencies. For instance, if examining typing behavior, a rater can
focus on what the secretary does while typing. But because that may be pointless,
another way to measure the demonstration of competencies is through work samples,
which are examples of the work output. For a secretary, a work sample may be a
typed letter or report, on which the rater can judge the quality of what the secretary
produces.
How does measuring outputs or outcomes relate to succession planning and
management? The answer should be apparent. If, for example, a supervisor who is
being groomed for a manager’s job would be expected to produce budgets as part of
the manager’s job, then he or she could prepare a budget and present it as a work
example. If the supervisor does not presently do budgeting, then budgeting can be-
come the focus of developmental activities on a competency called ‘‘budgeting skill.’’
Carrying out that skill may be essential to qualifying for promotion to manager.
A work portfolio, sometimes called a dossier, began in the art world. Artists must
convince gallery owners to show their work. Since gallery space and time are limited,
gallery owners want to know what quality of work the artist produces. To address that
concern, artists compile examples of their best works—such as watercolors, charcoal
drawings, oil paintings, or photos of sculptures—to show the gallery owner. These
are assembled in a portfolio that the artist can carry with him or her. The gallery
owner then judges the quality of the work—presumably the best work that the artist
has done—and decides whether the artist’s talents warrant an art show.
The same idea can be applied to rating individuals’ abilities. They can be asked to
assemble a portfolio that represents their best work or, alternatively, the best work
that they could do in a job they do not yet hold. For instance, a management consul-
tant who is interviewing for an entry-level job might present examples of his or her
marketing materials, proposals written, deliverables produced, and letters of testi-
mony from satisfied clients. Similarly, a supervisor who is interviewing to become a
department manager could provide examples of work outputs that are linked to es-
sential requirements of the prospective job.
To create a work portfolio, start with the competency model or a job description
and ask, ‘‘What are the outcomes, tangible or intangible, of that competency or
work activity?’’ The portfolio can then be prepared with the resume at the front, a
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236 Assessing the Present and the Future
targeted job description or competency model, and then work samples representing
the supervisor’s efforts to demonstrate the real work performed by department
managers. Work portfolios may then be compared for quality, and the person with
the best work portfolio may be invited to participate in additional steps of the
selection process.
The value of work portfolios is that they show work results. Impressing interview-
ers is no longer the sole criterion, though participating in interviews may still be
essential to be selected. But work portfolios have the advantage of focusing attention
on the desired results. Of course, a disadvantage is that raters may not assess portfolios
in the same ways without training and/or agreed-upon guidelines for rating that work.
Additionally, job applicants must understand clearly what they are being asked to
provide as work samples. If they do not, then what can happen may not be good.
For example, ‘‘[W]hen Optum, Inc., a White Plains, N.Y., software company, asked
applicants to submit work samples, ‘we got in personal poetry and song lyrics,’ says
Kelly Vizzini, director of corporate marketing.’’23 One time when I asked for a writing
sample from a job applicant, he used a dolly to wheel in 11 large three-ring binders
full of material he had written. Unfortunately, when that happened, I was away from
my desk, and he left before I could return. When I did return, sitting on my desk was
an enormous stack of material, which I had no room to store.
But the approach can also work well. Another time I conducted supervisory train-
ing for a large organization. The operations manager wanted her 35 supervisors to
take paper-and-pencil examinations. I dissuaded her of that and instead convinced
her to have each supervisor assemble a notebook—a work portfolio—of his or her
best work. That way, the operations manager could see for herself what level of work
they performed, and that prompted much discussion as she reviewed what they re-
garded as good work samples. She was then able to use the samples as a focal point
for developing the supervisory group and to assess individuals for their potential for
future advancement.
A recent trend is to create online portfolios of work samples so that future em-
ployers may see examples of the work products that applicants feel reflect their best
efforts. Some universities even permit their graduates to keep portfolio Web sites
forever after they graduate.
The Latest Issues in Potential Assessment
It would seem that assessing individual potential for promotion would be the single
most important issue in SP&M. After all, making a decision about who is promot-
able—that is, determining worker potential—would seem to be a fundamental aim of
any SP&M program. Yet relatively little is known about it.
One new idea is that at least one authority distinguishes between assessment cen-
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Assessing Future Work Requirements and Individual Potential 237
ters and development centers. An assessment center focuses on determining whether
an individual is promotable to a next job; a development center focuses on individual
development needs for longer time spans.24 Another authority recommends assessing
an individual’s cognitive capacity, the ability to use information at different levels on
an organization chart, based on assessment carried out by the manager immediately
above the one to whom the employee reports.25
Though organizational assessments of potential are important, you should also
remember the individual’s role in this process. Individuals can and do influence their
own potential.26 They need not forever be trapped at a level they do not want. Just as
individuals who are injured in an accident and who are told they will never walk end
up proving the doctors wrong, so too can individuals change their potential. A major
factor is motivation. Individuals who are highly motivated can overcome all kinds of
perceived deficiencies and end up highly qualified. Motivation can be the multiplier
effect on performance and/or potential.
In 2008, I worked with Linkage, Inc. to conduct a survey of their e-mail list of
clients and past seminar or conference participants. Survey respondents were asked a
series of questions about their use of various potential assessment approaches. Only
113 respondents participated in the study despite notification by e-mail and postcards
to well over 1,000 HR practitioners. Only 45 percent of the respondents indicated
that their organizations use formal tools to assess potential for promotion. Most (77
percent) rely on manager nominations. Some (36 percent) used an exercise to place
individuals on a performance versus potential grid, and 31 percent used 360-degree
assessment in determining promotability. Most respondents (92 percent) do not use
external rotation to other organizations as a means of assessing potential, and 73
percent do not use internal rotation programs as a means of assessing potential. Less
than half (42 percent) of respondents indicated that their firms use external executive
coaching to help newly promoted managers to transition successfully into their new
roles, and the most attention in executive coaching (73 percent) is focused on middle
managers rather than on top or front-line managers. Forty-seven (47) percent of the
respondents indicated that there is no separate assessment of individual values or
ethics in determining potential. What to do with people who fail after promotion
depends on past performance in prior roles, according to 53 percent of respondents.
Summary
As this chapter has shown, information about future work requirements and individ-
ual potential is essential to an effective SP&M program. When paired with informa-
tion about present work requirements and individual job performance, it becomes
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238 Assessing the Present and the Future
the basis for preparing individual development plans to narrow the gaps between
what individuals already know and do and what they must know and do to qualify
for advancement. Though relatively little is known about common or best practices
in potential assessment, this chapter described the results of a small-scale study under-
taken by the author to gain more information about them.
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P A R T I V
Closing the Developmental Gap:
Operating and Evaluating
an SP&M Program
• Testing bench strength.
• Formulating internal promotion policy.
• Preparing individual development plans (IDPs).
• Evaluating individual development plans.
• Developing successors internally.
• Assessing alternatives to SP&M, as necessary.
• Integrating recruitment with succession planning.
• Integrating retention with succession planning.
• Applying online and high-tech approaches to SP&M programs.
• Evaluating SP&M programs.
• Taking steps to address predictions about the possible future of
SP&M programs.
Part I
Background Information About
Succession Planning and Management
Part II
Laying the Foundation for a
Succession Planning and
Management Program
Part IV
Closing the Developmental Gap:
Operating and Evaluating a Succession
Planning and Management Program
Part III
Assessing the Present and the Future
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C H A P T E R 1 0
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Developing Internal Successors
For a succession planning and management program to be effective, the organization
must have some means by which to replace key job incumbents as vacancies occur in
their positions. Promotion from within is a time-honored and crucially important,
albeit traditional, way to do that.
But, to prepare individuals for promotion, the organization has an obligation to
do more than merely identify present and future work requirements and perform-
ance. It must find some way to clarify—and to systematically close—the develop-
mental gap between what possible successors can already do and what they must do
to qualify for advancement. Individual development planning is the process of clarify-
ing that developmental gap; internal development uses planned training, education,
development, and other means—including on-the-job work assignments—to close
developmental gaps and thereby meet succession needs.
This chapter focuses on determining the organization’s collective succession
needs, using promotion from within to meet those needs, clarifying individual devel-
opmental gaps, and closing those gaps systematically through planned training, edu-
cation, and development. More specifically, then, this chapter addresses the following
questions:
‘ What is bench strength, and how can the leaders of an organization test bench
strength?
‘ Why is internal promotion so important for succession, and when is it—and
when is it not—appropriate for meeting SP&M needs?
‘ What is an individual development plan (IDP)? How should one be prepared,
followed up, and evaluated?
‘ What are some important methods of internal development, and when should
they be used?
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242 Closing the Developmental Gap
Testing Bench Strength
Once key positions and work requirements have been identified, the organization
should test bench strength. That is important because it provides information about
the organization’s collective succession needs. That information can, in turn, drama-
tize the importance of taking action to meet SP&M needs.
What Is Bench Strength?
Bench strength is the organization’s ability to fill vacancies from within. Testing bench
strength means determining how well the organization is able to fill vacancies in key
positions from within.
Turnover saps bench strength. There are two kinds of turnover. Unavoidable turn-
over is outside the immediate control of the organization. It is the loss of personnel
through death, disability, and retirement. It may also include turnover resulting from
organizational action, such as layoff, early retirement, buyout, or other means. Al-
though many line managers would like to include promotions and transfers from
their areas in the definition of unavoidable turnover, most HR departments do not
include internal movements in the definition.
On the other hand, avoidable turnover is initiated by employees. It is a loss result-
ing from resignations as individuals leave the organization, typically moving to posi-
tions in other firms. Although turnover of any kind is costly because the company
must find and train replacements, avoidable turnover is made worse because it could
be avoided if the organization could only retain the employees.
Avoidable turnover from key positions—or the loss of high potentials—can be
particularly distressing because it creates unnecessary crises. (This is sometimes called
critical turnover.1) One aim of any SP&M program should thus be to find ways to
reduce avoidable turnover among high potentials or key position incumbents—or at
least find the means to keep it stable.
Approaches to Testing Bench Strength
To test an organization for bench strength, ask decision makers how they would
replace key positions in their areas of responsibility or ensure that work requirements
will be met through other, more innovative, means. Use any of the following means.
Replacement Charting
Prepare an organization chart to show the range of possible replacements for each
key position in a work area. (See Exhibits 10-1 and 10-2.) Note how many holes can
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Developing Internal Successors 243
Exhibit 10-1. Sample Replacement Chart Format: Typical Succession
Planning and Management Inventory for the Organization
Area Director
Department
Vice President
Staff
1: Successor ready now to one year
2: Successor ready in one to two years
3: No successor identified in five-year
time frame
Functional
Vice President
Functional
Vice President
Assistant
Vice President
Assistant
Vice President
Assistant
Vice President
Assistant
Vice President
Director
Sample
Position
Potential Successor
Potential Successor
Potential Successor
1
2
3
Source: Norman H. Carter, ‘‘Guaranteeing Management’s Future through Succession Planning,’’ Journal of Information Systems
Management (Summer 1986), 19. Used by permission of the Journal of Information Systems Management.
be identified. A hole is a position in which no internal replacement can be identified.
The lower the percentage of holes relative to key positions, the greater is the organiza-
tion’s bench strength.
Questioning
Ask senior executives who will replace key position incumbents in their areas in the
event of a vacancy. Note how many holes by function can be identified. Track the
holes. The lower the percentage of holes to key positions, the greater is the organiza-
tion’s bench strength.
Evidence
Using the results of an analysis of personnel records over the preceding few years,
find out which departures created the worst problems for the organization. Note
the number of such problems relative to total departures (turnover). The higher the
percentage, the weaker the bench strength is.
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244 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 10-2. Succession Planning and Management Inventory by Position
Key
Title
Name of Incumbent
Age Service Time in
Position
Salary
Performance Readiness
Potential
Performance Rating Definition
X New—in position less than three months. Not evaluated.
1 Unsatisfactory results and performance.
2 Marginal—does not meet requirements of position (with learning
discounted). Attitude and/or initiative not acceptable.
Remedial action indicated.
3 Satisfactory—generally meets job requirements but room for improvement.
If in a major learning phase, considerable room for improvement.
4 Above average—surpasses overall job requirements but lacks strength in
some areas.
5 Superior—some elements of performance may rate as exceptional, but
overall performance falls below an exceptional rating.
6 Exceptional—general all-around excellence in quality/quantity of work,
initiative, self-development, new ideas, and attitude. Rapid learner.
Potential
A Outstanding—can advance two levels above present position.
B Considerable—can advance at least one level above present position
and/or assume substantial added responsibility at present level.
C Some—can assume added responsibilities at present level.
D Limited—at or near capacity in present position.
E Key capacity in current position—vital technical knowledge precludes
movement.
X New—in position less than three months. Not evaluated.
Readiness
R/O Qualified to move now.
R1 Within one to two years.
R2 Within two to four years.
N/A Current level appropriate.
Source: Norman H. Carter, ‘‘Guaranteeing Management’s Future through Succession Planning,’’ Journal of Information Systems
Management (Summer 1986), 20. Used by permission of the Journal of Information Systems Management.
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Developing Internal Successors 245
Combination
Use a combination of the preceding methods. Note the percentage of holes. Feed that
information back to decision makers to dramatize the value and importance of the
SP&M program.
Managing Talent Shows
Talent shows go by many names. Sometimes they are called monthly, quarterly, or
annual SP&M meetings that focus on identifying available talent in the organization
eligible for promotion, discussing special developmental assignments that should be
given to individuals from various divisions, evaluating the size of the organization’s
talent pool relative to expected needs, or discussing how well senior managers have
been grooming talent in their divisions or departments. One outcome of a talent
show—sometimes called a development meeting or even (jokingly) a ‘‘beauty pag-
eant’’—is a verified list of high potentials and developmental assignments for them.
Another, more subtle outcome of a talent show is that it provides a means by which
to hold senior managers accountable for developing talent by encouraging them to
discuss, either in public with their peers or in private with the CEO and the vice
president of HR, how well they are handling the development of talent in their divi-
sions or departments.
It is worth mentioning that talent shows are typically the culmination of an an-
nual succession process. There are three phases.
Phase I: Preparation
Senior managers must prepare for their meeting. A major value-added that can be
provided by the HR department is to hold meetings with each senior manager before
the meeting with the CEO or their peers to discuss what they will say and how they
will say it. The reason is that managers have a tendency to focus on ‘‘what is wrong.’’
Such a management-by-exception philosophy, while possibly desirable in other areas
of management to economize on time spent, can be devastating to the reputations of
successors. The point is that public meetings to discuss development with the CEO
or with peers should focus on ‘‘what we are going to do and what we want the
outcomes to be’’ rather than on ‘‘what is wrong’’ with someone. HR professionals can
work through the problems that lead up to various developmental actions. In that
way, public meetings can focus on actions to be taken and the desired results—and
not on what is wrong with someone.
Phase II: The Meeting
The meeting itself must be planned. An agenda needs to be assembled. Someone in
HR is usually assigned that task. It may be the vice president of HR, or it may be a
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246 Closing the Developmental Gap
key report of the VP of HR. But the agenda should ensure that time is economically
used.
A key issue to work out in advance is the purpose of the meeting. Several purposes
are possible. One type of meeting focuses on rating possible successors and verifying
a talent pool. That may require time for open-air discussions. Another type of meeting
focuses on discussing the progress made in developing talent by division. A third type
of meeting focuses on high potentials and what developmental assignments should be
recommended to leverage their talents, challenge them, and build their competencies
for the future.
It is particularly important to pay attention to the group process of any talent
show. One reason is that the relative willingness of people to speak their minds hon-
estly is quite important to making good decisions. It is not desirable to have one or a
few people dominating the meetings. At the end of each meeting, a discussion should
focus on such group process questions as, ‘‘How well did we work together?’’ and
‘‘How could we work together more effectively in the future?’’
Phase III: The Follow-Up
Often forgotten—and something that must not be forgotten—is follow-up, to ensure
that actions are taken as they have been agreed upon. Often it falls to HR professionals
to follow up. That may require e-mails, phone calls, personal visits, and other contacts
to ensure that agreed-upon actions are taken. That is important because the lack of
follow-through is a common problem in succession. A second reason is that decisions
are pointless if they are not acted on. Someone must pay attention to that; it will not
just take care of itself.
See Exhibit 10-3 for more information about talent shows.
Formulating Internal Promotion Policy
The centerpiece of a systematic SP&M program is a written policy favoring internal
promotion. Lacking such a policy, organizations may have difficulty keeping ambi-
tious high potentials and exemplary performers who seek advancement. If they grow
discouraged, they can contribute to a devastating increase in avoidable and critical
turnover. It is thus essential for the organization to make all reasonable efforts to
retain them. One way to do that is to place the organization on the record as favoring
promotion from within. Not only does a promotion-from-within policy motivate
employees by showing that their efforts can pay off through promotion, but promo-
tion from within also saves the organization money in recruiting, selecting, and train-
ing newcomers.2
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Developing Internal Successors 247
Exhibit 10-3. Talent Shows: What Happens?
At Eli Lilly, the direct managers of high-potential individuals participate in intensive
assessment discussions with other executives concerning the individual’s strengths,
development needs, and career potential. The individual’s manager then provides
her with the key points of feedback from the assessment discussion. Afterward, the
individual works with the manager to develop a personal career plan that reflects
her perceived career potential and also factors in her career interests and goals.
The career plan is reviewed by the manager and individual and is updated when
needed or, at a minimum, on an annual basis.
The amount of time that executives in many companies are devoting to succession
planning is a clear reflection of the increased priority placed on developing top
talent. At Dow Chemical, the Human Resource Council—a small group that in-
cludes the CEO and a handful of his key staff members—spends five days each year
off-site on succession planning: talking about candidates, reviewing development
plans, and directing development assignments. At Corning, executives in each
major unit spend one to four days per year in people reviews that extend down well
below the managerial level. The involvement of senior executives is often expressed
in very personal ways. In a number of companies, CEOs, such as former General
Electric’s Jack Welch, review job assignments and compensation recommendations
for several hundred managers.
Source: John Beeson, ‘‘Succession Planning,’’ Across the Board 37:2 (2000), 39. Used by permission.
Essential Components of an Internal Promotion Policy
To be effective, an internal promotion policy should do the following:
‘ Unequivocally state the organization’s commitment to promoting employees
from within whenever possible and whenever they are qualified to meet the
work requirements of new positions. (But it is best to cap promotions at 80
percent to avoid too much inbreeding.)
‘ Define internal promotion.
‘ Explain the business reasons for that policy.
‘ Explain the legitimate conditions under which that policy can be waived and
an external candidate can be selected.
Since an internal promotion policy will naturally build employee expectations
that most promotions will be made from within, decision makers should anticipate
challenges—legal and otherwise—to every promotion decision that is made. For that
reason, the policy should be reviewed by HR professionals, operating managers, and
legal professionals before it is implemented or widely communicated. In any case,
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248 Closing the Developmental Gap
reviewing the policy before adoption is more likely to build consistent understanding
and ownership of it.
When Are Internal Promotions Appropriate or Inappropriate?
Internal promotion is appropriate when a qualified replacement from the organiza-
tion is:
‘ Ready to assume the duties of the key position by demonstrated mastery of at
least 80 percent of the position requirements and progress toward meeting or
exceeding the remaining 20 percent of the position requirements.
‘ Willing to accept the position, expressing a desire to do the work.
‘ Able to accept the position by having his or her own replacement prepared in
a reasonably short time span and by being ready to assume the duties of a key
position.
Promotion from within is not appropriate for meeting SP&M needs when any of
these conditions cannot be met. Alternatives to internal promotions are thus appro-
priate when a qualified internal candidate cannot be found after a reasonable search,
when possible candidates refuse to accept a position, or when possible candidates
cannot be freed up from their present duties within a reasonable time.
The Importance of Job Posting
Job posting is an internal method of notifying and recruiting employees for new posi-
tions in the organization. To begin such a program, the organization should establish
a policy that position opening notices will be posted in prominent locations, such as
next to building entrances and exits, near cafeteria entrances, on bulletin boards, near
restrooms, or online. A typical job posting notice contains information about the
position that is open, such as its title, pay grade, organizational location, and desirable
starting date. Employees from all areas of the organization are encouraged to apply,
and selection decisions are typically made on the basis of the applicant who brings
the best qualifications to the job. (In some organizations, however, seniority may be
an overriding factor in making a selection decision. Additionally, posting may be
restricted to include only some, but not all, job categories or functions in the organi-
zation.)
In many cases, positions are posted internally while also advertised externally. In
that way, both internal and external applicants are attracted. The organization can
thus seek the most qualified applicant, whether or not that person is presently em-
ployed by the organization.
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Developing Internal Successors 249
The major benefit of job posting is that it gives individuals a say in their career
directions. Further, it permits the organization to consider applicants from outside
the immediate work area, from which successors for key positions may frequently be
selected.3 It also reduces the chance of employee hoarding, in which an employee’s
manager blocks promotions or transfers of high-potential or exemplary performers
so that they remain forever trapped, though very productive, in the manager’s work
area.4
The major drawback to job posting has more to do with the management of such
programs than with the posting concept itself. If employees are allowed to jump to
new jobs merely to realize small wage increases, posting can be costly and demoraliz-
ing, especially to those responsible for training so-called mercenary job hoppers.
Hence, to be used effectively as a tool in SP&M, job posting should be done for all
jobs. However, careful restrictions should be placed on the process to ensure that
employees remain in their positions for a long enough period to recoup training costs.
Preparing Individual Development Plans
Testing bench strength should clarify the organization’s collective SP&M needs. How-
ever, it does not indicate what individuals should do to qualify for advancement to
key positions. That is the reason for preparing individual development plans.
What Is an Individual Development Plan?
An individual development plan (IDP) results from a comparison of individual
strengths and weaknesses on the current job and individual potential for possible
advancement to future key positions. Preparing an IDP is a process of planning activi-
ties that will narrow the gap between what individuals can already do and what they
should do to meet future work or competency requirements in one or more key
positions.
An IDP is a hybrid of a learning contract, a performance contract, and a career
planning form. A learning contract is an agreement to learn. With a long and venerable
history,5 contract learning is particularly well suited to participative, learning organi-
zations that seek to balance individual career needs and interests with organizational
strategy and work requirements. A performance contract is an agreement to achieve an
identifiable, measurable level of performance.6 Sometimes tied to performance ap-
praisal, it is directed toward future performance improvement rather than past per-
formance. Finally, a career planning form is a tool for helping individuals identify their
career goals and establish effective strategies for realizing them in the future. A career
planning form is typically linked to an organizational career planning program, which
can reinforce and support SP&M.
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250 Closing the Developmental Gap
An IDP goes a step beyond appraisal of an individual’s performance in the present
job and of the employee’s potential for future advancement. It results in a detailed
plan to furnish individuals with the necessary development they need to qualify for
advancement into their next positions.
Developing an IDP usually requires a systematic comparison of the individual’s
present abilities (as indicated by competency requirements, work activities appearing
on job descriptions, and current performance as measured by performance appraisals)
and future capabilities (as revealed through individual potential assessment). The IDP
should narrow the gap between them, providing a clear-cut plan by which to prepare
the individual for future advancement.
How Are Individual Development Plans Prepared?
Preparing an IDP shares strong similarities to preparing a learning contract. Take ten
key steps when preparing individual development plans. (Exhibit 10-4 depicts these
steps in a simple model.)
Step 1: Select Possible Key Positions for Which to Prepare the Individual
Begin by targeting a family of key positions in the organization for the individual. In
most cases, this should be done only after a significant dialog has taken place between
the individual and an organizational representative. As Deegan notes, ‘‘it is important
that the individual understand the illustrative nature of the position you select as the
targeted one and focus not on that specific job but on the family of jobs represented
by it. Otherwise there may be disappointment if that job is not offered even though a
future offer might actually meet the person’s needs better as well as those of the
firm.’’7 Of course, if the individual is being prepared for a specific key position that
will soon become vacant, then planning should be focused on that position after
discussion with the individual.
Step 2: Consider the Likely Time During Which the Individual Must Be
Prepared
Time affects what kind of—and how many—developmental activities can be carried
out. When individuals are slated for rapid advancement, there is little or no time for
preparation. Hence, the selected developmental activities should be absolutely critical
to effective job performance. There is thus a need to prioritize developmental activi-
ties. That should be done, of course, even when time is ample. The key question in
this step, then, amounts to this: ‘‘How much time is available for development?’’
Step 3: Diagnose Learning Needs
Exactly what is the difference between the individual’s present knowledge and skills
and the work requirements of the key position for which the individual is to be
prepared? The answer to that question clarifies the developmental gap.
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Exhibit 10-4. Simplified Model of Steps in Preparing Individual
Development Plans
Step One:
Selecting Possible Key Positions for
Which to Prepare the Individual or Competencies
Needing Development
Step Two:
Considering the Likely Time during Which
the Individual Must Be Prepared
Step Three:
Diagnosing Learning Needs/Competency-Building Needs
Step Four:
Specifying Learning Objectives
Based on the Results of Step Three
Step Five:
Specifying Learning Resources and Strategies
Needed to Achieve Learning Objectives
Step Six:
Specifying Evidence of Accomplishment
Step Seven:
Specifying How the Evidence
Will Be Validated
Step Eight:
Reviewing the Contract
with Consultants
Step Nine:
Carrying Out the Contract
Step Ten:
Evaluating Learning and Outcomes
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252 Closing the Developmental Gap
One way to determine this difference is to compare the individual’s present work
requirements and performance to those required in the targeted key position. (You
might think of that as akin to conducting a performance appraisal on a position to
which the individual aspires or for which he or she is being groomed.) As a simple
example, the comparison might be with how well an employee could perform his or
her immediate supervisor’s job.
Another way to determine this difference is to ask the key position incumbent
to review the individual’s present work requirements and performance against the
requirements of the incumbent’s position. The next step is to recommend planned
developmental activities to narrow the gap between what the employee already knows
and can do and what he or she should know or do to perform in the key position.
When diagnosing learning needs, be aware that the quality of the results depends
on the quality of the diagnosis. Shortcuts are not conducive to useful outcomes.
Though busy executives prefer to short-circuit this process, doing so will usually be
counterproductive.
Step 4: Specify Learning Objectives Based on the Results of Step 3
Learning objectives are the outcomes or results that are sought from planned develop-
mental activities. Needs represent deficiencies or problems to be solved; objectives,
on the other hand, represent desired solutions. Each need should be linked to one or
more learning objectives to ensure that each problem will be solved.
Learning objectives should always be stated in measurable terms. As Robert F.
Mager has noted, learning objectives should usually have three components8:
‘ Resources. What equipment, tools, information, or other resources must be
provided for the learner to demonstrate the necessary knowledge, skills, or
abilities?
‘ Criteria. How will achievement of learning objectives be measured? What
minimum performance standards must be achieved for the individual to dem-
onstrate competence?
‘ Conditions. Under what conditions must the learner perform? Use the work-
sheet appearing in Exhibit 10-5 to prepare learning objectives based on indi-
vidual developmental needs.
Step 5: Specify Learning Resources and Strategies Needed to Achieve the
Learning Objectives
Learning strategies are the means by which learning objectives are to be achieved.
Learning objectives can be achieved with many strategies, and appropriate learning
strategies depend on the objectives. Strategies answer this question, ‘‘What planned
learning activities will help narrow the gap between what individuals already know
and what they must know to meet future key position requirements?’’
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Exhibit 10-5. Worksheet for Preparing Learning Objectives Based on
Individual Development Needs
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you prepare specific, measurable learning
objectives to guide the process of meeting individual development needs.
In the left column below, indicate activities, responsibilities, duties, tasks, or essential
job functions to which the individual needs exposure in order to qualify for advance-
ment. Then, in the right column below, draft specific and measurable learning ob-
jectives to describe what individuals should be able to know, do, or feel upon
completion of a planned development/learning experience tied to those activities,
responsibilities, duties, tasks, or essential job functions. When you finish drafting the
objectives, double-check them to ensure that you have listed (1) resources, such as
information, equipment, or tools that are necessary for demonstrating the objective;
(2) measurable criteria by which to assess how well the learning objective was
achieved.
Indicate Activities, Responsibilities, Duties,
Tasks, or Essential Job Functions to Which
the Individual Needs Exposure in Order to Specific and Measurable Learning
Qualify for Advancement Objectives
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254 Closing the Developmental Gap
Learning resources are what must be provided to achieve the learning objectives.
Resources might include people, money, time, expertise, equipment, or information.
People resources could include trainers, coaches, mentors, or sponsors. Money resources
could include funding for participation in on-the-job or off-the-job developmental
experiences. Time resources could include released time from work to participate in
planned training, education, or developmental activities. Expertise could include ac-
cess to knowledgeable people or information sources. Equipment could include access,
for developmental purposes, to specialized machines or tools. (Use the worksheet in
Exhibit 10-6 to identify the resources necessary to develop individuals for targeted
key positions.)
Step 6: Specify Evidence of Accomplishment
How can the organization track the accomplishment of learning objectives? Answer
that question by providing clear, measurable learning objectives and regular feedback
about the learner’s progress to the learner and to those interested in the learner’s
development. If possible, use either short, informal project appraisals or more formal-
ized, written developmental appraisals to document individual progress, provide evi-
dence of accomplishment, and give the individual specific feedback that can lead to
future performance improvement.
Step 7: Specify How the Evidence Will Be Validated
Be clear about the means by which achievement of learning objectives will be vali-
dated. Will a knowledgeable expert, such as a key position incumbent, review the
results? Will the learner be asked to complete an oral interview to demonstrate results?
Will learners’ performance on developmental projects be reviewed by those with
whom they work? These questions must be answered separately for each learning
objective and for each learning project or assignment on which the learners are to
work to qualify for advancement.
Step 8: Review the Contract with Consultants
Before the individual development plan is approved, it should be reviewed by knowl-
edgeable experts. In this context, experts and consultants are meant to have broad
meanings. For instance, experts and consultants might include any or all of the fol-
lowing:
‘ Members of SP&M committees
‘ Friends
‘ Spouses
‘ Immediate organizational superiors
‘ The learners’ peers
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Exhibit 10-6. Worksheet for Identifying the Resources Necessary to Support
Developmental Experiences
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you identify the resources necessary to support
planned learning/developmental experiences.
In the left column below, indicate learning objectives and the planned learning/
developmental experiences that will be used in helping an individual qualify for
promotion. Then, in the right column below, indicate specifically what resources—
such as information, money, trainers, equipment, time, and so forth—will be needed
to allow the individual to meet each learning objective and participate in each
planned learning/developmental experience.
Learning Objectives and Planned What Specific Resources Will Be
Learning/Developmental Experiences Needed to Achieve Each Objective and
Intended to Help an Individual Qualify Participate in Each Planned Learning/
for Advancement Developmental Experience?
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256 Closing the Developmental Gap
‘ The learners’ subordinates
‘ Academic experts
‘ Recognized authorities in other organizations
Depending on the organization, the individual, and the key position for which
the individual is being prepared, other experts or consultants might prove useful. For
instance, individuals may wish to identify their own mentors and ask for their advice
while negotiating an IDP. In unionized settings, union members may also wish to
include union representatives.
Ask the experts to provide information on which they are qualified to comment.
For instance, from their perspective, does an IDP appear to have identified the right
learning needs, established the right learning objectives, identified the most appro-
priate learning strategies and resources, and established the best means of evaluating
results? Is it practical and capable of being completed in the time allowed? What
suggested changes, if any, do the experts recommend—and why?
Step 9: Carry Out the Contract
I have found that the implementation of IDPs is the Achilles’ heel of many otherwise
exemplary SP&M programs. Though well conceived, many IDPs are not well exe-
cuted. Hence, some means must be established to ensure accountability and to moni-
tor results during the IDP’s time span. That can be done by planning quarterly IDP
review meetings with representatives from each major area of the organization so that
they can report on the progress made in their areas. Alternatively, an SP&M coordina-
tor can pay visits to individual managers to review the progress made on IDPs in their
areas of responsibility. The effect of these actions is to draw attention to the plans and
to maintain the impetus for action.
Step 10: Evaluate Learning and Outcomes
Be sure that results (learning outcomes) are measured against intentions (learning
objectives and needs). There are several ways to do that. One way is to establish
periodic developmental assessments, much like project-oriented performance ap-
praisals. In this approach, develop a simple feedback form to provide documentation
of learners’ progress on each developmental experience. The forms can then be re-
viewed upon completion of learning objectives or at agreed-upon intervals during the
developmental experiences.
A second way is to provide a checklist on the IDP form to indicate whether
learning objectives have been achieved. That is a simpler, albeit less ambitious and
rigorous, approach than periodic developmental assessments. However, it does have
the advantage of being a time-efficient approach that makes it more likely to be used
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Developing Internal Successors 257
by busy decision makers. A sample individual development plan (IDP) is shown in
Exhibit 10-7.
Evaluating Individual Development Plans
A very common problem in many SP&M programs is that IDPs are not adequately
prepared or implemented, for several reasons. It is worth spending a moment to
discuss them and how to avoid this problem.
One reason that IDPs are not properly prepared is that managers can sometimes
be clueless about what to recommend to prepare individuals for promotion. Managers
sometimes think of offsite training first. But since 90 percent of development occurs
on the job, the manager’s role in identifying individual needs for competency devel-
opment can be integrated into what work people do, who they interact with, how
they work, and other factors influencing competency development. The real issue is
whether a proper, objective potential assessment has been done and the specific be-
haviors, tied to competencies, that the individuals’ needs have been identified and
linked to appropriate on-the-job and off-the-job competency-building experiences.
Another reason that IDPs are not properly prepared is that, on occasion, there
are no consequences for failing to implement the plan. In short, neither the worker
nor the manager is penalized for not doing it or rewarded for doing it. As a result, it
is easy for both worker and manager to postpone action on an IDP until time is
available—and, of course, that time never comes. The solution to that problem is to
hold managers and workers alike accountable for completing IDPs.
Finally, IDPs are typically not properly prepared and implemented because they
are not developed effectively. It is helpful for the HR department to offer advising
services to train managers in how to prepare IDPs and then to audit a random num-
ber of the plans periodically to see how well they are being prepared. When that is
done, managers can be given feedback on how to improve.
Developing Successors Internally
Internal development is a general term that refers to the developmental activities that
are sponsored by the organization and that are intended to help an individual qualify
for advancement by closing the gap between present work requirements/performance
and future work requirements/potential. Indeed, it is the means by which individual
potential is realized as the future unfolds in the present.
There are several approaches to internal development. Many ways have been de-
vised to develop individuals in their present positions,9 and as many as 300 general
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258 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 10-7. Sample Individual Development Plan
Directions: Use this individual development plan to help an individual qualify for
advancement. The individual’s immediate organizational superior should complete
the form and then discuss it with the individual. If the individual feels that modifica-
tions to it should be made, then the reasons for that should be discussed.
Employee’s Name Job Title
Department Time in Position
Appraiser’s Name Job Title
Department Time in Position
Today’s Date Plan Covering to
mo./day/yr. mo./day/yr. mo./day/yr.
1. For what key position(s) should this individual be prepared? Alternatively, what
kind of competencies should be developed? Over what time span?
2. What are the individual’s career plans/objectives?
3. What learning objectives should guide the individual’s development? (Note to
appraiser: Be sure to systematically compare the individual’s current job descrip-
tion to a current job description for the targeted position[s] and list the identifiable
gap below. Alternatively, compare the individual’s present competencies to those
needed in a future position/level.)
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Developing Internal Successors 259
4. By what methods/strategies may the objectives be met? (Indicate a specific learn-
ing plan below, indicating learning objectives, strategies by which to achieve the
objectives, deadlines for achieving each result, and a checklist indicating whether
the learning objective was achieved.) Add paper if necessary.
Verified?
Learning Deadlines/ Yes No
Objectives Strategies Benchmark Dates ( ) ( )
5. How can the relative success of each learning objective be measured?
Learning
Objectives Evaluation Approach
methods have been devised to develop individuals.10 My 2009 survey identified com-
mon approaches to internal development, and the survey results are summarized in
Exhibit 10-8, with each strategy briefly summarized in Exhibit 10-9.
Other strategies may also be used:
1. Who-Based Strategies. These learning strategies focus on pairing up high poten-
tials with individuals who have special talents or management styles worthy of
emulation. For example, matching up a high potential with a participative
manager or with those possessing special abilities in startups, turnarounds, or
shutdown efforts.
2. What-Based Strategies. These learning strategies focus on giving high potentials
exposure to specific types of experiences, such as projects, task forces, commit-
tees, jobs, or assignments that require analytical skills, leadership skills, or skills
in starting up an operation, shutting down an operation, converting a manual
to an automated process, or another project of a specific kind. Additionally,
service on interteam, interdepartmental, or interdivisional committees can give
the individual visibility and exposure to new people and new functions.
3. When-Based Strategies. These learning strategies focus on giving high potentials
exposure to time pressure. For example, meeting a nearly impossible deadline
or beating a wily competitor to market.
4. Where-Based Strategies. These learning strategies focus on giving high poten-
tials exposure to special locations or cultures. For example, high potentials
might be sent on international job rotations or assignments to give them expo-
(text continues on page 264)
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Exhibit 10-8. Methods of Grooming Individuals for Advancement
There are many ways to implement succession plans because individuals may be groomed in different ways. Review the list of
possible methods by which to groom individuals in column 1. Then, in column 2 , check ( � ) yes or no to indicate whether your
organization is using it, and, in column 3, circle the code indicating how effective you feel that method is in developing people
to assume future responsibilities. In column 3, use the following scale: 1 � Not at all effective; 2 � Not very effective; 3 �
Somewhat effective; 4 � Effective; 5 � Very effective.
Method
Is Your Organization
Using This Method?
Yes No
How effective?
Number Mean
Standard
Deviation
1 Off-the-job degree programs sponsored by colleges/
universities 11 5 13 3.54 1.51
2 Onsite degree programs colleges/universities 6 10 15 3.07 1.39
3 Off-the-job public seminars sponsored by vendors 12 3 16 3.25 1.48
4 Off-the-job public seminars sponsored by universities 11 5 15 3.53 1.50
5 In-house classroom courses tailor-made for management-level
employees 15 1 16 3.88 1.20
6 In-house classroom courses purchased from outside sources and
modified for in-house use 12 4 15 4.00 1.31
7 Unplanned on-the-job training 15 1 15 3.67 0.90
8 Planned on-the-job training 2 13 16 3.81 0.75
9 Unplanned mentoring programs 12 4 15 4.13 0.74
10 Planned mentoring programs 9 7 15 4.07 0.70
11 Unplanned job rotation programs 12 4 14 3.86 1.10
12 Planned job rotation programs 9 5 14 3.86 0.53
Source: William J. Rothwell, Jin Gu Lee, and Hong Min Kim, Results of a 2009 Survey on Succession Planning and Management Practices. Unpublished survey results (University Park, Pa.: The
Pennsylvania State University, 2009).
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Developing Internal Successors 261
Exhibit 10-9. Key Strategies for Internal Development
Appropriate and
Strategy How to Use It Inappropriate Uses
1. Off-the-Job � Clarify job-related � Appropriate:
Degree courses tied to work —For meeting specialized
Programs requirements of key individual needs that are
Sponsored positions. not widely enough shared
by Col- � Compare individual to warrant on-site training
leges/Uni- skills to work require- � Inappropriate:
versities ments. —For meeting highly spe-
� Identify courses re- cialized needs unique to
lated to individual one employer
needs.
� Tie job requirements
to degree/course re-
quirements, if pos-
sible.
2. On-Site � Same basic procedure � Appropriate:
Degree as listed in #1 above. —When funding and time
Programs are available
Sponsored —When several people
by Col- share similar needs
leges/Uni- —When in-house expertise
versities is not available
� Inappropriate:
—When conditions listed
above cannot be met
—For meeting highly spe-
cialized needs
3. Off-the-Job � Compare work re- � Appropriate:
Public Sem- quirements to the in- —When needs are limited
inars Spon- structional objectives to a few people
sored by indicated by informa- —When in-house expertise
Vendors tion about the off-the- does not match the ven-
job seminar. dor’s
� Inappropriate:
—For meeting needs unique
to one employer
(continues)
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262 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 10-9. (continued)
Appropriate and
Strategy How to Use It Inappropriate Uses
4. Off-the-Job � Same as #3 above. � Appropriate:
Public Sem- —Same as #3 above
inars Spon- � Inappropriate:
sored by —Same as #3 above
Universities
5. In-House � Define specific instruc- � Appropriate:
Classroom tional objectives that —When adequate re-
Courses are directly related to sources exist
Tailor- work requirements in —When in-house expertise
Made for key positions. is unavailable
Employees � Use the courses to —When needs can be met
achieve instructional in time
objectives for many in- � Inappropriate:
dividuals. —For meeting requirements
unique to one organiza-
tion
—For meeting objectives re-
quiring lengthy and expe-
riential learning
6. In-House � Identify a learning � Appropriate:
Classroom need shared by more —When several people
Courses than one person. share a common learning
Purchased � Find published train- need
from Out- ing material from —When expertise exists to
side Sources commercial publishers modify materials devel-
and Modi- and modify for in- oped outside the organi-
fied for In- house use. zation
House Use � Deliver to groups. —When appropriate train-
ing materials can be lo-
cated
7. Unplanned � Match up a high- � Appropriate:
On-the-Job potential employee —When time, money, and
Training with an exemplary staffing are not of primary
performer in a key po- importance
sition. � Inappropriate:
� Permit long-term ob- —For efficiently and effec-
servation of the exem- tively preparing high-
plar by the high- potentials to be succes-
potential. sors for key job incum-
bents
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Developing Internal Successors 263
8. Planned � Develop a detailed � Appropriate:
On-the-Job training plan allowing —When key job incumbent
Training a ‘‘tell, show, do, fol- is an exemplar
low-up approach’’ to —When time and safety
instruction. considerations permit
one-on-one instruction
� Inappropriate:
—When the conditions
listed above cannot be
met
9. Unplanned � Make people aware of � Appropriate:
Mentoring what mentoring is. —For establishing the basis
Programs � Help individuals un- for mentoring without ob-
derstand how they can ligating the organization
establish mentoring to oversee it
relationships and real- —For encouraging individ-
ize the chief benefits ual autonomy
from them. � Inappropriate:
� Encourage key job in- —For encouraging diversity
cumbents and exem- and building relationships
plars to serve as across ‘‘unlike’’ individual
mentors. —For transferring specific
skills
10. Planned � Match up individuals � Appropriate:
Mentoring who may establish —For building top-level
Programs useful mentor-protégé ownership and familiarity
relationships. with high-potentials
� Provide training to —For pairing up ‘‘unlike in-
mentors on effective dividuals’’ on occasion
mentoring skills and to � Inappropriate:
protégés on the best —For building specific skills
ways to take advan-
tage of mentoring re-
lationships.
(continues)
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264 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 10-9. (continued)
Appropriate and
Strategy How to Use It Inappropriate Uses
11. Unplanned � Arrange to move indi- � Appropriate:
Job Rotation viduals into positions —When sufficient staffing
Programs that will give them exists
knowledge, skills, or —When individual move-
abilities they will need ment will not create a sig-
in the future, prefera- nificant productivity loss
bly (but not necessar- to the organization
ily) geared to � Inappropriate:
advancement. —When the conditions
� Track individual prog- listed above cannot be
ress. met
12. Planned Job � Develop a specific � Appropriate:
Rotation Learning Contract (or —When there is sufficient
Programs IDP) that clarifies the time and staffing to permit
learning objectives to the rotation to be effective
be achieved by the ro- � Inappropriate:
tation. —When time and staffing
� Ensure that the work will not permit planned
activities in which the learning
individual gains expe-
rience are directly re-
lated to future work
requirements.
� Monitor work progress
through periodic feed-
back to the individual
and through perform-
ance appraisal geared
to the rotation and re-
lated to future poten-
tial.
sure to the business in another culture or sent to another domestic site for a
special project. Like any job rotation or temporary assignment, international
assignments should be preceded by a well-prepared plan that clarifies what
the individual is to do and learn—and why that is worth doing or learning.
This approach will shape expectations and thereby exert a powerful influence
on what people learn as well as on how they perform.
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Developing Internal Successors 265
5. Why-Based Strategies. These learning strategies focus on giving high
potentials exposure to mission-driven change efforts that are, in turn, learn-
ing experiences. For example, asking high potentials to pioneer startup efforts
or to visit competitors or best-in-class organizations to find out ‘‘why they
do what they do.’’
6. How-Based Strategies. These learning strategies focus on furnishing
high potentials with in-depth, how-to knowledge of different aspects of the
business in which they are otherwise weak. Examples might include lengthy
job assignments, task force assignments, or job rotations that expose a high
potential to another area of the business with which he or she is unfamiliar.
The Role of Leadership Development Programs
Leadership development programs are quite important to succession planning. In-
deed, in some cases, a leadership development program is the banner under which
potential successors are developed in a systematic, and even visible, way. Leadership
programs may also develop groups of people so as to create talent pools.
Much has been written about leadership development11 and about leadership de-
velopment programs.12 Their value is that they can provide groups of people with
structure—that is, an organizational scheme—by which to build competencies sys-
tematically. There are two basic philosophies that can drive leadership programs.
(And they may be summarized with the age-old question, ‘‘Are leaders born, or are
they made?’’) One philosophy is to make it easy for anyone to get into the program
but tough to stay in, or to ‘‘graduate.’’ That philosophy goes well with a talent pool
approach to SP&M. A second philosophy is to make it very difficult to qualify for the
program but easy to stay in. That philosophy goes well with an approach that inte-
grates employee selection with development.
Some decision makers prefer to use a leadership development program as a means
to fire-test prospective successors. They are tested at every turn while in the program.
That tough love philosophy suggests that qualifying for promotion means ‘‘earning
one’s stripes.’’ Those who prefer not to do that do not have to. (But they will not be
promoted.) Those who do have the tenacity to stick with it end up earning credibility
with followers.
The Role of Coaching
Coaching is a means to the end of building talent. Though much has been written
about it,13 and it is true that coaching can be applied for many purposes to correct
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266 Closing the Developmental Gap
deficiencies in performance or to build skills, it is important to SP&M because it can
be an important tool in grooming prospective successors for the future. Generally
speaking, training is planned and focused, while coaching tends to be more spur-of-
the-moment and driven by moment-to-moment efforts to help others perform.14 In
an age where speed equals advantage, real-time grooming has appeal to many manag-
ers as a means of competency building at the speed of change.
James Hunt and Joseph Weintraub provide specific advice. When coaching, man-
agers should:15
‘ Make the effort to identify their best people. Coaching is not just a fix-it
strategy for poor performers; rather, it is also to be used to prepare promising
people for the future.
‘ Encourage their people to seek out coaching, whether planned or sponta-
neous.
‘ Watch how they react to what their people do. In other words, good managers
avoid strong emotions and criticism of their best people.
‘ Make time to provide coaching and let people know that.
‘ Ask questions and avoid dogmatic statements about what people should do.
By asking questions, managers force employees to think things through. That
practice has a development purpose. In time, employees will begin to think
like the manager. But dogmatic orders will discourage questions and will not
prompt people to think for themselves or even model how their immediate
supervisor thinks.
‘ Listen carefully to what people say and how they say it. Listening also demon-
strates that managers actually care about their people, and the importance of
emotional bonding should not be minimized.
‘ Model the behaviors of those who need coaching. Let employees see the man-
ager ask for help and use it.
‘ Provide useful feedback. Make sure it is timely and specific. If people do not
ask for feedback on what they did, give it to them anyway if it will help their
development for the future.
‘ Be sure to recognize positive performance and comment on it as well as the
not-so-good work that people do.
Various organizations now offer certification in coaching,16 and information
about the competencies of effective coaches may be found through a simple Web
search.17
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Developing Internal Successors 267
The Role of Executive Coaching
Executive coaching has grown in popularity.18 Some people have even hung out their
shingles as full-time executive coaches. Professional societies have been formed of
executive coaches,19 and people can be certified as executive coaches. And in some
quarters executive coaches rank right up there with personal trainers as an executive
perk. Executive coaching competencies have been identified, and they are distinct
from more general coaching competencies.
But the importance of executive coaching in succession cannot be understated.
One strategy is to go ahead and promote people who are clearly not ready for
more demanding managerial (or technical) responsibility and then give them execu-
tive coaches as a way to offer them real-time, on-the-job training. Though the author
of this book does not advocate that strategy, it is used in organizations where the
leaders fell asleep on succession matters until it was too late.
There are two kinds of executive coaches, and they should be clearly distin-
guished.
‘ A job content coach provides guidance to individuals who are not up to snuff
on the job content. An example is to assign the organization’s retired CEO to
the current CEO as a coach. The former CEO clearly understands what the
job entails and can provide guidance accordingly.
‘ A process coach is different. Akin to a process consultant, a process executive
coach focuses on the image that the executive projects, the impact that he or
she has on a group, and how he or she works with a group to achieve results.
No knowledge of the job content is needed. But what is needed is awareness
of the specialized competencies associated with process consultation, an orga-
nization development intervention invented by Edgar Schein.20
The executive coaching process should be clearly focused and implemented. It
begins with establishing a contract between the coach and the coachee that sets forth
the goals and describes the schedule. Nondisclosure agreements are typical, especially
when the coach is made privy to sensitive, even proprietary, information during the
course of the consulting engagement. The work plan for the consulting effort is clearly
stated. Not all work has to be carried out face to face, and it is possible to arrange
phone conversations, Web conversations, instant chats, and other real-time, virtually
enabled approaches to the executive coaching process. Executive coaches may also
administer psychological assessments to the executive, ranging from those that are
available off the shelf to those that require a license or degree to administer.
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268 Closing the Developmental Gap
The Role of Mentoring
A mentor is simply a teacher, and mentoring is thus the process of teaching others. In
common language, a mentor is a helper who assists people in learning. The person
receiving help is called a mentee or a protégé. Mentors should not be confused with
sponsors. A sponsor is someone who actually opens doors and provides access to
visibility, people, and assignments or experiences; a mentor is someone who provides
advice. Of course, it is possible that mentors can become sponsors or that sponsors
can engage in mentoring.
Mentoring has fired the imagination of managers and others, and much has been
written about it.21 One reason is that mentors can help build bench strength and talent
in organizations by providing support to others to build their competencies in line
with company needs. Mentoring, like coaching and executive coaching, can therefore
help build bench strength. But mentoring implies something different from coaching.
Though a coach provides support and direction just as a mentor does, a mentor is
interested in helping someone succeed. By definition, mentors are usually not the
immediate organizational supervisors of those they mentor because a reporting rela-
tionship may interfere with the objectivity essential to a true helping relationship. (In
short, a mentor cannot stand to gain or lose by his or her mentee, but a coach can.
In fact, just as athletic coaches are self-interested in how well their players perform,
so are immediate supervisors.)
Mentoring programs may be established by organizations. They may be formal
(planned) or informal (unplanned). In a typical approach to a formal program, the
organization’s HR department will play matchmaker, pairing up a promising person
who wants a mentor to someone who is at least one or more levels above that person
on the organization chart but outside the immediate chain of command. The HR
department may even pay for breakfast, lunch, or dinner for the two people to meet
and determine if their relationship might have promise. If so, then they continue it
on their own without further HR department involvement. Also, typically, a formal
mentoring program may involve training for aspiring mentors and/or mentees be-
cause people do not naturally know how to play these parts. (The CD-ROM included
with this book provides a short program on mentoring.)
In an informal mentoring program—which is an oxymoron because something
unplanned cannot really be a program—individuals are merely encouraged to seek
out and approach others who may be helpful to them and to their development.
Successful people have almost always had mentors. Consequently, mentoring requires
mentees to take the initiative to seek out those who might help them and then ask for
help. That help could be situation specific (‘‘How do I deal with this situation?’’) or
comprehensive (‘‘How do I systematically prepare myself for the future and then
follow through on my plan for individual development?’’).
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Developing Internal Successors 269
Mentors are helpful because they may be in the job that the mentees aspire to,
and hence they are well positioned to offer advice. After all, a key assumption of SP&
M is that individuals cannot direct their own development for the simple reason that
they have no experience base to draw on. It is in exactly this respect that a mentor
can help.
How can mentoring play a role in succession planning and management? The
relationship should be obvious. In closing developmental gaps between the competen-
cies that individuals possess now and what they need to qualify for advancement, they
must seek out people, work assignments, and other experiences that will prepare them
for the future and that will equip them with the competencies they need. Mentors can
provide advice about what people to seek, what work assignments to seek, and (per-
haps most importantly, though sometimes overlooked) handling company politics
that may help or hinder progress. To gain the most from a mentoring effort, start
with a plan. That plan can be prepared by the mentee to who ‘‘asks for help,’’ but
what help is needed should be very clear.
A unique problem to consider in mentoring is the so-called developmental di-
lemma, which takes its name from a special problem that may come up in the mentor-
ing process. In the years following the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill scandal that
rocked the nation, cross-gender mentoring has been complicated by concerns over
appearances. The point is that older male executives who mentor young female execu-
tives, or older female executives who mentor young male executives, may be misper-
ceived in those relationships. Typically a mentoring relationship requires interactions
such as meetings behind closed doors, breakfast, lunch or dinner meetings, or other
meetings in otherwise less than formal settings. Since tongue wagging is a popular
pastime, it is common for others to talk about what they think they see. The situation
is so bad in some quarters that older executives will have mentoring meetings only if
they can bring a third person along as chaperone or else meet in open air areas where
everything can be seen.
How can this problem be handled? Some ways that the organization can help is
to:
1. Provide advice about how to deal with the problems of perceptions and how
to manage them.
2. Take steps to clarify for others who may see two people meeting to clarify,
casually but in advance, what the meeting is about and why it is being con-
ducted to give those who wag their tongues less to talk about.
3. Ignore the problem altogether and deal only with rumors as they spring up.
4. Provide training to mentors and mentees, covering cross-gender issues as part
of the discussion.
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270 Closing the Developmental Gap
The Role of Action Learning
Action learning is yet another way—like coaching, executive coaching, mentoring,
and leadership development programs—to build competencies. Action learning, in-
vented in 1971 by Reg Revans,22 literally means ‘‘learning through action.’’ Though
various approaches to it exist,23 they share a bias to action. This is not online or onsite
training; rather, it is practical learning that builds competencies and that is focused
on solving problems, creating visions, seeking goals, or leveraging strengths.24
Typically, participants in action learning are assembled to work on a practical,
real-world problem.25 They may be chosen based on individual abilities that will con-
tribute to the issue bringing the team together and a developmental need to be met.
They are asked to collect information about an issue, experiment with solutions or
implement them, and learn while they do that.
To use action learning appropriately, organizational leaders must select the right
people for the right teams. By doing that, individuals learn while doing. And the
organization gains a solution to a problem, a clearly conceptualized vision, or a quan-
tum leap in leveraging a strength.
The Role of Acceleration Pools
Recall that a talent pool is a group of workers who are being prepared for promotion.
Typically, organizational leaders do not commit to promote anyone in a talent pool
but do make planned development available to them. The goals are thus to maintain
flexibility of choice for actual promotions while identifying those who are willing to
prepare themselves for future, perhaps higher-level, responsibility and to manage
their development carefully.
As mentioned in an earlier chapter, an acceleration pool is a group of people who
are being quickly and systematically prepared for possible promotion. A simple way
to understand it is as a ‘‘talent pool on steroids,’’ a group of people who are being
developed faster than is typical to meet some need of the organization.
For example, suppose that all of the executives at the top of a company are already
retirement eligible. And most of them have signaled a desire to retire as quickly as
they can. But a scan of the middle managers reveals weak bench strength, and the
senior leaders do not feel that they have anyone who is promotable or wants to be
promoted. As a result, the senior leaders commit to go outside the organization and
hire a pool of people to be prepared in record time to assume senior leadership
responsibility. In that case, the organization uses a talent pool to recruit people who
are to be developed for promotion as quickly as possible. However, those hired from
outside are also told that they are not guaranteed a promotion unless they fulfill the
requirements of the accelerated development program successfully.
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Developing Internal Successors 271
Summary
Promotion from within is an important way to implement succession plans. Toward
that end, the organization should test bench strength, establish an unequivocal inter-
nal promotion policy to ensure internal promotion when appropriate, prepare indi-
vidual development plans (IDPs) to close the gap between what individuals presently
do and what they must do to qualify for promotion, and use internal development
when appropriate to realize the learning objectives of IDPs.
But internal promotion and internal development are not the only means by
which SP&M needs can be met. Alternative means, which usually fall outside the
realm of succession planning and management, are treated in the next chapter. In
these days of business process reengineering and process improvement, those involved
in succession planning and management should have some awareness of approaches
to meeting work requirements other than traditional succession methods relying on
job movements.
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C H A P T E R 1 1
jjj
Assessing Alternatives to
Internal Development
Some descriptions of succession planning and management treat the traditional, in-
ternal approach to preparing successors as nothing more than a form of replacement
planning. In this process, several key assumptions are usually made: (1) Key positions
will be replaced whenever a vacancy occurs; (2) employees already working in the
organization—and often within the function—will be the prime source of replace-
ments; and (3) a primary measure of effectiveness is the percentage of vacant key
positions that can be filled from within, with minimal delay and uproar. Some organi-
zations add a fourth: The relative racial and sexual diversity of replacements should
be enhanced so that protected labor groups are well represented among the qualified
replacements.
A systematic approach to SP&M has major advantages, of course. First, it makes
succession predictable. Every time a vacancy in a key position occurs, people know
precisely what to do: Find a replacement. Second, since a high percentage of succes-
sors are assumed to be employed by the organization, investments in employee devel-
opment can be justified to minimize losses in productivity and turnover.
However, when SP&M is handled in this way, it can occasionally become a mind-
less filling in of the blank box on the organization chart. Concern about that should
be sufficient to lead strategists to explore innovative alternatives to the traditional
replacement-from-within mentality. This chapter focuses on those alternatives and
on when they should be used instead of the traditional approach to SP&M.
The Need to Manage for ‘‘Getting the Work Done’’
Rather than ‘‘Managing Succession’’
‘‘The natural response to a problem,’’ writes James L. Adams in Conceptual Blockbust-
ing, ‘‘seems to be to try to get rid of it by finding an answer—often taking the first
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Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development 273
answer that occurs and pursuing it because of one’s reluctance to spend the time and
mental effort needed to conjure up a richer storehouse of alternatives from which to
choose. This hit-and-run approach to problem-solving begets all sorts of oddities.’’1
Succession planning and management can fall victim to the same natural response
to which Adams refers: Whenever a vacancy occurs, the organization is confronted
with a problem. The natural response is to find an immediate replacement. There
may also be a tendency to clone the incumbent—that is, find someone who resembles
the incumbent so as to minimize the need to make adjustments to a new person. But
replacement is not always appropriate. Consider a replacement unnecessary when any
one of the following questions can be answered yes. (Review the flowchart in Exhibit
11-1 as a simplified aid in helping with this decision process.)
Question 1: Is the Key Position No Longer Necessary?
A replacement is not necessary when a key position is no longer worth doing. In that
situation, the position is no longer key. Decision makers can simply choose not to fill
it when a vacancy occurs. Of course, if this question is answered no, then a replace-
ment may still have to be found.
Question 2: Can a Key Position Be Rendered Unnecessary by
Finding New Ways to Achieve Comparable Results?
A replacement may not be necessary if key work outcomes can be achieved in new
ways. In this sense, then, SP&M can be affected by business process reengineering,
defined by best-selling authors Michael Hammer and James Champy as ‘‘the funda-
mental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic im-
provements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality,
service, and speed.’’2 If the organization can reengineer work processes and thereby
eliminate positions that were once key to an old process, then replacing a key job
incumbent is unnecessary. In short, key positions may be reengineered out of exis-
tence.
To that end, try applying the model suggested by Rummler and Brache to process
improvement:3
1. Identify the critical business issue or process that is to be reexamined.
2. Select critical processes related to the issue or subprocesses.
3. Select a leader and members for a process improvement team.
4. Train the team on process improvement methods.
5. Develop ‘‘is’’ maps to show the relationship between where and how work
(text continues on page 280)
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274 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 11-1. Deciding When Replacing a Key Job Incumbent Is
Unnecessary: Flowchart
No
Is the key
position
no longer
necessary?
Do not fill the key
position. Leave it vacant.
Can a key position
be rendered unneces-
sary by finding new
ways to achieve com-
parable results?
Can a key position
be rendered unneces-
sary by redistributing
the duties to a team in
the same part of the
organization?
Do not fill the key position.
Apply reengineering to
achieve the same results.
Are the members of
the same part
of the organization
capable of working
together as a team?
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
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Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development 275
Use team
building.
Review work
priorities.
Form team(s) and
do not replace the
key position.
Are members of
the same part of the
organization capable
of absorbing the
extra duties without
sacrificing productivity
in their present job
duties?
No
Yes
(continues)
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276 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 11-1. (continued)
Do members of
other parts of the
organization possess the
neccessary expertise to
carry out the work?
Can a key
position be
rendered unnec-
essary by reallocating
the duties to other
parts of the
organization?
Provide
training if
time allows.
Otherwise,
use another
approach.
Are members of
another part of the
organization capable
of absorbing the
extra duties without
sacrificing productivity
in their present job
duties?
Review work
priorities.
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
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Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development 277
Can a key position be
rendered unnecessary by
outsourcing the work?
Reallocate the work of the
key position to another
part of the organization.
Is the work critical to
the continued survival
of the organization?
Replace the
key position
incumbent.
Is organizational
control essential to
meeting stringent
work or quality
requirements?
Replace the
key position
incumbent.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
(continues)
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278 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 11-1. (continued)
Can a key position be
rendered unnecessary
by using flexible
staffing approaches?
Outsource the job duties of
the key position.
Is the work critical to
the survival of the
organization?
Replace the
key position
incumbent.
Is organizational
control essential to
meeting stringent
work or quality
requirements?
Replace the
key position
incumbent.
Use flexible staffing
approaches to achieve
the results desired from
the key position.
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
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Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development 279
Can combining the
approaches listed above
render unnecessary the
need for a replacement
in a key position?
Use the traditional
approach to succession
planning, striving to
replace the key job
incumbent—probably
from within.
Decide which strategies to
combine. Divide up work
requirements as necessary
and use different strategies
to meet them. Do not
replace the key position
incumbent.
Yes
No
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280 Closing the Developmental Gap
flows into a system, how it is transformed through work methods, and where
it goes when the products or services are provided to customers.
6. Find disconnects, which are missing, redundant, or illogical factors that could
affect the critical business issue or the process.
7. Analyze the disconnects.
8. Develop a ‘‘should’’ map to present a more efficient or effective method of
handling the work.
9. Establish measures or standards for what is desired.
10. Recommend changes.
11. Implement the changes.
In essence, these same steps can be used to determine whether there are ways to
‘‘engineer’’ a key position out of existence. If there is, then no successor will be
needed. (However, the work process may be broken up and reallocated, necessitating
new competencies for those who absorb the new duties.)
Question 3: Can a Key Position Be Rendered Unnecessary by
Redistributing the Duties to a Team?
If the answer is yes, then it should be possible to achieve the same work results by
placing responsibility in a team of workers from the same function or work unit.
However, two caveats should be considered. First, if the workers have never func-
tioned as a team, then they will probably require team building and training on team
skills to work as a cohesive group. Second, if prospective team members are already
working at or beyond their individual capacities, then loading additional duties on a
team will not be successful.
Question 4: Can a Key Position Be Rendered Unnecessary by
Reallocating the Duties to Other Parts of the Organization?
In short, is it possible to avoid filling a key position by reorganizing, moving the work
responsibility to another function or organizational unit? If so, then replacing a key
job incumbent may be unnecessary. But, as in redistributing work to a team in the
same part of the organization, assess whether the inheritors of key position duties are
trained adequately to perform the work and can do them without sacrificing produc-
tivity in their present jobs. If both conditions can be met, consider moving responsi-
bilities to another part of the organization to avoid replacing a key job incumbent.
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Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development 281
Question 5: Can a Key Position Be Rendered Unnecessary by
Outsourcing the Work?
If the answer is yes, then replacing a key job incumbent may be unnecessary. The
same results may be achieved more cost-effectively than by replacing a key job incum-
bent. Pay particular attention to two key issues when answering this question: critical-
ity and control. If the work is critical to the continued survival of the organization,
then outsourcing it may be unwise because that may vest too much influence in an
individual or group having little or no stake in the organization’s continued survival.
If the work must meet stringent, specialized requirements for which few external
sources can be found, then outsourcing may also prove to be unwise because control-
ling the activities of an external contractor may become as time-consuming as per-
forming the work in-house.
Question 6: Can a Key Position Be Rendered Unnecessary by
Using Flexible Staffing Approaches?
Can the same results be achieved through the use of permanent part-time or tempo-
rary part-time staff, rotating employees, or internships? If so, then replacing a key job
incumbent may be unnecessary. However, as in outsourcing, pay attention to critical-
ity and control. If the work is critical to the continued survival of the organization,
then using innovative staffing approaches may prove to be unwise because that will
grant too much influence to an individual or group with little or no stake in the
organization’s existence. If the work must meet stringent, specialized requirements
that require mastery, then part-time talent may not be able to meet that requirement.
Question 7: Can Combining the Approaches Obviate the Need
for a Replacement in a Key Position?
In other words, is it possible to split the key results or outcomes desired from the key
position and handle them separately—through reengineering, team-based manage-
ment, organizational redesign, or other means? If that question can be answered yes,
then it should be possible to ensure that the organization achieves the same results as
those provided by the key job incumbent but without the need for a replacement. Use
the worksheet in Exhibit 11-2 to decide when it is possible to answer yes to any one
or all of these questions.
Innovative Approaches to Tapping the Retiree Base
Succession planning and management is not an all-or-nothing proposition. It is also
possible to meet staffing needs to get the work done by tapping the very group that is
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282 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 11-2. Worksheet for Identifying Alternatives to the Traditional
Approach to Succession Planning and Management
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you identify alternatives to the traditional ap-
proach to succession planning—that is, promoting from within the organization and
within the function.
In the first space below, identify by title the key position that you are examining. Then
answer the questions about it appearing in the left column of the second space
below. Write your responses in the right column, making notes about ways in which
you can use alternatives to the traditional approach to succession planning. When
you finish, share your responses with others in the organization for their thoughts—
and, if possible, to compare their comments to yours. Add paper if necessary.
There are no ‘‘right’’ or ‘‘wrong’’ answers to this activity; rather, the aim is to provide
you with an aid to creative ways by which to meet succession planning needs.
Space One: What is the key position? (Provide a job title.)
Questions About the Key Question Responses
Position (Describe ideas to avoid
simple replacement
from within.)
Is the key position no
longer necessary?
Can a key position be
rendered unnecessary
by finding new ways to
achieve comparable re-
sults?
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Assessing Alternatives to Internal Development 283
Can a key position be
rendered unnecessary
by redistributing the du-
ties to a team in the
same part of the organi-
zation?
Can a key position be
rendered unnecessary
by reallocating the du-
ties to other parts of the
organization?
Can a key position be
rendered unnecessary
by outsourcing the
work?
Can a key position be
rendered unnecessary
by using flexible staffing
approaches?
Can combining the ap-
proaches listed above
eliminate the need for a
replacement in a key
position?
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284 Closing the Developmental Gap
causing some of the problems—that is, baby boomers who are nearing retirement.
And that is also not an all-or-nothing proposition in the sense that discouraging
people from retiring, while one option, is not the only way to tap into the power of
those who are eligible to retire.
The word retire—taken from the Middle French word retirer (which means ‘‘to
draw back’’)—is being reinvented now. Much evidence exists to support that.4 At the
time of writing, older workers were delaying their retirement due to a roller-coaster
stock market and eroding health insurance coverage, which is (in turn) eroding the
value of their pension packages. Some observers of the business scene even doubt that
a talent shortage will appear.5 At the same time, employers do not want to experience
the confusion that results from filling tough-to-fill positions with green, off-the-street
(or at least untested) hires. One researcher found that only 12 to 16 percent of retirees
currently work past retirement but that 80 percent of Baby Boomers intend to do so.6
If you say ‘‘reinvent retirement’’ today to most employers, the first thing that
crosses their minds is to discourage experienced workers from exercising their retire-
ment option when eligible or else to call retired people back to full-time work. But
many other options exist, and reinventing retirement means tapping the retiree base
in creative ways to meet the organization’s short-term and long-term talent needs.
Retirees can be or could be tapped in many ways. One is to ease people into
retirement by using so-called phased retirement. Older workers, after they retire, can
also be used as temps, contingent workers, consultants, teleworkers, or telecommut-
ers. They can be assigned to special projects, perhaps at distant (even international)
locations or assigned as coaches or mentors for their successors. Many other options
are also possible (see Exhibit 11-3). According to the HRfocus Aging Workforce Survey,
the leading method by far in using older workers is as part-time or flex-time helpers
(cited by 21.1 percent of respondents). Other popular methods include recruitment
programs (10.3 percent), work-life benefits (9.7 percent), retention programs (9.1
percent), and phased retirement programs (8 percent).7
Tapping the retiree base will be a challenge in the future. A first step is to establish
who wants to do what, who wants to work when and how, and how to find and tap the
talents of retirees on demand. All that will require creative applications of retiree exit
interviews and periodic follow-ups with retirees to see if they have changed their minds
about the work options available to them. It will also require better competency or talent
inventories to find the competencies that retirees possess and to tap them creatively on
short notice. It will also require new management approaches because retirees may have
lower tolerance for arbitrary management practices than others.
Deciding What to Do
There is no foolproof way to integrate SP&M with alternatives to replacement from
within. The important point is to make sure that alternatives to simple replacement
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Exhibit 11-3. Tool for Contemplating Ten Ways to Tap the Retiree Base
Directions: Use this worksheet to guide your thinking on how the retiree base of your organization might be more effectively
tapped to shore up talent needs. In any given situation when your organization is facing a talent need or shortage wrought by
a retirement, consider each of the strategies listed below. For each way to use the retiree base to solve the problem, indicate
whether it might be appropriate to that situation by checking yes, no, or maybe. Make remarks in the right column about
whether two or more alternatives might be combined.
Ways of Tapping the Retiree Base
to Meet a Talent Need
Is This Approach
Appropriate to the
Situation?
Remarks: Can Two or
More Alternatives Be
Combined?
Could the work be accomplished by:
Yes
�
No
�
Maybe
�
1 Calling in retirees for full-time employment? � � �
2 Calling in retirees for ‘‘permanent part-time’’ employment? � � �
3 Calling retirees ‘‘as needed’’? � � �
4 Giving the retirees virtual work to do? � � �
5 Giving retirees cell phones and putting them ‘‘on call’’ to
coach their replacements when needed?
� � �
6 Hiring retirees as coaches for those who are really not ready
for the promotions they are given?
� � �
7 Giving retirees computers and having them do virtual
coaching by ‘‘instant messaging’’ as needed?
� � �
8 Tapping retirees as onsite or online trainers? � � �
9 Hiring retirees to document procedures or other information
that they know?
� � �
10 Hiring retirees as consultants? � � �
11 Other (Specify: ) � � �
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286 Closing the Developmental Gap
are considered. Often, that responsibility will rest with HR generalists, HRD special-
ists, SP&M coordinators, and even CEOs or others who bear major responsibility for
succession planning and management. A good strategy is to raise the issue at two
different and opportune times: (1) during review meetings to identify successors and
(2) on the occasions when a vacancy occurs in a key position and permission is sought
to fill it.
During the review process, ask operating managers how they plan to meet re-
placement needs. At that time, raise the alternatives, and ask them to consider other
possibilities as well. Be sure that only key positions are being considered in SP&M
efforts in order to focus attention on areas of critical need.
When a vacancy occurs or is about to occur in a key position, raise the issue
again. Ask operating managers what alternatives to simple replacement they have
considered. Briefly review some of them to ensure that succession is driven by work
requirements and not by custom, resistance to change, or other issues that may be
needlessly costly or inefficient.
Summary
This chapter has reviewed alternatives to traditional replacement from within. Alter-
natives may be used when any one or all of the following questions may be answered
yes:
1. Is the key position no longer necessary?
2. Can a key position be rendered unnecessary by finding new ways to achieve
comparable results?
3. Can a key position be rendered unnecessary by redistributing the duties to a
team in the same part of the organization?
4. Can a key position be rendered unnecessary by reallocating the duties to other
parts of the organization?
5. Can a key position be rendered unnecessary by outsourcing the work?
6. Can a key position be rendered unnecessary by using flexible staffing ap-
proaches?
7. Can combining these approaches obviate the need for a replacement in a key
position?
8. Can the retiree base be tapped for a qualified replacement?
Pose these questions during review meetings to identify successors and on the
occasions when a vacancy occurs in a key position. Be sure that key positions are
filled only when absolutely necessary to achieve essential work requirements and to
meet the organization’s real strategic objectives.
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C H A P T E R 1 2
Integrating Recruitment with
Succession Planning
There are generally only two ways to source talent. One is by developing people inside
the organization, a process closely associated with succession planning because it is
the means of building enough bench strength to ensure business continuity. The other
is by recruiting people from inside or outside the organization to fill vacancies. Chap-
ter 11 presented alternatives to internal staffing—that is, changing how the work is
done, outsourcing, changing the organizational structure, drawing on retirees, and so
forth.
This chapter goes beyond traditional succession planning and addresses recruit-
ing. It thus examines recruitment from the broader standpoint of talent management,
which is usually understood to mean the process of attracting the best people, devel-
oping the best people, and retaining the best people. Of course, the real issue is in
clarifying what is meant by the ‘‘best’’ people. In one sense best can mean those
objectively determined to be most productive and with the greatest advancement or
promotion potential; in another sense, that can mean anyone whose talent can be
leveraged to advantage somehow. According to the latter view, everyone has talent,
and the challenge is discovering what it is and using it to the advantage of the individ-
ual and the organization.
But what is recruitment, and what is selection? When should recruitment be used
to source talent? How can internal recruitment using job posting be integrated with
external recruitment, and how can both forms of recruitment be integrated with
succession planning? What innovative recruitment approaches may be needed to at-
tract high potentials? This chapter addresses these important questions.
What Is Recruitment, and What Is Selection?
Recruitment is generally understood to mean the process of sourcing qualified appli-
cants to meet the employment needs of an organization; selection is the related process
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288 Closing the Developmental Gap
of identifying the best applicant to fill an existing vacancy. In the most general sense,
recruitment focuses on finding as many well-qualified applicants as possible, whereas
selection focuses on narrowing the list of qualified applicants to the one or more most
suitable candidates to fill a given vacancy. Internal recruitment relies on individuals
sourced from inside the organization; external recruitment relies on candidate sources
from outside.
Many organizations recruit and select only when vacancies exist and determine
on a case-by-case basis even whether to fill a position. However, few organizations
have comprehensive workforce planning in which leaders periodically compare the
total mix of competencies of the organization to its strategic objectives to ensure
alignment. When that is not done—as is true in many organizations—there is likely
to be a growing mismatch between the collective competencies of all the people in
the organization and the desired direction of the organization.
It is easy to see how that happens. Managers do not want to terminate individuals
for cause because it is an onerous process, made all the more so by the needs to meet
progressive disciplinary requirements, to comply with any existing union agreements,
and to ensure due process. But as legacy employees stay on, the reasons they were
originally hired may place them at odds with the long-term future direction of the
organization. If that happened only a few times, there would be no problem. But if it
happens over a long time span, there is an increasing mismatch between the existing
collective competencies of the workforce and what is needed to achieve strategic ob-
jectives. The result could be disastrous.
Consider also that managers in many organizations, if asked to choose between
existing but unsatisfactory workers and unknown people recruited from outside, will
stick with those they know. As support for that assertion, an ‘‘October 2008 survey of
190 U.S. hiring managers across industries reveals that 69 percent of respondents find
it easier to work with the ‘devil they know,’ rather than to take a chance on an
‘unknown’ new hire. Just 31 percent of those queried, representing both large enter-
prises and small businesses, find it harder to manage the people they have than to
select new employees’’1
What is needed, then, is both a micro-oriented view of how to recruit and select
the best individual for each position and a macro-oriented view of how to plan for
and sustain the best collective mix of competencies needed to achieve business results.
There are, of course, many ways by which to forecast or plan for the future macrolevel
talent needs of an organization. I devoted an entire book to that topic.2
When Should Recruitment Be Used to Source Talent?
Use external recruitment to source talent when the available internal talent is inade-
quate to meet the organization’s needs. First examine the results of job postings or
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Integrating Recruitment with Succession Planning 289
management nominations for openings to see how equipped internal applicants are
to meet current needs. Of course, equal emphasis should be placed on internal devel-
opment and external/internal recruitment. After all, bench strength will never be in-
creased if the organization’s leaders never commit to developing future talent. Targets
should be established for external versus internal recruitment, and those targets
should be influenced by the competitive environment in which the organization oper-
ates.
Internal Versus External Recruitment: Integrating
Job Posting with Succession Planning
Effective succession plans will integrate both internal and external recruitment with
internal development. It will do that by relying on comprehensive workforce planning
that ties the organization’s strategic objectives with the number and type (talents) of
people required to achieve those results.
Internal recruitment is typically from two sources: job posting and management
decisions.
Job posting is, of course, a planned recruitment method that relies on internal
staffing. Employers make it a policy to post some or all of their positions so that
present employees may apply (sometimes called ‘‘bid’’) for them. Employers guide
their job posting program using a written company policy that describes which jobs
will be posted, how the posting process will work, when jobs will be posted, and for
what locations. Job posting programs also typically specify eligibility requirements
because few employers want employees jumping to different jobs for small salary
increases. Employees who can post for positions must usually have at least satisfactory
performance and must have a minimum amount of company and job work experi-
ence.
Many organizations encourage promotions from within because managers feel
that such a policy will improve employee morale and encourage retention. There are
additional benefits as well. First, the organization that promotes from within can
examine the track record of existing employees more easily than they can check the
references and get reliable information on off-the-street hires. Second, the cost of
promoting from within is often lower than hiring from outside because the employer
saves on the expenses associated with interviewing, orienting, and training. The
amount of time and work lost while external applicants are being reviewed is also
reduced, and insiders usually know the company culture, customers, and even inter-
nal politics better than do outside applicants. And, of course, outside applicants may
have trouble adjusting, which could put them at risk to become turnover statistics.
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290 Closing the Developmental Gap
After all, the most recently hired people are also the most likely to leave because they
have the least to lose in making turnover decisions.
But a promotion-from-within policy has disadvantages. One is that, in union
settings and even in some nonunionized firms, the expectation is that those with the
most seniority will have an edge for promotion decisions. That leads to a so-called
entitlement mentality in which workers believe the employer owes them something
for having been loyal or for having seniority. But, of course, seniority does not always
equate to the ability to handle different jobs, perhaps at different levels of responsi-
bility.
Job posting can cause problems in downsized firms. Managers may want to hoard
good people. The result is that common sense is turned on its head, and managers
may be tempted to give their worst people good recommendations so as to foist them
on other managers while giving their best (and perhaps most promotable) people bad
recommendations so that they can keep them and not have to worry about getting
permission to rehire, fill a vacancy, or find a good performer to match the quality of
the person they are losing.
If job posting is to be integrated effectively with external recruitment, it should
be managed with diligence. Workers should fill out applications, often online nowa-
days, that ask them to clarify how they are qualified to do the work for which they
are applying. Managers should not only be held accountable for keeping people but
encouraged to share people for promotional opportunities with others. If managers
are only penalized by sharing talent but do not receive offsetting rewards, then inter-
nal job posting programs will usually suffer—particularly in the wake of downsizings.
Good job posting programs will also give feedback to unsuccessful internal applicants
to clarify how they can improve themselves for future advancement.
Recruiting Talented People from Outside
Most organizations with HR professionals are familiar with the most popular ap-
proaches to recruit workers from outside: national online job boards, employee refer-
rals, career sections of the organization’s Web site, industry-specific online job boards,
print advertising, job fairs, on-campus college recruiting, regional or local online job
boards, search firms, informal networking, temp agencies, social networking sites such
as MySpace or Facebook, online campus recruiting, trade publications, open house
events at the employer’s worksite, sourcing firms, television advertising, and radio
advertising. Small and medium-sized employers may also go lower-tech, using help-
wanted signs and postings on bulletin boards. Use the worksheet appearing in Exhibit
12-1, and assess how often and how well your organization makes use of the full range
of traditional external recruiting sources.
Recruitment should not be regarded as a project to be completed for each va-
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Exhibit 12-1. Worksheet to Assess How Often and How Well an Organization Uses Traditional External Recruiting
Sources
Directions: Use this worksheet to assess how often and how well your organization makes use of traditional recruiting sources.
For each recruiting source listed in the left column, indicate in the center column how often your organization uses that source.
Then, in the right column, indicate how well you feel that the organization uses that traditional recruiting approach. There are
no right or wrong answers in any absolute sense. However, ask different groups in the organization to complete this worksheet—
such as representatives of operating management and HR—and compare how they rated the organization’s use of traditional
recruiting sources.
Traditional Recruiting Sources
How Often Does Your Organization
Use This Recruiting Approach?
Not often Frequently
How Well Do You Feel Your Organization
Uses This Recruiting Approach?
Not Well Very Well
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
1 National online job boards 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
2 Employee referrals 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
3 Career sections of the
organization’s Web site
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
4 Industry-specific online job
boards
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
5 Print advertisements 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
6 Job fairs 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
7 On-campus college recruiting 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
8 Regional or local online job
boards
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
(continues)
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Exhibit 12-1. (continued)
Traditional Recruiting Sources
How Often Does Your Organization
Use This Recruiting Approach?
Not often Frequently
How Well Do You Feel Your Organization
Uses This Recruiting Approach?
Not Well Very Well
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
9 Search firms 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
10 Informal networking within the
social network of managers
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
11 Temp agencies 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
12 Social networking sites 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
13 Online campus recruiting 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
14 Trade publications 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
15 Open house events at the
employer’s worksite
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
16 Sourcing firms 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
17 Television advertising 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
18 Radio advertising 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
19 Help-wanted signs posted
outside the place of
employment
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
20 Postings on bulletin boards in
prominent locations in the
community (such as in grocery
stores or popular retail outlets)
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
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Integrating Recruitment with Succession Planning 293
cancy. Instead, it should be a continuing process to source the best people. ‘‘One way
to bolster the leadership pipeline is through effective recruitment strategies, but a
2008 survey found hiring practices among employers could be more aggressive. For
hard-to-fill positions, 33 percent of employers continuously recruit to establish a pool
of candidates, but the majority of employers (52 percent) recruit applicants when
positions become open.’’3
Key steps in a continuous recruiting process include:
‘ Clarifying how many and what kind of people will be needed.
‘ Devising an organization recruitment policy and plan.
‘ Revising the plan as the organization’s strategy changes.
‘ Implementing the plan.
‘ Providing feedback to successful and unsuccessful applicants alike.
Selection methods take up where the recruitment process leaves off. Once individ-
uals have been sourced through recruitment, they are:
‘ Screened for applicability to current or future needs.
‘ Narrowed to a finalist list.
‘ Subjected to criteria identified for selection through such assessments as drug
tests, interviews, employee tests, application forms, and many other proce-
dures designed to reduce a list of applicants to one or several best choices.
Many books and articles have reviewed techniques in effective recruiting and
selection.4
Innovative Recruitment Approaches
to Attract High Potentials
Many traditional recruitment strategies may need to be creatively reinvented if an
organization is to increase the number or percentage of high potentials it attracts and
retains. After all, if organizational leaders rely on the same approaches that other
organizations use, they are likely to get the same results. And that may not be what is
desirable in a war for talent.
In recent years, many organizations have focused attention on so-called e-recruit-
ing, beefing up their Web sites so that it attracts people to apply online. Passive re-
cruiting also undertakes to find applicants through online applications and through
Web surfing for desirable candidates who are already employed. However, ‘‘online
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294 Closing the Developmental Gap
recruiting through Web sites such as Monster, Yahoo!, and Hot Jobs has not delivered
the quality applicants, known as ‘passive candidates,’ that corporate recruiters had
hoped to find. At educational publisher Thomson Corp., recruiters say the Internet
has helped them find entry-level candidates but not middle managers or executives.
To improve results, recruiters need to find ways to connect with potential candidates
in places they frequent online.’’5
Trailblazing companies differentiate themselves in recruiting from other organi-
zations by (1) managing talent as a human capital supply chain; (2) investing in, and
building, skills for the future; (3) building talent assessments to identify the best; (4)
developing talent pools that transcend job requisitions and boundaries; and (5) creat-
ing a work environment that inspires as well as accommodates. Innovative companies
focus on building and maintaining robust pools of capable internal and external talent
that can be tapped anywhere anytime.6
What specific strategies may be used to attract more HiPos?
Strategy 1: Analyze Where the Organization’s Existing High
Potentials Came from and Then Manage up the Supply Chain
Generally speaking, high potentials have some things in common. Examine how—and
from where—the organization’s existing high potentials came from. Did they come
from the same places? Did they graduate from a handful of universities? What charac-
teristics, if any, do they share in common?
One large insurance company did an analysis of where it had recruited high po-
tentials over a 20-year period. Having done that, organizational leaders were surprised
to learn that most of the high potentials had graduated from the same university.
Strategy 2: Find Out What Motivates Existing High Potentials,
and Then Modify Recruiting Messages Accordingly to Attract
More
Many organizations routinely conduct exit interviews to find out why people leave,
but few organizations investigate why people stay. Fewer still investigate what moti-
vates the high potentials of the organization to stay. If they could do so, they would
likely find that high potentials share some of the same things in common when it
comes to what keeps them with the same organization. That information, in turn,
could lead to improvements in recruitment messages to attract more high potentials.
Organizational leaders should realize that learning and professional growth op-
portunities can give an organization a distinctive recruiting advantage. Employers
should take steps to build an employment brand as a good place to work where
professional development opportunities will help workers remain employable in a
dynamic employment market.7
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Strategy 3: Encourage Existing High Potentials to Refer People
for Employment with the Organization
People tend to have friends who are like them. Correspondingly, high potentials are
likely to have friends who are like them. If an organization’s leaders could encourage
high potentials to refer people for employment, there is a good chance that the com-
pany will attract more high potentials. One caveat: High potentials should not be
encouraged to refer family members. As the old saying goes, ‘‘You can pick your
friends, but you cannot pick your family.’’ The point is that family members may not
share the same characteristics as the high potentials themselves.
Strategy 4: Use High Potentials to Conduct Recruiting
High potentials are likely to recruit people like themselves. Take advantage of that by
involving them in the recruiting process.
Strategy 5: Use High Potentials to Participate in Selecting
Workers
High potentials are likely to favor people like themselves. Take advantage of that by
involving them in selecting people. Mitigate the effects of the like-me problem by
involving more than one high potential from different age groups, sexes, and experi-
ences.
Strategy 6: Reward People for Attracting High Potentials
Many organizations offer bonuses to employees who refer successful applicants for
employment, but use that strategy selectively. Instead of making that offer to all em-
ployees, involve and reward only high potentials for referring successful applicants.
Strategy 7: Accelerate the Identification of High Potentials
Gone are the days when people expected lifetime employment. Try to accelerate the
identification of high potentials. Set up milestones to poll supervisors and to others
about likely high potentials they are seeing among recent hires.
Strategy 8: Improve Managers’ Skills in the Daily Development
of High Potentials
Managers play a crucial role in developing high potentials. Development does not
occur off the job so much as through the on-the-job coaching, feedback, counseling,
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296 Closing the Developmental Gap
and encouragement that managers give their high potentials on a daily basis. Organi-
zational leaders should support training for managers at all levels on how to improve
the quality of their daily coaching, feedback, and encouragement.
Strategy 9: Ask High Potentials for Advice on How to Attract
and Develop More High Potentials
Involve the high potentials themselves in giving advice on what the organization
should do to improve its approaches in attracting and developing more HiPos.
Strategy 10: Use Innovative and Creative Approaches to Source
High Potentials
If your organization uses the same recruitment strategies as most other organizations,
then yours will get about the same results as those other organizations do. A war for
talent requires a better strategy. Managers must get smarter about recruiting.
The recruiting staff of one organization, for instance, learned that college recruit-
ment trips were sometimes a bust because they were forced to compete head-on with
organizations possessing a better employment brand image. To offset that problem,
the recruiters went directly to faculty members, wined and dined them, provided
them with profiles of the high potentials they were looking for, and then enlisted the
faculty members’ help in spotting and referring them. The result was a dramatic
increase in the referral of high-quality candidates as well as more college internship
experiences with high potentials on a try-out basis. This innovative approach yielded
far greater returns than previous efforts to recruit on campuses.
It is also important for organizational leaders—and recruiters—to remember that
first impressions do count. A case in point: The results of a Development Dimensions
International (DDI) and Monster survey of 4,000 job seekers, 1,250 hiring managers,
and 628 staffing directors explored how an organization’s hiring process influences a
candidate’s decision to accept a job and remain with an organization. The study,
Slugging Through the War for Talent: Selection Forecast 2006–2007, examined four
important aspects of the hiring process: recruiting, selecting, landing the candidates,
and retaining valuable talent. The survey results concluded that many companies are
doing a bad job of creating a good first impression for prospective and actual new
hires.8
Summary
This chapter has reviewed internal and external recruitment as ways to source talent
to meet organizational needs. The chapter defined recruitment and selection, and it
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Integrating Recruitment with Succession Planning 297
explained when recruitment should be used to source talent. It distinguished between
internal and external recruitment. Further, the chapter examined how internal re-
cruitment, using job posting, can be integrated with external recruitment, and how
both forms of recruitment can be integrated with succession planning. Finally, the
chapter summarized some key strategies by which to increase the percentage of high
potentials attracted to an organization through innovative recruitment approaches.
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C H A P T E R 1 3
jjj
Integrating Retention with
Succession Planning
Retention is logically related to succession planning. Few organizational leaders want
to invest substantial time, money, and effort to recruit, select, orient, and develop
their most productive and promotable people—only to see them lured away by other
employers, or hijacked, a colorful and popular term in Asia.
According to a 2007 HR Priorities Survey from ORC Worldwide (www.orcworld-
wide.com),1 an HR consulting and data services firm, nearly 62 percent of respondents
to their survey opined that talent management was the most pressing strategic issue
they faced in that year. The findings of the survey also indicated that 33 percent of
talent management programs include workforce acquisition, assessment, develop-
ment, and retention as areas that consumed most of the survey respondents’ time.2
Retention has emerged as a focus of much time and attention in talent management
and succession planning, and so much is known about it that the HR practitioner
who tries to integrate it into a talent program may grow bewildered by the huge
volume of related research.3
This chapter addresses several important questions. What is retention, and why
is it important? Whom should be retained? What common misconceptions exist in
managing retention issues? What systematic approach can be used to increase the
retention of talented people?
What Is Retention, and Why Is It Important?
Employee retention is commonly considered to mean the ability to maintain a stable
workforce. It is often linked to morale and to organizational productivity. Retention
is thus the opposite of turnover, a well-known concept that generally refers to the loss
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Integrating Retention with Succession Planning 299
of people from the workforce. And, as explained earlier in this book, it can be involun-
tary (due to death, disability, downsizing, or layoffs) or voluntary (due to resignations
or retirements). Turnover is typically computed by dividing the number of termina-
tions in a given period of time by the total number of workers in an organization’s
workforce and multiplying by 100. And turnover is not uniform: some parts of the
organization are more prone to it than others.
Absenteeism is related to turnover, and, in fact, is commonly regarded as a leading
indicator of turnover. Workers usually draw on vacation or sick time when interview-
ing for alternative employment. For that reason, when sick time spikes, turnover
usually spikes later.
Retention is important for the simple reason that turnover is expensive. Some
experts estimate that turnover costs can add up to as much as 150 percent of the
annual wages of an hourly worker and easily to 200 percent of a manager’s annual
salary.4 One expert writes, ‘‘individually, turnover costs between $2–11K to replace
an hourly employee, and upwards of $40,000 to replace a manager. One Silicon Valley
company estimates the cost of replacing an employee is over $125,000.’’5 Some re-
search links company profitability to turnover measures.6 Among the costs of turn-
over are (1) the direct and indirect costs incurred due to someone’s leaving, (2)
recruitment costs to find a replacement, (3) training costs for a replacement, (4) costs
of lost productivity while the replacement worker is being trained, (5) direct and
indirect expenses for a new hire, and (6) possible lost sales.7 Use the worksheet in
Exhibit 13-1 to calculate how much turnover costs the organization.
Who Should Be Retained?
Not all turnover is bad. If a poor performer (sometimes jokingly referred to as a PoPo
or poor performer) is replaced, the organization may actually gain productivity in the
long run by replacing the employee with a better performer and/or a more promot-
able person.
When organizations undergo downsizing, involuntary turnover can be managed.
However, organizational leaders must take care who is chosen to be laid off, how that
process is managed, and how the work is reallocated after a downsizing because high
potentials may become overloaded (and therefore prone to quit) unless the work is
properly reallocated.
Organizational leaders should also establish uniform policies and procedures in
addressing counteroffers. If a high potential is in danger of being hijacked by another
organization, possibly a competitor, how should management respond? In some orga-
nizations, the policy is not to bargain with ‘‘terrorists’’ (those who show they are
willing to go to the highest bidder). But, of course, that is a management decision to
make.
(text continues on page 303)
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300 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 13-1. Worksheet to Calculate the Cost of Turnover
Directions: Use this worksheet to calculate the cost of turnover for each position. For
each item listed in the left column, provide an estimate of what the costs are and
show how you reached that figure. Add paper as necessary.
Costs Associated with a Person Quitting
Cost Items Estimated Cost and Method of Calculating It
1 How much does it cost for
someone to do the work
while a position is vacant?
(Include overtime cost and
additional sick time due to
overwork)
2 What is the cost of lost
productivity? (Average at
50 percent of the salary of
the position for each week
it is vacant.)
3 How much does it cost to
conduct an exit interview
for a departing worker?
(Include salary value for
the time of the interviewer
and interviewee.)
4 How much does it cost for
the manager of the
employee who is quitting
to plan for getting the
work done while the
position is vacant?
5 How much money has
been invested in the
training of the person who
is quitting?
6 What will any severance
pay and/or benefits of the
quitting employee cost the
organization?
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Integrating Retention with Succession Planning 301
7 How much is the
knowledge worth of the
person who is quitting?
(Use a rule of thumb
calculation that this
knowledge is worth about
50 percent of the quitting
person’s salary for a year.)
8 How much will it cost the
organization for the loss of
customers?
9 How much time will it take
for the position to be filled,
and what is the cost of that
time based on the salary
of the current job
incumbent?
Costs of Recruiting a Replacement
10 What will be the costs of
advertising or communi-
cating the need for
applicants to fill the
position?
11 How much will it cost for
recruiters to devote time
identifying suitable
candidates and
prescreening them?
12 How much will it cost to
interview applicants?
13 How much will it cost to
file and otherwise manage
resumes of applicants and
interview notes?
(continues)
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Exhibit 13-1. (continued)
Costs of Recruiting a Replacement
Cost Items Estimated Cost and Method of Calculating It
14 How much will it cost to
conduct internal job
posting, including the time
required to write up the
position notice, post it,
screen applicants, and
narrow the list down?
15 How much will it cost to
conduct any required
testing?
16 How much will it cost to
develop and validate any
required testing?
Costs of Orienting and Training a Replacement
17 What is the cost of an
organization orientation
in time?
18 What is the cost of
organizational orientation
materials?
Costs of Lost Productivity
19 What will on-the-job
training cost in
productivity, lost time for
trainer(s), and other
related costs?
20 What will be the costs of
any mistakes made by the
new hire?
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Integrating Retention with Succession Planning 303
Costs of Onboarding
21 What will be the cost of
placing the person on the
payroll, providing
necessary equipment and
work space for the new
hire?
22 What will be the costs of
the manager checking on
the work performed by the
new hire?
Other Costs
(Add other costs, not listed above, to the costs associated with turnover.
Fill in the blanks as needed.)
23
24
Place the estimated total cost of turnover for one position in the box at right.
What Common Misconceptions Exist
in Managing Retention Issues?
Five major misconceptions among managers are common as they consider turnover.
The first misconception is that employees leave because salaries or wages are
lower than average. That assumption is, of course, false and is overly simplistic.
Though salaries and wages are important, they are not the only (or even a primary)
reason that employees leave. More often they leave because they are experiencing
problems with their immediate supervisor, coworkers, or both. The old adage that
people quit their bosses and not their jobs is supported by research.8
Unresolved workplace issues prompt individuals to seek alternative employment.
Without specific research in an organization on the reasons for its turnover—and
how those reasons might differ between high potentials and other workers—no clear
conclusions can or should be reached.
The second misconception is that exit interviews, administered on the last day of
employment, are adequate by themselves to determine the root causes of employee
departures. Exit interviews, as traditionally administered, are not adequate because
they are prone to social desirability bias.9 In short, workers tell HR practitioners what
the workers think the practitioners want to hear. Worried on their last day of employ-
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304 Closing the Developmental Gap
ment about possible future references from their supervisors or the ability to come
back later to request reinstatement to their old jobs, workers do not always tell the
truth but more often supply pleasant fictions about why they leave. More work is
needed to generate more effective exit interviews.
The third misconception is that examining why people leave is adequate, by itself,
to pinpoint root causes for turnover. But that is not true. It is just as important to
explore why people stay—and, more specifically, why high-potential workers stay. To
that end, HR practitioners or others may interview workers and separately interview
high potentials.
Particularly good questions to ask are these:
‘ Tell me a story about the most exciting, energizing, and motivating situation
you have ever experienced in your job in this organization.
‘ What happened? Describe the situation step-by-step as it unfolded.
‘ Who was involved?
‘ When did this happen?
‘ What did you do, and what happened as a result of what you did?
‘ What made this situation so motivating for you?
These stories can then be analyzed for common themes, and the themes become
key indicators of why people stay. They are also useful in establishing employment
brands, themes that may induce like-minded people to seek employment with an
organization when tied into recruitment literature.10
When conducting studies of why people stay, it is important to distinguish be-
tween the reasons why high potentials stay and why other workers stay. High-poten-
tial workers may stay with an organization for reasons different from those of their
lower-potential counterparts. If so, then pinpointing their reasons for staying will be
helpful in intensifying a climate for the retention of high potentials and attracting
other, similar people.
The fourth misconception is that the primary responsibility for discovering strate-
gies for stemming turnover rests with the HR department. That is, of course, not true.
Building a climate conducive to retention should be regarded as a team effort. Manag-
ers and HR practitioners alike bear the responsibility.
The fifth misconception is that all turnover is bad. That is untrue. If the organiza-
tion can retain a higher percentage of solid performers and high potentials than it
loses of other groups, then turnover can be beneficial. Indeed, a common source of
dissatisfaction among top performers is that they must compete for resources and
promotions with other, less productive people. If less productive people are encour-
aged to leave the organization while more productive people are encouraged to stay,
then workplace productivity goes up and the workplace climate may also improve.
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Integrating Retention with Succession Planning 305
Using a Systematic Approach to Increase
the Retention of Talented People
Generally speaking, most employers focus attention on why people leave their organi-
zations. Few organizations examine the turnover of high potentials or track changes
in their absenteeism. This is true even though talent management programs suggest
that such metrics should be closely tracked and used to monitor the loss of higher
percentages of high potentials compared to other employee groups. Such information
could, in turn, prompt management action to reduce critical turnover.
The best practice in retention is to adopt a holistic and systematic approach,
ignoring simplistic solutions such as focusing on wage and salary matters alone or
dealing haphazardly with the loss of high potentials on a case-by-case basis. Here are
some best practices:
‘ Recruit for retention by researching and then seek workers who are likely to
stay in the organization.11
‘ Select for retention by comparing applicants’ characteristics to criteria associ-
ated with retention according to the organization’s data-based experience. Ex-
amine how often applicants move from job to job, and find out, during
interviews, what prompts applicants with short job tenures to leave their jobs.
‘ Orient for retention by ensuring a positive socialization experience for new
hires through such practices as peer mentors and job coaches. Make new hires
feel welcome and encourage them quickly to become part of the organization’s
social fabric. Many organizations with excellent talent management programs
devote much time and attention to onboarding.12
‘ Manage for retention by training managers to pay attention to turnover, to
find out why it happens, and to learn how their daily supervisory practices
and their interpersonal skills can affect how people feel about their work.
‘ Reward retention by giving employees and managers bonuses, or at least rec-
ognition, for long service and for encouraging longer service.
‘ Offer training for managers on ways to provide feedback and encouragement
to workers so that they are made to feel good about themselves. That does not
mean that managers should ignore corrective action, but how they handle
feedback is key to preserving employee goodwill and a positive climate for
morale.
‘ Demonstrate commitment to work-life balance by recognizing that workers
face pressures from family off the job. Many workers must juggle work with
issues associated with caring for aging parents and/or children.
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306 Closing the Developmental Gap
‘ Encourage full employee engagement by taking steps to build involvement in
decision making on matters affecting individuals and giving workers a voice
in what matters to them.
‘ Track employees’ attitudes and workplace climate, and take proactive steps to
build a climate that encourages retention. Use periodic climate surveys to
examine what workers like and do not like about the organization’s employ-
ment practices. Communicate honestly about these practices, and set visible
targets for improving them.
‘ Measure why people leave by improving exit interview practices. Change how
the interviews are conducted. Ask supervisors to conduct last-day perform-
ance appraisals to indicate the quality of workers leaving so that critical turn-
over may also be tracked.
‘ Assess why people stay by building an employment brand. Use that brand
to build a climate for retention and a climate that will attract more high
potentials.
‘ Devote special attention to differential turnover by department, location, or
other factors, and take action to address issues that lead to high turnover
among high potentials and other worker populations, such as protected-class
employees (that is, minorities, the disabled, women, or other groups).
Though one available instrument measures an organization against 100 best prac-
tices in retention,13 the preceding 12 factors may be used in a simple tool to focus
management attention on what could be done to improve retention. See Exhibit
13-2.
Summary
Employee retention is a key component of an effective organizational talent manage-
ment strategy. Organizational leaders would be well advised to explore why people
leave, why people stay, why high potential workers leave, and why high potential
workers stay. By doing so, they will be able to build employment brands, as well as
establish and maintain an organizational climate that supports retention.
American Management Association
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Integrating Retention with Succession Planning 307
Exhibit 13-2. Worksheet to Compare Your Organization on Best Practices
in Employee Retention
Directions: Use this worksheet to rate your organization on best practices in em-
ployee retention as they may contribute to a successful talent management program.
For each item listed in the left column, check (�) a box to indicate yes or no. Then,
total your scores at the bottom, giving your organization a 1 for each yes and a 0
for each no score. The goal is to achieve a score of 12. If your organization is using
fewer than 10 best practices, then there is room for improvement.
Does your organization: Yes No
1 Recruit for retention by researching and then seeking
workers who are more likely to stay in the
organization.
2 Select for retention by comparing applicants’
characteristics to criteria associated with retention
according to the organization’s data-based
experience.
3 Orient for retention by ensuring a positive
socialization experience for new hires through such
practices as peer mentors and job coaches.
4 Manage for retention by training managers to pay
attention to turnover, try to find out why it happens,
and learn how their daily supervisory practices and
their interpersonal skills can affect how people feel
about their work.
5 Reward retention by giving employees and managers
bonuses, or at least recognition, for long service and
for encouraging longer service.
6 Offer training for managers on ways to provide
feedback and encouragement to workers so that they
are made to feel good about themselves.
7 Demonstrate commitment to work-life balance by
recognizing that workers face pressures from family
off the job.
(continues)
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308 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 13-2. (continued)
Does your organization: Yes No
8 Encourage full employee engagement by taking steps
to build involvement in decision making on matters
affecting individuals and giving workers a voice in
what matters to them.
9 Track employee attitudes and workplace climate and
take proactive steps to build a climate that
encourages retention.
10 Measure why people leave by improving exit
interview practices, and change how exit interviews
are conducted.
11 Assess why people stay by building an employment
brand.
12 Devote special attention to differential turnover by
department, location, or other factors and take
action to address issues that lead to higher turnover
among high potentials and other worker populations,
such as protected-class employees (that is, minorities,
the disabled, women, or other groups).
Total
American Management Association
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C H A P T E R 1 4
jjj
Using Technology to Support
Succession Planning and
Management Programs
The Internet and the World Wide Web have profoundly influenced the world. That
fact is as true for succession planning and management practices as for anything else.
Many organizations are in a competitive race to enter e-commerce or to consolidate
the competitive edge they are already acquiring from it. Many trainers and learning
and performance professionals are using learning management systems (LMSs) to
meet the need for the growing use of e-learning as well as even broader forms of
electronically mediated development and support for building robust competency-
based development systems.
Online and high-tech approaches have also had a dramatic impact on succession
planning and management practices.
This chapter focuses attention on four key questions: (1) How are online and
high-tech methods defined? (2) In what areas of succession planning and manage-
ment can online and high-tech methods be applied? (3) How are online and high-
tech applications used? (4) What specialized competencies do succession planning
coordinators need to use these applications?
Defining Online and High-Tech Methods
An online method relies on the Internet, a company or organizational intranet, an
extranet, or the World Wide Web. Examples of online methods range from traditional
print-based electronic mail to Web-based multimedia productions that integrate
print, sound effects, music, animation, still graphics, and video. A high-tech method is
American Management Association
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310 Closing the Developmental Gap
anything other than an online method that substitutes technology for face-to-face
interpersonal interaction. Examples of high-tech methods are videoconferencing or
audio-teleconferencing.
One way to conceptualize online and high-tech methods is to think of them as
existing on one continuum ranging from simple to complex and on a second contin-
uum ranging from noninteractive to fully interactive, as depicted in Exhibit 14-1.
Simple methods are usually easy to design and inexpensive to use. Complex methods
are usually difficult to design and are often expensive to design and use. Noninterac-
tive methods do not involve people in real time, whereas interactive methods require
people to participate actively. These distinctions are important when planning and
budgeting the use of online and high-tech methods. The most complex or interactive
methods often necessitate special skills in the design process and are more expensive
and time-consuming to plan and use.
The software to support succession planning and management is becoming in-
creasingly robust and sophisticated. Nontechnical users who are tasked with sourcing
the right technology to support the organization’s operations in this area face a daunt-
ing task posed by talent management suites and add-on modules or comprehensive
human resource information systems (HRISs).1 Even though many vendors stand
ready to sell their products, the information is not necessarily easy to come by. Much
time can be spent just finding what software is available and comparing their features.
This point cannot be emphasized too much: The best approach is to clarify what your
organization plans to do with the software and then find a product that will best meet
Exhibit 14-1. Continua of Online and High-Tech Approaches
Simple Complex
Noninteractive � Electronic mail � Online help with forms
� Web-based documents � Policies, procedures, in-
� Audiotape-based train- structions, forms, or in-
ing or instructions struments distributed by
� Videotape-based train- disk or CD-ROM
ing or instructions
Interactive � Print surveys sent elec- � Groupware
tronically � Interactive television
� Print surveys completed � Multimedia training
over the Web material
� PC-based � Virtual reality applica-
audioteleconference tions
� PC-based videotelecon-
ference
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Technology to Support Succession Planning and Management Programs 311
the needs. Use the rating sheet in Exhibit 14-2 as a starting point to define what is
needed.
Here are some of the popular vendors on the market. (This list is not meant to
be a product endorsement, nor is it meant to be exhaustive.)
‘ ACS Learning Services (see http://www.acs-inc.com/pages_exp.aspx?id�208)
‘ Authoria (see http://www.authoria.com/)
‘ Business Decisions, Inc. (see http://www.businessdecisions.com/)
‘ Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. (see http://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/)
‘ Cytiva Software, Inc. (see http://www.sonicrecruit.com/)
‘ Halogen Software (see http://www.halogensoftware.com/micro/epm-suite/
?source�google&c�Halogen&kw�halogen%20talent%20management&gclid
�CLGV1sfiyJgCFQVuswodCl7-0g)
‘ HRsmart (see http://www.hrsmart.com/)
‘ iCIMS (see http://www.icims.com/content/talentplatform.asp)
‘ Kenexa (see http://www.kenexa.com/Solutions/TalentManagement.aspx)
‘ Learn.com (see http://www.learn.com/learncenter.asp?id�178442&page�17)
‘ Oracle (see http://www.oracle.com/applications/manage-talent-enterprise-
wide. html)
‘ Organization Metrics (see http://www.orgmetrics.com/)
‘ Pilat HR Solutions (see http://www.pilat-nai.com/index.asp)
‘ Plateau (see http://www.plateau.com/prod/talent-management.htm)
‘ Saba (see http://www.saba.com/products/talent/)
‘ Salary.com (see http://www.salary.com/TalentManagement/software.asp)
‘ SAP (see http://www.sap.com/solutions/business-suite/erp/hcm/featuresfunc
tions/talentmanagement.epx)
‘ SilkRoad Technology, Inc. (see http://www.silkroad.com/)
‘ Softscape (see http://www.softscape.com/us/pd_overview.htm)
‘ StepStone Solutions (see http://www.stepstonesolutions.com/)
‘ SuccessFactors, Inc. (see http://www.successfactors.com/)
‘ SumTotal Systems (see http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/lp/pr/TM.html)
‘ Taleo Corporation (see http://www.taleo.com/LP/080101_Google_Compet
itors/secure/index.php?_kk�taleo&_kt�f10d7347-125e-4a9a-a9c9-c001444
ab0a8&gclid�COOv9qvlyJgCFQpgswodQB0W1Q)
‘ Technomedia (see http://www.technomedia.ca/en/htm/en_00_01_01.cfm)
(text continues on page 315)
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http://www.acs-inc.com/pages_exp.aspx?id=208
http://www.authoria.com/
http://www.businessdecisions.com/
http://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/
http://www.sonicrecruit.com/
http://www.halogensoftware.com/micro/epm-suite/?source=google&c=Halogen&kw=halogen%20talent%20management&gclid=CLGV1sfiyJgCFQVuswodCl7-0g
http://www.halogensoftware.com/micro/epm-suite/?source=google&c=Halogen&kw=halogen%20talent%20management&gclid=CLGV1sfiyJgCFQVuswodCl7-0g
http://www.halogensoftware.com/micro/epm-suite/?source=google&c=Halogen&kw=halogen%20talent%20management&gclid=CLGV1sfiyJgCFQVuswodCl7-0g
http://www.hrsmart.com/
http://www.icims.com/content/talentplatform.asp
http://www.kenexa.com/Solutions/TalentManagement.aspx
http://www.learn.com/learncenter.asp?id=178442&page=17
http://www.oracle.com/applications/manage-talent-enterprise-wide.html
http://www.oracle.com/applications/manage-talent-enterprise-wide.html
http://www.orgmetrics.com/
http://www.pilat-nai.com/index.asp
http://www.plateau.com/prod/talent-management.htm
http://www.saba.com/products/talent/
http://www.salary.com/TalentManagement/software.asp
http://www.sap.com/solutions/business-suite/erp/hcm/featuresfunctions/talentmanagement.epx
http://www.sap.com/solutions/business-suite/erp/hcm/featuresfunctions/talentmanagement.epx
http://www.silkroad.com/
http://www.softscape.com/us/pd_overview.htm
http://www.stepstonesolutions.com/
http://www.successfactors.com/
http://www.sumtotalsystems.com/lp/pr/TM.html
http://www.taleo.com/LP/080101_Google_Competitors/secure/index.php?_kk=taleo&_kt=f10d7347-125e-4a9a-a9c9-c001444ab0a8&gclid=COOv9qvlyJgCFQpgswodQB0W1Q
http://www.taleo.com/LP/080101_Google_Competitors/secure/index.php?_kk=taleo&_kt=f10d7347-125e-4a9a-a9c9-c001444ab0a8&gclid=COOv9qvlyJgCFQpgswodQB0W1Q
http://www.taleo.com/LP/080101_Google_Competitors/secure/index.php?_kk=taleo&_kt=f10d7347-125e-4a9a-a9c9-c001444ab0a8&gclid=COOv9qvlyJgCFQpgswodQB0W1Q
http://www.technomedia.ca/en/htm/en_00_01_01.cfm
www.amanet.org
Exhibit 14-2. Starting Point for a Rating Sheet to Assess Vendors for Succession Planning and Management
Software
Directions: Use this rating sheet as a starting point to develop your own rating sheet to assess various software vendors for
succession planning and management software. Note that there are three sections. The first section asks you to rate the software
product. The second section asks you to rate the vendor. The third section allows you to provide any additional comments you
wish. For each criterion listed in the left column below, gather sufficient evidence to rate the vendor in the center column
according to the following ratings: 0 � Not Applicable; 1 � Not Acceptable; 2 � Somewhat Unacceptable; 3 � Somewhat
Acceptable; 4 � Fully Acceptable. In the right column, provide notes to explain your scores. If you rate the vendor as anything
less than fully acceptable, provide a justification in the right column.
Part I: The Software
N/A
Not
Acceptable
Somewhat
Unacceptable
Somewhat
Acceptable
Fully
Acceptable Justification
0 1 2 3 4
Is the software:
1. Compatible with other
software that your
company uses—or can it
be made compatible with
relative ease?
0 1 2 3 4
2. Simple to use? 0 1 2 3 4
3. Browser-based? 0 1 2 3 4
4. Capable of giving different
levels of access to different
types of users?
0 1 2 3 4
(continues)
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Exhibit 14-2. (continued)
N/A
Not
Acceptable
Somewhat
Unacceptable
Somewhat
Acceptable
Fully
Acceptable Justification
5. Able to provide the kind of
reports that you or others
will want?
0 1 2 3 4
6. Capable of being custo-
mized for individuals, such
as your CEO?
0 1 2 3 4
7. Capable of providing the
level of security that you
want?
0 1 2 3 4
8. Competitively priced? 0 1 2 3 4
9. Priced with upgrades? 0 1 2 3 4
10. Well matched to the needs
your organization plans to
meet with it?
0 1 2 3 4
Part II: The Vendor
Does the vendor:
1. Have a good track record
with other clients?
0 1 2 3 4
2. Provide the support your
organization will need?
0 1 2 3 4
3. Respond to requests? 0 1 2 3 4
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4. Know enough about suc-
cession planning and
management to be
helpful?
0 1 2 3 4
5. Provide the level of support
your organization needs/
wants?
0 1 2 3 4
6. Provide a range of solu-
tions and avoid a ‘‘one-
size-fits-all’’ approach?
0 1 2 3 4
7. Provide training you or
others might need?
0 1 2 3 4
Now add up the scores.
The higher the score, the more
acceptable it is: Total
Part III: Your Additional Comments
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Technology to Support Succession Planning and Management Programs 315
‘ Beeline (see http://www.beeline.com/workforce-solutions/)
‘ Sonar6 (see http://tour.sonar6.com/1.htm)
Of course, many more software packages are out there. For additional help, check
out the current Talent Management Suites: Market Realities, Implementation Experi-
ences and Vendor Profiles, which could be found (at the time this book goes to press) at
http://store.bersinassociates.com/tmsuites.html. It describes the many software suites
currently available to support talent management.
Where to Apply Technology Methods
To state the issue simply, online and high-tech methods can be applied to almost any
area of an SP&M program. Such methods may be used in (1) formulating SP&M
program policy, procedures, and action plans, (2) assessing present work or compe-
tency requirements, (3) evaluating current employee performance, (4) determining
future work or competency requirements, (5) assessing potential, (6) closing develop-
mental gaps, (7) maintaining talent inventories, and (8) evaluating the program. Of
course, such methods can also be used for communicating details of a succession
program, for providing training and skill building, or even for real-time coaching.
They substitute virtual interaction for face-to-face interaction. The maddening thing
about them is that they date so quickly. Almost nothing today changes as fast as
technological innovations.
How to Evaluate and Use Technology Applications
To use online and high-tech applications in SP&M programs, you can use a hierarchy
of applications, such as those presented in Exhibit 14-3. The following sections first
describe the hierarchy and then provide specifics about how to apply these methods
to an SP&M program.
A Hierarchy of Applications
Researching secondary information is the first and lowest level of online and high-tech
applications for SP&M. You can use the Web or your organization’s human resource
information systems (HRIS) to collect and analyze information that is readily avail-
able. Use secondary information of this kind to look for articles, books, or Web sites
about best practices and research on succession issues. Surf the Web, using search
engines or metasearch engines (see a full list of metasearch engines at www.searchiq
American Management Association
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http://www.beeline.com/workforce-solutions/
http://tour.sonar6.com/1.htm
www.amanet.org
www.searchiq.com/directory/multi.htm
http://store.bersinassociates.com/tmsuites.html
316 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 14-3.: Hierarchy of Online and High-Tech Applications for
Succession Planning and Management
Interactive
and
Multimedia
Distribution
and Delivery
Policy Formulation
Original Data Collection for
Policy Formulation
Benchmarking/Comparison-Making
with Other Organizations
Document Distribution
Document Storage and Retrieval
Researching Secondary Information
.com/directory/multi.htm) and key words or phrases linked to succession planning.
Using your organizational HR information system, conduct analyses of your organi-
zation’s workforce with regard to such important issues as the ages of your workers at
various levels (executive, managerial, professional, and technical) and their projected
retirement ages, their racial or gender composition, performance ratings, turnover
rates, absenteeism, and other information. Try to use this information to answer such
questions as these:
‘ How many people exist at each level of the organization and in each important
occupational or hierarchical grouping?
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Technology to Support Succession Planning and Management Programs 317
‘ When are those people expected to retire?
‘ What percentage of those people fall into protected labor classes?
‘ What is the turnover rate by level?
‘ What is the critical turnover rate by level?
‘ How well are people performing?
‘ How many potential candidates for succession exist at each level, and how
many potential candidates may be needed to support the organization’s ex-
pected growth?
The answers to these questions require the analysis of existing information. This
is the lowest level of the hierarchy of applications, and it is also the easiest to use,
provided that the necessary records exist and can be manipulated in ways permitting
analysis.
Document storage and retrieval is the second level of the hierarchy. Online meth-
ods are often useful for storing and retrieving documents important to SP&M such as
job descriptions, competency models, value statements, performance appraisal forms,
potential assessments, and replacement charts. As organizations move toward realiz-
ing the promise of the paperless office, document storage and retrieval become more
important. Document imaging permits hard copy to be scanned and kept electroni-
cally.
Document distribution is the third level of the hierarchy. This level adds interacti-
vity and permits SP&M coordinators to place documents online. For instance, from
company Web sites, users can download job descriptions, job analysis questionnaires
or interview guides, competency models, performance appraisal forms, individual
potential assessment forms, individual development plans, and even training for ad-
vancement. Additionally, users may even complete the forms online and send them
to SP&M coordinators so that the transactions are paperless. Data can then be ana-
lyzed directly online. (That also improves data security.)
Benchmarking is the fourth level of the hierarchy. Though the third level permits
document distribution and analysis within an organization, benchmarking permits
information sharing among organizations. For instance, a succession planning coordi-
nator in one organization can send electronic questionnaires—or even sample docu-
ments, such as succession planning policies—to consultants, college professors, or
SP&M coordinators in other organizations. That permits easy comparisons and dis-
cussions of important issues across organizations.
Original data collection for policy formulation is the fifth level of the hierarchy.
Using online survey software, for instance, SP&M coordinators can poll managers,
workers, and other stakeholders about emerging problems that affect succession plan-
ning. For instance, an attitude survey could be conducted periodically online to gather
information about employee job satisfaction (which can affect or even help to predict
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318 Closing the Developmental Gap
turnover rates), attitudes about existing succession practices, and other relevant is-
sues. This information is valuable in formulating new policies or revising existing
policies.
Policy formulation is the sixth level of the hierarchy. Decision makers can use
groupware (software that links individuals virtually for decision making in real time)
to formulate new policies on issues affecting SP&M. For instance, during policy for-
mulation, decision makers can work together on virtual teams to establish a new or
revised succession policy, devise a competency model, prepare a job description, plan
training to close developmental gaps, carry out potential assessment or performance
appraisal, or offer confidential advice on a difficult succession issue.
Interactive and multimedia distribution and delivery make up the seventh and
highest level of the hierarchy. This is usually the most complex and often the most
expensive to create. It includes multimedia training prepared and delivered over the
Web or over a company intranet. It also includes CD-ROM-based training designed
to build competencies to prepare people for advancement and other high-tech meth-
ods, such as desktop video, that can link decision makers in discussions about individ-
ual development or about SP&M policy issues.
Use the worksheet in Exhibit 14-4 to brainstorm when and how to use online
and high-tech methods according to the hierarchy of applications described in this
section.
Formulating Policy, Procedures, and Action Plans
Recall that an important starting point for any SP&M program is a policy to guide it,
as well as procedures and action plans to implement it. Lacking those, decision makers
will probably not share the same views about what results are to be achieved, how
they are to be achieved, or even why the program exists. Formulating SP&M program
policy, procedures, and action plans is critical to gaining and sustaining stakeholder
ownership and understanding.
Online and high-tech methods can be helpful in formulating policy, procedures,
and action plans. It is not always necessary, of course, to formulate policies in face-
to-face meetings. Some (and occasionally all) of the work can be done online, and
some work can be done by virtual teams when decision makers are geographically
scattered.
Groupware can bring stakeholders together to make a decision in real time. This
type of software is now associated with Net 2.0 social networking, such as wikis [create
your own at wetpaint (http://www.wetpaint.com/page/sites)], Facebook, and related
sites. An emerging category of computer software, a collaboration platform, unifies an
electronic platform to support both synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Collaborative media, such as wiki software and slashdot models, consist of software to
allow several concurrent users to create information on a Web site. See WikiWikiWeb,
Wikipedia, and Everything2. Using such collaborative software, people can be any-
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Exhibit 14-4. Worksheet for Brainstorming When and How to Use Online and High-Tech Methods
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you brainstorm when and how to use various online and high-tech methods in your
organization’s SP&M program. For each area of SP&M listed in the left column below, jot down ideas under the appropriate
headers in the right column on ways that your organization may appropriately and effectively use the online and high-tech
approaches described. Add paper if necessary.
Area of Succession
Planning and
Management
Notes on When and How to Use Online and High-Tech Approaches
Researching
Secondary
Information
Document
Storage and
Retrieval
Document
Distribu-
tion Benchmarking
Original
Data
Collection for
Policy
Formulation
Policy
Formula-
tion
Interactive and
Multimedia
Distribution
and
Delivery
1 Formulating SP&M
Policy
2 Assessing Present
Work/People Require-
ments
3 Evaluating Current
Employee Performance
(continues)
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erican
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A
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Exhibit 14-4. (continued)
4 Determining Future
Work/People Require-
ments
5 Assessing Potential
6 Closing Developmental
Gaps
7 Maintaining Talent
Inventories
8 Evaluating the Program
9 Others (list below)
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Technology to Support Succession Planning and Management Programs 321
where—in the United States, Europe, South America, Australia, or in Asia—but they
all assemble online at the same time and focus attention on discussing and reaching
conclusions about key issues.
High-tech methods can also be used. Conference calls are probably the simplest
of these methods. Users discuss succession policies, procedures, and action plans over
the phone. To hold down costs, such calls can be made over personal computers by
using software such as skype.
Using small and inexpensive video cameras that can be attached to the top of
personal computers or even to laptops and software to link the cameras, decision
makers can meet from their desktops from almost anywhere. At the time of writing,
Yahoo messenger and Windows messenger are popular for video and audioconferen-
cing.
Experienced videoconferencing users, however, have learned that it is advisable
to test the equipment and software before the scheduled meeting time to make sure
that it works. They have also learned that a meeting agenda should be sent out before-
hand with short questions intended to keep the meeting focused. Meetings should be
kept short because participants find that watching compressed video can be tedious.
The number of callers should be kept to a minimum because multiple sites can be
difficult to manage in videoconferencing.
Here are some tips to make these meetings as effective as possible:
‘ Make sure the time schedules are clear, especially when callers are located in
different time zones.
‘ Open all meetings with introductions so that everyone knows who is there,
why they are there, and what they can contribute.
‘ Keep the structure of the meeting simple. If difficult decisions are to be made,
provide material in advance and ask people to review it before the meeting.
‘ Send out, by e-mail, sample policies, procedures, and action plans governing
succession planning and invite participants to focus their attention on them.
Sample documents tend to focus attention faster.
‘ Schedule follow-up discussions to resolve differences of opinion rather than
trying to iron them out in a videoconference.
‘ Make sure everyone has contact information for everyone else, such as e-mail
addresses, so that people can discuss important issues of interest among them-
selves later.
Assessing Present Work Requirements
Assessing present work requirements is a second important component of an effective
SP&M program. People cannot prepare for the future if they do not know what is
currently expected of them.
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Traditionally, present work requirements have been assessed in several ways. One
way is for the supervisor to write a job description. Another way is for a specialist in
the human resources department to interview one or more job incumbents and their
supervisors, draft a job description, and then ask for a review by those interviewed.
Online and high-tech approaches have added new dimensions to this process. It is
now possible to send worksheets or questionnaires for preparing job descriptions as
attached documents from one location. Supervisors or HR specialists can then draft
job descriptions and send them around electronically for supervisors or HR specialists
and job incumbents to review and modify, make corrections, and reach agreement
virtually. Alternatively, audio conferences or videoconferences can be substituted for
face-to-face meetings.
Additionally, many resources now exist to help the harried HR specialist or super-
visor write job descriptions. For instance, supervisors or HR specialists can invest in
software such as Descriptions Now! (http://www.hallogram.com/descriptionsnow/),
which provides draft language for job descriptions and helps the user draft newspaper
advertisements to recruit applicants. As an alternative, supervisors or HR specialists
can find thousands of free job descriptions on the Web as a starting point for discus-
sion and for ideas in preparing them. As just one example, visit www.stepfour.com/
jobs/ to find 12,741 job descriptions, arranged in alphabetical order, in the Dictionary
of Occupational Titles. Also visit ONet, which is the electronic system that is replacing
the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. The important point to remember is that no
online substitute exists for reaching agreement among supervisors, incumbents, and
HR specialists on current work requirements, why they are necessary for success in
the job, and how they can be met. In other words, online and high-tech approaches
should be used as supplements, not as substitutes, for traditional job analysis, compe-
tency identification, and other approaches to assessing present work requirements.
Evaluating Current Employee Performance
A third important component of any effective succession planning program is some
means of evaluating current employee performance. As already noted, people are
rarely considered for promotion—or any other advancement opportunity, for that
matter—if they are not performing well in their current jobs. Of course, a good
performance appraisal system should measure individual performance as it relates
to work requirements, standards, performance targets or expectations, or behavioral
indicators tied to job competencies.
Traditionally, the evaluation of current employee performance has been handled
with paper forms that are completed and then followed up on by means of face-to-
face interviews between workers and their immediate supervisors. Often, the human
resources department is responsible for establishing this procedure. The information
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gathered is, in turn, used in making wage or salary determinations, identifying train-
ing or individual development needs, and planning for future improvement.
Online and high-tech approaches have added new dimensions to this process. It
is now possible to solicit, through e-mail or Web sites, opinions of other people about
an individual’s performance. For instance, a performance appraisal form may be sent
for input to (among others) an individual’s organizational superiors, peers, subordi-
nates, customers, company suppliers, and company distributors.
Additionally, software now exists that can help supervisors or HR specialists write
performance appraisals. For instance, Performance Now! (http://www.hallogram
.com/performance/) supplies draft language for employee performance appraisals and
can offer legal advice about what is and is not advisable to put in writing on appraisal
forms. Free resources can also be found on the Web to support the formulation of
policies on employee performance appraisal.
Using online and high-tech methods with employee performance appraisal can
be beneficial, but SP&M coordinators should always remember that every useful per-
formance appraisal system comes at a price. Though online aids can be helpful and
can offer valuable support, no substitute exists for the laborious process of establish-
ing and measuring the unique performance requirements of the people in an organi-
zation.
Determining Future Work Requirements
Forecasting or planning for future work requirements is a fourth important compo-
nent of an effective SP&M program. After all, it is no more likely that work require-
ments will remain static than it is that the organization itself will remain static.
Organizational needs change, and so do work requirements. It is therefore important
to engage stakeholders and decision makers in planning for the changes that may be
expected in the organization and in its work requirements. That is essential if individ-
uals are to be prepared to meet future requirements. Even though few organizations
regularly and systematically forecast future work or competency requirements, the
need to do that is growing. It is simply not possible to prepare people if future work
requirements remain unknown.
Online and high-tech approaches have, however, provided new approaches to
job forecasting, scenario planning, and future-oriented competency modeling. Job
forecasting estimates future job requirements, addressing such questions as these:
‘ What will be the future purpose of the job? How will that be different from
the job’s present purpose?
‘ What are the expected work duties or responsibilities of the job in the future,
and how are they expected to change?
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324 Closing the Developmental Gap
‘ What knowledge, skills, or attitudes do individuals need in the future to qual-
ify for those jobs?
‘ How important will be the various duties or responsibilities of those jobs, and
which ones will be considered most critical to success in the future?
Answering such questions is the process of job forecasting.
Scenario planning identifies possible alternative futures. Instead of assuming that
jobs or work will change in one way, as job forecasting does, scenario planning offers
probabilities. Scenarios resemble written stories about the future. They help people
plan by giving them clear descriptions of what the future may look like—different
pictures of various futures. Groupware can be useful as an online approach to con-
ducting job scenario planning. It is thus possible to prepare different versions of
job descriptions for the future and then use them to stimulate planning among job
incumbents and their immediate organizational supervisors. Another way to carry
out scenario planning is to rely on software or Web sites that make it relatively easy.
Future-oriented competency modeling projects the future competencies required by
departments or job groups. Its focus, unlike traditional competency modeling, is on
what will set exemplary performers apart from fully successful performers in the fu-
ture. It is therefore future-oriented and sometimes based on trends.
Many resources exist to help SP&M coordinators conduct future-oriented com-
petency modeling. For instance, you can find a list of competencies needed in
businesses in the future by consulting the Graduate School of Future Business Com-
petencies online.2 You can also purchase software for competency modeling from
numerous sources.
Assessing Potential
A fifth important component of any effective succession planning program is some
means of assessing individual potential for the future. This component answers the
question, ‘‘What is the individual’s potential for advancement to higher levels of
responsibility or to higher levels of technical expertise in his or her specialization?’’
One approach that is increasingly used for potential assessment is full-circle,
multirater feedback. As described in an earlier chapter, this involves assessing an
individual’s potential based on the perceptions of those surrounding the employee. It
is important to remember, however, that potential assessment should be conducted
in the context of work requirements. In other words, an individual should be ap-
praised not just for current abilities, but also for meeting future job requirements or
future competencies.
Both PC-usable software and Web-based full-circle, multirater assessment instru-
ments are widely available. To find many of them, it is only necessary to type ‘‘360
assessment’’ into a search engine on the Web. But a word of caution is again in order:
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Most full-circle, multirater assessment instruments have been based on competency
models from other organizations. That means they are not necessarily useful, applica-
ble, or even appropriate in all corporate cultures. To be most effective, a company-
specific competency model must be prepared for every department or every job cate-
gory (such as supervisor, manager, and executive). Potential assessment is useful only
when done in this way. Indeed, rating individual potential on competencies that are
not company specific can lead to major mistakes and miscalculations. Hence, though
online and high-tech approaches can be useful, they should be used appropriately to
measure individual potential within a unique corporate culture.
Closing Developmental Gaps
Closing developmental gaps is a sixth important component of any effective SP&M
program. This component leads to an action plan to help individuals narrow the gap
between what they can do now and what they need to do to advance. Individual
development planning is the process by which this is accomplished.
Although few software packages exist to support the individual development
planning process—in fact, I could find none after an extensive search on the Web—
many resources can be found on the Web to assist with the process.
Maintaining Talent Inventories
A seventh important component is some means of maintaining talent or skill invento-
ries. The question in this case is, ‘‘How can the organization keep track of the knowl-
edge, skills, and competencies of existing staff ?’’ Organizations possessing no means
by which to inventory talent will have a difficult time locating qualified people in the
organization when vacancies occur in key positions or when emergencies arise. Every
organization should have some way to inventory its talent.
Succession planning and management inventories may take two forms: manual
or automated. A manual system relies on paper files. It consists of individual personnel
files or specialized records, assembled especially for SP&M, that take the form of a
succession planning and management notebook or Rolodex file. These files contain
information relevant to making succession decisions, such as:
‘ Descriptions of individual position duties or competencies (for instance, a
current position description).
‘ Individual employee performance appraisals.
‘ Statements of individual career goals or career plans.
‘ Summaries of individual qualifications (for instance, educational and training
records).
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326 Closing the Developmental Gap
‘ Summaries of individual skills (for instance, a personal skill inventory that
details previous work experience and language skills).3
Of course, other information may be added, such as individual potential assess-
ment forms and replacement planning charts.
A manual inventory will suffice for a small organization having neither special-
ized expertise available to oversee SP&M activities nor resources available for auto-
mated systems. A chief advantage is that most of the information is filed in personnel
files anyway; so no monumental effort is necessary to compile information on indi-
vidual employees. However, a manual inventory can lead to difficulties in handling,
storing, cross-referencing, and maintaining security over numerous (and sometimes
lengthy) forms. Even in a small organization, these disadvantages can create formida-
ble problems.
Even small organizations, however, can now gain access to relatively inexpensive
PC-based software that places much information at a manager’s (or HR specialist’s)
fingertips. Software packages permit some limited talent inventorying that can be
useful even in small businesses.
Automated inventories used in SP&M take any one of three typical forms: (1)
simple word processing files, (2) tailored SP&M software, or (3) SP&M software inte-
grated with other personnel records. Simple word processing files are the next step
beyond paper files. Special forms (templates) are created for SP&M using a popular
word processing program, such as Microsoft Word. Blank forms are placed on disk
or CD-ROM. Managers are asked to complete the forms on disk and return them,
physically or electronically, to a central location. This approach reduces paper flow
and makes handling, storing, and security easier to manage than is possible with paper
records. Unfortunately, SP&M information that is inventoried in this manner will
usually be troublesome to cross-reference.
Tailored SP&M software is becoming more common. Much of it is now Web-
based or suitable for Web applications. Succession planning and management coordi-
nators should review several such packages before purchasing one. The chief advan-
tage of this software is that it is designed specifically for SP&M. Indeed, it can give
decision makers good ideas about desirable features to change, add to, or subtract
from the SP&M program. The tasks of handling, storing, cross-referencing, and main-
taining security for so much information are greatly simplified. Though software
prices were relatively high even a few years ago, most organizations employing fifty
or more people can now afford them.
The only major disadvantage of this software is that it can present temptations to
modify the organizational needs to satisfy software demands. In other words, software
may not provide sufficient flexibility to tailor SP&M forms and procedures to meet
the unique needs of one organization. That can be a major drawback. For this reason,
SP&M software should be carefully reviewed, in cooperation with the vendor, prior
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Technology to Support Succession Planning and Management Programs 327
to purchase, and the vendor might be able to modify the software to meet organiza-
tional needs at a modest cost.
Succession planning and management software may also be integrated with other
personnel systems. Some large organizations attempt to keep all data in one place,
usually in a mainframe system, in an effort to economize the problems inherent in
multiple-source data entry and manipulation; SP&M information is thus included
with payroll, training, and other records. Unfortunately, such software is usually of
limited value for SP&M applications. To be tailored to a large organization’s uses,
such software may have to undergo lengthy and large-scale programming projects. A
typical and major problem with such mainframe HRIS programs is that they provide
insufficient storage space for detailed, individualized record keeping tailored to
unique organizational procedures. When that is the case, it may be easier to use
a personal-computer-based system, instead of mounting a massive, expensive, and
probably quickly outdated programming effort to modify a mainframe program.
Evaluating the Program
An eighth and final important component of any effective SP&M program is some
means of evaluating the SP&M program and each of its components. This ensures
that continuous program improvement can be made. At this writing, however, no
online software currently exists that is specifically tailored to evaluating SP&M pro-
grams; SP&M coordinators must prepare their own.
Of course, it should be relatively simple to prepare online questionnaires or other
surveys to gather information about the relative value of SP&M programs. (Typical
evaluation issues that should be addressed will be discussed in the next chapter.)
Using online methods, however, may increase the speed and ease of response and
facilitate data analysis.
What Specialized Competencies Do SP&M Coordinators
Need to Use These Applications?
The specialized competencies required to use online and high-tech applications in
SP&M programs will, of course, vary depending on the media used and their applica-
tions. It is not advisable to try to be all things to all people; so it is best to target
specific applications of potential value to the organization and spend only the time
necessary to master them.
Succession planning and management coordinators can apply online and high-
tech methods in essentially three ways. First, they can try to learn it on their own, but
the competency requirements to do that can be daunting. Self-teaching requires mas-
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328 Closing the Developmental Gap
tery of the subject matter—such as, for instance, performance appraisal—and the
technical issues associated with the application. As a simple example, putting the
company’s performance appraisal system on the Web might mean that technical
knowledge is required of HTML and Java. Likewise, preparing Web-based training
may require knowledge of the subject matter, instructional design, and the program-
ming languages necessary to place it on the Web.
Second, the SP&M coordinator can contract for assistance with all or part of the
project. That would permit the coordinator to concentrate on the subject matter and
on managing the project. The necessary competencies would relate to the subject area
and project management. Technical issues would be handled by the contractor.
Third, the SP&M coordinator could create a team whose members collectively
possess the competencies necessary to perform the work. In this case, the coordinator
would at least require subject matter competence, project management competence,
and facilitation competence to help team members work together. The coordinator
may be able to choose team members from within the organization who possess the
requisite technical knowledge of the media.
No matter which of the three approaches is chosen, some competencies are
shared. First, patience is essential to work with any online or high-tech application.
(It is never as easy as it appears to be.) Second, knowledge of the organization’s
corporate culture and politics is also important. The SP&M coordinator must under-
stand how decisions are made in the organization and be able to work through that
process to achieve the desired results. Finally, the coordinator must be able to evoke
enthusiasm among other people for the project. Without these competencies, it will
be difficult to make any application successful.
Summary
As this chapter has pointed out, online and high-tech approaches are having an im-
portant impact on succession planning and management practices. The chapter fo-
cused attention on four key questions: (1) How are online and high-tech methods
defined? (2) In what areas of succession planning and management can online and
high-tech methods be applied? (3) How are online and high-tech applications used?
(4) What specialized competencies are required by SP&M coordinators to use these
applications?
The next chapter focuses on the important issue of evaluating SP&M programs.
As decision makers devote more time and other resources to succession issues, they
naturally wonder if their efforts are paying off. For that reason, evaluation is becoming
increasingly important.
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Evaluating Succession Planning
and Management Programs
After a succession planning and management program has been implemented, top
managers will eventually ask, ‘‘Is this effort worth what it costs? How well is it work-
ing? Is it meeting the organization’s needs?’’ Simple answers to these questions will
prove to be elusive because an SP&M program will affect many people and will usually
have to satisfy conflicting goals, interests, and priorities. But the questions underscore
the need to establish some way to evaluate the program. This chapter, then, will
explore five simple questions: (1) What is evaluation? (2) What metrics should be
used to evaluate SP&M programs? (3) What should be evaluated? (4) How should
evaluation be conducted? (5) How can SP&M be evaluated with the balanced score-
card and HR dashboards?
What Is Evaluation?
Evaluation means placing value or determining worth,1 a process of determining how
much value is being added to an activity by a program. Through evaluation, the need
for program improvements is identified and such improvements are eventually made.
Evaluation is typically carried out by an evaluator or team of evaluators against a
backdrop of client expectations about the program and the need for information on
which to make sound decisions.
Interest in Evaluation
The evaluation of human resource programs has been a popular topic of numerous
books, articles, and professional presentations.2 Treatments of it have tended to focus
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330 Closing the Developmental Gap
on such bottom-line issues as cost/benefit analysis and return on investment,3 which
should not be surprising since, in view of the perception of HR practitioners, these
issues are of chief interest to top managers. Training has figured most prominently in
this literature, probably because it continues to enjoy the dubious reputation of being
the first HR program to be slashed when an organization falls on hard times.
On the other hand, writers on evaluation have tended to pay far less attention to
SP&M than to training. One reason could be that systematic SP&M is less common
in organizations than training is. A second reason could be that evaluations of SP&M
are informally made on a case-by-case basis whenever a vacancy occurs in a key
position: If a successor is ‘‘ready, willing, and able’’ when needed, the SP&M program
is given the credit; otherwise, it is blamed. Though the value of SP&M should (of
course) be judged on more than that basis alone, the reality is often far different.
Key Questions Governing Evaluation
To be performed effectively, evaluation for SP&M should focus on several key ques-
tions:
1. Who will use the results? This question seeks to identify the audience.
2. How will the results be used? The second question seeks to clarify what deci-
sions will be made based on evaluation results.
3. What do the program’s clients expect from it? This question grounds evalua-
tion in client expectations and program objectives.
4. Who is carrying out the evaluation? The fourth question provides clues about
appropriate evaluation techniques based on the expertise of the chosen evalua-
tor(s).
What Metrics Should Be Used to
Evaluate SP&M Programs?
Consultants and HR practitioners who work in SP&M will often be asked by manag-
ers what metrics should be used to evaluate the success of SP&M programs. The
assumption, of course, is that there is some standardized way to do it. But that is not
the case.
The appropriate metrics should be derived from the measurable objectives estab-
lished for the program. For example, suppose the SP&M program is established as a
way to prepare the organization for an expected flood of possible retirements in the
future. In that case, the business need has to do with the expected retirements, which
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Evaluating Succession Planning and Management Programs 331
should be made specific. Having a certain number of people ready per year should be
the goal, and that goal can be tracked against the target.
The point is that off-the-shelf metrics will rarely work.4 It is far better for the
organization’s leaders to agree on specific, measurable objectives for the program.
Then the metrics will be easily related to the objectives. A particularly promising
approach is to use a balanced scorecard format, based on the well-known balanced
scorecard used in strategic business planning, to evaluate the program on multiple
dimensions—such as satisfaction by internal customers (CEO, senior executives, and
middle managers), financial value, internal process measures (such as the time-to-fill
metric), and learning and growth.
What Should Be Evaluated?
Some years ago, Donald Kirkpatrick developed a four-level hierarchy of training eval-
uation that may be usefully modified to conceptualize what should be evaluated in
SP&M.5
Kirkpatrick’s Hierarchy of Training Evaluation
The four levels of Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation hierarchy are reaction, learning,
behavior, and organizational outcomes, or results. Reaction forms the base of the
hierarchy and is easiest to measure. It examines customer satisfaction, that is, ‘‘How
much did participants like what they learned?’’ Learning, the second level on the
hierarchy, has to do with immediate change. In other words, ‘‘How well did partici-
pants master the information or skills they were supposed to learn in training?’’ Be-
havior has to do with on-the-job application: ‘‘How much change occurred on the
job as a result of learner participation in training?’’ The highest level of Kirkpatrick’s
hierarchy, the fourth and final one, is organizational outcomes, or results. It is also the
most difficult to measure: ‘‘How much influence did the results or effects of training
have on the organization?’’
Modifying Kirkpatrick’s Hierarchy
Use Kirkpatrick’s Hierarchy of Training Evaluation to provide a conceptual basis for
evaluating an SP&M program. (Examine the Hierarchy of Succession Planning and
Management Evaluation depicted in Exhibit 15-1.)
Make the first level customer satisfaction, which corresponds to Kirkpatrick’s reac-
tion level. Pose the following questions:
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332 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 15-1. Hierarchy of Succession Planning and Management
Evaluation
Customer Satisfaction
Organization Results
� What percentages of vacancies in
key positions is the organization able
to fill internally?
� How satisfied with the succession
planning program are its chief
customers?
� How is succession planning
contributing to documentable and
measurable organization results?
� How well is each part of the
succession planning program
working compared to its stated
objectives?
� What organizational successes and
failures, if any, can be attributed
solely to succession planning?
� What savings, if any, can be
demonstrated from not filling key
positions for which alternative, and
more innovative, approaches were
used to maintain equivalent results?
� How well are individuals progressing
through their developmental
experiences in preparation for future
advancement into key positions?
� How quickly are internal
replacements for key positions able
to perform at the level required for
the organization?
� What percentage of vacancies in key
positions is the organization able to
fill successfully (without avoidable
turnover in the first two years in the
position)?
� How quickly is the organization able
to fill vacancies in key positions?
� How satisfied are targeted clients
with each program component?
� How well does succession planning
match up to individual career plans?
Program Progress
Effective Placements
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Evaluating Succession Planning and Management Programs 333
‘ How satisfied with the SP&M program are its chief customers?
‘ How satisfied are its customers with each program component, such as job
descriptions, competency models, performance appraisal processes, individual
potential assessment processes, individual development forms, and individual
development activities?
‘ How well does SP&M match up with individual career plans? How do employ-
ees perceive SP&M?
Make the second level program progress, which is meant to correspond to Kirkpat-
rick’s learning level. Pose the following questions:
‘ How well is each part of the SP&M program working compared to stated
program objectives?
‘ How well are individuals progressing through their developmental experiences
in preparation for future advancement into key positions?
Make the third level effective placements, which corresponds to Kirkpatrick’s be-
havior level. Pose these questions:
‘ What percentage of vacancies in key positions is the organization able to fill
internally?
‘ How quickly is the organization able to fill vacancies in key positions?
‘ What percentage of vacancies in key positions is the organization able to fill
successfully (that is, without avoidable turnover in the first two years in the
position)?
‘ How quickly are internal replacements for key positions able to perform at
the level required for the organization?
‘ What savings, if any, can be demonstrated from not filling key positions for
which alternative and more innovative approaches were used to achieve re-
sults?
Make the fourth level organizational results, which is meant to correspond to
Kirkpatrick’s outcomes or results. Direct attention to the impact of SP&M on the
organization’s ability to compete effectively, which is (admittedly) difficult to do.
Consider the following questions:
‘ How is SP&M contributing, if at all, to documentable organizational results?
‘ What successes or failures in organizational strategic plans, if any, can be
attributed to SP&M?
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Use the guidelines in Exhibit 15-2 and the worksheet in Exhibit 15-3 to consider
ways to evaluate SP&M in an organization on each level of the hierarchy. Of course,
it is possible to evaluate an SP&M program on all four levels, and when that is done,
a scorecard for SP&M is created.
How Should Evaluation Be Conducted?
Evaluation may be conducted anecdotally, periodically, or programmatically.
Anecdotal Evaluation
Anecdotal evaluation is akin to using testimonials in evaluating training.6 It examines
the operation of the SP&M program on a case-by-case basis. As vacancies occur in
key positions, someone—often the SP&M coordinator—documents in incident re-
ports how they are filled. (See Exhibit 15-4 for an example of an incident report.) The
incident reports are eventually brought to the organization’s SP&M committee for
review and discussion. They provide a solid foundation for troubleshooting problems
in SP&M that the organization is confronting. They can then be used as a basis for
planning to handle similar problems in the future.
Anecdotal evaluation dramatizes especially good and bad practices. It draws atten-
tion to them and provides an impetus for change, a chief advantage of the anecdotal
approach. On the other hand, anecdotal evaluation suffers from a lack of research
rigor. It is not necessarily representative of typical SP&M practices in the organization.
(Indeed, it focuses on so-called special cases, horror stories, and war stories.) It may
thus draw attention to unique, even minor, problems with SP&M in the organization.
Periodic Evaluation
Periodic evaluation examines components of SP&M at different times, focusing atten-
tion on program operations at present or in the recent past. Rather than evaluate
critical incidents (as anecdotal evaluation does) or all program components (as pro-
grammatic evaluation does), periodic evaluation examines isolated program compo-
nents. For instance, the SP&M coordinator may direct attention to:
‘ The program mission statement.
‘ Program objectives, policy, and philosophy.
‘ Methods of determining work requirements for key positions.
‘ Employee performance appraisal.
‘ Employee potential assessment.
(text continues on page 339)
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Exhibit 15-2. Guidelines for Evaluating the Succession Planning and Management Program
Type/Level Purpose Strengths Weaknesses
Customer
Satisfaction
To measure client feelings
about the program and its
results.
� Easy to measure.
� Provides immediate feed-
back on program activities
and components.
� Subjective.
� Provides no objective
measurement of program
results.
Program
Progress
To measure results of each
component of the succession
planning program.
� Provides objective data on
the effectiveness of the
succession planning pro-
gram.
� Requires skill in program
evaluation.
� Provides no measurement
of skills of benefit to the
organization.
Effective
Placements
To measure the results of the
succession decisions made.
� Provides objective data on
impact to the job situation.
� Requires first-rate
employee performance
appraisal system.
Organizational
Results
To measure impact of the
succession planning pro-
gram on the organization.
� Provides objective data for
cost-benefit analysis and
organizational support.
� Requires high level of eval-
uation design skills; re-
quires collection of data
over a period of time.
� Requires knowledge of the
organization’s strategy
and goals.
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Exhibit 15-2. (continued)
Type/Level Examples Guidelines for Development
Customer
Satisfaction
� ‘‘Happiness reports.’’
� Informal interviews with
‘‘clients’’ at all levels.
� Group discussion in
succession planning
meetings.
� Design a survey form that can be easily tabulated.
� Ask questions to provide information about what you
need to know: attitudes about each component of the
succession planning program.
� Allow for anonymity and allow the respondents the
opportunity to provide additional comments.
Program
Progress
� Examine individual move-
ments through the organi-
zation.
� Design an instrument that will provide quantitative
data.
� Include ‘‘pre’’ and ‘‘post’’ level of skill/knowledge in
design.
� Tie evaluation items directly to program objectives.
Effective
Placements
� Performance checklists.
� Performance appraisals.
� Critical incident analysis.
� Self-appraisal.
� Base measurement instrument on systematic analysis
of key positions.
� Consider the use of a variety of persons to conduct
the evaluation.
Organizational
Results
� Organizational analysis.
� Speed of replacement.
� Cost of replacements.
� Cost of nonreplacements.
� Turnover.
� Involve all necessary levels of the organization.
� Gain commitment to allow access to organization in-
dices and records.
� Use organization business plans and mission state-
ments to compare organizational needs and program
results.
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Exhibit 15-3. Worksheet for Evaluating the Succession Planning and
Management Program
Directions: Use this worksheet to help you identify appropriate ways to evaluate the
SP&M program in your organization.
In column 1 below, indicate the various stakeholder groups (such as top managers,
key position incumbents, line managers, and the SP&M coordinator) who will be
primarily interested in evaluation results on SP&M in your organization. Then, in
column 2, indicate what levels of evaluation—customer satisfaction, program pro-
gress, effective placements, and organizational results—will probably be of prime
interest to each stakeholder group. Then, in column 3, indicate how evaluation of
SP&M may be carried out in your organization.
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
Stakeholder Groups What Levels of Eval- How Should Evalua-
for Evaluation uation Will Probably tion of the SP&M
Be of Prime Interest Program Be Carried
to Each Group? Out in Your Organi-
zation?
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338 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 15-4. Sample Incident Report for Succession Planning
and Management
Directions: The purpose of this ‘‘incident report’’ is to track successor/replacement
experiences in your organization.
Answer the questions appearing in the spaces below. Be as truthful as possible
because the collective results of many incident reports will be used to identify pro-
gram improvement initiatives for the succession planning program.
Fill out this report for each position filled from within. (This report should be com-
pleted in addition to any personnel requisitions/justification forms that you are to
complete.) Submit the completed form to (name) at (organization address) within 3
weeks after filling the vacancy.
Name of Departing Employee Job Title
Department Time in Position
Reason for Leaving (if known)
Name of Replacing Employee Job Title
Department Work Unit/Team
Time in Position Today’s Date
1. Describe how this position is being replaced (internally/externally).
2. Was there an identifiable ‘‘successor’’ who had been prepared to assume this
position previously? If so, briefly explain who and how the individual was being
prepared; if not, briefly explain reasons for not preparing a successor.
3. Who was selected for the position, and why was he/she selected?
4. If an individual other than an identifiable successor was chosen for the position,
explain why.
Approval
Management Employee Title
(Signature)
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Evaluating Succession Planning and Management Programs 339
‘ Individual development planning.
‘ Individual development activities.
Periodic evaluation may be conducted during regular SP&M meetings and/or in
SP&M committee meetings. Alternatively, the organization’s decision makers may
wish to establish a task force, create a subcommittee of the SP&M committee, or even
involve a committee of the board of directors in this evaluation process.
A chief advantage of periodic evaluation is that it provides occasional, formal
monitoring of the SP&M program. That process can build involvement and thus
ownership of key stakeholders while simultaneously surfacing important problems in
the operation of the SP&M program. A chief disadvantage of periodic evaluation is
that it makes the improvement of SP&M an incremental rather than a continuous
effort. Problems may be left to fester for too long before they are targeted for investi-
gation.
Programmatic Evaluation
Programmatic evaluation examines the SP&M program comprehensively against its
stated mission, objectives, and activities. It is an in-depth program review and resem-
bles the human resources audit that may be conducted of all HR activities.7
Programmatic evaluation is usually carried out by a formally appointed commit-
tee or by an external consultant. The SP&M coordinator is usually a member of a
committee. Representatives of key line management areas—as well as the CEO or
members of the corporate board of directors—may also be members.
Examine the steps in Exhibit 15-5 and the checklist in Exhibit 15-6 as starting
points for conducting a program evaluation of SP&M in an organization. (Compare
Exhibit 15-6 to the survey responses appearing in Exhibit 2-1 to see how your organi-
zation’s SP&M program stacks against others.)
How Can SP&M Be Evaluated with the
Balanced Scorecard and HR Dashboards?
Since earlier editions of this book appeared, more attention has been devoted to
evaluating succession planning and talent management programs. HR or training staff
members are often assigned to facilitate or coordinate these programs. Not surpris-
ingly, then, there is growing interest in finding ways to evaluate them, and, as is
common with professionals in HR and training, there is some preoccupation with
demonstrating return on investment in succession planning and talent management
programs.
(text continues on page 345)
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340 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 15-5. Steps for Completing a Program Evaluation of a Succession
Planning and Management Program
Step 1 � Assemble a group of 5–8 individuals who
have their own roles to play in the successionAssemble a committee to
planning program (ideally the group shouldconduct the program eval-
consist of the CEO, succession planning co-uation.
ordinator, VP of HR, and two or more key op-
erating managers).
Step 2 � Call a meeting, providing briefing materials
to committee members beforehand.Brief committee members
� Explain the value of evaluating the successionon the need for evaluating
planning program.the succession planning
� Provide benchmarking information fromprogram and the steps to
other firms, if available.be followed in the evalua-
� Provide information from ‘‘incident reports’’tion effort.
and other indicators of the program’s prog-
ress.
� Agree on evaluation objectives, approaches,
and steps.
Step 3 � Conduct research.
Conduct background
research on the relative
effectiveness of the
succession planning
program.
Step 4 � Analyze results.
� Prepare recommendations for program im-Analyze results, make
provements.recommendations for
� Write report and prepare oral presentation.program improvements,
and document evaluation
results.
Step 5 � Circulate written report.
� Present oral report/briefing to those responsi-Communicate results.
ble for the succession planning program.
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Evaluating Succession Planning and Management Programs 341
Step 6 � Ask those with responsibility for succession
planning, such as key operating managers,Identify specific actions for
to establish improvement objectives.improvement.
Step 7 � Take continuing action for improvement
through training, briefings, and other means.Take continuing action for
program improvement.
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342 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 15-6. Checksheet for Conducting a Program Evaluation for the
Succession Planning and Management Program
Directions: Use this checksheet as a starting point for deciding what to evaluate
in your organization’s succession planning program. Ask members of a program
evaluation committee to complete the following checksheet, compare notes, and
then use the results as the basis for recommending improvements to the succession
planning program. Add, delete, or modify characteristics in the left column as ap-
propriate.
Does your
organization’s How important do you
succession plan- believe this characteristic
ning program to be for an effectiveCharacteristics
have this succession planningof Effective
characteristic? program?Programs
For the succession Not Very
planning program, YES NO Important Important
has your organization: (�) (�) 1 2 3 4 5
1. Tied the succession plan- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
ning program to organiza-
tional strategic plans?
2. Tied the succession plan- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
ning program to individual
career plans?
3. Tied the succession plan- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
ning program to training
programs?
4. Prepared a written pro- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
gram purpose statement?
5. Prepared written program ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
goals to indicate what re-
sults the succession plan-
ning program should
achieve?
6. Established measurable ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
objectives for program op-
eration (such as number of
positions replaced per
year)?
7. Identified what groups are ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
to be served by the pro-
gram, in priority order?
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Evaluating Succession Planning and Management Programs 343
8. Established a written policy ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
statement to guide the
program?
9. Articulated a written phi- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
losophy about the pro-
gram?
10. Established a program ac- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
tion plan?
11. Established a schedule of ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
program events based on
the action plan?
12. Fixed responsibility for or- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
ganizational oversight of
the program?
13. Fixed responsibility of each ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
participant in the pro-
gram?
14. Established incentives/re- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
wards for identified suc-
cessors in the succession
planning program?
15. Established incentives/re- ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
wards for managers with
identified successors?
16. Developed a means to ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
budget for a succession
planning program?
17. Devised a means to keep ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
records for individuals who
are designated as succes-
sors?
18. Created workshops to ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
train management em-
ployees about the succes-
sion planning program?
19. Created workshops to ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
train individuals about ca-
reer planning?
20. Established a means to ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
clarify present position re-
sponsibilities?
(continues)
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344 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 15-6. (continued)
Does your
organization’s How important do you
succession plan- believe this characteristic
ning program to be for an effectiveCharacteristics
have this succession planningof Effective
characteristic? program?Programs
For the succession Not Very
planning program, YES NO Important Important
has your organization: (�) (�) 1 2 3 4 5
21. Established a means to
clarify future position re-
sponsibilities? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
22. Established a means to
appraise individual per-
formance? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
23. Established a means to
compare individual skills
to the requirements of a
future position (potential
assessment)? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
24. Established a way to re-
view organizational talent
at least annually? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
25. Established a way to fore-
cast future talent needs? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
26. Established a way to plan
for meeting succession
planning needs through
individual development
plans? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
27. Established a means to
track development activi-
ties to prepare successors
for eventual advancement? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
28. Established a means to
evaluate the results of the
succession planning pro-
gram? ( ) ( ) 1 2 3 4 5
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Evaluating Succession Planning and Management Programs 345
Though some practitioners apply Kirkpatrick’s famous four-level evaluation
model, others are exploring ways to apply balanced scorecard or HR dashboard think-
ing to evaluating succession planning and talent management programs. But what is
the balanced scorecard, and how can it be applied to succession planning and talent
management? What is the HR dashboard, and how can it be applied?
What Is the Balanced Scorecard, and How Is It Applied to
Succession Planning and Talent Management?
The balanced scorecard (BSC) was first developed by Kaplan and Norton.8 The aim of
BSC is to demonstrate that there is more to organizational success than simply achiev-
ing short-term financial gains. Though relatively quick financial success will always
be important, it is simply not sufficient for an organization’s leaders to focus only on
the short term without making the necessary investments to achieve long-term gains.
The BSC consists of four quadrants related to organizational strategy:
1. Financial
2. Customer
3. Business process
4. Learning and growth
The financial quadrant centers on shareholder value. It addresses the question,
‘‘What should be done to succeed financially both in the short term and in the long
term?’’ The customer quadrant centers on customer satisfaction: ‘‘What should be
done to meet or exceed customer expectations in both the short and long term?’’
(Long-term customer satisfaction usually translates into greater market share.) The
business process quadrant centers on how the work is carried out: ‘‘What work activi-
ties should the organization strive to be best at when compared to others?’’ Success
in the business process quadrant usually translates into a high level of efficiency
whereby inputs yield greater than average outputs when compared to competitors.
Finally, the learning and growth quadrant centers on business sustainability: ‘‘What
can the organization do to improve and grow?’’
The BSC has important implications for succession planning and talent manage-
ment.
First, the BSC requires organizational leaders to establish metrics for measuring
organizational success. Those metrics can then, in turn, be related to the targets de-
sired by each division, department, work group, or team. Additionally, they can be-
come key performance indicators (KPIs)—that is, the most important indicators—for
individual success.9 KPIs become a basis for individual performance management on
the one hand and for organizational business strategic success on the other hand.
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346 Closing the Developmental Gap
For this reason, many organizations now divide individual performance management
systems into two parts: results (which are tied to KPIs) and behaviors (which are tied
to the desired behaviors identified by competency models).
Some organizations choose to reinvent the BSC to match their own needs.
Though there is nothing sacred about the four quadrants, each quadrant can become
a focus for developing succession planning and talent management metrics. For ex-
ample, in the financial quadrant, organizational leaders may ask how a succession
planning or talent management program has contributed to revenue growth or to
cost savings. In the customer quadrant, organizational leaders may ask how succession
planning or talent management has contributed to increased market share or im-
proved customer satisfaction. In the business process quadrant, leaders may ask how
the program has contributed to the improved processing of products or improved
service delivery. And in the learning and growth quadrant, leaders may ask how it has
contributed to organizational sustainability, growth potential, or stop-loss of key tal-
ent or knowledge.
What Is the HR Dashboard, and How Is It Applied to Succession
Planning and Talent Management?
A dashboard is a visual depiction of the key metrics associated with a process or
program, such as succession planning or talent management. An HR dashboard de-
picts key metrics related to people. Examples might be:
‘ Number of people hired.
‘ Number of people resigning (voluntary turnover).
‘ Number of people downsized (involuntary turnover).
‘ Number of high potentials compared to the total number of workers.
‘ Number of high potentials resigning compared to the total number of high
potentials (critical turnover).
‘ Number of high potentials retained.
‘ Number of people who had approved individual development plans.
‘ Number of people who completed their individual development plans.
‘ Percentage of internal promotions to external hires.
‘ Percentage of internal promotions compared to those previously listed on
succession plans (so-called ‘‘hit rates’’).
‘ Percentage of workers who have no identified replacements or possible succes-
sors (a group called ‘‘holes’’ on replacement charts).
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Evaluating Succession Planning and Management Programs 347
It is important to emphasize that dashboards should be visually appealing, fre-
quently updated, and focused on the most important metrics. Think of an automobile
dashboard. Gauges on an automobile dashboard indicate speed, engine temperature,
amount of fuel, and emergency lights in case of problems with oil, gas, or water. The
goal of most dashboards is to keep the metrics simple but important. And so an HR
dashboard for succession planning and talent management should be set up similarly,
based on metrics tied to the measurable objectives established for the program.
Summary
This chapter addressed five simple questions: (1) What is evaluation? (2) What met-
rics should be used to evaluate SP&M programs? (3) What should be evaluated? (4)
How should evaluation be conducted? (5) How can SP&M be evaluated with the
balanced scorecard and HR dashboards?
Evaluation was defined as the process of placing value or determining worth.
Through evaluation, the need for improvements is identified and such improvements
are eventually made to the SP&M program. Evaluation should focus on several key
questions: (1) Who will use the results? (2) How will the results be used? (3) What
do the program’s clients expect from it? (4) Who is carrying out the evaluation?
The evaluation of succession planning and management was focused on four
levels, comparable to those devised by Donald Kirkpatrick to describe training evalua-
tion: customer satisfaction, program progress, effective placements, and organizational
results. One conducts evaluation anecdotally, periodically, or programmatically. Anec-
dotal evaluation is akin to using testimonials in evaluating training. Periodic evalua-
tion examines isolated components of the succession planning and management
program at different times, focusing attention on program operations in the present
or in the recent past. Programmatic evaluation examines the succession planning
and management program comprehensively against its stated mission, objectives, and
activities.
Since the publication of the first edition of this book, more attention has been
focused on alternative approaches to evaluation. A growing number of practitioners
are using balanced scorecards to relate organizational success to more than short-
term financial gains alone. Practitioners are also exploring depicting metrics in visu-
ally appealing ways through HR dashboards. Both approaches can be used in evaluat-
ing succession planning and talent management programs.
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C H A P T E R 1 6
jjj
The Future of Succession Planning
and Management
No organization is immune to changing external environmental conditions. However,
what external conditions will affect an organization varies, depending on such factors
as the organization’s industry, size, and relative market dominance. Moreover, how
those conditions affect an organization depends on how its leaders and workers
choose to address them. These principles hold as true for succession planning and
management programs as for strategic planning.
Examining trends is a popular HR activity. Much has been written in recent years
about trends affecting HR generally,1 functional areas within HR specifically,2 and
SP&M efforts.3 A cursory glance at the writing in the field yields many topics concern-
ing outsourcing HR, cutting HR (and particularly benefits) costs, transforming HR
into a strategic partner or leader of talent issues, building bench strength and talent
pools, enhancing work-life balance, maintaining employee security in the wake of
increasing violence in the workplace and threats of terrorism outside the workplace,4
and using technology to leverage HR productivity.
In this final chapter, I gaze into the crystal ball and offer predictions for the future
of SP&M that are likely to arise from changing external environmental conditions.
SP&M needs will:
‘ Prompt efforts by decision makers to find a flexible range of strategies to
address organizational talent needs.
‘ Lead to integrated retention policies and procedures that seek the early identi-
fication of high-potential talent, efforts to retain that talent, and efforts to
retain older HiPo workers.
‘ Have a global impact.
‘ Be influenced increasingly by real-time technological innovations.
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 349
‘ Become an increasingly important issue in government agencies, academic
institutions, and nonprofit organizations in a way never before seen. Busi-
nesses will not be the only organizations compelled to address succession is-
sues.
‘ Lead to increasing organizational openness about possible successors.
‘ Encourage the integration of effective succession issues with career-develop-
ment issues.
‘ Be heavily influenced by concerns about work-family balance and spirituality
issues.
‘ Focus increasingly on real-time talent development efforts, as well as on strate-
gic efforts, which center on the role of managers in daily work with their
reports.
‘ Center as much on ethical and value-oriented issues as on competency-based
issues.
‘ Become more fully integrated with selection decisions.
‘ Focus on leveraging talent as well as developing it.
‘ Include alternatives to one-hire-at-a-time approaches, such as mergers, acqui-
sitions, or takeovers for the purpose of rapid, large-scale talent acquisition.
‘ Become closely linked to risk management and concerns about security.
‘ Become associated with more than management succession.
Before you read about these predictions, use the worksheet in Exhibit 16-1 to
structure your thinking (and that of decision makers in your organization).
The Fifteen Predictions
Prediction 1: Decision Makers Will Seek Flexible Strategies to
Address Future Organizational Talent Needs
In the future, decision makers will not view succession issues as one problem requir-
ing only one solution. Instead, they will seek a range of strategies to address future
organizational talent needs that will include, but will go beyond, SP&M programs. In
other words, succession problems will be solved using many possible solutions. The
choice of a solution will be made on a case-by-case basis, but with a strategic view
that seeks an integration of approaches.
Think about it for a minute. In how many ways can an organization’s talent needs
be met through approaches other than an SP&M program that is designed to build
in-house bench strength over time? Consider at least 15 possible alternative ap-
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Exhibit 16-1. Worksheet to Structure Your Thinking About Predictions for Succession Planning and
Management in the Future
Directions: Use this worksheet to structure your thinking about possible predictions that may influence SP&M programs in
the future. For each prediction listed in Column 1 below, indicate in Column 2 whether you believe that the prediction is
true. Then describe under Column 3 what you believe the prediction means in your organization and under Column 4 how
much impact that prediction will have in your organization. Finally, under Column 5, offer suggestions about what your
organization should do about the prediction. There are no ‘‘right’’ or ‘‘wrong’’ approaches to addressing these predictions.
Instead, use this worksheet to do some brainstorming about predictions affecting SP&M in your organization in the future.
Add paper if necessary.
Column 1
What is the prediction?
Column 2
Do you
believe the
prediction
is true?
Column 3
What does the
prediction
mean in your
organization?
Column 4
How much impact
will that prediction
have in your
organization?
Column 5
What actions should
your organization
take to address the
prediction?
Succession planning and
management will:
Yes
�
No
�
1 Prompt efforts by decision
makers to find a flexible range
of strategies to address organi-
zational talent needs.
□ □
2 Lead to integrated retention
policies and procedures that
seek the early identification of
high-potential talent, efforts to
retain that talent, and efforts to
retain older high-potential
workers.
□ □
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3 Have a global impact. □ □
4 Be influenced increasingly by
real-time technological inno-
vations.
□ □
5 Become an issue in govern-
ment agencies, academic insti-
tutions, and nonprofit
organizations in a way never
before seen. Businesses will
not be the only organizations
interested in succession issues.
□ □
6 Lead to increasing organiza-
tional openness about possible
successors.
□ □
7 Increasingly seek to integrate
effective succession issues with
career development issues.
□ □
8 Be heavily influenced by con-
cerns about work/family bal-
ance and spirituality issues.
□ □
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352 Closing the Developmental Gap
proaches. Each approach should be reviewed at the time decision makers plan for
succession needs, and they should begin by clarifying what talent they require, why
their organization has that need, and how the need might be met.
The first alternative approach to SP&M is to hire from the outside. In fact, this is
probably the most obvious way to meet a talent need other than through internal
promotion or development. It is sometimes chosen before internal replacements are
considered. A key advantage of this approach is that it prevents inbreeding because
newcomers often bring with them fresh solutions to old organizational problems. A
key disadvantage of this approach is that the cycle time required to fill a vacancy can
be agonizingly long, and there is no guarantee that the person chosen from outside
the organization will successfully adapt to its unique corporate culture.
A second approach is to reorganize. Take just one example: If the vice president
of human resources retires, dies, or leaves the organization, the CEO may choose to
meet the need by assigning the HR function to another manager. That is just one
example of how to solve a talent need by reorganizing. The same approach can be
used to meet talent needs in other key positions. Of course, this approach works only
if someone qualified is available and has sufficient interest, motivation, and ability to
assume more responsibility.
A third approach is to outsource the work. The challenge is to find a suitable
outsourcing partner. That cannot always be done, but it is an option. A disadvantage
is that this approach should be used only with activities not directly related to the
organization’s core competence, the key strategic strength that sets an organization
apart from competitors. It is, after all, unwise to outsource the essence of what makes
an organization competitive because that path can lead to bankruptcy or a takeover.
A fourth approach is to insource the work. If this approach is used, decision
makers seek to find synergy between two functions. Of course, this assumes that
some excess capacity—people or resources—exists somewhere in the organization.
Suppose, for instance, that a vacancy for a key position exists in one industrial plant.
That need could be met by insourcing the work to another plant operated by the
same company. An external partner is not sought. Instead, the function is performed
internally. This approach differs from reorganization because the insourcing partner
does not permanently assume the duties of the new function but performs them only
temporarily.
A fifth approach is to hire, on contract, a temporary replacement for a key posi-
tion. Some firms specialize in supplying temporary help with which temps have not
been historically associated, even for CEO positions.
A sixth approach is to bring in a consultant to help. Though similar to using a
temp, this approach differs in that a consultant is usually not onsite every day to
perform the work, as temps generally are. The consultant, in short, performs the work
on a project-to-project basis and may even telecommute. This can reduce costs but
may also diminish the impact of the key position on the organization.
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 353
A seventh approach is to transfer someone from another part of the organization,
temporarily or permanently, to meet a succession need. Of course, it is usually as-
sumed that an individual who is transferred meets at least the basic entry-level re-
quirements for the job. Internal transfers, however, have the disadvantage of touching
off a domino effect (sometimes called a musical chairs effect), in which the movement
of one person can prompt movements by many others.
An eighth approach is to acquire another organization that possesses the needed
talent. In the past, mergers, acquisitions, purchases, and takeovers were sought to
realize savings from economies of scale, a desire for higher executive salaries resulting
from correlations between senior executive pay and organizational size, and the pur-
suit of improved integration with such key groups as suppliers, distributors, and even
competitors. In the future, however, CEOs will regard mergers, acquisitions, pur-
chases, and takeovers as one means to address talent shortages.5 (This is an issue
treated at greater length later in the chapter.) Organizations with well-known core
competencies will become acquisition targets for other firms that are cash rich but
that are experiencing talent shortages. Instead of struggling to fill one vacancy at a
time, organizations will look for other firms to absorb outright to achieve a massive
infusion of new talent.
The ninth approach is to reduce or eliminate the work completely. In other
words, the work performed by an otherwise critically important function or position
could be reduced or eliminated to solve a succession problem. As one way to do that,
the CEO can choose to spin off or sell the business or function.
A tenth approach is to delegate the work up to a high potential in the organiza-
tion. This is, of course, a form of reorganization. But instead of giving responsibility
to another manager when the organization experiences a loss of talent, the work is
absorbed by the immediate organizational superior.
An eleventh approach is to delegate the work down. As with the tenth approach,
it is a form of reorganization. The work of a high-potential employee is absorbed by
one or more subordinates, without promotion. A variation of this approach is to
form a team and delegate the work to it.
A twelfth approach is to form a strategic alliance with another organization to
meet succession needs. This usually means arranging a short-term partnership.
Though strategic alliances have often been formed in product manufacturing, they
could also be formed to meet succession needs. However, this approach is potentially
useful on a short-term basis only because few organizations want to lose high-poten-
tial talent forever.
A thirteenth approach is to trade needed talent, temporarily or permanently, with
other organizations. Similar to a strategic alliance, this approach tends to be even
shorter term. Some organizations provide so-called loaned executives, for instance, to
build the competencies of their high potentials. However, few organizations want to
lose their high potentials for an extended time.
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354 Closing the Developmental Gap
A fourteenth approach is to recruit globally rather than domestically, targeting
individuals with the needed talent outside the United States. Multinational corpora-
tions especially may be able to trade talent from one part of the world to another and
thereby treat succession issues like moves on a global chessboard.
A fifteenth approach is to hire back managers or other talent. As the U.S. popula-
tion ages, this approach is already being used by many organizations, as in Deloitte’s
Senior Leaders Program, launched to preserve the knowledge and experience of its
talent after the traditional retirement age.6
Use the worksheet in Exhibit 16-2 to structure your thinking about ways to meet
succession needs based on these approaches. Whenever a talent need arises in your
organization, use the worksheet to contemplate possibilities for meeting it. Also use
the worksheet to integrate the strategies so that your organization is not dependent
on only one strategy.
Prediction 2: Decision Makers Will Seek Integrated Retention
Policies and Procedures
Employers in the United States may face a growing problem in finding and keeping
talent. As this book goes to press, employment levels are at record lows. Talent may
be currently plentiful, but employers can no longer safely assume that the future will
be like the present. It is likely they will be competing with many other employers, and
this competition is especially intense for high-potential workers with proven track
records.
To address this problem, employers should formulate and implement policies and
procedures to identify the high-potential talent earlier and to retain that talent longer.
Employers will thus need to take such steps as these:
‘ Develop early tracking systems to find new hires having special promise. That
can be done with potential assessments performed within the first few months
of employment.
‘ Track the reasons for quits in general and specifically the reasons for the
departure of high-potential talent. That may require revamped exit interviews
to capture information about why people (and especially high potentials)
leave, where they go, and what they believe could have prompted them to stay.
Exit interview systems beg to be reinvented.
‘ Use attitude surveys on a continuing basis to predict turnover and measure
job satisfaction. That can be done simply by asking workers on an anonymous
survey whether they plan to quit within the next year and then posing ques-
tions to uncover the chief sources of dissatisfaction. The results can be cross-
tabulated and provide useful information for improving retention and making
accurate predictions of turnover.
(text continues on page 358)
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Exhibit 16-2. Worksheet to Structure Your Thinking About Alternative Approaches to Meeting Succession Needs
Directions: Use this worksheet to structure your thinking about alternative approaches to meeting succession needs. First,
describe the succession need in the space below and indicate how important it is to the organization, why it is important,
and when action needs to be taken to meet the need. Then, rate possible alternatives to internal succession. Then rate each
alternative approach, using the following scale:
1 � Not at All Effective
2 � It May Be Somewhat Useful
3 � It Will Be Useful
4 � It Will Be Very Useful
What is the succession need? (Describe the need. Then answer these questions: (1) How important is this succession need
to the organization? (2) Why is it important? and (3) When does action need to be taken to meet the need?)
Approach
How well can the succession
need be met by:
Rating of the Approach
Not at All
Effective
It May Be
Somewhat
Useful
It Will Be
Useful
It Will Be
Very Useful Notes
1 Hiring from the outside? 1 2 3 4
2 Reorganizing? 1 2 3 4
3 Outsourcing the work? 1 2 3 4
4 Insourcing the work? 1 2 3 4
5 Hiring a temporary replace-
ment on contract?
1 2 3 4
(continues)
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Exhibit 16-2. (continued)
Approach
How well can the succession
need be met by:
Rating of the Approach
Not at All
Effective
It May Be
Somewhat
Useful
It Will Be
Useful
It Will Be
Very Useful Notes
6 Bringing in a consultant to
help?
1 2 3 4
7 Transferring someone from
another part of the organiza-
tion, temporarily or perma-
nently, to meet the succession
need?
1 2 3 4
8 Acquiring another organiza-
tion that possesses the
needed talent?
1 2 3 4
9 Reducing or eliminating the
work completely?
1 2 3 4
10 Delegating the work up in the
organization?
1 2 3 4
11 Delegating the work down in
the organization?
1 2 3 4
12 Forming a strategic alliance
with another organization to
meet the need?
1 2 3 4
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13 Trading needed talent, tem-
porarily or permanently, with
other organizations?
1 2 3 4
14 Recruiting globally rather
than domestically, targeting
individuals with needed talent
outside the borders of the
United States?
1 2 3 4
15 Hiring back needed manag-
ers or other talent after they
have departed from the orga-
nization?
1 2 3 4
16 What other alternative ap-
proaches can you think of,
and how effective are they?
(List them below.)
1 2 3 4
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358 Closing the Developmental Gap
‘ Track voluntary turnover and critical turnover by department, and exam-
ine increases in each department for trends or patterns. Then act to address prob-
lems in the hot spots.
‘ Provide incentives for people to remain with the organization. (Do not
assume that all incentives are financial.) Find out what people need to encourage
them to remain with the employer.
By taking these and similar actions, employers can devise an integrated retention
strategy to reduce turnover and thereby improve retention.
Prediction 3: SP&M Issues Will Have a Global Impact
Succession issues have emerged as front-burner topics in the United States because of
the well-known demographic trends for retirement in future years. (See Exhibit 16-3
for the projected U.S. population breakdown in the year 2025.) Indeed, the number
of people between the ages of 55 and 64 is expected to increase by 54 percent between
1996 and 2006.7 At the same time, there will be a decrease of 8.8 percent in the
number of people expected to enter the workforce in the traditional entry-level ages
of 25 to 34.8
What is not so well known is that trends elsewhere in the world also point toward
growing numbers of older people as a greater proportion of the population. For
instance, consider Exhibits 16-4, 16-5, and 16-6, which depict the projected popula-
tions in China, the United Kingdom, and France, respectively, in the year 2025. Note
the numbers of people in the traditional postretirement categories in each nation.
Exhibit 16-3: Age Distribution of the U.S. Population in 2025
85+
80–84
75–79
70–74
65–69
60–64
55–59
50–54
45–49
40–44
35–39
30–34
25–29
20–24
15–19
10–14
5–9
0–4
0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 142468101214
Male FemaleUnited States: 2025
Population (in millions)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Population pyramid summary for the U.S. http://www.census.gov/egi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs
..pl?cty�IN&out�s&ymax�250.
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http://www.census.gov/egi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs..pl?cty=IN&out=s&ymax=250
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 359
Exhibit 16-4. Age Distribution of the Chinese Population in 2025
85+
80–84
75–79
70–74
65–69
60–64
55–59
50–54
45–49
40–44
35–39
30–34
25–29
20–24
15–19
10–14
5–9
0–4
0 0
Male FemaleChina: 2025
Population (in millions)
10203040506070 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Population pyramid summary for China. http://www.census.gov/egi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs
..pl?cty�IN&out�s&ymax�250.
Exhibit 16-5. Age Distribution of the Population in the United Kingdom in
2025
85+
80–84
75–79
70–74
65–69
60–64
55–59
50–54
45–49
40–44
35–39
30–34
25–29
20–24
15–19
10–14
5–9
0–4
0.0 0.0
Male FemaleUnited Kingdom: 2025
Population (in millions)
0.51.01.52.02.5 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Population pyramid summary for the United Kingdom. http://www.census.gov/egi-bin/
ipc/idbpyrs..pl?cty�IN&out�s&ymax�250.
Government attempts to control overpopulation (such as the ‘‘one-child-per-couple’’
policy in China) and preferences for smaller families elsewhere point toward growth
in the number of elder citizens and fewer young people to take their place. Because
more elderly people are living longer in the world, succession issues will emerge as a
global concern.
Based on these demographic projections, I predict that SP&M issues will be a
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http://www.census.gov/egi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs..pl?cty=IN&out=s&ymax=250
http://www.census.gov/egi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs..pl?cty=IN&out=s&ymax=250
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360 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 16-6. Age Distribution of the French Population in 2025
85+
80–84
75–79
70–74
65–69
60–64
55–59
50–54
45–49
40–44
35–39
30–34
25–29
20–24
15–19
10–14
5–9
0–4
0.0 0.0
Male FemaleFrance: 2025
Population (in millions)
2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Population pyramid summary for France. http://www.census.gov/egi-bin/ipc/idbpyrs
..pl?cty�IN&out�s&ymax�250.
challenge to many nations by the year 2025. Many organizations, both large and
small, will need to devote attention to succession issues in a way they have not tradi-
tionally done. Also influential will be national policies that encourage the employment
of older citizens. Expect that many nations will begin to focus on older workers and
institute policies to encourage people to retire later. These older workers will represent
an important political group, exerting influence directly or indirectly on government
policy makers.
Although managers in the United States are often tempted to think only in terms
of domestic talent, the fact remains that SP&M issues have a global impact and may
require a global solution. At one time, many companies relied heavily on expatriate
labor forces to meet succession needs globally. In other words, when they needed
specialized skills not available in the developing world, they simply exported talent
from the developed countries. But this strategy is less frequently used as decision
makers pursue localization strategies designed to identify and accelerate the develop-
ment of high-potential local talent.9
A localization strategy has many advantages. One is that it builds the bench
strength throughout the corporation, serving as a rising tide that lifts all boats. In
other words, the corporation builds bench strength everywhere rather than relying on
exported talent. A second advantage is that local talent faces no problems adapting to
the local culture, as expatriates do. A third advantage is that local talent is not re-
sented, as expatriates often are, for the higher wages and better benefit packages they
receive. A fourth advantage is that a localization strategy provides political and public
relations advantages because the organizations are seen as building the local economy
rather than exploiting it.
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 361
In the future, localization efforts will increase. Government policy makers may
even require it. Additionally, forward-thinking corporations will find ways to hitch-
hike on the talent they have internationally by using online and other virtual methods
to encourage sharing, telecommuting, video commuting, concurrent work (prepared
in one nation but used in another), and idea generation across borders. These devel-
opments have profound implications for SP&M because they can build competencies
at the same time as the work is performed.
The challenge for SP&M program coordinators will be to find ways to carry so-
called soft skills technologies—such as management and HR practices—across cultures.
That may require special programs to encourage information sharing and skill build-
ing across cultures, through either online or face-to-face approaches.
Prediction 4: Succession Issues Will Be Influenced by Real-Time
Technological Innovations
As Chapter 12 showed, technological innovation is already exerting a major influence
on succession issues. This trend will continue. Right now, many organizations are
using online methods for recruitment. In the future, online methods will be used in
real time to conduct competency modeling, potential assessment, performance ap-
praisal, individual development planning, and individual coaching.
The challenge for SP&M program coordinators will be to find and apply these
approaches. One major goal, of course, is to slash cycle time for filling key positions
and sourcing talent. Another major goal is to lower geographical barriers, making it
possible to access and develop talent anywhere and at any time.
Prediction 5: SP&M Will Emerge as an Issue of Increasing
Importance in Government Agencies, Academic Institutions, and
Nonprofit Enterprises
Traditionally, sectors of the economy other than business have been slow to adopt
effective SP&M practices. Government agencies, academic institutions, and nonprofit
enterprises have not typically attempted to identify replacements for key positions
and have often relied on a talent pool approach, which is more consistent with the
laws, rules, regulations, political realities, and organizational cultures found in these
economic sectors. Additionally, government agencies and academic institutions in
particular have found systematic succession approaches difficult to use because of
institutional policies or civil service regulations that require competitive searches, job
posting, and preferences based on factors other than individual performance. Efforts
to groom individuals in these settings have sometimes been prohibited rather than
encouraged. One result has been long lead times between the appearance of a vacancy
and the appointment of a successor.
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362 Closing the Developmental Gap
However, as a direct result of increasing turnover, increasing retirement rates,
lagging salary and performance bonuses, and the greater rewards in a private sector
economy that makes the (relative) security of government service and academic ap-
pointments less appealing than they once were, I predict that government agencies
and academic institutions will be forced to adopt more systematic succession prac-
tices. It is no longer effective to follow the business-as-usual approach of calling for
the list of qualified individuals who have taken civil service exams or of conducting a
national search for each academic appointment by simply placing one advertisement
in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The reason? There are few, if any, candidates
on the civil service list and few, if any, applicants sending in material to Chronicle
advertisements for academic positions. This problem is particularly acute at senior
levels in government and in educational institutions, where people do not want or
need to move.
These problems take different shapes in government, educational institutions,
and nonprofit organizations; hence, they require different solution strategies. Within
each economic sector, differences in procedures also exist. For example, in govern-
ment, human resource practices have not been the same among local, state, and
federal agencies. In academic institutions, human resource practices have differed
among government-supported and privately funded colleges and universities. In non-
profit enterprises, unlike in government agencies and academic institutions, the in-
trinsic satisfaction of the work has mediated the need to pay competitive salaries or
to provide competitive benefits.
However, these three economic sectors share similar challenges. Indeed, the key
challenge is to find better ways to recruit, retain, motivate, and cultivate talent without
sacrificing existing civil service laws and rules and without sacrificing merit-based
employment in favor of political patronage, nepotism, or unlawful discrimination.
There are no simple answers, and each institution needs to form a task force and
focus attention on improving succession within the framework of its existing policies,
procedures, and governmental laws, rules, and regulations. The challenge for SP&M
program coordinators will be to find ways to adapt the approaches recommended in
this book to the unique settings of government agencies, academic institutions, and
nonprofit enterprises.
Prediction 6: SP&M Will Lead to an Increasing Policy of
Organizational Openness
Many organizations still do not share information about openings with the prospec-
tive successors for key positions. Some executives worry that such openness might
lead to problems like greenmail or the crown prince dilemma. Recall from earlier in
the book that greenmail occurs when designated successors attract lucrative offers
from other employers and then leverage them to achieve counteroffers from their
current employers and that the crown prince dilemma occurs when designated succes-
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 363
sors believe they are guaranteed advancement, rest on their laurels, and let their per-
formance decline.
Despite these potential problems, however, I predict that organizations will be
forced to become more open about naming future successors. If they do not, they
risk losing their high potentials to employers that are more open, make promises, and
are forthcoming in offering attractive employment packages that include professional
development opportunities.
Prediction 7: SP&M Will Increasingly Be Integrated with Career
Development
Career planning and management programs are usually planned by individuals. They
are thus planned from the bottom up. Succession planning and management pro-
grams are usually planned by senior executives and are thus planned from the top
down. As already explained, the two work together and should be integrated.
In the future, decision makers will recognize how important it is to have both.
Their synergistic power is greater than the sum of their individual parts. For that
reason, organizations will revive company-sponsored career planning and manage-
ment programs to empower individuals with greater responsibility to prepare them-
selves for the future. This also serves as a way to verify replacement and succession
plans.
The challenge for SP&M program coordinators will be to find ways to integrate
career and succession programs. Exhibit 16-7 lists some important characteristics of
career planning and management programs. Exhibit 16-8 provides an assessment
sheet for you to structure your thinking about ways to integrate career planning and
management programs with SP&M programs.
Prediction 8: SP&M Will Be Heavily Influenced by Concerns
About Work-Family Balance and Spirituality
A competitive economy has led many managers to devote more time to their work.
In fact, the average number of hours per week that managers work has been on the
rise. The same may well be true of other groups. That, in turn, has prompted many
people to question their priorities. There is more to life than work, and they know it.
Some seek more time with their families or others in their lives. Some look for religion
or a deeper feeling about the meaning of life. These desires to balance work and life
or to achieve a heightened sense of spirituality are major drivers for change. I predict
that these will become issues of growing importance to organizational decision mak-
ers. They will find that high potentials refuse additional responsibility if that responsi-
bility requires too much personal sacrifice. This situation includes job assignments
that prompt upheavals in their personal lives.
(text continues on page 368)
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364 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 16-7. Important Characteristics of Career Planning and
Management Programs
Directions: Use this worksheet to rate your organization on how well it addresses
important issues in career planning and management. For each characteristic of an
effective career planning and management program listed in the left column below,
rate how well you believe your organization rates on that characteristic in the right
column. Use the following scale:
1 � Not at All Effective
2 � Somewhat Ineffective
3 � Somewhat Effective
4 � Effective
Characteristic of a Career Rating
Planning and Management
Program
Not at All Somewhat Somewhat
The career planning and Effective Ineffective Effective Effective
management program is: 1 2 3 4
1 Focused on meeting spe- 1 2 3 4
cific business needs or is-
sues of the organization.
2 Targeted on specific groups 1 2 3 4
in the organization.
3 Responsive to the organiza- 1 2 3 4
tion’s unique corporate
culture and ‘‘ways of doing
things.’’
4 Organized around a uni- 1 2 3 4
fied model that can be eas-
ily and readily explained to
such stakeholders as man-
agers and workers.
5 Based on a comprehensive 1 2 3 4
approach that goes well
beyond a ‘‘one-shot’’ ap-
proach to addressing ca-
reer planning in the
organization.
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 365
6 Involves, and thereby com- 1 2 3 4
mands the ownership of, all
key stakeholder groups
(such as executives, man-
agers, HR specialists, and
workers).
7 Well publicized to stake- 1 2 3 4
holders.
8 Evaluated both on how well 1 2 3 4
it helps individuals achieve
their goals and the organi-
zation achieves its goals.
Score Add up the numbers in the column
above and place the sum in the box
below:
Interpretation of the Score
Score 1–8 Your organization does not have a career plan-
ning and management program—or, if your
organization does possess such a program, it is
regarded as singularly ineffective. Grade it as
an F.
Score 9–16 Your organization possesses a career planning
and management program, but it is not re-
garded as effective or useful; only as somewhat
so. Grade it as a C.
Score 17–24 Your organization’s career planning and man-
agement program is regarded as generally ef-
fective. Grade it a B.
Score 25� Your organization’s career planning and man-
agement program is regarded as highly suc-
cessful and effective. Grade it an A.
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366 Closing the Developmental Gap
Exhibit 16-8. Assessment Sheet for Integrating Career Planning and
Management Programs with Succession Planning and Management
Programs
Directions: Use this worksheet to assess how well your organization’s career plan-
ning and management program is integrated with your SP&M program. For each
characteristic of effective career and succession programs listed in the left column
below, rate how well you believe your organization has integrated them in the right
columns. Use the following scale:
1 � Not at All Integrated
2 � Somewhat Integrated—but Not Enough
3 � Well Integrated
4 � Very Well Integrated
Characteristics of Effective Rating
Career and
Somewhat
Succession Programs
Integrated
Both the career planning and Not at All —but Not Well Very Well
management program and Integrated Enough Integrated Integrated
the SP&M program: 1 2 3 4
1 Are focused on meeting 1 2 3 4
specific business needs.
2 Are guided by program 1 2 3 4
objectives that have
been compared and
integrated.
3 Use work requirements 1 2 3 4
or competencies as com-
mon denominators.
4 Identify gaps between 1 2 3 4
what people know or can
do now and what they
need to know.
5 Clarify what career goals 1 2 3 4
are sought by individ-
uals.
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 367
6 Can, and often do, use 1 2 3 4
full-circle, multirater as-
sessments.
7 Rely on individual devel- 1 2 3 4
opment plans to narrow
individual develop-
mental gaps.
8 Are evaluated. 1 2 3 4
Score Add up the numbers in the column
above and place the sum in the box
below:
Interpretation of the Score
Score 1–8 Your organization has not integrated career
planning and management with SP&M.
Score 9–16 Your organization has somewhat integrated ca-
reer planning and management with SP&M.
However, they are not perceived as sufficiently
integrated.
Score 17–24 Your organization has effectively integrated ca-
reer planning and management with SP&M.
Score 25� Your organization has succeeded in achieving
a very good integration between career plan-
ning and management with SP&M.
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The challenge for SP&M program coordinators will be to find ways to help high
potentials balance their work responsibilities and their personal lives. This may re-
quire using time off as an incentive or giving people time away from work so that
they can balance work and personal life or pursue their spirituality.
Prediction 9: SP&M Will Focus Increasingly on Real-Time Talent
Development Efforts as Well as Strategic Efforts
The manager has a role in developing talent. That is a daily responsibility, not a one-
time-a-year-effort to be discussed and managed in a talent show. Organizational lead-
ers can encourage that practice by rewarding managers for talent development, estab-
lishing mentoring programs, and clarifying their role as managers in cultivating talent.
(See the CD-ROM that comes with this book for briefings on mentoring programs
and the manager’s role in succession planning and management.)
Most development occurs on the job. The kinds of assignments that managers
give their workers build their competencies. That is why experience is prized in orga-
nizations. That experience can be managed in such a way that workers can build their
capabilities while meeting the real-time requirements of the organization. Managing
that situation on a daily basis is the manager’s job. I predict that, in the future,
organizational leaders will do a better job of building managers’ abilities to develop
their workers’ talents in real time.
Prediction 10: SP&M Will Center as Much on Ethical and Value-
Oriented Issues as on Competency-Based Issues
Earlier in the book, I explained that, as a result of the Enron and other corporate
scandals, leaders have recognized that performance cannot be gained at any price. It
must be constrained by legal, moral, and ethical considerations. I predict that poten-
tial assessment will increasingly survey how well individuals comply with corporate
codes of conduct, as well as meet other ethical, moral, and legal standards. Indeed, the
mere appearance of impropriety can lead to onerous new regulations; consequently,
organizational leaders will insist that individuals being considered for more manage-
ment responsibility—or for more demanding professional and technical responsibil-
ity—be measured against ethical, moral, and legal standards as well as competency-
based (productivity) standards.
Prediction 11: SP&M Will Become More Fully Integrated with
Selection Decisions
Some competencies can be developed, but others must be selected. As a result, it is
essential that development and selection efforts be integrated. During competency
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The Future of Succession Planning and Management 369
identification efforts, HR professionals and others may need to pinpoint which com-
petencies can be developed and which must be selected.
Prediction 12: SP&M Will Focus on Leveraging Talent as Well as
Developing It
It is not enough to develop talent. Because some people are more productive or
creative than others, the challenge is to leverage that ability by mentoring, coaching,
and building the competencies of others. A challenge for organizational leaders is to
find ways to match those who possess unique talents and strengths with those who
need to develop competencies. Mentoring can occur between peers and not just be-
tween an individual and those at higher levels of the corporate hierarchy.
Prediction 13: SP&M Includes Alternatives to One-Hire-at-a-Time
Approaches, Such as Mergers, Acquisitions, or Takeovers, for
the Purpose of Rapid and Broad-Based Talent Acquisition
Organizations can acquire talent in more than one way. There are alternatives to
hiring and developing.
For example, one such approach is to merge, acquire, or take over other organiza-
tions with the talent that might be lacking in the organization. Think of it as a blood
transfusion. A merger, acquisition, or takeover can inject a lot of talent all at once
into the organization.
Of course, great care should be exercised in such ventures. If the corporate cul-
tures of the two organizations are not compatible, talent will vanish through attrition.
For that reason, organizational leaders should take steps to reassure the talented peo-
ple in an organization being merged, acquired, or taken over that their futures are
not in jeopardy. Without such due diligence, the high potentials may leave quickly,
rendering the whole change effort a failure.
Prediction 14: SP&M Will Become Closely Linked to Risk
Management and Concerns About Security
The unexpected loss of talent can occur in more than one way. Accidents happen, but
if the organization’s leaders take steps to minimize their impact, they are acting pru-
dently with the talent of the organization. For this reason, some organizations limit
how many executives may travel on the same plane, in the same automobile, on the
same bus, or in any other vehicle.
Another issue to consider is what to do in the event of the sudden loss of an
entire facility. It is no longer unthinkable that a whole city could be lost. Will the
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370 Closing the Developmental Gap
organization be able to function if the corporate headquarters is destroyed, as hap-
pened to several companies when the World Trade Center towers collapsed? Organi-
zational leaders should thus do scenario planning to prepare for such catastrophic
losses of human as well as physical assets.
Prediction 15: SP&M Will Become Associated with More Than
Management Succession
Most people have traditionally associated succession planning and management with
management succession. Moving up the organization chart has been a traditional
focus, as has finding those who can be groomed for such advancement. But advance-
ment can mean more than management succession. For example, it can also mean
advancement along a horizontal continuum of professional competence.10
Summary
This chapter has offered 15 predictions about succession planning and management.
In the future, SP&M will (1) prompt efforts by decision makers to find flexible strate-
gies to address future organizational talent needs; (2) lead to integrated retention
policies and procedures that are intended to identify high-potential talent earlier,
retain that talent, and preserve older high-potential workers; (3) have a global impact;
(4) be influenced increasingly by real-time technological innovations; (5) become an
issue in government agencies, academic institutions, and nonprofit enterprises in a
way never before seen; (6) lead to increasing organizational openness about possible
successors; (7) increasingly be integrated with career-development issues; (8) be heav-
ily influenced in the future by concerns about work-family balance and spirituality;
(9) focus increasingly on real-time talent development efforts as well as strategic ef-
forts, which center around the role of managers in daily work with their reports; (10)
center as much around ethical and value-oriented issues as around competency-based
issues; (11) become more fully integrated with selection decisions; (12) focus on lever-
aging talent as well as developing it; (13) include alternatives to one-hire-at-a-time
approaches, such as mergers, acquisitions, or takeovers for the purpose of rapid and
broad-based talent acquisition; (14) become closely linked to risk management and
concerns about security; and (15) become associated with more than management
succession.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
About Succession Planning and
Management
Question 1: What is Succession Planning?
Simply stated, succession planning is a process of developing talent to meet the needs
of the organization now and in the future. Every time a manager makes a work
assignment, he or she is preparing someone for the future because he or she is build-
ing that worker’s ability. Work experience builds competence, and different kinds of
work experience build different kinds of competence.
Question 2: How Is Succession Planning
Different from Replacement Planning?
Replacement planning is about finding backups to fill vacancies on an organization
chart. Succession planning is about grooming the talent needed for the future. They
are related but different activities.
Question 3: Why Is Succession Planning Needed?
Organizational leaders need to think about aligning their staffing and leadership needs
with the organization’s future strategic objectives. If they do not take action to estab-
lish an effective SP&M program, they are likely to fall victim to the so-called like-me
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problem, in which people are biased to pick other people like themselves, viewing
them more favorably. It is not intentional discrimination but rather human nature to
see the world through our own lenses. For that reason, men tend to prefer men,
women prefer women, engineers prefer engineers, and so forth. The more ways that
you are like your boss, the more likely your boss is to regard you favorably. Given the
tendency to want to ‘‘clone’’ job incumbents for successors, organizations must take
steps to counteract that built-in bias, for the simple reason that the job incumbent of
today, while perhaps perfectly suited for the business environment now, may not be
suitable for the business environment of the future. For that reason, organizational
leaders must take steps to determine how many and what kind of people are needed
for the future so that succession plans can pick winners who can help the organization
realize its strategic objectives.
Question 4: Why Are Organizational
Leaders Interested in SP&M Now?
Many organizations are experiencing the effects of aging workforces that are putting
them at risk of losing their most experienced workers to retirement. At the same time,
concerns about terrorism have raised the stakes on prudent planning to ensure that
leaders and other key workers have backups in case they are needed. Finally, years of
downsizing and other cost-cutting measures have reduced the internal bench strength
of many organizations so that it is more difficult to find internal replacements. Be-
cause most managers do not want to wait a long time to fill critical positions and
because organizations have downsized so much that external talent is not readily
available, many organizational leaders are taking steps now to grow their own talent,
particularly for those hard-to-fill internal positions that require extensive, unique
knowledge of ‘‘the way we do things here.’’
Question 5: What Are the Essential Components
of a Succession Planning Program?
Think about the following:
‘ The purpose of the program: Why do you need it? (Do not assume that all
executives of the organization will just naturally share the same objectives.
They will not. Some will want some things; others will want others. But con-
fused goals will not lead to effective results.)
‘ The measurable objectives of the program: What measurable results are desired
from it over time?
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‘ The competencies needed for success now: What kind of person is needed to be
a successful performer in every department and at every organizational level?
‘ The way those competencies are measured: How well is the organization’s per-
formance management system measuring present competencies? (That is
needed because we want to promote only those who are succeeding in their
current jobs.)
‘ The competencies needed for success in the future: What kind of person is needed
to be a successful performer in every department and at every organizational
level in the future if the organization is to realize its strategic objectives?
‘ The way the organization assesses potential: How do we know that someone
can succeed at a future, higher level of responsibility if we have never seen the
employee perform it? (Think of this as measuring performance against future,
as yet unperformed job challenges.)
‘ Narrowing gaps: How do we narrow gaps between present job requirements
and performance and the employee’s future targets or possible future levels,
as well as what he or she needs to know or do to be ready for that higher-level
or more difficult responsibility?
‘ Evaluating results: How do we know that our efforts to narrow gaps is working
and that the succession program is achieving its mission and accomplishing
its measurable objectives?
Question 6: How Does an Organization Get Started
Establishing and Implementing an SP&M Program
If It Has Not Had One Before?
Start by making the business case; show a compelling business need to establish and
implement a succession program. (Some people say ‘‘find a burning platform.’’)
Based on that case, establish the goals to be addressed by the program. How exactly
do you make the business case? Here are some possibilities:
‘ Conduct a study of the projected retirements in your organization by going
to your payroll system and asking for a report that shows the projected retire-
ment dates of everyone on the payroll. Then dig deeper to see projected retire-
ment dates by job level (position on the organization chart), geographical
location, department, job code, and any other specifics that may be important
to your organization. Then do the same work by examining projected retire-
ment dates over rolling three-year periods. Remember that some people will
not retire when they are eligible, but you are simply assessing risks.
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‘ Ask executives what would happen if the whole senior team was wiped out at
once in a plane crash, car accident, or bombing of corporate headquarters.
‘ Ask each manager, ‘‘How would you advise handling your sudden loss due to
death, disability, or accident? Who is the backup, and how did you pick that
person?’’
Of course, you may be able to come up with some other ways to build a business
case, depending on the unique business conditions that your organization faces. But
start with a persuasive argument because succession planning is like buying burial
plots that everyone knows should be done but wants to put off doing. (In fact, the
old joke is that succession is something we are too busy to do when business is good
and too expensive to do when business is bad. The result is that we never do it.)
Question 7: What’s the Return on
Investment (ROI) for SP&M Programs?
Nobody knows the average ROI for SP&M programs. Even best-in-class companies
have not effectively measured it. (By the way, what is the ROI of your accounting
department?) Determine ROI by starting with the measurable objectives to be
achieved by the program. Find out what it costs and how long it takes to fill vacancies
today. Then find out what it costs and how long it takes to fill vacancies after the SP&
M program is up and running.
Question 8: What Are the Most Common Problems
That Organizations Experience in Getting
Started on an SP&M Program?
Common problems are:
‘ Defining it as an HR problem rather than as a responsibility shared by everyone:
Included on the list are the board members, the senior leadership team, man-
agers at all levels of the organization, and even individual workers. Everyone
has some responsibility to groom talent to meet the organization’s future
needs.
‘ Understaffing the effort: A good succession program requires time and effort.
Someone must coordinate that. It cannot be completely outsourced. Consul-
tants can help, but they cannot do it for you. Managers cannot abdicate re-
sponsibility or accountability.
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‘ Establishing confused or overly ambitious goals: If the organization’s leaders do
not focus the succession effort on specific and measurable objectives to be
achieved, the succession program will lack goal clarity and resources will be
wasted in pursuing many confusing, overlapping, and perhaps conflicting
goals. You have to be clear about what you want before a program can be
established to accomplish it.
‘ Failing to hold people accountable: This is perhaps the biggest problem facing
all succession programs. What happens if people do not meet this year’s indi-
vidual development plans? What happens if the senior executive in charge of
a division does not meet measurable talent development objectives for the
division? These questions center on accountability. Different organizations
solve the problem in different ways, depending on corporate culture. But the
real question is, ‘‘How do we arrange consequences for building talent or
failing to build it?’’ Others are, ‘‘How does talent development stack up against
meeting the numbers for this week, month, quarter, or year? What do we do
if we are making profits or sales but not grooming people for the future?’’
Question 9: What Are the Biggest Benefits That
Organizations Experience from an SP&M Program?
If an organization has established an effective succession planning program, leaders
should expect that:
‘ It will take less time and expense to source talent to fill vacancies because the
talent has already been identified and prepared.
‘ People development efforts have been aligned with the organization’s strategic
objectives so that the right people will be available at the right times and in
the right places to meet the right objectives.
‘ The organization is prepared to deal with sudden, catastrophic losses of key
people.
Question 10: What Is the Role of the Corporate Board in
an SP&M Program? Of the CEO? Of the Senior
Management Team? Of the HR Department?
Of the Individual Worker?
‘ The board should ensure that an effective succession planning and manage-
ment program exists and is actually working effectively.
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‘ The CEO is personally responsible for ensuring that an effective SP&M pro-
gram exists and works effectively. If not, the program is like a plane flying
without a pilot. If the plane crashes, who is responsible?
‘ Senior managers are like the copilots. Each is responsible for establishing tal-
ent development objectives for his or her own division or department and
then meeting those objectives.
‘ The HR department provides support for the effort by arranging for the poli-
cies, procedures, technology, and other support to ensure that the plane flies
in the right direction. Think of the HR vice president’s role as akin to the
navigator of the plane. The navigator gives advice to the pilot as to where and
how to fly and provides on-the-spot advice about how to deal with unique
problems, situations, or challenges.
‘ Department managers are responsible for attracting, identifying, developing,
and retaining talent for their respective departments. They should realize that
they are responsible and accountable for both making their numbers and
grooming talent to meet the organization’s future requirements.
‘ Individuals are responsible for knowing what they want out of life, their ca-
reers, and the organization. They are also responsible for developing them-
selves for the future. Though there is nothing wrong with wanting to stay
where they are, particularly if that stems from a work-life balance decision,
individuals have a responsibility to let people know what their objectives are so
long as it does not hurt their own interests and possible future employability.
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Case Studies on Succession
Planning and Management
The case studies in this appendix are meant to represent a broad range of succession
planning and management programs drawn from previously published accounts.
They represent both best-practice and typical-practice cases. Read them, noting the
similarities and the differences that exist in SP&M efforts across a spectrum of organi-
zations.
Case 1: How Business Plans for Succession:
Matching Talent with Tasks
With 61,000 workers in more than ninety countries, Dole Food Company Inc. has
talent all over the world. Only a few hundred of those employees are in top manage-
ment at the 151-year-old company headquartered in Westlake Village, California,
which produces and markets fruit, vegetables, and flowers. Trouble is, Dole doesn’t
have comprehensive knowledge of who these managers are or what they can do.
To be sure, business-unit leaders know their own direct reports well—their
strengths, weaknesses, experience, and career goals. The problem is that these leaders
have no way to share that knowledge with other business units. If a key job opens up
in North America, the business-unit leader wouldn’t know if the perfect candidate
worked in another Dole unit in South America. Dole has no way to match its top
managerial talent with its executive needs.
But that is changing. The highly decentralized company is launching a succession
Source: Bill Roberts, ‘‘Matching Talents with Tasks,’’ HR Magazine 47:11 (2002), 91–93. Used with per-
mission of HR Magazine.
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planning process, supported by Web-based software, through which Dole executives
hope to rectify their inability to promote the best and the brightest across the corpora-
tion.
‘‘We are looking to execute an organized process where we will identify weak-
nesses and strengths of our people and build plans to deal with that,’’ says George
Horne, Dole’s vice president of administration and support operations. ‘‘We also
want to identify areas where we will need to bring in some people from outside to fill
some gaps at the top.’’
Knowing Your People
Succession planning used to mean that a company president hoped his oldest child
would join the family business and replace Dad someday. If not the oldest, then any
child would do.
Today, succession planning—also called workforce planning or progression plan-
ning—means having the right person in the right place at the right time for the right
job, says Ren Nardoni, senior vice president at Pilat NAI, a Lebanon, New Jersey,
subsidiary of Pilat Technologies International Ltd. of London. It means knowing your
people; knowing their strengths, experience, and career goals; and knowing where
they need development. Succession planning helps HR and managers know what
to do if a position becomes vacant. ‘‘You’re looking for the vulnerabilities of the
organization,’’ he says.
Succession planning has grown more important since the 1980s and picked up
steam in the 1990s. These days, experts say, most Fortune 500 companies take succes-
sion planning seriously, and many smaller companies embrace it. Marc Kaiser, a
consultant with Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, Illinois, says savvy companies rec-
ognize that they must be prepared to tackle the leadership gap created by retiring
baby boomers. The ability to easily automate succession planning using the Web also
drives interest. ‘‘It is easier now, and that’s one reason people are doing it,’’ he says.
Most companies that adopt succession planning automate it with software. Nar-
doni estimates that 50 percent to 60 percent of the Fortune 500 and 30 percent of the
largest 2,500 U.S. companies have installed succession planning systems, either stand-
alone software or the succession-planning module in their HR management system
(HRMS). ‘‘Our average client starts with succession planning for between 150 and
250 positions. The minute you get above 50 to 75 positions, it becomes a pain in the
butt on paper,’’ he says.
Government agencies, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, also embrace
succession planning, Nardoni says, because they have to plan for people moving in
and out and retiring. However, the government’s succession planning initiatives don’t
have the same intensity as those of the Fortune 500, he adds.
Succession planning correlates positively with the bottom line, says Nardoni.
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Kaiser points to a 2002 Hewitt study, ‘‘Top 20 Companies for Leaders,’’ that
shows that companies with reputations as good places to work have stronger succes-
sion planning and commit more resources to it, including the CEO’s time. Hewitt
surveyed some 348 HR executives and CEOs at 240 publicly held companies on vari-
ous leadership topics, identifying companies that succeed in attracting, developing,
and retaining leaders, and noting the practices that influenced their success.
Dole’s Culture Change
Succession planning was one of several corporate-wide initiatives Dole launched in
the past 18 months to decrease decentralization in an attempt to improve the bottom
line, Horne says. The company was No. 353 in the Fortune 500 in 2002 with revenues
of more than $4.6 billion.
Historically, Horne explains, Dole’s seven business units were so autonomous
that corporate wasn’t much more than a holding company. When Larry Kern became
president in February 2001, he set out to keep as much decentralization as made sense
while adding some corporatewide accountability and processes.
Succession planning (Dole calls it progression planning) was one such change.
The process itself would require a change of culture and could become an agent for
further culture change. ‘‘The idea of succession planning is contrary to being highly
decentralized,’’ says Sue Hagen, vice president of HR for North American operations,
who led the effort.
Although Dole’s annual turnover rate among top management is less than 10
percent, succession planning was on its radar screen for years, says Hagen. ‘‘Talent is
scarce. Time and cost to ramp someone up in our business is difficult and costly. It
makes going outside more difficult.’’
Hagen talked informally to all corporate executives, and the leaders and staffs
of each business unit to generate consensus for succession planning for corporate
positions—corporate officers, business unit presidents, and their direct reports. The
initial group would be about 100, she says. Next year, another few hundred will be
included.
The reaction was mostly positive, Hagen says. ‘‘We got a range of responses. It
was more an issue of education, especially for the businesses based outside the United
States. We had to educate them to what the objectives were going to be and why we
do it centrally rather than decentralized.’’
Senior management approved the project, and Kern is especially enthusiastic,
Hagen says. ‘‘He wants us to maximize the internal talent we have.’’
Defining the Processes
Hagen’s next step was to hold a series of in-depth interviews with the executives to
determine which succession planning processes were needed and how often they
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should be conducted. The goal was to reflect as much of their thinking as possible.
‘‘One division wanted to review succession plans on their people six times a year.
Another didn’t want to do it at all,’’ she says. Hagen compromised: Succession plan-
ning will be conducted twice a year. She also identified four competencies on which
everyone would be evaluated: accountability, business acumen, multifunctionality
(cross training), and vision/originality.
Kaiser and another Hewitt consultant, Lisa Labat, assisted Hagen with the Dole
project. ‘‘One of the first questions we ask organizations is, ‘What are the business
needs?’ says Labat. They also ask, ‘‘What is your business today and where are you
going to be taking it? What does that mean for the talent you need in place, especially
at the top?’’
Hagen did not want software to dictate the process, nor did she want to create a
process and then search for software that exactly fit. Instead, she started to look at
software while developing the process itself, looking for a package that is flexible,
needs little customization, and is easy to learn. The Hewitt consultants pointed her
toward several products but did not participate in the selection. Hagen also networked
with other HR professionals who had adopted succession-planning software.
Many HRMS software suites have an optional succession-planning module, but
neither Dole nor its business units have an HRMS. Since most employees are farm or
factory workers, there is not much need for the detailed information an HRMS pro-
vides, says Hagen. ‘‘It would be overkill.’’ In a way, the succession planning software
Dole adopted will become a mini-HRMS for top personnel, she adds.
Hagen also wanted an application service provider (ASP) model. Outsourcing,
including payroll, is common at Dole. Hagen didn’t want to own and support tech-
nology, and she didn’t want the small corporate information technology staff to have
to work on it.
About 20 percent of the requests for proposals that Pilat NAI sees request an ASP
model, and 50 percent want information about that option, Nardoni says. He expects
25 percent or more of his business to be ASP-based in the next two years.
Hagen identified products from nine companies and asked for presentations from
four. She chose Pilat NAI’s succession planning software because it was cost-effective
and flexible. The inner workings of the system are invisible to Dole.
Pilat NAI runs the software on one of its servers for a monthly fee based on the
number of users who will be system administrators plus a flat fee for the first 1,000
records stored on the software. Hagen serves as vendor manager, and a coworker
handles day-to-day contact with Pilat NAI regarding development, troubleshooting
and user issues. The contract spells out confidentiality and firewall protection for the
data.
Hagen began the project in March, selected the software in April, and began
installing in May. The project began to roll out in September, and Dole expects to
produce the first reports for management by the end of this year.
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A Plan for Each Manager
Installation required less than 10 percent customization and did not require the full-
time involvement of anyone at Dole. One HR person pulled data from the payroll
system and fed it into the succession-planning database, but that was a onetime task.
The basic data gives users a starting point.
The users—top managers—access the program from the Web with a password.
They fill out a resume, including career interests, and note any mobility restrictions.
They assess themselves on the four competencies. When they are done, the system
automatically notifies their manager, who does an assessment and indicates whether
he or she thinks the individual could be promoted. The manager also assesses overall
potential and the risk of losing the user. This assessment then goes automatically to
the division head, then the divisional HR director, then Hagen.
All assessments will be pulled together in a report, to be reviewed by Kern, Horne,
legal counsel, and the chief financial officer. Hagen will use the information to create
a career development plan for each individual, including seminars she’ll organize.
She’ll also direct business unit leaders to potential candidates in other units when
they have appropriate openings.
‘‘The beauty is, for the first time we’ll have a database that ties together these
talent metrics and can serve as a clearinghouse for people available for opportunities,’’
Hagen says. The system will also help Dole identify where it has talent gaps so it can
better recruit from outside, adds Horne.
Dole’s corporate management hopes all business units will eventually adopt simi-
lar succession planning processes and software, Hagen says. ‘‘I view this as a pilot, a
very visible pilot,’’ she says. ‘‘To get the buy-in of individual business units, we’ll show
them that this was adopted by their senior management and that it works.’’
Case 2: How Government Plans for Succession:
Public-Sector Succession—A Strategic Approach
to Sustaining Innovation
In the public and private sectors alike, demand for change is the one constant. There
is a loud call for leaders who can accommodate change personally and who can initi-
ate and drive broad changes in their organizations. These demands make sense but
raise a troubling issue. By relentlessly insisting on change, are we risking the loss of
innovations recently realized? This is a particularly salient question for public-sector
agencies, which are currently under attack from all sides.
Source: Ellen Schall, ‘‘Public-Sector Succession: A Strategic Approach to Sustaining Innovation,’’ Public
Administration Review 57:1 (1997), 4–10. Used with permission of Public Administration Review.
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In this article, I assert that while change must be on the agenda of any public
agency for its very survival as well as for the public good, it is just as important to
ensure that gains achieved in one administration be given a fair assessment and not be
jettisoned, without review, to the god of change. Indeed, the importance of ‘‘sustained
innovation’’—essentially keeping change alive—is an increasing challenge for public
agencies.1
Will innovative programs created as a response to social problems be allowed to
live out their ‘‘natural’’ lives, or will they be killed off before their time, independent
of performance and outcomes? This issue is particularly acute in the transition be-
tween elected or appointed government officials—especially in a highly politicized
environment that limits government’s capacity to continue efforts across administra-
tions. Moreover, one critical tool available to the private sector, succession planning,
is rarely used by public agencies because the executive’s fortunes are generally tied to
a particular administration. Many public-sector leaders have devised strategies for
continuing efforts across administrations. Some establish support beyond the govern-
ment, for example, from the business community or other local ‘‘elites’’; some obtain
early bipartisan political support. Still others avoid program demise by identifying a
champion linked to the incoming administration so as to have a voice ‘‘inside,’’ or by
creating wide support within the agency (and other agencies) so that the new gover-
nor or mayor hears a consistent message. Finally, some administrators have succeeded
in winning national recognition for their innovations so that discontinuing them is a
perceived political risk.
As important as these approaches are, innovations also can be sustained by cabi-
net secretaries or agency heads engaging in succession planning, even though these
people are as vulnerable to shifting political winds as their superiors. In fact, this level,
where so much actual and potential innovation resides, represents a real opportunity
for both preserving innovations and transferring them to subsequent regimes—
provided the agency heads can, and will, extend their strategic vision beyond their
own tenure. It is no longer sufficient to achieve change, difficult as it may be. The
public-sector leader must learn to consider not only what can be but what will be,
how what is achieved can be sustained. This requires future-oriented strategic think-
ing, which I argue must include attention to succession planning. Succession planning
done well involves preparing the agency for a change in leadership, but it also includes
assessing what has been valuable and how that can be preserved and transferred to
the subsequent regime. It is this strategic, sustaining innovation aspect of succession
planning that I focus on in this article.
First, I shall look at how research on succession in the private sector is both
helpful and hindering for public-sector succession planning, especially in the realm
of sustaining innovation. I will also examine the research that exists in the public
sector and its relevance. I describe a series of constraints or barriers that must be
overcome if succession is to be taken seriously in public-sector organizations.
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I present a case study drawn from my experience as Commissioner of the New
York City Department of Juvenile Justice, where I served for seven years and managed
my succession in a way that enabled the innovations that had been put in place to be
retained and further innovations based on these to be created. I discuss the four
interconnected strategies devised to implement this succession and show how they
can help both in overcoming barriers to taking succession seriously and in shaping
the legacy of a public-sector organization.
Succession and Succession Planning: A Brief Review of the
Literature
Most articles on succession and succession planning begin with a familiar lament:
executive-level transition merits more attention than it gets in the literature (Rainey
and Wechsler, 1988; Greenblatt, 1983; Gordon and Rosen, 1981; Austin and Gilmore,
1993). The relatively few authors who address the issue in the context of the public
sector point out the even more serious gap on that side. The National Academy of
Public Administration (NAPA), anticipating significant retirements in the Federal
Senior Executive Service beginning in 1994, began a serious look at succession plan-
ning in the early 1990s (NAPA, 1992). The NAPA researchers also remarked on the
lack of attention to public-sector transitions. In an article written in 1993, although
published later, Farquhar refers to the ‘‘rapidly expanding’’ literature on succession
(Farquhar, 1996a), and in 1995, she edited a special edition of Human Resource Man-
agement on the topic of leadership transitions (Farquhar, 1995).
Both the problem in the public sector and its consequences have been described
by Rainey and Wechsler (1988), who argue, ‘‘Whether one adopts a broad or more
specific approach to organizational performance and productivity, effective transition
management is essential to achieving positive results.’’ At the same time, the authors
characterize executive transitions at all levels of government as ‘‘marked by serious
deficiencies in preparation, orientation, and communication’’ (p. 45). However, while
noting that some research exists on the political management of transition at the
presidential and gubernatorial levels, the authors do not make use of the broader
literature on transition and executive succession that would help guide an analysis of
transition and change at the agency level—particularly within, not between, adminis-
trations.
Various frameworks help conceptualize transition generally and the issues that
surround it. The most useful begin before the actual succession event (Rainey and
Wechsler, 1988; Greenblatt, 1983; Gordon and Rosen, 1981) and draw attention to
what Rainey and Wechsler call the objective as well as subjective domains. But there
is something missing even here. Greenblatt, for example, begins with what he terms
the ‘‘anticipatory’’ stage but fails to capture the opportunity for a strategic view of
this moment. Gordon and Rosen point out the need to attend to the time before the
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new leader arrives, but they still start with the new leader’s being chosen. Rainey and
Wechsler describe transition as a major ‘‘strategy influencing’’ event. This stops short
of grasping transition’s full potential to make, not just influence, strategy. They write
as if the departing leader has no role in shaping the transition.
Although the literature gives some attention to the person leaving (Kets de Vries,
1988), more is given to the new leader and his or her dilemmas (Gouldner, 1950;
Greenblatt, 1983; Gilmore and Ronchi, 1995). In a particularly interesting article on
leadership during interregna, Farquhar (1991) examines 43 Legal Service Corpora-
tions and analyzes the dynamics and impact of interim administrations.
Other research distinguishes the important dimensions in which cases differ, ar-
guably the most significant being the reason for departure. Not all CEO successions
are equally interesting for theorists. Fredrickson, Hambrick, and Baumrin (1988) sug-
gest that firings and voluntary departures offer the most meat because only then are
real choices made; their work focuses on dismissals. Austin and Gilmore (1993) also
highlight the importance of the reason for transition. They outline various reasons
and cite previous works on each—retirement, term expiration, protest, reassignment,
illness, or death—but select for case analysis the leader who chooses to move on to a
new opportunity. They are especially helpful in suggesting explicit strategies the de-
parting leader can use to manage the exit process. On the topic of contemplating
one’s successor, Austin and Gilmore (1993, p. 52) comment, ‘‘It is striking how many
executives have known that they will be leaving within a year or two and have not
found a way either to focus on leadership succession or to expand the talent to help
the organization cope with a change.’’
This is the territory that my article attempts to plumb further: the voluntary
decision to leave, planned and discussed in advance, as opposed to the sudden and
traumatic leaving that Farquhar (1996) has written about and strategically framed.
Taking Succession Seriously
It is a serious matter that succession planning in the public sector, especially below
the presidential level, has not, until recently, received much attention in the literature.
However, a more critical issue is that it has not received much attention in the actual
world of public service. This omission, in part, reflects the fact that leaders in the
public sector have themselves not taken the issue of succession planning seriously,
except for obvious concerns like elections and mandates. Doing strategic executive
searches in the public sector is difficult, but that is a secondary factor. What is pri-
mary, I suggest, is changing public-sector culture so that focusing on succession and
beyond becomes a hallmark of strategic leadership. The public-sector executive must
begin to consider the end right at the beginning. The pull to get consumed by the
demands of the present is strong but must be resisted. Creating a picture of what the
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leader wants to leave behind will actually help focus strategic choices as well as direct
the leader’s attention to often overlooked strengths of the existing organization.
Public-sector leaders must surmount four types of barriers to taking succession
seriously. (1.) The leader’s reluctance to take up the succession ‘‘task.’’ (2.) The as-
sumption that succession issues are beyond the scope of the leader’s work. (3.) Confu-
sion about how the succession task should be framed—is it a matter of replacing
oneself or of strategic ‘‘positioning?’’ (4.) Lack of information about how to take up
the task—how to plan for succession in the midst of a shifting political environment
and given regulatory and political constraints.
Reluctance to ‘‘Deal’’ with Succession
In The Hero’s Farewell, a study of 50 prominent, retired, private-sector CEOs, Jeffrey
Sonnenfeld (1988) discusses the ‘‘heroic self-concept of the departing leader’’ (p. 3)
as having a great influence on succession. Part of that self-concept is a ‘‘sense of
heroic mission, a feeling that one has a unique role to fill and that only the hero is
capable of carrying out the responsibilities of the job.’’ Sonnenfeld describes this
attitude as ‘‘a barrier to the hero’s exit’’ (p. 62). The greater the frustration with the
heroic mission, and the more attached to the ‘‘heroic stature’’ of the office (another
aspect of the heroic self-concept), the longer the CEOs Sonnenfeld studied stayed on
the job (p. 69).
Sonnenfeld groups CEO attitudes toward departure into four categories ranging
from complete reluctance to willingness. Monarchs will not leave voluntarily and
either die in office or are overthrown. Generals leave with great reluctance and then
plot comebacks. Ambassadors leave gracefully and maintain amicable ties to their old
organizations. Governors are pleased to serve only a limited time and then leave to
do something else, maintaining little contact with the company. Monarchs and gener-
als are clearly the most averse to acknowledging that the end draws nigh, and that
factor affects the likelihood of a succession planning process occurring at all.
Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries (1988) also writes about the reluctance of corporate
CEOs to tackle succession planning. As does Sonnenfeld, he focuses on the retire-
ment-age CEO in the private sector who has to overcome the ‘‘hidden fears that
plague us all’’ (p. 57) to face stepping down.
Drawing direct parallels between public- and private-sector research on succes-
sion must be done carefully. Because the public sector has more short-term leaders
than institution builders, one must take particular care in using the categories Son-
nenfeld has illuminated. Nevertheless, the public sector has its share of reluctant-to-
leave leaders. Certainly there are generals who believe, against all evidence, that there
is some chance they can survive even an unfriendly transition of mayor or governor
and thus are averse to planning for a succession they do not want to happen. One
also finds monarchs who are so imbued with their heroic sense of mission that they
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find it unthinkable that they ever would be forced to depart, no matter how unreason-
able that belief may be. They therefore resist any attempt to broach the idea of succes-
sion, much less the planning for it.
The public sector has more than its fair share of governors, too. They seem an
unlikely group on whom to depend for succession planning. Their investment in the
agency is often minimal, as is the agency’s in them. The hope for planning must lie
with the ambassadors, primarily by encouraging them to enlarge the scope of their
vision to include the task of succession planning.
Assuming That Succession Is Beyond the Scope of the
Leader’s Work
Beyond personal reluctance lies the power of the group norm. The public sector is
focused on the here-and-now, and authority is thought to be given, not taken up.
Both the private and not-for-profit sectors have a clearer focus on the future.
While the American business community is sometimes criticized for attending too
much to the short term, as compared to the Japanese, for example, it is clear that
there are mechanisms and institutionalized roles within the private sector to carry the
perspective of the future: the stockholders and the board of directors, if not the CEO.
Regina Herzlinger (1994) has argued that this focus on the future and ‘‘intergenera-
tional equity’’ is among the most significant responsibilities of the not-for-profit
board. These future-oriented mechanisms and roles are weak or nonexistent in the
public sector, certainly at the agency level. Those outside government often call may-
ors and governors to task for budget wizardry that risks future crisis for present peace.
If agency heads are held accountable at all, it is for their management of day-to-day
problems, not their investment in the future.
The literature’s lack of attention to accountability for the future both underlines
and reinforces the current situation. As more researchers turn their attention to this
issue, it is possible there may be some shift in the public’s expectations. It is likely,
though, that it will need some greater push than that. Teaching in both graduate
school and executive education programs can have a great impact. Just as faculty try
to set a standard that expects strategic leadership from public-sector executives and
discourages a narrow focus on fighting fires, teachers can extend their understanding
of what it takes to be strategic. Faculty can ‘‘raise the bar’’ (Zegans, 1994) and draw a
new picture of what excellence in the public sector demands: an attention to the
future as well as to the present.
Confusion About the Succession ‘‘Frame’’
Succession planning, even in the private sector, has all too often been regarded as a
replacement issue, not a strategic responsibility to be shared among the organization’s
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stakeholders (National Academy of Public Administration, 1992; Kets de Vries, 1988).
That is, the intent is to replace X by Y, who has similar skills and training. What is
missing is the link between the vacancy, or the forthcoming vacancy, and the organi-
zation’s strategic needs (Gratton and Syrett, 1990)—particularly those related to pre-
serving the innovations it has achieved.
Unprecedented global competition is forcing companies in the private sector to
rethink succession planning in this strategic light, and those failing to do so are in-
creasingly being ‘‘punished’’ by either the market or their competition, and usually
by both. I would argue that the need for such strategic thinking is equally acute in the
public sector, albeit motivated by different factors. The approach, however, seems
long in coming. Although some states have moved toward a more strategic view of
executive recruitment, this effort has generally been initiated only after the leader has
resigned or been terminated.2
Difficulty of Managing Succession in a Turbulent Environment
There are actually two challenges to managing succession: technology and turbulence.
Public-sector leaders have limited access to search technology and search firms; they
may not even understand the steps in a strategic search process. The literature is thin
on the subject and offers few clues about how to proceed. Turbulence now exists in
all three sectors. It is not just in the public sector that strategic planning must some-
how be both short- and long-term. The source of turbulence differs by sector (compe-
tition versus election, for example), but the swirling confused winds that each
produces can make the process more complicated anywhere. What separates the sec-
tors is their reaction to turbulence.
Public-sector leaders too often allow the turbulence to limit their scope of action
(‘‘there will be a new mayor so I have no control’’), whereas private-sector leaders are
expected to ‘‘manage’’ the turbulence (‘‘how can we move into this new market and
fast?’’). Elections need not doom the process of executive succession. If the first three
barriers could be overcome and leaders had the will—were expected to plan for suc-
cession and saw it as a strategic task—the technology could be acquired and the
turbulence acknowledged but not succumbed to.
Keeping these barriers in mind, we turn to an example of how a public-sector
succession can be managed successfully and how hard-won innovations can survive
the transition.3
Managing a Public-Sector Transition: A Case Study
The New York City Department of Juvenile Justice was created as a separate executive-
branch agency in 1979. I served as its commissioner for seven years, from 1983 to
1990. During my tenure, the department accomplished two major goals. We revital-
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ized a bureaucracy that had originally been part of a ‘‘mega-agency’’ and had lost all
sense of purpose and efficiency before being reincarnated as a separate department in
1979 (Gilmore and Schall, 1986). We developed a clear mission and role for juvenile
detention. Overall, we created an innovative organization, and believed that sustain-
ing our innovations and the impetus to innovate were critically important.4
The executive staff of the Juvenile Justice Department had become a team in
Katzenbach and Smith’s (1993) sense. We had moved from being preoccupied with
handling an endless supply of short-term issues toward building the capacity for and
the pattern of looking ahead. Crucial to this focus was creating the notion of case
management as a way to make real our newly defined mission of custody and care
and to explore its implications for the children we served and the staff attending to
them. Although I was offered opportunities to leave the department early on, I deter-
mined that two additional goals had to be reached before I felt ‘‘finished’’ enough to
depart. The first involved institutionalizing our case management program through-
out the agency. The second was receiving final city approval of our plans to replace a
much maligned secure detention facility with two new, smaller, community-based
facilities.
By early 1988, these goals were well on their way toward accomplishment, and I
believed the time for new leadership was nearing. I discussed my role in the transition
process with Tom Gilmore, an organizational consultant to the department and au-
thor of Making a Leadership Change (Gilmore, 1988). It is to his thinking and frame-
work that we owe much of the work that followed, beginning with a retreat, in the
fall of 1988, for the executive staff.
Launching the ‘‘Finishing Up’’ Phase
During this multiday retreat, we began by discussing how our group was currently
faring and what work each unit in the agency would be undertaking in the next two
years. Then, each executive staff member outlined what his or her own time horizon
was likely to be, and how that did or did not dovetail with the work to be accom-
plished. In essence, we acknowledged we were launching a ‘‘finishing up’’ phase, with
all that implied: pride in achievement, exhaustion from the effort, disappointment
about unrealized goals, and full doses of the irritation and affection built up over the
years. I announced my intention to leave at this time but did not actually leave for 18
months.
We then turned to issues of both legacy and succession: legacy to ensure that our
innovations would survive and succession as a major strategy. As to succession, we
determined that we preferred someone from our own ranks. By the end of the retreat,
not only had we ‘‘chosen’’ our candidate, the assistant commissioner for secure deten-
tion, she had begun to see herself as a possible successor. But how could we ensure
that our legacy would be preserved? We invented four questions for ourselves, which
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we attempted to address simultaneously during the retreat and for the next year and
more. We saw these challenges, in fact, as a set of Russian dolls, each nested in an-
other.
‘ How could we get our candidate appointed as the next commissioner of the
Juvenile Justice Department?
‘ If this failed, how could we get someone else who would continue our innova-
tions and our vision?
‘ If this too failed, and a nonsupporter was appointed, how could we keep
successful innovations alive?
‘ If all else failed, could we leave a ‘‘treasure map’’ so a future supportive com-
missioner could rediscover what we had done?
We tackled these questions simultaneously by scenario-playing, by anticipating
pitfalls, and by creating alternative paths—what Bardach (1977) calls the work of
‘‘dirty-minded implementors.’’ Our strategies are discussed below in reverse order
from the list of questions.
Designing a Treasure Map
The idea was, if all else had failed, to provide the next supportive commissioner with
a series of clues about our efforts—our treasures. We decided, for example, to leave
behind the following:
‘ Traces of each of our innovative programs, rather than cutting any one (in
the face of significant budget cuts) to spare the rest.
‘ At least one staff person for each program so it could be fairly easily resur-
rected.
‘ A good written record in files and public documents about our accomplish-
ments.
‘ Champions for each major initiative.
More generally, we knew we were leaving behind a staff imbued with a vision of
innovation and excellence.
Our support and acknowledgment of the staff ’s good work had been a hallmark
of our administration, and we counted on their enhanced capacity to carry forward
much of the innovation.
We were not naive enough to believe that, if discovered, our treasures would get
resurrected under the same names and exactly in the same way. That was not the
goal. We were not looking for eternal life; rather, we hoped that the clues might
somehow provoke new ideas to sustain our momentum and direction.
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Keeping Successful Innovations Alive
The two new tactics we pursued were preparing people and ‘‘hardwiring’’ the system.
We also took advantage of previous strategic decisions to help preserve our legacy of
innovative programs.
Preparing People
By early 1989 the executive staff began identifying talent at the next level down within
each unit. Determining the criteria for such identification was not a simple matter,
however, and provoked heated debates about overall skills, vision, agency mission,
managerial ability, and other factors. Nevertheless, we compiled a list of about 30
people and then assessed each person’s strengths and weaknesses and the likelihood
of the individual’s staying on with the agency. We specified what each needed for
professional development and began connecting her or him with appropriate oppor-
tunities—pledging that we would watch out for each other’s staff and help them along
the way. From this review, for example, we drew upon the talent of a staff assistant
with the potential of developing managerial capacity and targeted a heretofore over-
looked senior operational manager for more cross-agency work and exposure to the
overall system. As we grew to understand who would be leaving, we discussed who
could be groomed to take over.
Compiling this list helped immensely in focusing our training resources. As we
learned of various city-wide programs, for example, we referred to our list so people
on it could be offered these opportunities.
Hardwiring
Some things in organizations have a life of their own; they go on against almost all
efforts to change them. At the Juvenile Justice Department those things included the
forms used to process kids. I remember two years into my tenure finding forms in
use that predated the 1979 creation of the department as a separate agency. This
infuriated me then. Later, it intrigued me. What about those forms made them survive
despite our efforts to create new systems? They seemed almost like permanent fixtures
of the agency; they were hardwired. In a deliberate effort to create an equivalent
method with equal sticking power, we turned our attention to what we hoped might
be our version of those old forms: the department’s newly developed case-manage-
ment computer-tracking system. We put a great deal of energy into moving that
ahead. We believed that if a system was in place, hardwired, which in effect system-
atized the case management of individual children and reported data, it would carry
a great deal of weight. We knew that weight could easily become inertia: it would take
an effort of significant proportion to shift away from it.
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Our focus on hardwiring also extended to the department’s external relationships,
particularly in the realm of oversight. ‘‘Blessed’’ with multiple agencies overseeing our
work, we figured that if they became accustomed to receiving certain data, reported
in certain ways, they would be likely to request that information and format subse-
quently and exert some pressure toward our case management approach and system
to receive it.
Strategic Decisions
Earlier, we had decided to run a community-based aftercare program ourselves rather
than contract it out; doing so involved tremendous effort, including establishing new
civil service positions. We felt that in an (inevitable) financial crisis, it would be easier
for the city to cancel contracts than to authorize layoffs, and we were right. We experi-
enced successive rounds of budget cuts but were able to hold on to at least a core of
staff. Also, our intensive home-based program, Family Ties, an alternative to costly
state placement, was positioned as a revenue-enhancer: each staff person should not
be charged to our budget as a cost, we insisted, but instead counted as saving the state
and city together $70,000 per child placed with Family Ties. As a result, the Juvenile
Justice Department actually added positions in the program when the overall budget
was cut.
Finding a Successor Who Would Continue Our Efforts
Because New York City was facing a mayoral campaign (between David Dinkins and
Rudolph Guiliani) as we were devising our legacy and succession strategies, we de-
signed scenarios for each candidate based on whom he might want as commissioner
of the Juvenile Justice Department. We brainstormed a range of issues including val-
ues, ethnicity, and gender and considered people fitting various profiles. We wanted
to be able to present a list of real candidates if someone asked—and to present that
list even if no one did. We then went on to think about who would likely be influential
in the new mayor’s decision-making process and whether we knew them or knew
someone who did.
Getting Our Candidate Appointed
David Dinkins was elected, and his approach to appointing commissioners was decen-
tralized, bordering on the chaotic. Committees named for each agency were asked to
interview candidates and make recommendations to the mayor. I knew the person
chairing the Juvenile Justice group and talked with her directly. Along with others,
our candidate was interviewed; she was recommended and ultimately selected to be
the new commissioner.
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Managing the Feelings
Although the decision to leave the Department of Juvenile Justice was strictly my
own, and I strongly attempted to ensure that the transition was smooth, the process
was hardly easy. Indeed, years after, when I began writing this article, I thought that
I had announced my intention to leave six months prior to my departure—only after
checking notes did I realize it actually had been 18 months. This confusion reflects
the difficulties involved. There were issues of authority, over hiring, for example, and
the natural tension each of us felt between being ready to move on and reluctant to
leave. Managing one’s own succession is not a simple affair, which is why, in the
public and private sector, the issue of succession itself and the process of seeking a
successor are so often badly handled.
Yet I believe that when a team has invested as much as we had in creating and
innovating organization, the work is unfinished if you have not attempted to think
strategically about its continuation. Today, the department’s case-management system
and the Aftercare and Family Ties programs are all in place, although reduced by
budget cuts. While my successor remained committed to the agenda we had devel-
oped together, she took the agency in new directions with a focus on prevention. She
remained at Juvenile Justice for four years and her successor has worked hard to keep
the basic programs in place and move the agency forward.
Moving Forward
How can we persuade public-sector leaders to take up the task of succession? Sector
does not matter when it comes to the leader’s dark side; the wish to believe in one’s
own immortality and to stay in control (Kets de Vries, 1988) can be found in leaders
across sectors. Although leaders in all sectors confront relentless demands on their
time and energies, private-sector cultures work more powerfully to stress the need to
plan ahead. We will have to cultivate that emphasis in the public sector if we seek it.
We can begin by searching for stories or case examples of successful and strategic
public-sector transitions. We can attempt to set the expectation through education,
solidify it through public attention, and seek to attract ambassadors to the work of
the public sector.
This is not the easiest of times to build a focus on the long term, however. There
is a serious disconnect between the demands on, and expectations of, public-sector
leaders and their lengths of stay. Perhaps the ‘‘connect’’ is all too clear: as citizens we
ask a lot, offer little in terms of understanding and support (let alone compensation),
blame easily, and reward infrequently. In any event, the average tenure of public-
sector agency heads is less than two years. Given the impact of such a brief tenure on
expected results, advice is being offered about how to shorten the learning curve or
reach full speed more quickly. These observations, while well intentioned, seem inevi-
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tably to fall short. Public-sector leaders need to stay longer and focus more on the
future to ensure the quality of government we need.
Democracies offer citizens an opportunity, through elections, to signal their pref-
erences, and elected officials have the right to create new directions and change
course. Yet both citizens and elected officials must avoid ‘‘change for change’s sake.’’
Not only can that attitude slide all too easily into simple-minded government-bash-
ing, with the public increasingly losing respect for any government programs and any
government worker; it also severely constrains government’s capacity to go forward
and build on the best of its efforts—in other words, its capacity to sustain innovation.
Both the public and those in the government need to learn to honor the past and
build upon it. We must begin creating the expectation that the public sector can, and
should, focus on the longer term. As I have suggested in this article, senior officials,
whether elected or appointed, must not only think strategically during their tenure
but also be oriented beyond their tenure. Developing the willingness and ability to
devise an effective approach to succession planning is a crucial step in that process.
Acknowledgment
The author wishes to thank Bob Behn and the participants in the 1994 Duke Univer-
sity Faculty Seminar on Organizational Innovation in State and Local Government,
sponsored by the Ford Foundation, for their reactions and assistance in working
through issues of public-sector succession. Katherine Farquhar demonstrated extraor-
dinary generosity in offering a thorough and thoughtful critique of an earlier version
of this article. The comments of the anonymous reviewers are also very much appreci-
ated. Finally, Tom Gilmore’s earlier assistance and continuous support deserve ac-
knowledgment here.
Notes
1. See Yin (1979) for an early discussion of the routinization of innovations.
2. In the early 1980s, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation funded what was
then the executive search firm of Isaacson, Ford, Webb to be available to governors
looking for new commissioners of correction. And the National Governors Associa-
tion, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, began a State Health
Recruitment Center in the early 1990s that lasted no more than two years. Individual
governors and mayors have turned to search firms from time to time, but most rely
on a narrow pool of people they know.
3. This case is presented at least in part as a retrospective life history with atten-
tion to the actual organizational events, whether passages or cycles, in Yin’s terms
(Yin 1979), but also includes the feelings that accompany the organizational changes.
4. The Department of Juvenile Justice won the Ford Foundation/Kennedy School
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of Government Innovation Award in State and Local Government in 1986, the first
year of the awards program, for its case-management program for at-risk youth. The
department was also recognized in the Public Broadcasting System documentary,
‘‘Excellence in the Public Sector with Tom Peters.’’ Additional program innovations
included creating an Aftercare Program and adapting Home Builders to the juvenile
justice system in a program we called Family Ties.
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Farquhar, Katherine, guest editor. 1995. Human Resource Management, vol. 34
(spring).
Fredrickson, James W., Donald C. Hambrick, and Sara Baumrin.1988. ‘‘A Model of
CEO Dismissal.’’ Academy of Management Review, vol. 13 (2): 255–270.
Gilmore, Thomas N. and Don Ronchi. 1995. ‘‘Managing Predecessors’ Shadows in
Executive Transitions.’’ Human Resource Management, vol. 34 (1): 11–26.
Gilmore, Thomas N. 1988. Making a Leadership Change: How Organizations and Lead-
ers Can Handle Leadership Transitions Successfully. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Gilmore, Thomas N. and Ellen Schall. 1986. ‘‘The Use of Case Management as a
Revitalizing Theme in a Juvenile Justice Agency.’’ Public Administration Review,
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Gordon, Gil E. and Ned Rosen, 1981. ‘‘Critical Factors in Leadership Succession.’’
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, vol. 27, 227–254.
Gouldner, Alvin W. 1950. ‘‘The Problem of Succession and Bureaucracy.’’ In A. W.
Gouldner, ed., Studies in Leadership. New York: Harper & Brothers, pp. 644–662.
Gratton, Lynda and Michel Syrett. 1990. ‘‘Heirs Apparent: Succession Strategies for
the Future.’’ Personnel Management, January, pp. 34–38.
Greenblatt, Milton. 1983. ‘‘Management Succession: Some Major Parameters.’’
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Harvard Business Review, July–August, pp. 52–60.
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Katzenbach, Jon R. and Douglas K Smith. 1993. The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the
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tinized. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Case 3: How a Nonprofit Organization Plans for
Succession: Next in Line Elaine’s Perspective
When my husband retired, I realized that the day was approaching when I would no
longer work for the Greensboro Regional Realtors Association (GRRA). Having
worked diligently to turn the association into a good-to-great organization—a Jim
Collins concept explored in his book by the same name (2001, HarperCollins)—I
made a deliberate decision that given the opportunity I would help the association
continue on its path to excellence no matter who led the organization.
In the fall of 2000, I contacted the incoming board president and president-elect
to discuss my decision to leave the association at the end of 2002. I informed them
that I had identified one employee as my potential successor—Michael Barr, GRRA’s
chief operating officer. Having worked closely with Michael for a little more than a
year, I saw in him several qualities that exemplified leadership:
‘ Humility
‘ A professional willingness to do what had to be done
‘ The willingness to channel energy into the association rather than into himself
Source: Elaine H. Ernest and Michael P. Barr, ‘‘Next in Line,’’ Association Management 55:10 (2003): 42.
Used with permission of Association Management.
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‘ The ability to credit staff and volunteers, when appropriate
‘ A desire to develop both personally and professionally.
Based on my recommendation to consider an internal candidate for my position,
the incoming president and president-elect both felt that a succession plan was in
order. The next decision was whether I or a consultant should put the plan together.
Shortly after my conversation with the president and president-elect, the full exec-
utive committee met and decided that I should create the succession plan. The com-
mittee believed that my knowledge of the association, its mission, and its needs—as
well as my 10 years in its top staff position—gave me the insight required to create a
thorough plan. Additionally, the committee expressed complete trust in me and my
ability to not compromise the association. In total, the committee felt that a solid
management plan for succession would be an important part of the association’s
efforts to develop talent, meet organizational needs, and improve the association’s
overall results on behalf of members.
Using my job description, a list of things that I did that were not in my official
job description, knowledge gained from scanning literature on CEO skill sets, and my
understanding of the association’s strategic plan, I drafted a work plan that defined
the responsibilities and challenges of the executive position and outlined the areas in
which I would coach and mentor Michael. It was early March 2001 when I submitted
this draft succession plan to the executive committee. The committee accepted the
plan in mid-March, and Michael and I began discussions about his long-range career
plans. I asked him questions such as:
‘ Are you interested in obtaining the Certified Association Executive (CAE) des-
ignation?
‘ Are you interested in expanding your responsibilities in the association and
the community?
‘ Are you willing to travel with me to additional professional development sem-
inars?
‘ Are you willing to work with me as your mentor for an opportunity to become
a CEO? (No promises were made, of course.)
His affirmative answers noted, we started working through the actual plan outline.
Because Michael was COO, all staff reported to him. To free up time for him to
work through the succession plan, we diverted some of his day-to-day responsibilities
to other staff members. Job descriptions for senior managers were reworked to lessen
Michael’s workload. To explain this shift in activities, we informed staff that the exec-
utive committee wanted Michael to be more involved with the overall operations and
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mission of the association. While this was true, we did not apprise staff that Michael
was being groomed as my potential replacement.
For the next 15 months, Michael and I spent a few hours each week reviewing the
plan, setting priorities for the next month, making adjustments when necessary, and
reporting to the executive committee on a quarterly basis. The committee left the
decisions of progress, needed training, and adjustments to me, with input from Mi-
chael.
Here are a few things that I learned from this experience.
1. Every CEO is capable of doing succession planning if he or she cares about the
organization.
2. Succession planning is not an easy task. Little research is available about it,
especially for the not-for-profit sector.
3. Succession planning is an excellent way to assess the organization, look at
trends, peek at what is coming down the road, and realize your strengths and
weaknesses as an executive.
Working through this plan with leadership and another high-level manager, it
was easy to see what habits made the association successful and what areas needed
more attention. It also solidified the organization’s core values and made it clear what
was important to continue.
Michael’s Perspective
After I agreed to and signed the work plan outline, I really got busy. I’d like to say the
task ahead of me looked simple, but it didn’t. At times I felt as though I was pledging
a fraternity all over again. However, Elaine was a wonderful coach and mentor.
Whether this adventure would turn out as suggested was anyone’s guess. My focus
was on learning as much as I could about association management, qualifying to sit
for and passing the CAE exam, accomplishing the items detailed in the work plan,
building a network of colleagues, and enjoying the experience.
The plan was specific and intense. It outlined nine major components of the
executive position and specified several competencies in each area. Following are the
components of the work plan and some of my prominent accomplishments in each
area.
Essential Management Responsibilities
This area included nine components such as financial oversight, office administration,
and understanding the parallel structures of the association. Accomplishments:
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‘ Worked with and advised association volunteer groups, task forces, commit-
tees, directors, officers, and presidents.
‘ Supervised staff; evaluated job descriptions, performance, salary administra-
tion, and work processes to provide high-quality and efficient services to the
membership.
‘ Developed a three-year budget model and new reports for the board of direc-
tors on nondues revenue sources.
‘ Developed a new member benefits program that included affiliating with a
local credit union and offering members discounts on local products and ser-
vices.
Essential Administrative Responsibilities
This component was primarily composed of human resources management issues
such as employee performance, oversight of employee benefits plans, and compensa-
tion planning. Accomplishments:
‘ Coordinated employee searches that included position marketing, resume
evaluations, telephone and on-site interviews, compensation negotiations, and
follow-up correspondence.
‘ Researched and presented a new 401(k) retirement program and an employee
education assistance program, which the board approved.
Research and Statistics
Among other things, this area dealt with member demographics, trends in the profes-
sion, and industry demographics. Accomplishments:
‘ Collaborated with a local university economist to provide our membership
with local and regional market reports.
‘ Collaborated with a local university professor to produce an unbiased survey
for the association membership.
Information Technology
This area included competencies such as keeping members up to date with industry
technology trends and continual analysis and implementation of the membership’s
technology needs. Accomplishments:
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‘ Developed and implemented a technology infrastructure plan that included
replacing the phone system, upgrading computer software, and adapting wire-
less technology.
‘ Developed a new Web site that allows the membership to pay association bills
online and provides segmented information according to members’ prefer-
ences.
‘ Provided the membership with various technology training opportunities,
which had been requested through membership surveys.
Facilities Management
This area covered everything from the HVAC system to aesthetics and landscaping.
Accomplishments:
‘ Managed and supervised the association’s banquet facility renovations and
grounds beautification.
‘ Managed and supervised the association’s building maintenance contractors
and banquet facility operations.
Strategic Planning
True competency in this area was defined by the ability to keep staff focused on the
vision of the association, continually evaluate the association’s operations, and com-
mit and adhere to the strategic objective of the organization. Accomplishments:
‘ Participated in the research and preparation of the strategic planning board
retreat, including negotiating with consultants, preparatory work with consul-
tants, and execution of retreat, followed by the development and yearly re-
finement of the plan.
‘ Focused staff on association priorities to accomplish the strategic goals of the
association within the set timeline.
Internal and External Relations
Government affairs, coalition building, and public relations were the bedrocks of this
component. Accomplishments:
‘ Attended local, state, and national realtor association board of director meet-
ings.
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‘ Represented the association at the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry
Coalition and at other regional coalitions.
‘ Continually represented the association at community events, local govern-
ment meetings, and association events.
‘ Networked with the leaders of the local and state associations.
Continuing Education
One of the key thrusts of this area was attaining the CAE designation, showing a
commitment to association management, and continual learning. Accomplishments:
‘ Attended numerous coaching and training seminars offered by ASAE, the Na-
tional Association of Realtors, the North Carolina Association of Realtors, and
GRRA on various subjects.
‘ Earned my CAE designation.
General Working Knowledge
The final component focused on understanding industry-specific processes, our by-
laws, and the financial aspects of the association. Accomplishments:
‘ Trained to administer the association’s professional standards and arbitration
process.
‘ Studied and enforced multiple listing service rules and regulations and associ-
ation bylaws and rules and regulations.
‘ Acted as chapter administrator for 360-member North Carolina Certified
Commercial Investment Members, which the association manages.
After working through each component of the succession plan, I submitted a
letter to the executive committee expressing my interest in the CEO position. At this
point it was May 2002, and I was able to include a detailed description of how I had
accomplished the work set out in the plan.
Coming to the Conclusion
A month later, the full board of directors met. The president informed the directors
that Elaine was leaving her position as CEO of GRRA at year’s end. Copies of the
completed work plan and Michael’s letter of interest were distributed. Discussion
ensued about the succession process and whether the job opening should be taken
outside the organization.
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A minority of board members felt that if Michael were truly qualified, he would
win out in an extensive search. The majority of the directors, however, felt comfort-
able that the plan was comprehensive and that the executive committee had been
sufficiently involved through its receipt of progress reports. An open search, in their
opinion, would cost the association time and money. After taking a vote, the executive
committee was granted permission to interview Michael for the position. If the com-
mittee was not satisfied with the interview, the search would be opened, and a selec-
tion committee appointed.
‘‘Ten of eleven good-to-great CEOs came from inside the company,’’ says Jim
Collins in his book Good to Great. The Greensboro Regional Realtors Association
found that to be the case after Michael’s successful interview for the chief staff execu-
tive position. In mid-July 2002, more than a year after the draft succession plan was
submitted, GRRA’s board president started contract negotiations for the association’s
new president. Michael took over the top spot on January 1, 2003.
Mentoring Magic
Since Michael P. Barr, CAE, took over as executive vice president of the Greensboro
Regional Realtors Association, North Carolina, in January, he has started his own
mentoring program with senior staff. Read what he has to say on the subject.
Association Management: Why did you start the program?
Michael P. Barr, CAE: Being a product of mentoring, I saw the value in developing
staff to their fullest and helping them with their career goals. Essentially that’s
what Elaine did for me. It’s a win-win for both the association and the em-
ployees.
Association Management: What’s involved?
Barr: I meet regularly with staff. We consistently go over both their work goals
and professional goals. It’s individualized according to their preferences, be-
cause we’re trying to help them achieve their professional best. I take them to
conferences, send them to workshops, and help them achieve the designation
of their choosing. Basically, I go over their goals and objectives and help them
get the education they need to obtain their goals. The board thinks that this is
so important that it has increased the budget line item for staff development.
Association Management: Who can participate?
Barr: It’s open to anyone who has expressed an interest in association manage-
ment. Obviously, it has to be tied to the job. Senior staff is really taking
advantage of it.
Association Management: How’s it been received so far?
Barr: I have full participation. Those who have expressed an interest in learning
what the top job entails, what running an association entails, are really re-
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402 Appendix II
ceptive to learning. Empowering them to take on projects and responsibility
has been a big plus in the operation of the association.
Association Management: What advice would you give to staffers?
Barr: Approach mentoring with the best attitude possible. It’s a win no matter
what happens. You’re going to do a lot of extra work, but it’s good prepara-
tion for executive-level positions. Get ready for long hours.
Resources
Articles
‘‘Executive Selection: A Systematic, Team-Based Approach,’’ Executive IdeaLink, July
2001.
‘‘Mentoring: A Tool for Learning and Development,’’ Association Educator, October
1999.
‘‘What If You Were Gone,’’ Association Management, August 2000.
Books
Byham, William C., Audrey B. Smith, and Matthew J. Paese. Grow Your Own Leaders:
How to Identify, Develop, and Retain Leadership Talent. Financial Times, Prentice-
Hall, 2002.
Knowdell, Richard L. Building a Career Development Program: Nine Steps for Effective
Implementation. Consulting Psychologists Press, 1996.
Rothwell, William J. Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and
Building Talent From Within. AMACOM, 2000.
Wolfe, Rebecca Luhn. Systematic Succession Planning: Building Leadership From
Within. Crisp Publications, 1996.
Web Site
Succession Planning Library (www.managementhelp.org).
Case 4: Small Business Case: Passing the Torch
Jim Gibney, president of Warren Pike Associates, says he grew up in the business.
‘‘I was always drawn to mechanical things,’’ says Gibney, whose family-owned
power transmission and motion control business is headquartered in Needham, Mas-
sachusetts. ‘‘As a child, I became interested in the business. During the school vaca-
Source: Richard Trombly, ‘‘Passing the Torch,’’ Industrial Distribution 90:4 (2001), 69–72. Used with
permission from Industrial Distribution.
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tions, I would go in to the business and help out. There I got to learn from one of the
best salesmen there is, my father.’’
Gibney characterizes his father as a master salesman and as a leader. He recounts
his father’s career at Warner Electric before purchasing Warren Pike Associates fol-
lowed by the purchases of W.M. Steele Co. and Cohen Machinery Co. to form J.G.
Industries, Inc. Gibney says his siblings were drawn to other interests and have pur-
sued other successful careers, but that he followed his father’s footsteps from the
beginning. He says that wasn’t always a simple path. ‘‘My father was a hard worker
and that was one of the values he instilled in me,’’ says Gibney. ‘‘I worked my way up
through the ranks. I’ve been in shipping and receiving, inside sales and outside sales
before taking on a role in management.’’
His father still remains active in the company and retains the title of CEO, but
after years of working hard for the company, he is able to work on something else—
his golf game down in Florida. Meanwhile, Gibney has taken on the role of president.
‘‘It was an easy transition,’’ says Gibney. ‘‘I have been in upper management for
so long and was already very familiar with the business. My siblings had never been
involved with the business, so they weren’t concerned with the process of succession.
My father and I had discussed it over the years and we knew I would take over when
the time was right.’’ Gibney said they did very little in the way of formal succession
planning.
‘‘After some internal planning and adjustments,’’ says Gibney, ‘‘we realized that
the end of year 2000 would be the right time.’’
Gibney admits that part of the success of the transition relies upon keeping open
channels of communication. While nothing was formalized in their planning, the
details of succession were discussed and understood by all parties, including JG Indus-
tries’ 17 employees. ‘‘Communication is key,’’ says Gibney. ‘‘We have a family atmo-
sphere and we involve the employees in the business. People usually resist change and
that can make succession difficult, but we involved them in the process. I think, by
being included in this way, they are now excited by new opportunities in a rapidly
changing industry.’’
Will his own children take over the family business? Gibney says his children are
between the ages of seven and 13, so it is a little too soon to tell if they will be
involved.
‘‘Perhaps, down the road,’’ speculates Gibney.
Not all children grow into their parents’ roles and not all successions occur so
simply and with such positive results, points out Robert Middleton, a partner with
the Chicago law firm of Nisen & Elliot.
‘‘In most cases there are some hard truths,’’ says Middleton. ‘‘Many entrepreneurs
spend their entire lives sacrificing time and energy only to have the whole organiza-
tion fall apart and maybe tear the family apart in the process.’’
Marc Silverman, president of Providence, Rhode Island–based consulting firm
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Strategic Initiatives Inc., says that when he counsels a family business, the first thing
is to try to separate the family from the business.
‘‘Then we can decide what we want for the family and what we want for the
business,’’ says Silverman. ‘‘By looking at the family and the business, we can deter-
mine what they both need to be successful.’’
Silverman advises a team approach by getting all of the family involved. He sug-
gests a family council to assist in planning for the business’s future and in choosing a
leader that will be best suited to the business—as well as resolving issues of the siblings
that are not groomed for succession.
Outsiders can be an enormous amount of help, says Silverman, though he admits
that can be difficult for entrepreneurs who are used to doing things in an autocratic
style. It is hard to be objective and many of these issues are closely tied to the psycho-
logical issues of aging. He suggests bringing in a consultant early in the process if any
obstacles develop.
‘‘It is like tooth decay,’’ says Silverman. ‘‘The problem gets bigger the longer you
wait.’’
Jefferey Gallant, a partner with Goodkind, Labaton, Rudoff & Sucharow, also
suggests that businesses have an advisory board. It may be made up of family mem-
bers, management, or outside professionals. Gallant says a board can decide on the
important issues of who should lead and what their services are worth.
Gallant says he is usually brought in for estate planning and has to bring up the
topic of succession. He helps decide what makes the most sense as far as tax options
and retirement, as well as for the business.
‘‘The next step is to get all the parties involved to buy in to it,’’ says Gallant. ‘‘It
is so much easier when the owner is involved rather than handling these issues as part
of an estate.’’
Case 5: Family Business Succession:
The Seeds of a Smooth Transition
A month before Christmas, the garden center at Shiloh Nurseries Inc. in Emigsville,
Pennsylvania, looks like a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting, with decorations
and holiday greens at every door and window. Along the path leading to the side
entrance, flowering cabbages are in full bloom.
Inside, Michael Stebbins, 47, is busy getting ready for a Christmas selling season
Source: Richard Trombly, ‘‘Passing the Torch,’’ Industrial Distribution 90:4 (2001), 69–72. Used with
permission from Industrial Distribution.
Source: ‘‘The Seeds of a Smooth Transition,’’ Nation’s Business 85:4 (1997), 25. Used with permission
from Nation’s Business.
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that will be short because of the late arrival of Thanksgiving. After 27 years as co-
owner of the nursery and landscaping business with his partner, Carl Jacobs, Stebbins
knows exactly how he wants everything to look.
He also knows exactly what he wants to happen to the company when he and
Jacobs retire. Both want Shiloh Nurseries to remain a thriving business.
That almost didn’t happen for the family that owned the company before them.
When its founder died with no estate plan, his wife and son discovered they were
unable to work together. The son left to form his own nursery business, taking many
of Shiloh’s employees with him, and his mother was forced to sell the firm, which was
tallying a modest $55,000 in annual sales.
Today, Stebbins and Jacobs employ 25 full-time workers and about 40 more sea-
sonal employees, and they expect to post sales of about $3 million this year.
The two owners have six children between them but none who wants to take over
the business—they’ve had their fill of nursery life during high school and summers
home from college. Nonetheless, Stebbins and Jacobs do have two longtime, highly
valued employees—their top salesman and landscape architect, and their landscape
supervisor—who would like to run a nursery and landscaping business someday.
Stebbins and Jacobs liked the idea of them running Shiloh, so they set up a buy/
sell agreement with the pair under which the two employees will begin to buy the
company over two consecutive five-year periods. Each employee will purchase 12
percent of the company’s stock during the first five years and another 12 percent
during the second, at a fixed price of two times book value (with book value being
recalculated annually). Payments will be made on an installment plan bearing interest
at the prime rate plus 1.5 percent.
After 10 years, the four principals will decide how to proceed. Jacobs, now 53, is
likely to retire then, but Stebbins hasn’t decided what he will do. Possible options
include having the two employees purchase the remaining 52 percent of the company
at that time or allowing a small number of other key employees to purchase some of
that stock.
Either way, Stebbins and Jacobs are glad that the salesman and the landscape
supervisor are becoming part owners, because they will be positioned to take over the
business when necessary. Shiloh has taken out life-insurance policies on each of the
four shareholding partners; the insurance is in amounts sufficient to ensure that if
any of the partners dies before the buy/sell agreement is completed, the other partners
will be able to meet their obligations under the agreement.
To come up with their plan, Stebbins and Jacobs drew on the advice of an estate-
planning firm, Estate Archetypes Inc., in nearby York, Pennsylvania, and on Gordon
Porter, a CPA and small-business consultant in Dover, Pennsylvania, before ap-
proaching their lawyer to draft the necessary documents.
‘‘One of the reasons I’m inclined to be so sure we’re doing things right is because
I’m proud of the fact that we took a small business and grew it successfully,’’ Stebbins
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says. ‘‘This is the company’s 60th-anniversary year, and I’d like to see it be here for
another 60 years.’’
Case 6: CEO Succession Planning Case:
Do You Have a CEO Succession Plan?
Jim Lumpkin’s first move as interim chief executive officer (CEO) for US–Agencies
Credit Union was to eliminate the position he’d just vacated. ‘‘The credit union was
top heavy,’’ recalls Lumpkin, CEO of the Portland, Oregon, credit union. ‘‘At the
time, we were spending too much money on management positions. We needed a
CEO who could handle both jobs.’’
Then he insisted that the board undertake a detailed search, both inside and
outside the credit union, for CEO candidates. ‘‘Our last CEO felt he was named by
default. The board never did a full search so there never was that buy-in that they had
the right person,’’ Lumpkin explains. ‘‘I stipulated that I wouldn’t apply for the job
unless the board went through a full search process and really looked for who they
wanted. That way there wouldn’t be any second-guessing.’’
The board named Lumpkin CEO after a five-month search, and he has served in
that capacity for four years. But watching the board struggle through the process
made him recognize the need for a detailed succession plan outlining steps the board
should take in case of CEO turnover—whether by resignation, termination, or death.
The credit union’s recently completed succession plan details planning and prepa-
ration, general board guidelines, steps for emergency succession (broken down by the
first day, week, and month), recruiting and hiring, desired qualifications and attri-
butes, and other information. ‘‘We’re a smaller company and we look at our CEO as
more of an operational CEO,’’ Lumpkin notes. ‘‘So the CEO needs to know which
areas he or she would be responsible for—accounting, asset/liability management,
compliance issues, examination processes, human resource administration, and in-
vestments. If the CEO leaves, board members might wonder who else will leave and
how they’ll run the credit union. I wanted to identify skill sets and experiences they
should look for.’’
Among other information, the plan lists nine basic steps for CEO replacement:
1. The board hopes for 90 to 120 days’ notice of intent to leave so it can have an
orderly transition. The board would like to hire the new CEO at least 30 days
before the departure of the current CEO. It would be preferable to allow 60
days for this transition.
Source: Bill Merrick, ‘‘Do You Have a CEO Succession Plan?’’ Credit Union Magazine 67:7 (2001), 52.
Used with permission from Credit Union Magazine.
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2. The board will appoint a search committee to monitor the plan and recom-
mend final candidates to the full board. The board’s executive committee will
make up the search committee in part or in whole. It’s recommended that the
committee consist of three to five individuals. It’s advisable that the current
CEO not be a member of the search committee.
3. The board will decide whether the search committee will conduct the full
search process or whether to use an outside consulting firm. If the board hires
an outside firm, determine the company’s responsibilities and cost, and specify
details in a signed, written contract. Use a firm that’s familiar with credit union
needs and philosophy.
4. The executive committee, with the assistance of the interim CEO and manage-
ment team, will update the existing CEO job description, organizational chart,
and other information, and provide it to the search committee and/or consult-
ing firm.
5. Advertising for the CEO position will appear in local and industry trade publi-
cations.
6. All resumes will be reviewed for basic qualities and experience. Interviews will
be limited to three to five candidates. The search committee or consulting firm
will present the best candidate to the board. If the board doesn’t accept this
candidate, the search committee or consulting firm will present the second
choice.
7. Verification of candidate credentials and employability may include, but isn’t
limited to, educational transcripts, reference checks, credit bureau reports,
CUMIS bond check, medical assessment as allowed by law, psychological ap-
praisal, and chemical dependency testing.
8. Notification of the new CEO will be provided to the Oregon Department of
Consumer and Business Services, National Credit Union Administration,
Credit Union Association of Oregon, CUMIS Insurance Group, and credit
union attorneys.
9. Publish articles in the quarterly newsletter to announce the current CEO’s
departure and introduce the new CEO.
‘‘Having a plan makes the board and our state regulator feel better,’’ Lumpkin
says. ‘‘Also, staff knows that if something happens, the board will find a match that
will fit members’ needs, internal staffing needs, and the credit union’s culture. It
builds confidence throughout the credit union and reduces uncertainty.’’
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Notes
Preface to the Fourth Edition
1. G. Farrell and B. Hansen, ‘‘Stocks May Fall, but Execs’ Pay Doesn’t,’’ USA Today, downloaded
from http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2008-04-09-ceo-pay_N.htm.
2. Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge (New York: Harper &
Row, 1985), p. 2.
3. Bradley Agle, ‘‘Understanding Research on Values in Business,’’ Business & Society, September
1999, 326–387. See also Ken Hultman and Bill Gellerman, Balancing Individual and Organizational Val-
ues: Walking the Tightrope to Success (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2002).
4. Charlene Marmer Solomon, ‘‘The Loyalty Factor,’’ Personnel Journal, September 1992, 52–62.
5. Shari Caudron, ‘‘The Looming Leadership Crisis,’’ Workforce, September 1999, 72–79.
6. Arthur Deegan, Succession Planning: Key to Corporate Excellence (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Intersci-
ence, 1986), p. 5. (This book, although out of print, is a classic.)
7. As quoted in Harper W. Moulton and Arthur A. Fickel, Executive Development: Preparing for the
21st Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 29.
8. E. Zajac, ‘‘CEO Selection, Succession, Compensation and Firm Performance: A Theoretical Inte-
gration and Empirical Analysis,’’ Strategic Management Journal 11:3 (1990), 228. See also William Roth-
well, ‘‘What’s Special About CEO Succession?’’ Global CEO Magazine [India], March 2004, Special Issue,
15–20.
9. R. Sahl, ‘‘Succession Planning Drives Plant Turnaround,’’ Personnel Journal 71:9 (1992), 67–70.
10. ‘‘Long-Term Business Success Can Hinge on Succession Planning,’’ Training Directors’ Forum
Newsletter 5:4 (1989), 1.
11. ‘‘Mass layoffs summary,’’ 2009, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm.
12. Ibid.
13. Dirk Dreux, ‘‘Succession Planning and Exit Strategies,’’ CPA Journal 69:9 (1999), 30–35; Oliver
Esman, ‘‘Succession Planning in Small and Medium-Sized Companies,’’ HR Horizons 103 (1991), 15–19;
Barton C. Francis, ‘‘Family Business Succession Planning,’’ Journal of Accountancy 176:2 (1993), 49–51;
John O’Connell, ‘‘Triple-Tax Threat in Succession Planning,’’ National Underwriter 102:40 (1998), 11,
19; T. Roger Peay and W. Gibb Dyer Jr., ‘‘Power Orientations of Entrepreneurs and Succession Plan-
ning,’’ Journal of Small Business Management 27:1 (1989), 47–52; Michael J. Sales, ‘‘Succession Planning
in the Family Business,’’ Small Business Reports 15:2 (1990), 31–40.
Chapter 1
1. Henry Fayol, Administration Industrielle et Generale (Paris: Société de l’Industrie Minerale, 1916).
2. Norman H. Carter, ‘‘Guaranteeing Management’s Future Through Succession Planning,’’ Jour-
nal of Information Systems Management 3:3 (1986), 13–14.
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410 Notes
3. See the classic article, Michael Leibman, ‘‘Succession Management: The Next Generation of
Succession Planning,’’ Human Resource Planning 19:3 (1996), 16–29. See also Ram Charan, Stephen
Drotter, and James Noel, The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the Leadership-Powered Company (San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001) and William J. Rothwell, The Manager’s Guide to Maximizing Employee
Potential: Quick and Easy Strategies to Develop Talent Every Day (New York: Amacom, 2009).
4. Richard Hansen and Richard H. Wexler, ‘‘Effective Succession Planning,’’ Employment Relations
Today 15:1 (1989), 19.
5. See Chris Argyris and Donald Schön, Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective
(Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1978); Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the
Learning Organization (New York: Doubleday/Currency, 1990).
6. Thomas P. Bechet, Strategic Staffing: A Practical Toolkit for Workforce Planning (New York: Ama-
com, 2002). See also Peter Capelli, Talent on Demand: Managing Talent in an Age of Uncertainty (Boston:
Harvard Business School Press, 2008).
7. David E. Hartley, ‘‘Tools for Talent,’’ T�D 58:4 (2004), 20–22.
8. Ibid., p. 21.
9. William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, The Strategic Development of Talent (Amherst, Mass.:
HRD Press, 2003).
10. Downloaded from http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename-FT.com/Page/Generic
Page2&c-Page&cid-1079420675546 on July 18, 2004.
11. Stephen Overell, ‘‘A Meeting of Minds Brings HR into Focus,’’ downloaded from http://news.ft
.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename-FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c-StoryFT&cid-1079420676509&p
-1079420675546 on July 18, 2004.
12. The Human Capital Challenge (Alexandria, Va.: ASTD, 2003).
13. J. Christopher Mihm, Human Capital: Succession Planning and Management Is Critical Driver
of Organizational Transformation (Washington, DC: U.S. General Accounting Office, 2003).
14. Walter R. Mahler and Stephen J. Drotter, The Succession Planning Handbook for the Chief Execu-
tive (Midland Park, N.J.: Mahler Publishing Co., 1986), p. 1.
15. ‘‘Long-Term Business Success Can Hinge on Succession Planning,’’ Training Directors’ Forum
Newsletter 5:4 (1989), 1.
16. Wilbur Moore, The Conduct of the Corporation (New York: Random House, 1962), p. 109.
17. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, The Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books, 1977),
p. 48.
18. Norman H. Carter, ‘‘Guaranteeing Management’s Future Through Succession Planning,’’ Jour-
nal of Information Systems Management 3:3 (1986), 13–14.
19. Thomas Gilmore, Making a Leadership Change: How Organizations and Leaders Can Handle
Leadership Transitions Successfully (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988), p. 19.
20. William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, The Strategic Development of Talent (Amherst, Mass.:
HRD Press, 2003).
21. Lynda Gratton and Michel Syrett, ‘‘Heirs Apparent: Succession Strategies for the Future,’’ Per-
sonnel Management 22:1 (1990), 34.
22. A. Walker, ‘‘The Newest Job in Personnel: Human Resource Data Administrator,’’ Personnel
Journal 61:12 (1982), 5.
23. William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, Planning and Managing Human Resources: Strategic
Planning for Personnel Management, 2nd ed. (Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 2003).
24. Andrew O. Manzini and John D. Gridley, Integrating Human Resources and Strategic Business
Planning (New York: Amacom, 1986), p. 3.
25. Peter Capelli, ‘‘A Market-Driven Approach to Retaining Talent,’’ Harvard Business Review 78:1
American Management Association
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Notes 411
(2000), 103–111; Joanne Cole, ‘‘De-Stressing the Workplace,’’ HR Focus 76:10 (1999), 1, 10–11; Robert
Leo, ‘‘Career Counseling Works for Employers Too,’’ HR Focus 76:9 (1999), 6.
26. ‘‘The Numbers Game,’’ Time, 142:21 (1993), 14–15.
27. Ann Morrison, The New Leaders: Guidelines on Leadership Diversity in America (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1992), p. 1.
28. Ibid., p. 7.
29. Arthur Sherman, George Bohlander, and Herbert Chruden, Managing Human Resources, 8th
ed. (Cincinnati, Oh.: South-Western Publishing Co., 1988), p. 226.
30. Warren Boroson and Linda Burgess, ‘‘Survivors’ Syndrome,’’ Across the Board 29:11 (1992),
41–45.
31. Gilmore, p. 10.
32. Morrison, p. 1.
33. ‘‘Boomers Delay Retirement, But They Won’t Wait Forever,’’ Business Wire, November 18,
2008.
34. ‘‘Companies with Strategic Leadership Development Programs Obtain Significant Business
Benefits,’’ Business Wire, September 19, 2007.
35. Shawn Fegley, 2006 Succession Planning: A Survey Report (Alexandria, Va.: Society for Human
Resource Management, 2006).
36. ‘‘Equaterra Finds HR Organizations Are Scrambling to Refine Roles to Sync with Turbulent
Economy and Shifting Corporate Strategy,’’ Business Wire, January 13, 2009,
37. ‘‘Succession Planning.’’ (2009). Partner’s Report 8:12, 10.
38. ‘‘Succession Planning Survey Finds and Ranks Key Leadership Qualities,’’ Principal’s Report 8:8
(2008), 1.
39. ‘‘Succession Planning Not Limited to the C-Suite,’’ HRMagazine 53:4 (2008), 16.
40. ‘‘World Business Forum Attendees Say Managing Change Is Toughest Workforce Challenge,’’
PR Newswire, September 24, 2008.
41. ‘‘Succession Planning Survey Finds and Ranks Key Leadership Qualities,’’ Principal’s Report 8:8
(2008), 1.
42. Principal’s Report, 1.
43. William Gentry, Lauren Harris, Becca Baker, and Jean Leslie, ‘‘Managerial Skills: What Has
Changed Since the Late 1980s,’’ Leadership and Organization Development Journal 29:2 (2008), 167.
44. See, for instance, Robert M. Fulmer, ‘‘Choose Tomorrow’s Leaders Today: Succession Planning
Grooms Firms for Success,’’ downloaded from http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/021/succession.html on July
19, 2004; W. Rothwell, ed., Effective Succession Management: Building Winning Systems for Identifying and
Developing Key Talent, 2nd ed. (Lexington, Mass.: The Center for Organizational Research [division of
Linkage, Inc.], 2004); ‘‘Succession Management: Filling the Leadership Pipeline,’’ Chief Executive, April
2004, 1, 4. See also all the surveys cited in notes 35 through 43.
45. M. Haire, ‘‘Approach to an Integrated Personnel Policy,’’ Industrial Relations, 1968, 107–117.
46. J. Stuller, ‘‘Why Not ‘Inplacement?’ ’’ Training 30:6 (1993), 37–44.
47. William J. Rothwell, H. C. Kazanas, and Darla Haines, ‘‘Issues and Practices in Management
Job Rotation Programs as Perceived by HRD Professionals,’’ Performance Improvement Quarterly 5:1
(1992), 49–69. (This article is the only existing research-based article on management job rotations that
the author can find.)
48. William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Go Beyond Replacing Executives and Manage Your Work and Values.’’
In D. Ulrich, L. Carter, M. Goldsmith, J. Bolt, and N. Smallwood, eds., The Change Champion’s Fieldgu-
ide (Waltham, Mass.: Best Practice Publications, 2003), pp. 192–204.
49. Matt Hennecke, ‘‘Toward the Change-Sensitive Organization,’’ Training, May 1991, 58.
American Management Association
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412 Notes
50. D. Ancona and D. Nadler, ‘‘Top Hats and Executive Tales: Designing the Senior Team,’’ Sloan
Management Review 3:1 (1989), 19–28.
51. Ken Dychtwald, Tamara Erickson, and Bob Morison, ‘‘It’s Time to Retire Retirement,’’ Harvard
Business Review, March 2004, downloaded from the online version on May 3, 2004. See also William
Rothwell, Harold Sterns, Diane Spokus, and Joel Reaser, Working Longer: New Strategies for Managing,
Training, and Retaining Older Employees (New York: Amacom, 2008).
Chapter 2
1. See William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Trends in Succession Management,’’ The Linkage, Inc. eNewsletter,
February 15, 2000, presented on the Web at www.linkageinc.com/newsletter26/research.htm.
2. See the now classic article, Michael Leibman, ‘‘Succession Management: The Next Generation of
Succession Planning,’’ Human Resource Planning 19:3 (1996), 16–29.
3. See the Web site of the World Future Society at http://www.wfs.org.
4. See Rituparna Banerjee, ‘‘Emerging Trends in Human Resource Management,’’ Chilibreeze.
Downloaded from http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/human-resources.asp on February 25,
2009.
5. William J. Rothwell, Robert K. Prescott, and Maria Taylor, Strategic Human Resource Leader:
How to Help Your Organization Manage the 6 Trends Affecting the Workforce (Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-
Black Publishing, 1998).
6. W. Rothwell, R. Prescott, and M. Taylor, Human Resource Transformation: Demonstrating Strate-
gic Leadership in the Face of Future Trends (San Francisco: Davies-Black, 2008).
7. P. Smith and D. Reinertsen, Developing Products in Half the Time (New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold, 1991).
8. See Jac Fitz-Enz, How to Measure Human Resources Management (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1984).
9. ‘‘The Aging Baby Boomers,’’ Workplace Visions, September–October 1996, found at www.shrm
.org/issues/0996wv01.htm.
10. ‘‘Cross-Generational Approaches,’’ Workforce Strategies 17:11 (1999), WS63–WS64.
11. Shari Caudron, ‘‘The Looming Leadership Crisis,’’ Workforce, September 1999, 72–79.
12. ‘‘The Aging Baby Boomers.’’
13. Peter Cappelli, ‘‘A Market-Driven Approach to Retaining Talent,’’ Harvard Business Review,
January–February 2000, 103–111; Joseph Dobrian, ‘‘Amenities Gain Ground as Recruiting/Retention
Tools,’’ HR Focus, November 1999, 11–12.
14. Charlene Marmer Solomon, ‘‘The Loyalty Factor,’’ Personnel Journal, September 1992, 52–62.
15. David L. Stum, ‘‘Five Ingredients for an Employee Retention Formula,’’ HR Focus, September
1998, S9–S10.
16. Lynn E. Densford, ‘‘Corporate Universities Add Value by Helping Recruit, Retain Talent,’’ Cor-
porate University Review 7:2 (1999), 8–12.
17. See, for instance, Thomas A. Stewart, ‘‘Have You Got What It Takes,’’ Fortune 140:7 (1999),
318–322.
18. Richard McDermott, ‘‘Why Information Technology Inspired but Cannot Deliver Knowledge
Management,’’ California Management Review 41:4 (1999), 103–117.
19. Dawn Anfuso, ‘‘Core Values Shape W. L. Gore’s Innovative Culture,’’ Workforce 78:3 (1999),
48–53; Donald Tosti, ‘‘Global Fluency,’’ Performance Improvement 38:2 (1999), 49–54.
20. William J. Rothwell and John Lindholm, ‘‘Competency Identification, Modelling and Assess-
American Management Association
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http://www.wfs.org
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www.shrm.org/issues/0996wv01.htm
www.shrm.org/issues/0996wv01.htm
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Notes 413
ment in the USA,’’ International Journal of Training and Development 3:2 (1999), 90–105. For quality
control in using competencies for assessment, see Harm Tillema, ‘‘Auditing Assessment Practices in
Organizations: Establishing Quality Criteria for Appraising Competencies,’’ International Journal of
Human Resources Development and Management 3:4 (2003): 359.
21. Rothwell, Prescott, and Taylor, Strategic Human Resource Leader.
22. Bradley Agle, ‘‘Understanding Research on Values in Business,’’ Business and Society 38:3
(1999), 326–387. See also K. Blanchard and M. O’Connor, Managing by Values (San Francisco: Berrett-
Koehler, 1997); Ken Hultman with Bill Gellerman, Balancing Individual and Organizational Values:
Walking the Tightrope to Success (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2002). The classic book on values is still, of
course, Milton Rokeach, The Nature of Human Values (New York: Free Press, 1973). See also Ben W.
Heineman, ‘‘Avoiding Integrity Land Mines,’’ Harvard Business Review 85:4 (2007), 100–108; Michael
Lee Stallard and Jason Pankau, ‘‘Strengthening Human Value in Organizational Cultures,’’ Leader to
Leader, Winter 2008, 18–23.
23. W. Davidson, C. Nemec, D. Worrell, and J. Lin, ‘‘Industrial Origin of CEOs in Outside Succes-
sion: Board Preference and Stockholder Reaction,’’ Journal of Management and Governance 6 (2002), 4.
24. Linda Bushrod, ‘‘Sorting Out Succession,’’ European Venture Capital Journal, February 1, 2004,
p. 1; Herbert Neubauer, ‘‘The Dynamics of Succession in Family Businesses in Western European Coun-
tries,’’ Family Business Review 16:4 (2003), 269–282; Slimane Haddadj, ‘‘Organization Change and the
Complexity of Succession: A Longitudinal Case Study from France,’’ Journal of Organizational Change
Management 15:2 (2003), 135–154; Richard Milne, ‘‘Health Scares Highlight Importance of Succession
Planning,’’ Financial Times, January 20, 2009, 18.
25. Wendi J. Everton, ‘‘Growing Your Company’s Leaders: How Great Organizations Use Succes-
sion Management to Sustain Competitive Advantage,’’ Academy of Management Executive 18:1 (February
2004), 137.
26. Sarah McBride, ‘‘Gray Area: In Corporate Asia, a Looming Crisis over Succession; As Empire
Founders Age, Many Fail to Lay Proper Plans; ‘You Want to Get Rid of Me’; Daesung’s Three Heads,’’
Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2003, A1. See also Margaret Littman, ‘‘Teaching the Tigers,’’ ABA Journal
94:11 (2008), 38–39.
27. Barry Came, ‘‘The Succession Question,’’ MacLean’s 112:8 (2003), 44–45. (However, admit-
tedly, this article is about national leadership succession rather than company succession.)
28. Matthew Bellingham and Dione Schick, ‘‘Succession Planning—Issues for New Zealand Char-
tered Accountants,’’ Chartered Accountants Journal of New Zealand 82:10 (2003), 24.
29. Will Hickey, ‘‘A Survey of MNC Succession Planning Effectiveness in China, Summer 2001,’’
Performance Improvement Quarterly 15:4 (2002), 20. The flipside is also true: Organizations with effective
talent and succession programs outperform those without on four key measures: return on assets, return
on equity, net profit margin, and earnings before interest. See Bill Leisy and N. S. Rajan, ‘‘Tackling
Global Talent Management,’’ Workspan 52:3 (2009), 40.
30. See William J. Rothwell, James Alexander, and Mark Bernhard, eds., Cases in Government Suc-
cession Planning: Action-Oriented Strategies for Public-Sector Human Capital Management, Workforce
Planning, Succession Planning, and Talent Management (Amherst, Mass.: Human Resource Development
Press, 2008).
31. William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Start Assessing Retiring University Officials at Your University,’’ HR on
Campus 5:8 (2002), 5.
32. James Olan Hutcheson, ‘‘Triple Header: For Succession Planning to Succeed, Retiring Business
Owners Need Life-Planning Skills as Well as Financial Advice,’’ Financial Planning, April 1, 2004, 1; Khai
Sheang Lee, Guan Hua Lim, and Wei Shi Lim, ‘‘Family Business Succession: Appropriation Risk and
Choice of Successor,’’ Academy of Management Review 28:4 (October 2003), 657; William S. White,
American Management Association
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414 Notes
Timothy D. Krinke, and David L. Geller, ‘‘Family Business Succession Planning: Devising an Overall
Strategy,’’ Journal of Financial Service Professionals 58:3 (2004), 67–86.
33. William S. White, Timothy D. Krinke, and David L. Geller, ‘‘Family Business Succession Plan-
ning: Devising an Overall Strategy,’’ Journal of Financial Service Professionals 58:3 (2004), 67.
34. D. Carey and D. Ogden, CEO Succession: A Window on How Boards Can Get It Right When
Choosing a New Chief Executive (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).
35. A classic article that summarizes much succession research is I. Kesner and T. Sebora, ‘‘Execu-
tive Succession: Past, Present and Future,’’ Journal of Management 20:2 (1994), 327–372.
36. S. Haddadj, ‘‘Organization Change and the Complexity of Succession: A Longitudinal Case
Study from France,’’ Journal of Organizational Change Management 16:2 (2003), 135–153.
37. ‘‘Global CEO Turnover at Record Highs,’’ Financial Executive 19:5 (2003), 10.
38. Michals, Gretchen, ‘‘Turnover Surprise,’’ downloaded from http://www.directorship.com/turn-
over-surprise on February 17, 2009.
39. ‘‘Why Doesn’t CEO Succession Work?’’ downloaded from http://www.directorship.com/why-
doesn-t-ceo-succession-wor in 2006.
40. D. Gabriel, ‘‘Lost Leaders,’’ Telephony 243:10 (2002), 44.
41. ‘‘PPG Industries Speeds, Refines Succession Preparation Process,’’ Workforce Strategies 17:10
(1999), WS57–WS58.
42. Angela Hills, ‘‘Succession Planning—Or Smart Talent Management?’’ Industrial and Commer-
cial Training 41:1 (2009), 3.
Chapter 3
1. ‘‘Succession Planning Not Limited to the C-Suite,’’ HR Magazine 53:4 (2008), 16.
2. Robert Gandossy and Nidhi Verma, ‘‘Passing the Torch of Leadership,’’ Leader to Leader 40
(Spring 2006), 37–44.
3. James P. Rubin, The CEO’s Role in Talent Management: How Top Executives from Ten Countries
Are Nurturing the Leaders of Tomorrow (New York: The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2006).
4. Ann Pace, ‘‘The Slippery Slope of Leadership,’’ T�D 62:10 (2008), 10–11.
5. ‘‘Succession Planning: Planning to Fail or Failing to Plan?’’ Resourcing, June 2008, 12.
6. Ibid.
7. This paragraph is based on information in C. Derr, C. Jones, and E. Toomey, ‘‘Managing High-
Potential Employees: Current Practices in Thirty-Three U.S. Corporations,’’ Human Resource Manage-
ment 27:3 (1988), 278. For more recent information, see also William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas,
Building In-House Leadership and Management Development Programs (Westport, Conn.: Quorum,
1999), and David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell, The Competency Toolkit, 2 vols. (Amherst, Mass.:
HRD Press, 2000). For more recent thinking on high-potential workers, see Morgan W. McCall Jr., High
Flyers: Developing the Next Generation of Leaders (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1998) and
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008).
8. See William J. Rothwell, The Action Learning Guidebook: A Real-Time Strategy for Problem-
Solving, Training Design, and Employee Development (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 1999).
9. Bruce Tulgan, ‘‘Superstars Need Managers,’’ HRMagazine 52:6 (2007), 135–136, 139.
10. See S. Cunningham, ‘‘Coaching Today’s Executive,’’ Public Utilities Fortnightly 128:2 (1991),
22–25; Steven J. Stowell and Matt Starcevich, The Coach: Creating Partnerships for a Competitive Edge
(Salt Lake City, Utah: Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness, 1987).
American Management Association
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Notes 415
11. Charles E. Watson, Management Development Through Training (Reading, Mass.: Addison-
Wesley, 1979).
12. Manuel London and Stephen A. Stumpf, Managing Careers (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley,
1982), p. 274.
13. James E. McElwain, ‘‘Succession Plans Designed to Manage Change,’’ HR Magazine 36:2 (1991),
67.
14. James Fraze, ‘‘Succession Planning Should Be a Priority for HR Professionals,’’ Resource, June
1988, 4.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Thomas North Gilmore, Making a Leadership Change: How Organizations Can Handle Leader-
ship Transitions Successfully (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988), p. 10.
19. Fraze, p. 4.
20. David W. Rhodes, ‘‘Succession Planning—Overweight and Underperforming,’’ Journal of Busi-
ness Strategy 9:6 (1988), 62.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
23. See Roland Sullivan, Linda Fairburn, and William J. Rothwell, ‘‘The Whole System Transforma-
tion Conference: Fast Change for the 21st Century.’’ In S. Herman, ed., Rewiring Organizations for the
Networked Economy: Organizing, Managing, and Leading in the Information Age (San Francisco: Pfeiffer,
2002), p. 117.
24. See Jane Magruder Watkins and Bernard J. Mohr, Appreciative Inquiry: Change at the Speed of
Imagination (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2001).
25. See Diana Whitney, Amanda Trosten-Bloom, and David Cooperrider, The Power of Appreciative
Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2003).
Chapter 4
1. See R. White, ‘‘Motivation Reconsidered: The Concept of Competence,’’ Psychological Review 66
(1959), 279–333.
2. David C. McClelland, ‘‘Testing for Competence Rather Than for ‘Intelligence,’ ’’ American Psy-
chologist, January 1973, 1–14.
3. See J. C. Flanagan, ‘‘The Critical Incident Technique,’’ Psychological Bulletin, April 1954, 327–
358; J. Hayes, ‘‘A New Look at Managerial Competence: The AMA Model for Worthy Performance,’’
Management Review, November 1979, 2–3; Patricia McLagan, ‘‘Competency Models,’’ Training and De-
velopment Journal, December 1980, 23; L. Spencer and S. Spencer, Competence at Work: Models for
Superior Performance (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 1993).
4. A. R. Boyatzis, The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective Performance (Hoboken, N.J.: John
Wiley & Sons, 1982), pp. 20–21.
5. David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell, The Competency Toolkit, 2 vols. (Amherst, Mass.:
HRD Press, 2000).
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. See David D. Dubois, The Executive’s Guide to Competency-Based Performance Improvement (Am-
herst, Mass.: HRD Press, 1996); D. D. Dubois, ed., The Competency Case Book: Twelve Studies in Compe-
American Management Association
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416 Notes
tency-Based Performance Improvement (Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press and the International Society for
Performance Improvement, 1998); David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell, The Competency Toolkit;
David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell, Competency-Based Human Resource Management (Palo Alto,
Calif.: Davies-Black, 2004); Jeffrey S. Shippman, Ronald A. Ash, Linda Carr, Beryl Hesketh, Kenneth
Pearlman, Mariangela Battista, Lorraine D. Eyde, Jerry Kehoe, Erich Prien, and Juan Sanchez, ‘‘The
Practice of Competency Modeling,’’ Personnel Psychology 53:3 (2000), 703–740.
9. T. R. Athey and M. S. Orth, ‘‘Emerging Competency Methods for the Future,’’ Human Resource
Management 38:3 (1999), 215–226. See also Jay A. Conger and Douglas A. Ready, ‘‘Rethinking Leader-
ship Competencies,’’ Leader to Leader, Spring 2004, 41–47.
10. David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell, Competency-Based Human Resource Management
(Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-Black, 2004).
11. Danny G. Langdon and Anne F. Marrelli, ‘‘A New Model for Systematic Competency Identifi-
cation,’’ Performance Improvement 41:4 (2002), 14–21. If you want to see a case study online for develop-
ing a competency model (but on a secure site open only to ASTD members), check out Karen Elizabeth
Tabet, ‘‘Implementing a Competency Model: A Short Case Study,’’ In Practice, 2004.
12. See, for instance, Susan H. Gebelein, Successful Manager’s Handbook: Development Suggestions
for Today’s Managers, 6th ed. (Minneapolis: Epredix, 2001).
13. Bradley Agle, ‘‘Understanding Research on Values in Business,’’ Business & Society, September
1999, 326–387.
14. W. G. Lee, ‘‘A Conversation with Herb Kelleher,’’ Organizational Dynamics 23:2 (1994), 64–74.
15. A. Farnham, ‘‘State Your Values, Hold the Hot Air,’’ Fortune, August 1993, 117–124.
16. See, for instance, William J. Pfeiffer, ed., The Encyclopedia of Group Activities (San Diego: Uni-
versity Associates, 1989) and Barbara Singer and Kathleen Von Buren, Work Values: Facilitation Guide
for Managers, Teams & Trainers (Durango, Col.: Self-Management Institute, 1995).
17. Michael Hickins, ‘‘A Day at the Races,’’ Management Review 88:5 (1999), 56–61.
18. W. Rothwell, ‘‘Go Beyond Replacing Executives and Manage Your Work and Values,’’ in D.
Ulrich, L. Carter, M. Goldsmith, J. Bolt, and N. Smallwood, eds., The Change Champion’s Fieldguide
(Waltham, Mass.: Best Practice Publications, 2003), pp. 192–204.
19. ‘‘Quick Study: Freezing Months for Talent Management; Green Investments; Blind Eye Turned
to Corporate Misconduct,’’ PR News, January 5, 2009.
20. Anne Federwisch, ‘‘Assessing for Ethics (2006),’’ downloaded from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/
practicing/focusareas/business/assessing.html on February 27, 2009.
21. ‘‘Performance Reviews Often Skip Ethics (2008),’’ downloaded from http://ethics.org/about-
erc/press-releases.asp?aid�1150 on February 27, 2009.
Chapter 5
1. ‘‘World Business Forum Attendees Say Managing Change Is Toughest Workforce Challenge,’’
PR Newswire, September 24, 2008.
2. Jac Fitz-enz, How to Measure Human Resources Management (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984),
p. 48. See also Jac Fitz-enz, The ROI of Human Capital (New York: Amacom, 2000).
3. Fitz-Enz, How to Measure Human Resources Management, p. 48.
4. Particularly good articles on this topic are Paul Brauchle, ‘‘Costing Out the Value of Training,’’
Technical and Skills Training 3:4 (1992), 35–40; J. Hassett, ‘‘Simplifying ROI,’’ Training, September 1992;
J. Phillips, ‘‘Measuring the Return on HRD,’’ Employment Relations Today, August 1991.
5. For example, see especially the classic but dated C. Derr, C. Jones, and E. Toomey, ‘‘Managing
American Management Association
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http://ethics.org/abouterc/press-releases.asp?aid=1150
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Notes 417
High-Potential Employees: Current Practices in Thirty-Three U.S. Corporations,’’ Human Resource
Management 27:3 (1988), 273–290; O. Esman, ‘‘Succession Planning in Small and Medium-Sized Corpo-
rations,’’ HR Horizons 91:103 (1991), 15–19; The Identification and Development of High Potential Man-
agers (Palatine, Ill.: Executive Knowledgeworks, 1987); Meg Kerr, Succession Planning in America’s
Corporations (Palatine, Ill.: Anthony J. Fresina and Associates and Executive Knowledgeworks, 1987);
and E. Zajac, ‘‘CEO Selection, Succession, Compensation and Firm Performance: A Theoretical Integra-
tion and Empirical Analysis,’’ Strategic Management Journal 11:3 (1990), 217–230.
6. P. Linkow, ‘‘HRD at the Roots of Corporate Strategy,’’ Training and Development Journal 39:5
(1985), 85–87; William J. Rothwell, ed., In Action: Linking HRD and Organizational Strategy (Alexandria,
Va.: American Society for Training and Development, 1998).
7. Karen A. Golden and Vasudevan Ramanujam, ‘‘Between a Dream and a Nightmare: On the
Integration of the Human Resource Management and Strategic Business Planning Processes,’’ Human
Resource Management 24:4 (1985), 429.
8. William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, The Strategic Development of Talent (Amherst, Mass.:
HRD Press, 2003).
9. See William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, ‘‘Training: Key to Strategic Management,’’ Perform-
ance Improvement Quarterly 3:1 (1990), 42–56, and William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, Planning
and Managing Human Resources: Strategic Planning for Personnel Management, 2nd ed. (Amherst, Mass.:
HRD Press, 2003).
10. Robert C. Camp, Benchmarking: The Search for Industry Best Practices That Lead to Superior
Performance (Milwaukee, Wisc.: Quality Press/American Society for Quality Control; White Plains, N.Y.:
Quality Resources, 1989), p. 3. See also Michael J. Spendolini, The Benchmarking Book (New York:
Amacom, 1992).
11. Camp, p. 17.
12. Diane Dormant, ‘‘The ABCDs of Managing Change,’’ in M. Smith, ed., Introduction to Perform-
ance Technology (Washington, D.C.: National Society for Performance and Instruction, 1986), pp. 238–
256.
13. Ibid., p. 239.
14. Ibid., p. 241.
15. Jack Welch and John A. Byrne, Jack: Straight from the Gut (New York: Warner Business Books,
2001).
16. ‘‘Business: The King Lear Syndrome: Succession Planning,’’ The Economist 369:8354 (2003), 75.
17. William J. Rothwell, The Manager’s Guide to Maximizing Employee Potential: Quick and Easy
Strategies to Develop Talent Every Day (New York: Amacom, 2009).
18. Chris Musselwhite, ‘‘Three Ways to Build Successful Manager–Employee Relationships,’’ Talent
Management 4:6 (2008), 36–38.
19. Ibid.
Chapter 6
1. James L. Gibson, John M. Ivancevich, and James H. Donnelly Jr., Organizations: Behavior, Struc-
ture, Processes, 5th ed. (Plano, Tex.: Business Publications, 1985), p. 280.
2. Walter R. Mahler and Stephen J. Drotter, The Succession Planning Handbook for the Chief Execu-
tive (Midland Park, N.J.: Mahler Publishing, 1986), p. 8.
3. ‘‘Choosing Your Successor,’’ Chief Executive Magazine, May–June 1988, 48–63; Jeffrey Sonnen-
feld, The Hero’s Farewell: What Happens When CEOs Retire (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988);
American Management Association
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418 Notes
Richard F. Vancil, Passing the Baton: Managing the Process of CEO Succession (Boston: Harvard Business
School Press, 1987); E. Zajac, ‘‘CEO Selection, Succession, Compensation and Firm Performance: A
Theoretical Integration and Empirical Analysis,’’ Strategic Management Journal 11:3 (1990), 217–230. See
also D. Carey and D. Ogden, CEO Succession: A Window on How Boards Can Get It Right When Choosing
a New Chief Executive (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000). See also Jennifer Pellet, ‘‘What Can
CEOs Do to Develop Leaders?’’ Chief Executive, June 2008, 50–55, and Eric Hanson, ‘‘The Essential Role
of Boards in Executive Succession,’’ Trustee, 61:5 (2008), 22–23.
4. William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Social Relationship Succession Planning: A Neglected but Important
Issue?’’ Asian Quality, 2:4 (2007), 34–36.
5. ‘‘Global CEO Turnover at Record Highs,’’ Financial Executive 19:5 (2003), 10.
6. Ibid.
Chapter 7
1. ‘‘Two-Thirds of Organizations Expect to Retain and Engage Workforce in 2009,’’ PR Newswire,
December 30, 2008.
2. Allen Kraut, Patricia Pedigo, Douglas McKenna, and Marvin Dunnette, ‘‘The Role of the Man-
ager: What’s Really Important in Different Management Jobs,’’ Academy of Management Executive 3:4
(1989), 287.
3. See, for instance, R. Smither, ‘‘The Return of the Authoritarian Manager,’’ Training 28:11 (1991),
40–44.
4. William J. Rothwell, The Manager’s Guide to Maximizing Employee Potential: Quick and Easy
Strategies to Develop Talent Every Day (New York: Amacom, 2009).
Chapter 8
1. M. Pastin, ‘‘The Fallacy of Long-Range Thinking,’’ Training 23:5 (1986), 47–53.
2. B. Staw, ‘‘Knee-Deep in the Big Muddy,’’ Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 16:1
(1976), 27–44.
3. Karen Stephenson and Valdis Krebs, ‘‘A More Accurate Way to Measure Diversity,’’ Personnel
Journal 72:10 (1993), 66–72, 74.
4. Rosabeth Moss Kanter, The Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books, 1977),
p. 48.
5. Ibid.
6. Glenn E. Baker, A. Grubbs, and Thomas Ahern, ‘‘Triangulation: Strengthening Your Best
Guess,’’ Performance Improvement Quarterly 3:3 (1990), 27–35.
7. Arthur W. Sherman Jr., George W. Bohlander, and Herbert Chruden, Managing Human Re-
sources, 8th ed. (Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing Co., 1988), pp. 95–96.
8. For one excellent approach, see Roger J. Plachy and Sandra J. Plachy, Results-Oriented Job De-
scriptions (New York: Amacom, 1993). See also Model Job Descriptions for Business (N.p.: Local Govern-
ment Institute, 1997).
9. W. Barlow and E. Hane, ‘‘A Practical Guide to the Americans with Disabilities Act,’’ Personnel
Journal 71:6 (1992), 54.
American Management Association
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Notes 419
10. Kenneth E. Carlisle, Analyzing Jobs and Tasks (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Educational Technol-
ogy Publications, 1986), p. 5.
11. See Barlow and Hane, ‘‘A Practical Guide,’’ pp. 53–60; M. Chalker, ‘‘Tooling Up for ADA,’’ HR
Magazine, December 1991, 61–63, 65; and J. Kohl and P. Greenlaw, ‘‘The Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990: Implications for Managers,’’ Sloan Management Review 33:3 (1992), 87–90.
12. See, for instance, Roger J. Plachy and Sandra J. Plachy, Results-Oriented Job Descriptions (New
York: Amacom, 1993).
13. William J. Rothwell, ‘‘HRD and the Americans with Disabilities Act,’’ Training and Development
45:8 (1991), 45–47.
14. Richard Boyatzis, The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective Performance (Hoboken, N.J.:
John Wiley & Sons, 1982).
15. David Dubois, Competency-Based Performance Improvement: A Strategy for Organizational
Change (Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 1993), p. 9. More recent treatments of competency modeling can
be found in Todd Harris, ‘‘Using Personality Data to Identify and Develop High-Potential Leaders,’’
Talent Management, 4:1 (2008), 44–47; Ernie Kahane, ‘‘Competency Management: Cracking the Code
for Organizational Impact,’’ T�D, 62:5 (2008), 70–76; Warren Krompf, ‘‘Identify Core Competencies
for Job Success,’’ InfoLine, Stock No. 250712, 2007; Mike Morrison, ‘‘The Very Model of a Modern
Senior Manager,’’ Harvard Business Review 85:1 (2007), 27–39.
16. Ibid.
17. R. Norton, Dacum Handbook (Columbus, Ohio: National Center for Research in Vocational
Education, Ohio State University, 1985). See also D. Faber, E. Fangman, and J. Low, ‘‘DACUM: A
Collaborative Tool for Workforce Development,’’ Journal of Studies in Technical Careers 13:2 (1991),
145–159.
18. Ibid., pp. 1–2.
19. See A. Osborn, Applied Imagination, 3rd ed. (New York: Scribner, 1963); A. Van Gundy, Tech-
niques of Structured Problem Solving (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981); Michael Michalko,
Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Business Creativity for the 90s (Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed Press, 1991); Dario
Nardi, Multiple Intelligences and Personality Type: Tools and Strategies for Developing Human Potential
(Huntington Beach, Calif.: Telos Publications, 2001); Pamela Meyer, Quantum Creativity (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2000).
20. A. Van Gundy, Techniques of Structured Problem Solving.
21. G. Huet-Cox, T. M. Nielsen, and E. Sundstrom, ‘‘Get the Most from 360-Degree Feedback: Put
It on the Internet,’’ HR Magazine 44:5 (1999), 92–103; ‘‘Finding Leaders: How Ameritech Feeds Its
Pipeline,’’ Training Directors’ Forum Newsletter 15:5 (1999), 4.
22. Leanne Atwater and David Waldman, ‘‘Accountability in 360-Degree Feedback,’’ HR Magazine
43:6 (1998), 96–104. The article asserts that over 90 percent of Fortune 1000 companies use some form
of multisource assessment. For more information on full-circle, multirater assessment, see David D.
Dubois and William J. Rothwell, The Competency Toolkit, 2 vols. (Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 2000);
Keith Morical, ‘‘A Product Review: 360 Assessments,’’ Training and Development 53:4 (1999), 43–47;
Kenneth Nowack, Jeanne Hartley, and William Bradley, ‘‘How to Evaluate Your 360-Feedback Efforts,’’
Training and Development 53:4 (1999), 48–53; David Waldman and David E. Bowen, ‘‘The Acceptability
of 360-Degree Appraisals: A Customer–Supplier Relationship Perspective,’’ Human Resource Manage-
ment 37:2 (1998), 117–129. Other recent writings on 360-degree assessment are Anne Freedman, ‘‘The
Evolution of 360s,’’ Human Resource Executive 16:17 (2002), 47–51; Marnie E. Green, ‘‘Ensuring the
Organization’s Future: A Leadership Development Case Study,’’ Public Personnel Management 31:4
(2002), 431–439; Fred Luthans and Suzanne J. Peterson, ‘‘360-Degree Feedback with Systematic Coach-
ing: Empirical Analysis Suggests a Winning Combination,’’ Human Resource Management 42:3 (2003),
American Management Association
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420 Notes
243–256; Bruce Pfau and Ira Kay, ‘‘Does 360-Degree Feedback Negatively Affect Company Perform-
ance?’’ HR Magazine 47:6 (2002), 54–59; Scott Wimer, ‘‘The Dark Side of 360-Degree Feedback,’’ T�D
56:9 (2002), 37–42.
23. See, for instance, Paul J. Taylor and Jon L. Pierce, ‘‘Effects of Introducing a Performance Man-
agement System on Employees’ Subsequent Attitudes and Effort,’’ Public Personnel Management 28:3
(1999), 423–452.
24. See, for instance, Performance Appraisals: The Ongoing Legal Nightmare (Ramsey, N.J.: Alexan-
der Hamilton Institute, 1993).
25. Mary Walton, The Deming Management Method (New York: Perigee Books, 1986), p. 91.
26. See, for instance, S. Cunningham, ‘‘Coaching Today’s Executive,’’ Public Utilities Fortnightly
128:2 (1991), 22–25; David L. Dotlich and Peter C. Cairo, Action Coaching: How to Leverage Individual
Performance for Company Success (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999); Steven J. Stowell and Matt Starcev-
ich, The Coach: Creating Partnerships for a Competitive Edge (Salt Lake City: Center for Management and
Organization Effectiveness, 1987).
27. BLR Encyclopedia of Performance Appraisal (Madison, Conn.: Business and Legal Reports, 1985).
See also Richard C. Grote, The Complete Guide to Performance Appraisal (New York: Amacom, 1996).
28. William C. Byham, Audrey B. Smith, and Matthew J. Paese, Grow Your Own Leaders: How to
Identify, Develop, and Retain Leadership Talent (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press, 2002).
29. Matthew J. Paese, ‘‘Grow Your Own Leaders,’’ Executive Excellence 19:7 (2002), 6.
30. David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell, Competency-Based Human Resource Management
(Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-Black, 2004).
31. Paul Kaihla, ‘‘Getting Inside the Boss’s Head,’’ Business 2.0 4:10 (2003), 49. See also the more
recent Todd Harris, ‘‘Using Personality Data to Identify and Develop High-Potential Leaders,’’ Talent
Management 4:1 (2008), 44–47.
32. Scott Highhouse, ‘‘Assessing the Candidate as a Whole: A Historical and Critical Analysis of
Individual Psychological Assessment for Personnel Decision-Making,’’ Personnel Psychology 55:2 (2002),
363–396.
Chapter 9
1. See William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, Planning and Managing Human Resources: Strategic
Planning for Personnel Management, 2nd ed. (Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 2003).
2. William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, ‘‘Developing Management Employees to Cope with the
Moving Target Effect,’’ Performance and Instruction 32:8 (1993), 1–5.
3. See, for instance, Newman S. Peery Jr., and Mahmoud Salem, ‘‘Strategic Management of Emerg-
ing Human Resource Issues,’’ Human Resource Development Quarterly 4:1 (1993), 81–95; Raynold A.
Svenson and Monica J. Rinderer, The Training and Development Strategic Plan Workbook (Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1992). For works specifically on environmental scanning, see F. Aguilar, Scan-
ning the Business Environment (New York: Macmillan, 1967); Patrick Callan, ed., Environmental Scanning
for Strategic Leadership (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986); L. Fahey, W. King, and V. Narayanan, ‘‘Envi-
ronmental Scanning and Forecasting in Strategic Planning—The State of the Art,’’ Long Range Planning
14:1 (1981), 32–39; R. Heath and Associates, Strategic Issues Management: How Organizations Influence
and Respond to Public Interests and Policies (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1988).
4. Harry Levinson, Organizational Diagnosis (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1972);
A. O. Manzini, Organizational Diagnosis (New York: Amacom, 1988); Marvin Weisbord, Organizational
Diagnosis: A Workbook of Theory and Practice (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1978); Michael I. Har-
rison and Arie Shirom, Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment: Bridging Theory and Practice (Thousand
American Management Association
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Notes 421
Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 1998); Michael I. Harrison, Diagnosing Organizations: Methods, Models, and Processes
(Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2004).
5. This is an issue of classic debate: Does structure affect strategy, or does strategy affect structure?
The first discussion appears in A. Chandler, Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of American
Industrial Enterprise (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1962). Other authors are not sure that strategy
always affects structure. See, for instance, J. Galbraith and D. Nathanson, ‘‘The Role of Organizational
Structure and Process in Strategy Implementation.’’ In D. Schendel and C. Hofer, eds., Strategic Manage-
ment (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1979).
6. See Kees Van Der Heijden, Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation (Hoboken, N.J.: John
Wiley & Sons, 1996), and William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, The Strategic Development of Talent
(Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 2003).
7. See, for instance, the classic article by J. Wissema, A. Brand, and H. Van Der Pol, ‘‘The Incorpo-
ration of Management Development in Strategic Management,’’ Strategic Management Journal 2 (1981),
361–377.
8. See remarks in Larry Davis and E. McCallon, Planning, Conducting, Evaluating Workshops (Aus-
tin, Tex.: Learning Concepts, 1974).
9. Rothwell and Kazanas, ‘‘Developing Management Employees,’’ pp. 1–5.
10. See Rothwell and Kazanas, Planning and Managing Human Resources.
11. Melvin Sorcher, Predicting Executive Success: What It Takes to Make It into Senior Management
(Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 1985), p. 2.
12. William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, Building In-House Leadership and Management Develop-
ment Programs (Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books, 1999); Robert Cecil and William J. Rothwell, Next
Generation Management Development: The Complete Guide and Resource (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2007).
13. Ibid.
14. See the classic study: E. Lindsey, V. Homes, and M. McCall, Key Events in Executives’ Lives
(Greensboro, N.C.: Center for Creative Leadership, 1987).
15. This approach is described at length in George S. Odiorne, Strategic Management of Human
Resources: A Portfolio Approach (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984). Teachers have also been advised to
develop professional portfolios of work samples, and advice to them can be transferred to businesspeo-
ple. See Dorothy M. Campbell, Pamela Bondi Cignetti, Beverly J. Melenyzer, Diane H. Nettles, and
Richard M. Wyman, How to Develop a Professional Portfolio: A Manual for Teachers, 4th ed. (Boston:
Allyn & Bacon, 2006).
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Rose Mary Wentling, ‘‘Women in Middle Management: Their Career Development and Aspira-
tions,’’ Business Horizons, January–February 1992, 47–54. See also Patrick Kulesa, ‘‘Engaging Leaders on
a Gender Level,’’ Chief Learning Officer 6:2 (2007), 52–55, and Constance Helfat, Dawn Harris, and Paul
Wolfson, ‘‘The Pipeline to the Top: Women and Men in the Top Executive Ranks of U.S. Corporations,’’
Academy of Management Perspectives 20:4 (2006), 42–64.
21. ‘‘Assessment Centres Show Signs of Growth,’’ Personnel Today (February 24, 2004), p. 47.
22. Cam Caldwell, George C. Thornton III, and Melissa L Gruys. ‘‘Ten Classic Assessment Center
Errors: Challenges to Selection Validity.’’ Public Personnel Management 32:1 (2003), 73–88.
23. For more on assessment centers, see International Task Force on Assessment Center Guidelines,
‘‘Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Assessment Center Operations: International Task Force on
Assessment Center Guidelines,’’ Public Personnel Management 29:3 (2000), 315–331; P. G. Jansen and
American Management Association
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422 Notes
B. A. M. Stoop, ‘‘The Dynamics of Assessment Center Validity: Results of a 7-Year Study,’’ Journal of
Applied Psychology 86:4 (2001), 741–753; G. C. Thornton, Assessment Centers in Human Resource Man-
agement (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1992); A. Tziner, S. Ronen, and D. Hacohen, ‘‘A Four-Year
Validation Study of an Assessment Center in a Financial Corporation,’’ Journal of Organizational Behav-
ior 14 (1993), 225–237. Recent books on the topic include Tina Lewis Rowe, A Preparation Guide for the
Assessment Center Method (Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas Publisher, 2006); Ian Taylor, A Practical
Guide to Assessment Centres and Selection Methods: Measuring Competency for Recruitment and Develop-
ment (London: Kogan Page, 2007); George C. Thornton III and Deborah E. Rupp, Assessment Centers in
Human Resource Management: Strategies for Prediction, Diagnosis, and Development (Mahwah, N.J.: Law-
rence Erlbaum Associates, 2005).
24. M. Burbridge, ‘‘Assessing Potential,’’ Training Journal, August 2008, 39–43.
25. M. Carter, ‘‘How to Assess Potential for Succession Planning and Development,’’ November
17, 2007, downloaded from http://www.missionmindedmanagement.com/how-to-assess-potential-for-
succession-planning-and-development) on January 29, 2009.
26. Robert Kaplan, ‘‘Reaching Your Potential,’’ Harvard Business Review 86:7–8 (2008), 45–49.
Chapter 10
1. Walter R. Mahler and Stephen J. Drotter, The Succession Planning Handbook for the Chief Execu-
tive (Midland Park, N.J.: Mahler Publishing Co., 1986).
2. Peter F. Drucker, ‘‘How to Make People Decisions,’’ Harvard Business Review 63:4 (1985), 22–26.
3. Lawrence S. Kleiman and Kimberly J. Clark, ‘‘User’s Satisfaction with Job Posting,’’ Personnel
Administrator 29:9 (1984), 104–108.
4. Lawrence S. Kleiman and Kimberly J. Clark, ‘‘An Effective Job Posting System,’’ Personnel Journal
63:2 (1984), 20–25.
5. Malcolm Knowles, Using Learning Contracts: Practical Approaches to Individualizing and Structur-
ing Learning (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986), pp. 28–32.
6. R. Fritz, Personal Performance Contracts: The Key to Job Success (Los Altos, Calif.: Crisp, 1987).
7. Arthur X. Deegan II, Succession Planning: Key to Corporate Excellence (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-
Interscience, 1986), p. 167.
8. Robert F. Mager, Preparing Instructional Objectives, 2nd ed. (Belmont, Calif.: Lear-Siegler, 1975).
9. M. Lombardo and R. Eichinger, Eighty-Eight Assignments for Development in Place: Enhancing
the Developmental Challenge of Existing Jobs (Greensboro, N.C.: Center for Creative Leadership, 1989).
10. A. Huczynski, Encyclopedia of Management Development Methods (London: Gower, 1983).
11. See, for instance, David Day and Patricia O’Conner, ‘‘Getting to the Source: Four Perspectives
on Leadership,’’ Leadership in Action 26:5 (2006), 7–9, 22; Ed Frauenheim, ‘‘A Leader in Leadership,’’
Workforce Management 86:10 (2007), 20–23; and Paul R. Yost and Mary Mannion Plunkett, ‘‘Turn
Business Strategy Into Leadership Development,’’ T � D 56:3 (2002), 48–51.
12. See, for instance, Robert Cecil and William J. Rothwell, Next Generation Management Develop-
ment: The Complete Guide and Resource (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2007); Joseph Kornick, ‘‘Jack Welch: A
Legacy of Leadership,’’ Training 43:5 (2006), 20–24; William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, Building In-
House Leadership and Management Development Programs (Westport, Conn.: Quorum, 1999); Marshall
Tarley, ‘‘Leadership Development for Small Organizations,’’ T�D 56:3 (2002), 52–55; Ben Warden,
‘‘How Personal Is Your Leadership Development?’’ Chief Learning Officer 7:1 (2008), 42–45.
13. Maryse Dubouloy, ‘‘The Transitional Space and Self-Recovery: A Psychoanalytical Approach
to High-Potential Managers’ Training,’’ Human Relations 57:4 (2004), 467–496; ‘‘A Formal Coaching
American Management Association
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How to Assess Potential for Succession Planning and Development
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Notes 423
Program,’’ Sales and Marketing Management, 156:7 (2004), 14; Stephen Hrop, ‘‘Coaching Across Cul-
tures: New Tools for Leveraging National, Corporate, and Professional Differences,’’ Personnel Psychology
57:1 (2004), 220–223; Leigh Rivenbark, ‘‘Adaptive Coaching,’’ HR Magazine 49:5 (2004), 128–129; Mark
Rotella, Sarah F Gold, Lynn Andriani, Michael Scharf, and Emily Chenoweth, ‘‘Leverage Your Best, Ditch
the Rest: The Coaching Secrets Top Executives Depend On,’’ Publishers Weekly 251:20 (2004), 45.
14. Chris Bones, ‘‘Coaching? It’s What Managers Are for,’’ Human Resources, June 2004, 14.
15. James M. Hunt and Joseph R. Weintraub, The Coaching Manager: Developing Top Talent in
Business (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2002).
16. See the International Coach Federation (http://www.coachfederation.org/about-icf/icf-leader
ship/global-committee-members/) and an ERIC Web site with a list of organizations available, accessed
at http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9212/coaching.htm on July 17, 2004.
17. See, for instance, the International Coaching Federation
18. Heather Johnson, ‘‘The Ins and Outs of Executive Coaching,’’ Training 41:5 (2004), 36–41.
19. See, for instance, the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches at http://www.wabccoaches
.com.
20. Edgar Schein, Process Consultation Revisited: Building the Helping Relationship (Reading, Mass.:
Addison-Wesley, 1998).
21. S. J. Armstrong, C. W. Allinson, and J. Hayes, ‘‘Formal Mentoring Systems: An Examination of
the Effects of Mentor/Protégé Cognitive Styles on the Mentoring Process,’’ Journal of Management Stud-
ies 39 (December 2002), 1111–1137; N. Bozionelos, ‘‘Mentoring Provided: Relation to Mentor’s Career
Success, Personality, and Mentoring Received,’’ Journal of Vocational Behavior 64 (February 2004),
24–46; Mark Brenner, ‘‘Mentoring’s Role in Succession Planning,’’ Talent Management 4:5(2008), 36–39;
C. Conway, Strategies for Mentoring: A Blueprint for Successful Organizational Development (Hoboken,
N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 1998); V. M. Godshalk and J. J. Sosik, ‘‘Does Mentor-Protégé Agreement on
Mentor Leadership Behavior Influence the Quality of a Mentoring Relationship?’’ Group and Organiza-
tion Management 25 (September 2000), 291–317; B. A. Hamilton and T. A. Scandura, ‘‘E-Mentoring:
Implications for Organizational Learning and Development in a Wired World,’’ Organizational Dynamics
31:4 (2003), 388–402. See also Mark Brenner, ‘‘Mentoring’s Role in Succession Planning,’’ Talent Man-
agement 4:5 (2008), 36–39, and Ann Pace, ‘‘The Slippery Slope of Leadership,’’ T�D 62:10 (2008),
10–11.
22. Reg Revans, Developing Effective Managers (New York: Praeger, 1971).
23. David L. Dotlich and James L. Noel, Action Learning: How the World’s Top Companies Are Re-
Creating Their Leaders and Themselves (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998); Ian McGill and Liz Beaty,
Action Learning: A Guide for Professional, Management & Educational Development, 2nd ed. (New York:
Taylor and Francis, 2001); Michael Marquardt, Action Learning in Action: Transforming Problems and
People for World-Class Organizational Learning (Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-Black, 1999); Michael Mar-
quardt, Optimizing the Power of Action Learning: Solving Problems and Building Leaders in Real Time
(Palo Alto, Calif.: Davies-Black, 2004).
24. Michael Marquardt, ‘‘Harnessing the Power of Action Learning,’’ T�D 58:6 (2004), 26–32.
25. William J. Rothwell, The Action Learning Guidebook: A Real-Time Strategy for Problem-Solving,
Training Design, and Employee Development (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 1999).
Chapter 11
1. James L. Adams, Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas, 3rd ed. (Reading, Mass.: Addi-
son-Wesley, 1986), p. 7.
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
http://www.coachfederation.org/about-icf/icf-leadership/global-committee-members/
http://www.coachfederation.org/about-icf/icf-leadership/global-committee-members/
http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9212/coaching.htm
http://www.wabccoaches.com
http://www.wabccoaches.com
www.amanet.org
424 Notes
2. Michael Hammer and James Champy, Reegineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business
Revolution (New York: HarperBusiness, 1993), p. 32.
3. G. Rummler and A. Brache, ‘‘Managing the White Space,’’ Training 28:1 (1991), 55–70.
4. See Eva Kaplan-Leiserson, ‘‘Aged to Perfection,’’ T�D 55:10 (2001), 16–17, and Neil Lebovits,
‘‘Seniors Returning to the Accounting Workforce: Supply Meets Demand,’’ CPA Journal 73:11 (2003),
14. See also William Rothwell, Harold Sterns, Diane Spokus, and Joel Reaser, Working Longer: New
Strategies for Managing, Training, and Retaining Older Employees (New York: Amacom, 2008).
5. Anne Freedman, ‘‘What Shortage?’’ Human Resource Executive 18:4 (2004), 26–28.
6. Dayton Fandray, ‘‘Gray Matters,’’ Workforce 79:7 (2000), 26–32.
7. ‘‘HR Works to Transfer Workforce Knowledge and Skills,’’ HR Focus 85:1 (2008), S1.
Chapter 12
1. ‘‘Caliper Survey Finds Hiring People a Daunting Task,’’ PR Newswire, November 18 2008.
2. William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, Planning and Managing Human Resources. 2nd ed.
(Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 2004).
3. ‘‘Despite Shortage of Key Workers, Few U.S. Organizations Are Focusing on Training and Devel-
opment,’’ PR Newswire, September 3, 2008.
4. Diane Arthur, Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees (New York: Ama-
com, 2005); Margaret Dale, Essential Guide to Recruitment: How to Conduct Great Interviews and Select
the Best Employees (Philadelphia: Kogan Page, 2006); Robert Edenborough, Assessment Methods in Re-
cruitment, Selection & Performance: A Manager’s Guide to Psychometric Testing, Interviews and Assessment
Centres (Philadelphia: Kogan Page, 2007); Michael Foster, Recruiting on the Web: Smart Strategies for
Finding the Perfect Candidate (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002); Robert Gatewood, Hubert S. Field, and
Murray Barrick, Human Resource Selection, 6th ed. (Cincinnati, Oh.: South-Western Publishing, 2007);
Christopher Pritchard, Competing for Talent: Key Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Becoming an
Employer of Choice (Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black, 2000).
5. Tom Starner, ‘‘Great Expectations.’’ Human Resource Executive 20:11 (2006), 1, 22–27.
6. Robert Gandossy and Tina Kao, ‘‘Would the Best Candidate Please Step Forward?’’ Talent Man-
agement 4:4 (2008), 24–28.
7. Paul Harris, ‘‘It’s Branding Time at the Learning Corral,’’ T�D 62:6 (2008), 40–45.
8. Scott Erker, ‘‘What Does Your Hiring Process Say About You?’’ T�D 61:5 (2007), 66–70.
Chapter 13
1. 2007 HR Priorities Survey, 2007, downloaded from www.orcworldwide.com on February 24,
2009.
2. Ibid.
3. V. Buenger, ‘‘Talent Management Systems: Best Practices in Technology Solutions for Recruit-
ment, Retention and Workforce Planning,’’Human Resource Management 45:2 (2006), 279; ‘‘Becoming a
Magnet for Talent,’’ Global Talent Pulse Survey results, 2005, pp. 1–12. Downloaded from http://www
.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/Canadian%20edition%2C%20Magnet%20for%20talent-7.FINAL
on April 3, 2007; D. Gallagher, P. Nadarajah, and M. Pinnuck, ‘‘Management Turnover: An Examination
of Portfolio Holdings and Fund Performance,’’ Australian Journal of Management 31:2 (2006), 265–293;
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
www.orcworldwide.com
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/Canadian%20edition%2C%20Magnet%20for%20talent-7.FINAL
http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/Canadian%20edition%2C%20Magnet%20for%20talent-7.FINAL
www.amanet.org
Notes 425
M. Jenkins, ‘‘Managing Talent Is a Burning Issue in Asia,’’ Leadership in Action 26:5 (2006), 1–20; A. Law,
‘‘The Aging Workforce Raises New Talent Management Issues for Employers,’’ Journal of Organizational
Excellence, 2003, 55–66; S. Maria-Luisa, ‘‘A Talent Management Strategy for the Justice Institute of BC,’’
MAI 42:6 (2004), Royal Roads University (Canada); E. Michaels, H. Handfield-Jones, and B. Axelrod,
The War for Talent (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2001); J. B. Miner and C. C. Snow, ‘‘The
Human Constraint: The Coming Shortage of Managerial Talent,’’ Industrial and Labor Relations Review
29:2 (1976), 308–309; K. Oakes, ‘‘The Emergence of Talent Management,’’ Training and Development,
April 2006, 21–24; A. Rappaport, E.Bancroft, and L. Okum, ‘‘The Aging Workforce Raises New Talent
Management Issues for Employers,’’ Journal of Organizational Excellence, 2003, 55–66; D. Rothberg,
‘‘Survey: Talent Management a Top Concern,’’ IT Management from CIOInsight.com, 1–3, downloaded
from http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2078486,00.asp on April 4, 2007; J. P. Walsh, ‘‘Top Manage-
ment Turnover Following Mergers and Acquisitions,’’ Strategic Management Journal 9 (1988), 173–183;
J. P. Walsh, ‘‘Doing a Deal: Merger and Acquisition Negotiations and Their Impact upon Target Com-
pany Top Management Turnover,’’ Strategic Management Journal 1:4 (1989), 307–322.
4. William G. Bliss, ‘‘Cost of Employee Turnover,’’ downloaded from http://www.isquare.com/
turnover.cfm on February 24, 2009.
5. Gregory P. Smith, ‘‘Transform Your Organization from High Turnover to High Retention,’’
downloaded from http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/retain-employees.htm on February 24,
2009.
6. IBM Business Consulting Services’ Human Capital Management, The Capability Within: The
Global Human Capital Study 2005, downloaded from www-1.ibm.com/services/uk/igs/pdf/global-
human-capital-survey on April 7, 2007.
7. William G. Bliss, ‘‘Cost of Employee Turnover,’’ downloaded from http://www.isquare.com/
turnover.cfm on February 24, 2009.
8. Society for Human Resource Management and the SHRM Foundation, Retention Practices Survey
(Arlington, Va.: SHRM, 2000); Society for Human Resource Management and CareerJournal.com, 2004
U.S. Job Recovery and Retention (Arlington, Va.: SHRM, 2004).
9. William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Reinventing the Exit Interview as a Tool for Succession Planning and
Management,’’ in V. V. Ramani, ed., Succession Planning: Insights and Experiences (Hyderabad, India:
ICFAI University Press, 2005), pp. 126–132 .
10. B. Eisenberg, C. Kilduff, S. Burleigh, and K. Wilson, K. The Role of the Value Proposition and
Employment Branding in Retaining Top Talent, unpublished SHRM white paper, downloaded on January
22, 2006 (restricted site).
11. D. Avery, ‘‘Recruiting for Retention,’’ unpublished SHRM white paper, downloaded on January
22, 2006 (restricted site).
12. Laurie Friedman, ‘‘Are You Losing Potential New Hires at Hello?’’ T�D 60:11 (2006), 25, 27.
13. William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Organization Retention Assessment,’’ in E. Beich, The 2007 Pfeiffer An-
nual: Consulting (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2007), pp. 177–188.
Chapter 14
1. Andrew McIlvaine, ‘‘The Great Convergence,’’ Human Resource Executive, 20:13 (2006), 1,
16–22.
2. Found at http://www.ask.com/bar?q�What�competencies�are�needed�in�businesses�
of�the�future%3F&page�1&qsrc�0&zoom�Core�%3CKW%3ECompetency%3C%2FKW%3E
�Definition%7CCore�%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E%7C%3CKW%3ECompetencies
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2078486,00.asp
http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/retain-employees.htm
http://www.isquare.com/turnover.cfm
http://www.isquare.com/turnover.cfm
www-1.ibm.com/services/uk/igs/pdf/global-human-capital-survey
www-1.ibm.com/services/uk/igs/pdf/global-human-capital-survey
http://www.isquare.com/turnover.cfm
http://www.isquare.com/turnover.cfm
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+competencies+are+needed+in+businesses+of+the+future%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&zoom=Core+%3CKW%3ECompetency%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition%7CCore+%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E%7C%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uta..%2Flaitokset%2FISI%2Fenglish%2Fprojects%2Fproject130.html
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+competencies+are+needed+in+businesses+of+the+future%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&zoom=Core+%3CKW%3ECompetency%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition%7CCore+%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E%7C%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uta..%2Flaitokset%2FISI%2Fenglish%2Fprojects%2Fproject130.html
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+competencies+are+needed+in+businesses+of+the+future%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&zoom=Core+%3CKW%3ECompetency%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition%7CCore+%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E%7C%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uta..%2Flaitokset%2FISI%2Fenglish%2Fprojects%2Fproject130.html
www.amanet.org
426 Notes
%3C%2FKW%3E�Definition&ab�0&u�http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uta.fi%2Flaitokset%2FISI%2Fenglish%
2Fprojects%2Fproject130.html.
3. For assistance in conceptualizing a skill inventory and/or a record-keeping system for that pur-
pose, see D. Gould, Personnel Skills Inventory Skill Study (Madison, Conn.: Business and Legal Reports,
1986). Though an old resource, it can still be useful.
Chapter 15
1. William J. Rothwell and Henry J. Sredl, The American Society for Training and Development
Reference Guide to Workplace Learning and Performance, 3rd ed., 2 vols. (Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press,
2000).
2. See Nancy Dixon, Evaluation: A Tool for Improving HRD Quality (Alexandria, Va.: American
Society for Training and Development, 1990); Jack Phillips, Handbook of Training Evaluation and Mea-
surement Methods, 2nd ed. (Houston: Gulf Publishing, 1991); Leslie Rae, How to Measure Training Effec-
tiveness (Brookfield, Vt.: Gower Publishing, 1991); William J. Rothwell, ed., Creating, Measuring and
Documenting Service Impact: A Capacity Building Resource: Rationales, Models, Activities, Methods, Tech-
niques, Instruments (Columbus, Oh.: Enterprise Ohio Network, 1998).
3. Paul Brauchle, ‘‘Costing Out the Value of Training,’’ Technical and Skills Training 3:4 (1992),
35–40; W. Cascio, Costing Human Resources: The Financial Impact of Behavior in Organizations, 2nd ed.
(Boston: PWS-Kent Publishing, 1987); C. Fauber, ‘‘Use of Improvement (Learning) Curves to Predict
Learning Costs,’’ Production and Inventory Management 30:3 (1989), 57–60; T. Jackson, Evaluation: Re-
lating Training to Business Performance (San Diego: Pfeiffer, 1989); L. Spencer, Calculating Human Re-
source Costs and Benefits (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 1986); Richard Swanson and Deane
Gradous, Forecasting Financial Benefits of Human Resource Development (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1988).
4. Chris Moore, ‘‘Analytics in Talent Management: The Sports View,’’ Talent Management 3:12
(2007), 22–25. See also W. Rothwell and Y. Kim, ‘‘How Are Succession Planning and Management
Programs Evaluated?’’ In V. V. Ramani, ed., Succession Planning: Insights and Experiences (Hyderabad,
India: ICFAI University Press, 2005), pp. 118–125.
5. See Donald Kirkpatrick, ‘‘Techniques for Evaluating Training Programs,’’ T�D 14:1 (1960),
13–18.
6. R. Brinkerhoff, ‘‘The Success Case: A Low-Cost High-Yield Evaluation,’’ Training and Develop-
ment Journal 37:8 (1983), 58–61. See also Rothwell, Creating, Measuring and Documenting Service Impact.
7. See William J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, Planning and Managing Human Resources: Strategic
Planning for Personnel Management, 2nd ed. (Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press, 2003).
8. Robert Kaplan and David P. Norton, The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action
(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996).
9. David Parmenter, Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing, and Using Winning KPIs
(Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2007).
Chapter 16
1. See Pamela Babcock, ‘‘Slicing off Pieces of HR,’’ HR Magazine 49:7 (2004), 70; Karen Colteryahn
and Patty Davis, ‘‘8 Trends You Need to Know Now,’’ T�D 58:1 (2004), 28–36; Simon Kent, ‘‘When Is
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+competencies+are+needed+in+businesses+of+the+future%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&zoom=Core+%3CKW%3ECompetency%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition%7CCore+%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E%7C%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uta..%2Flaitokset%2FISI%2Fenglish%2Fprojects%2Fproject130.html
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=What+competencies+are+needed+in+businesses+of+the+future%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&zoom=Core+%3CKW%3ECompetency%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition%7CCore+%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E%7C%3CKW%3ECompetencies%3C%2FKW%3E+Definition&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uta..%2Flaitokset%2FISI%2Fenglish%2Fprojects%2Fproject130.html
www.amanet.org
Notes 427
Enough, Enough?’’ Personnel Today, June 15, 2004, 7; James F. Orr, ‘‘Outsourcing Human Resources,’’
Chief Executive, June 2004, 16; Sara L. Rynes, ‘‘ ‘Where Do We Go from Here?’ Imagining New Roles for
Human Resources,’’ Journal of Management Inquiry 13:3 (2004), 203–213; William B. Scott and Carole
Hedden, ‘‘People Issues: Good Leaders, Ethics, Growth Opportunities Rank High on Employee Prefer-
ence Lists,’’ Aviation Week and Space Technology 160:18 (2004), 61; Uyen Vu, ‘‘HR Responds to Cost
Crunch with Workforce Cuts: Survey,’’ Canadian HR Reporter 17:11 (2004), 1–2; Joe Willmore, ‘‘The
Future of Performance,’’ T�D, August 2004, 26–31, 49, 53; Ron Zemke, ‘‘The Confidence Crisis,’’
Training 41:6 (2004), 22–27.
2. Anonymous, ‘‘An HR Outsourcing Report,’’ Employee Benefit Plan Review 59:1 (2004), 5–6;
‘‘The Return of Work/Life Plans,’’ HR Focus 81:4 (2004), 1–3; Damon Cline, ‘‘Companies Seeking ‘Right’
Candidates Increasingly Turn to Personality Tests,’’ Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, March 9, 2004,
1; Kristine Ellis, ‘‘Top Training Strategies,’’ Training 40:7 (2003), 30–36; Brandon Hall, ‘‘Time to Out-
source?’’ Training 41:6 (2004), 14; Fay Hansen, ‘‘Currents in Compensation and Benefits,’’ Compensation
and Benefits Review 36:3 (2004), 6–25.
3. Craig E. Aronoff and Christopher J. Eckrich, ‘‘Trends in Family-Business Transitions,’’ Nation’s
Business 87:5 (1999), 62–63; John Beeson, ‘‘Succession Planning,’’ Across the Board 37:2 (2000), 38–41;
Ram Charan and Geoffrey Colvin, ‘‘The Right Fit,’’ Fortune 141:8 (2000), 226–233; Robert J. Grossman,
‘‘HR on the Board,’’ HR Magazine 49:6 (2004), 56–63; William J. Rothwell, ‘‘What’s Special About CEO
Succession?’’ Global CEO Magazine, March 2004, 15–20; William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Knowledge Transfer:
12 Strategies for Succession Management,’’ IPMA-HR News, July 2004, 10–12; William J. Rothwell,
‘‘Competency-Based Succession Planning: Do I Fit In? The Individual’s Role in Succession Planning,’’
Career Planning and Adult Development Journal 18:4 (2003), 120–135; William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Succession
Planning and Management in Government: Dreaming the Impossible Dream,’’ IPMA-HR News 69:10
(2003), 1, 7–9; William J. Rothwell and Christopher Faust, ‘‘Managing the Quiet Crisis: The Impact of
an Effective Succession Plan: Leveraging Web-Based Human Capital Management Systems to Plan for
the Future and Manage the Talent Pool Today,’’ published online at http://www.softscape.com/whitepa-
pers/whitepapers.htm; William J. Rothwell ‘‘Beyond Succession Management: New Directions and Fresh
Approaches,’’ Linkage Link and Learn Newsletter, published at http://www.linkageinc.com/newsletter/
archives/leadership/beyond—successionerothwell.shtml (restricted site); William J. Rothwell, ‘‘Go Be-
yond Replacing Executives and Manage Your Work and Values,’’ in D. Ulrich, L. Carter, M. Goldsmith,
J. Bolt, and N. Smallwood, eds., The Change Champion’s Fieldguide (Waltham, Mass.: Best Practice
Publications, 2003), pp. 192–204; George B. Yancey, ‘‘Succession Planning Creates Quality Leadership,’’
Credit Union Executive Journal 41:6 (2001), 24–27.
4. Susan Ladika, ‘‘Executive Protection: Terror Alerts and Corporate Board Liability Are Focusing
New Attention on Security Issues for Top Company Officers,’’ HR Magazine 49:10 (2004), 105–106,
108–109.
5. See Thomas Hoffman, ‘‘Labor Gap May Drive Mergers,’’ Online News, July 13, 1998, published
originally at http://www.idg.net/crd it 9–65593.html.
6. Jennifer Reingold and Diane Brady, ‘‘Brain Drain,’’ Business Week, September 20, 1999, 112–115,
118, 120, 124, 126.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Leslie Gross Klaff, ‘‘Thinning the Ranks of the ‘Career Expats,’ ’’ Workforce Management 83:10
(2004), 84–84, 86–87.
10. W. Rothwell and S. Poduch, ‘‘Introducing Technical (Not Managerial) Succession Planning,’’
Personnel Management 33:4 (2004), 405–420.
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
http://www.softscape.com/whitepapers/whitepapers.htm
http://www.softscape.com/whitepapers/whitepapers.htm
http://www.linkageinc.com/newsletter/archives/leadership/beyond%E2%80%94successionerothwell.shtml
http://www.linkageinc.com/newsletter/archives/leadership/beyond%E2%80%94successionerothwell.shtml
http://www.idg.net/crd_it_9%E2%80%9365593.html
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Index
ABCD model (acceptance of change),
128–131
absenteeism, 299
academic institutions, 53, 361–362
acceleration pools, 39, 212–213, 270
accountability, xxxviii, 157, 183, 375, 386
acquisitions, 353, 369
ACS Learning Services, 311
action learning, 40, 61–62, 270
action plans, 169–173, 318, 321
active roles, of management, 140–141
Activities (worksheets)
for Establishing Program Priorities in Suc-
cession Planning and Management,
159–160
for Identifying Initial Targets for Succes-
sion Planning and Management Activi-
ties, 153–154
on Organizational Analysis, 219
for Preparing Realistic Scenarios to Iden-
tify Future Key Positions, 220
ADA, see Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990
Adams, James L., on responding to prob-
lems, 272–273
ADEA, see Age Discrimination in Employ-
ment Act of 1967
adoption stage (ABCD model), 130, 131
advancement, xxi, xxii
Advance Organizer, xxxiii–xxxvi
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of
1967 (ADEA), 163, 166
aging workforce, xviii, xx, xxi, 46, 284, 358–
361, 372
AI, see appreciative inquiry
American Management Association, 70, 124
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
429
American Society for Training and Develop-
ment (ASTD), 14, 124, 128
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(ADA), 166, 197
anecdotal evaluation, 334
Animal Farm (George Orwell), 51
appreciative inquiry (AI), 81, 82
ask, formulate, and establish approach (mis-
sion statements), 147, 149
assessment centers, 233–234, 236–237
Assessment Questionnaires
for Effective Succession Planning and
Management, 68–70
How Well Is Your Organization Managing
the Consequences of Trends Influenc-
ing Succession Planning and Manage-
ment?, 44–45
Integrating Career Planning and Manage-
ment Programs with Succession Plan-
ning and Management Programs,
366–367
Status of Succession Planning and Man-
agement in an Organization, 112–113
assessments of future conditions, 215–238
with assessment centers and portfolios,
233–236
and individual potential assessment,
224–233
issues in, 236–237
key positions and talent requirements in,
215–220
in systematic SP&M programs, 85
work requirements in, 218, 220–224
assessments of present conditions, 191–214
and current problems with SP&M,
105–107
and current status of SP&M, 109–114
www.amanet.org
430 Index
assessments of present conditions (continued)
with full-circle, multirater assessments,
201–204
key positions in, 192–196
and performance management, 204–211
in systematic SP&M programs, 84–85
talent pools in, 207, 211–214
work requirements in, 196–201
ASTD, see American Society for Training
and Development
AT&T, 222
attendance, at training sessions, 183–184
attitude surveys, 354
Austin, Michael J., 384
Authoria (company), 311
automated talent inventories, 326–327
avoidable turnover, 242
awareness stage (ABCD model), 129, 131
Baby Boomers, 27, 46, 284
balanced scorecard (BSC), 331, 339, 345–346
Bardach, Eugene, 389
Barr, Michael P., 395–397, 400–402
BARS (behaviorally anchored rating scales),
209–210
Baumrin, Sara, 384
Beeline (company), 315
behavior, in Hierarchy of Training Evalua-
tion, 331
behavioral event interviewing, 97–98
behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS),
209–210
Bell, Charlie, 10, 11
benchmarking, 59, 123–128, 317
bench strength, 242–246
of Dow Chemical Company, 80
and localization strategies for talent devel-
opment, 360
and talent shows, 245–246
and target groups for SP&M, 151
testing of, 106, 242–245
Ben & Jerry’s, 79
best-in-class companies, benchmarking
with, 124
best practices, for SP&M, 31–36
bias(-es), 71–72, 227, 303, 371–372
Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, 164
Blankfein, Lloyd, 99
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
boards of directors (corporate boards)
in business environment, 50
in CEO succession planning, 132
at Dow Chemical Company, 80
in SP&M programs, 13–16, 157, 375
support of, 59
bonuses, 295
Boston Consulting Group, 226
bottom-line value, of SP&M programs,
115–118
bottom-up approach (SP&M programs), 31
Brache, A., 273
brands, employment, 304, 306
Brown, Ron, 12
BSC, see balanced scorecard
bureaucratic kinship systems, 15
Business Decisions, Inc., 311
business environment for SP&M, 42–57
boards of directors in, 50
and CEO succession, 55–56
intellectual capital and knowledge man-
agement in, 48
key issues in, 56
loyalty in, 47
at multinational corporations, 50–52
software in, 49–50
in special venues, 52–55
speed in, 43–47
values, ethics, and competencies in, 48–49
business plans, SP&M in, 18, 20–21, 171
business process quadrant (balanced score-
card), 345
business process reengineering, 273
Calhoun, David, 8
Camp, Robert C., on benchmarking, 123
Cantalupo, Jim, 10
career development, 363–367
career path meetings, 74
career planning, 33
forms for, 249
in future of SP&M, 363–367
and individual potential assessment, 225
meetings for, 74–75
and SP&M, 22
and training, 185
career planning approach (SP&M pro-
grams), 20
www.amanet.org
Index 431
Carlisle, Kenneth E., on position analysis,
197
catastrophes, 369–370
CEOs, 13–16, 376
preparations for SP&M programs by,
131–134
replacement planning for, 75–77
roles of, 155
starting SP&M programs with, 137
succession planning by, 395–397
views on departure of, 385
CEO succession, 55–56, 133, 134, 406–407
Champy, James, 273
change
acceptance of, 128–131
commitment to, 137–139
organizational, 72–73
transformational, 105
whole systems transformational, 78, 81
Chief Executive (magazine), 33
Chief Executive Officers, see CEOs
China, 27, 51, 359
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 162, 164, 167
Civil Rights Act of 1991, 167
classroom courses, internal development
with, 262
climate, workplace, 306
closed communication strategies, 172
closed SP&M programs, 35
coaching, 62–63, 265–267, 305
Coca-Cola, 11
cognitive capacity, 237
Cohen Machinery Co., 403
collectivistic cultures, 51
Collins, Jim, 395, 401
combination approach (SP&M programs),
33
commitment, 84, 128–131, 183
commitment to change, 137–139
communication, 168, 170–173
competence, 87
competencies, 87–94, 100, 373
building, 62, 93–96
in business environment, 48–49
and competency identification studies,
89–90
and competency modeling, 90–91
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
definition of, 87–88
in future of SP&M, 368–369
for high-tech SP&M methods, 327–328
management vs. technical, 92
soft skills as, 29
in SP&M, 88–89
and work portfolios, 235
competency assessment, 88, 199–201
competency development strategies, 93–96
competency identification, 88–90, 199
competency libraries, 92
competency modeling, 88, 90–91
future-oriented, 221–222, 324
for talent pools, 211
and work requirements, 199
competitive skill inventories, of high-poten-
tial workers, 39–40
Conceptual Blockbusting (James L. Adams),
272
conference calls, 321
conflict, 140, 303
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995,
167
Conrad, Barry L., 76
consultants, 40
as alternative to replacements, 352
in IDP preparation, 254, 256
refining SP&M programs with, 175
training by, 178, 183
continuous recruitment, 290–293
continuous succession thinking, 79
contracts, 249
Contract Work Hours Safety Standards Act
of 1962, 162
coordinative function, of HR departments,
156
coordinators, SP&M, 175, 186–188, 328, 339
Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc., 311
Corning, 247
corporate boards, see boards of directors
corporate culture, 62, 135, 202, 203, 328
corporate-culture-specific competency de-
velopment strategies, 93–96
corporate politics, 70–72
corporate scandals, xvii–xviii, 98–99, 368
cost-benefit analysis, of SP&M programs,
117–118
www.amanet.org
432 Index
Council of Institutional Investors, 132
creativity, 14
credibility, 156
crises, hitchhiking on, 114
critical incident analysis, 228, 229
critical questioning, 62
critical turnover, 20, 242, 305
cross-gender mentoring, 269
crown prince phenomenon, 172, 362–363
culture, 51, see also corporate culture
Cushman, Paul, III, 76
customer quadrant (balanced scorecard),
345
customer satisfaction, 331–333, 335, 336
Cytiva Software, Inc., 311
DACUM (Developing A Curriculum)
method, 199–201
Daft, Douglas, 11
data collection, high-tech methods for,
317–318
Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, 161
DDI (Development Dimensions Interna-
tional), 59
deadwood (performance/potential grid),
226, 227
debates, interactive, 148–149
Deegan, Arthur X., II, on IDP preparation,
250
degree of dissemination, of SP&M programs,
35
degree programs, internal development with,
261
delegation, 353
Deloitte, 354
Deming, W. Edwards, on employee perform-
ance appraisals, 205
demotion, 37
derailers, 91
derailment competency studies, 89–90
Descriptions Now! (software), 322
Developing A Curriculum (DACUM)
method, 199–201
development, employee, 21, 38, 61–62, 79,
see also internal development
developmental dilemma, 269
developmental gaps, 85, 325, 373
development centers, 236–237
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
Development Dimensions International
(DDI), 59
development meetings, 75, 245
The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (U.S.
Department of Labor), 197, 322
dimensions/activity rating approach (em-
ployee performance appraisal), 209
Dinkins, David, 391
direct benefits, of SP&M programs, 117
direction, of SP&M, 31, 33
directive roles, of facilitators, 141
direct training, of participants, 185
disconnects, in key positions, 280
discrimination, 16, 22, 25, 72, 106, 160
disincentives, 123
Disney, 132
diversity, of workforce, 22, 25
document distribution, 317
document storage and retrieval, 317
Dole Food Company, Inc., 377–381
domino effect, 353
Donovan, Robert E., 76
Dormant, Diane, 128, 129
dossiers, 235–236
double loop learning, 12
Dow Chemical Company, 79–81, 247
downsizing, 15, 25–26, 290
Dreier, Marc, 98
Drotter, Stephen J., 142–143
Drucker, Peter, on management succession,
xxiii
dual-career ladders, 92
economic conditions, SP&M and, 27
Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjust-
ment Assistance Act of 1988, 165
educational (academic) institutions, 53,
361–362
EEOC, see Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission
effective placements, 332, 333, 335, 336
Eisner, Michael, 132
Elia, Claudio, 76
Eli Lily, 247
e-mail, 111
employee development, 21, 38, 61–62, 79
employee education, 21
employee engagement, 306
www.amanet.org
Index 433
employee hoarding, 249, 290
employee performance appraisals, 60, 71, 85
approaches for, 208–210
definition of, 205–206
and high-tech SP&M methods, 322–323
IDP preparation with, 252
individual potential assessment vs., 225
meetings for, 74, 88
and performance management, 206–207
position descriptions for, 211
Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988,
166
employee retention, 298, see also retention
Employee Retirement Income Security Act
of 1974 (ERISA), 164
Employers Reinsurance, 8
employment brands, 304, 306
employment law, 160–167
empowered individual potential assessment,
232–233
engagement, employee, 306
Enron, xviii, 50, 368
entitlement mentality, 290
entry (job movements), 36–37
environmental scanning, 216, 217
Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-
sion (EEOC), 158, 160, 162, 164, 166
Equal Pay Act of 1963, 162
equipment, for IDP, 254
e-recruiting, 293–294
ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Secur-
ity Act of 1974), 164
Ernest, Elaine H., 395, 397, 400, 401
essential job functions, 197
Estate Archetypes, Inc., 405
ethics, 48–49, 98–100, 368
Ethics Officer Association, 50
European Union, 27, 51
evaluations of SP&M programs, 85, 329–
347, 373
about, 329–330
with balanced scorecards and HR dash-
boards, 339, 345–347
and Hierarchy of Succession Planning and
Management Evaluation, 331–337
and Hierarchy of Training Evaluation,
331–334
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
methods for, 334, 338–344
metrics for, 330–331
Everything2 (Web site), 318
evidence of accomplishment, for IDP, 254
Executive Order 11246, 162
executive retreats, 148, 175, 388–389
executive sessions, 132
exemplars (exemplary performers), 91, 213,
225–227
exit interviews, 303–304, 306, 354
expatriate labor forces, 360
expertise, 254
external recruitment, 289–290
external talent pools, 77–78
Facebook, 318
facilitators, 141, 199–201
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA),
161
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1991
(FMLA), 167
family businesses, 53–55, 404–406
family psychology, 54–55
Family Ties, 391
Farquhar, Katherine, 383, 384
Fayol, Henri, 6
Federal Aviation Administration, 378
Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of
1969, 163
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service,
164
feedback, 202, 204, 207, 305
field-testing, of training materials, 183
financial crisis of 2008, 99
financial quadrant (balanced scorecard), 345
first impressions, 296
Fitz-enz, Jac, 115, 116
flexible staffing, 281
FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938),
161
FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of
1991), 167
Ford, David, 76
Ford Motor Company, 53
14 points of management, 6
France, 360
Frederickson, James W., 384
www.amanet.org
434 Index
Frequently Asked Questions About Succes-
sion Planning and Management,
371–376
Fuld, Richard, 98
full-circle, multirater assessments, 97, 201–
204, 324–325
fully successful performers, 91
Fulmer, Robert M., 32
functional (technical) competency models,
91, 92
future competency studies, 89
future conditions, assessments of, see assess-
ments of future conditions
future of SP&M, 348–370
and career development, 363–367
ethics and values in, 368
focus of, 370
in government agencies, academic institu-
tions, and nonprofit enterprises,
361–362
integrated retention in, 354, 358
leveraging talent in, 369
and organizational openness, 362–363
in other countries, 358–361
risk management and security in, 369–370
selection decisions in, 368–369
structuring your thinking about, 349–351
talent acquisition in, 369
talent development and strategic efforts
in, 368
talent needs in, 349, 352–357
technological innovations in, 361
and work-family balance and spirituality,
363, 368
futuring approach (SP&M programs), 20
Gallant, Jefferey, on succession in small busi-
nesses, 404
gambler’s fallacy, 191
General Electric, 7–9, 11
generic competency development strategies,
93, 94
Gent, Christopher, 11
Gibney, Jim, 402–403
Gillette, 11
Gilmore, Thomas, 20, 25, 384, 388
glass ceiling, 16
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
global assessment, for high potentials,
227–228
Global Crossing, xviii
globalization, xviii, 50–52, 358–361
global rating approach (employee perform-
ance appraisal), 208
global recruitment, 354
goals, xxxviii, 375
Goizueta, Roberto, 11
Good to Great (Jim Collins), 401
Gordon, Gil E., 383
government bailouts, 99
government entities, 52–53, 361–362, see also
public sector
Graduate School of Future Business Compe-
tencies, 324
Greenberg, Jack, 10
Greenblatt, Milton, 383
greenmail, 362
Greensboro Regional Realtors Association
(GRRA), 395–402
Gridley, John D., 21
groupware, 318, 321, 324
Haagen-Dazs, 79
Hagen, Sue, 379–381
Haire, M., 36
halo effect, 72, 227
Halogen Software, 311
Hambrick, Donald C., 384
Hammer, Michael, 273
hands-on trial stage (ABCD model), 130,
131
HCM, see human capital management
head count, 27
The Hero’s Farewell (Jeffrey Sonnenfeld), 11,
385
Herzlinger, Regina, 386
Hewitt Associates, 380
Hickey, Will, 51
hierarchy of applications, for high-tech SP&
M methods, 315–320
Hierarchy of Succession Planning and Man-
agement Evaluation, 331–337
Hierarchy of Training Evaluation, 331–334
high performers (HiPers), xviii
high potentials (HiPos), xviii, 22
avoidable turnover of, 242
www.amanet.org
Index 435
communicating with, 172
competency models for, 91
competitive skill inventories of, 39–40
counseling of, 186
definition of, 225
development of, 61–62
identifying, 227–230, 354
individual potential assessments for,
225–227
internal development for, 259, 264–265
recruiting of, 293–296
retention of, 304, 354, 358
high professionals (HiPros), xviii, xix
high-tech SP&M methods
applications of, 315
competencies required for using, 327–328
definition of, 309–310
and developmental gaps, 325
at Dole Food Company, Inc., 378
and employee performance, 322–323
evaluating SP&M programs with, 327
and future work requirements, 323–324
hierarchy of applications for, 315–320
and individual potential, 324–325
policy, procedures, and action plans for,
318, 321
and present work requirements, 321–322
software for, 311–315
and talent inventories, 325–327
‘‘hijacking,’’ of employees, 298, 299
Hill, Anita, 269
Hills, Angela, 56
HiPers (high performers), xviii
HiPos, see high potentials
HiPros, see high professionals
hiring, 36–37
historical evidence, of key positions, 194
historical studies, in risk analysis, 138
Hogan, Robert, 213
Hogan Assessment Systems, 213
holes, in replacement charts, 242, 243
homeosocial reproduction, 194
Honeywell, 8
horizontal advancement, 211
horizontal loading, 38
Horne, George, 378, 379, 381
horn effect, 72, 227
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
hotspot approach (SP&M programs), xxx-
viii, 137
how-based strategies (internal develop-
ment), 265
HR, see human resources
HR dashboards, 339, 345–347
HRfocus Aging Workforce Survey, 284
HR information systems (HRISs), 91, 137
HRP (human resource planning), 21
HRPS, see Human Resource Planning So-
ciety
HRsmart, 311
human capital management (HCM), 13–14,
53, 91
human resource information systems
(HRISs), 310, 315, 327
human resource planning (HRP), 21
Human Resource Planning Society (HRPS),
16, 124
human resources (HR), xix–xx, 376
in CEO replacement planning, 76
evaluations of, 329–330
future trends in, 42–43
opinions about SP&M of, 128, 130
responsibilities of, 374
retention by, 304
role of, 156
speed of, 45–46
for systematic SP&M programs, 119,
122–123
turnover in, 134
Hunt, James, 266
IBM, 222
iCIMS (company), 311
IDPs, see individual development plans
Immelt, Jeffery R., 7–9
Immigration and Naturalization Service, 165
Immigration Reform and Control Act of
1986 (IRCA), 165
Important Characteristics of Career Plan-
ning and Management Programs
(worksheet), 364–365
incentives, for retention, 358
incumbents, key job (key position), 60, 192–
193, 252
India, 27
indirect benefits, of SP&M programs, 117
www.amanet.org
436 Index
individual development plans (IDPs), 74,
241, 249–259
and competencies, 89
definition of, 249–250
evaluating, 257
high-tech methods for making, 325
preparation of, 250–257
sample of, 258–259
values in, 97
individual discretion, in SP&M programs,
35–36
individualism, 51
Individual Potential Assessment Form, 230
individual potential assessments, 85, 224–
233, 373
approaches to, 231–233
definition of, 225
exemplary performers in, 225–227
high-tech methods for, 324–325
identifying high potentials with, 227–230
individuals, roles of, 156, 376, see also parti-
cipants
informal SP&M, 108–109
in-house classroom courses, 262
innovation, 14
inplacement, 38
input, meetings for seeking, 174–175
insourcing, 352
institutional memory, xviii, xix, 9, 14, 30
integrated training, of participants, 185
intellectual capital, 22, 48
interactive debates, 148–149
interactive distribution and delivery, 318
internal development
alternatives to, 272–286
grooming individuals for, 260
integrating alternatives to, 284, 286
and internal successors, 257, 259–265
and recruitment, 289
and rendering key positions unnecessary,
272–283
strategies for, 259, 261–265
and tapping retiree base, 281, 284–285
internal promotion policies, 246–249
internal recruitment, 289–290
internal successors, 241–271
and acceleration pools, 270
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
action learning by, 270
bench strength of, 242–246
coaching of, 265–267
individual development plans for,
249–259
internal development for, 257, 259–265
leadership development programs for, 265
mentoring of, 268–269
promotion policy for, 246–249
internal talent pools, 28, 77
international assignments, 259, 264
Internet, 309, see also high-tech SP&M
methods
Interview Guides (worksheets)
for Benchmarking Succession Planning
and Management Practices, 125–128
for Collecting Corporate-Culture-Specific
Competency Development Strategies,
95–96
for Determining the Requirements for a
Succession Planning and Management
Program, 120–121
interviews
about current practices, 110–111
behavioral event, 97–98
for benchmarking, 124–128
critical incident, 228, 229
determining organizational requirements
with, 118–119
exit, 303–304, 306, 354
for individual potential assessment, 232
for network charting, 194–195
inventories, 244, 325–327
involuntary turnover, 299
IRCA (Immigration Reform and Control Act
of 1986), 165
Ivester, Douglas, 11
Jacobs, Carol, 405
J.G. Industries, Inc., 403
job (term), 196
job analysis, 196–199, 218, 220–221
job competency, 87–88
job content coaches, 267
job descriptions, 196, 322, see also position
descriptions
job forecasting, 323–324
job posting, 248–249, 289–290
www.amanet.org
Index 437
job rotations, 40, 259, 264
job sharing, 40
job tenure, xxi
Job Training Partnership Act of 1982, 165
Kaihla, Paul, on psychological assessment,
213
Kaiser, Marc, 378–380
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss, 15, 194
Kaplan, Robert, 345
Kelleher, Herb, 94
Kenexa, 311
Kern, Larry, 379, 381
Kets de Vries, Manfred, 385
key job (key position) incumbents, 60, 192–
193, 252
key performance indicators (Kips), 207,
345–346
key positions
in assessments of current succession prob-
lems, 106
identifying future, 215–220
identifying present, 192–196
in IDP preparation, 250
rendering of, unnecessary, 272–283
in SP&M programs, 60–61
kickoff meetings, 74, 176
Kilts, James, 11
Kirkpatrick, Donald, 331, 347
knowledge management, 48
knowledge transfer, xix, xxxviii, 137
Koran, Lester, on CEO’s interest in succes-
sion planning, 14
Koran/Ferry International, 132
Kips, see key performance indicators
Labat, Lisa, 380
labor forces, expatriate, 360
Labor-Management Cooperation Act of
1978, 164
Labor Management Reporting and Disclo-
sure Act of 1959, 161–162
labor relations agreements, 123
Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959, 161–162
lateral transfers, 37–38
law, employment, 160–167
layoffs, xxiv
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
leader-driven individual potential assess-
ment, 231
leaders, 191, 385–386
leadership continuity, xxiii, 36–41
leadership development programs, 265
Learn.com, 311
learning
action, 40, 61–62, 270
double loop, 12
in Hierarchy of Training Evaluation, 331
learning and growth quadrant (balanced
scorecard), 345
learning contracts, 249
learning management systems (Loses), 91,
94, 309
learning needs, 250, 252
learning objectives, 252–254
learning outcomes, 256–257
learning strategies, 252, 254
legal issues
with family businesses, 54
with internal promotion policies, 247
and performance appraisals, 205, 206
and systematic SP&M programs, 158,
160–167
Leibman, chapter 2, 42
leveraging of talent, 369
Lewis, Ken, 99
life cycle, of systematic SP&M programs, 75–
81, 167–168
like-me bias, 72, 371–372
Linkage, Inc., 237
LMSs, see learning management systems
localization strategies (talent development),
360–361
location, global, 27
loyalty, in business environment, xx, 47
Lumpkin, Jim, 406, 407
Madoff, Bernard, xvii–xviii, 98
Mager, Robert F., 252
Mahler, Walter R., 142–143
Maier, Frank, 76
Making a Leadership Change (Tom Gilmore),
388
management by exception, 245
management by objectives (MBO), 210
management career tracks, 38
www.amanet.org
438 Index
management-oriented competency models,
91
management succession planning, 30
managers
coaching by, 265–266
commitment of, 128–131
competencies of, 92
counseling of, 185–188
development by, 295–296, 368
interviews with, 118–119
opinions on SP&M of, 128, 129
participation and support of, 59
in preparations for SP&M programs, 133
in Quick Start Guide, xxxvii
retention as responsibility of, 305
roles of, 140–141, 155
SP&M programs for, 15–16, 151, 376
training of, 183, 184
values clarification with, 97
mandated succession planning and manage-
ment, 36
manual talent inventories, 325–326
Manzini, Andrew O., 21
market-driven approach (SP&M programs),
20
Marshall, Thurgood, 22, 25
Matthews, Douglas J., on communication in
recessions, 170
MBO (management by objectives), 210
MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator), 213
McClelland, David, 87
McDonald’s, 10–12
McKenna, Andrew, 10
McLagan’s Flexible Approach, 199
McNerney, James, 7–9
meetings, 173–177
for creating proposals, 175–176
of DACUM panel, 200–201
development, 245
kickoff meetings as, 176
for periodic program review, 176
for seeking input, 174–175
SP&M, 74–75, 173–177
for talent shows, 245–247
for verifying program need, 173–174
videoconferencing at, 321
memory, institutional, xviii, xix, 9, 14, 30
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
mental tryout stage (ABCD model), 129–131
mentees, 268
mentoring, 62–63
in future of SP&M, 369
internal development with, 263
of internal successors, 268–269
at nonprofit organizations, 401–402
and retention, 305
mergers, 353, 369
metrics, for SP&M programs, 330–331
middle management, 28–29, 77
Middleton, Robert, on succession in small
businesses, 403
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Protec-
tion Act of 1983, 165
mission statements, 142–149
approaches for preparing, 147–149
and policies/procedures, 149
purpose of, 143
questions answered by, 143–144
worksheet for formulating, 145–146
MNCs (multinational corporations), 50–52
money resources, for IDP, 254
morale, 25
motivation, 237, 294
Motorola, 39
Multi-Employer Pension Plan Amendments
Act of 1980, 165
multimedia distribution and delivery, 318
multinational corporations (MNCs), 50–52
Murphy, Walter, 76
musical chairs effect, 353
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), 213
nacuboprep.org, 92
NAPA (National Academy of Public Admin-
istration), 383
Nardelli, Robert, 7–9
Nardoni, Ren, on succession planning, 378
National Academy of Public Administration
(NAPA), 383
National Labor Relations Act of 1947, 161
National Labor Relations Board, 161
NEO Personality Inventory, 214
network charting, 194–195
New York City Department of Juvenile Jus-
tice, 383, 387–393
www.amanet.org
Index 439
‘‘Next in Line’’ (Elaine H. Ernest and Mi-
chael P. Barr), 395
Nicholas, Henry T., III, 98
nondirective roles, of facilitators, 141
nonprofit organizations, 53, 361–362,
395–402
Norton, David P., 345
Novations Group, 29
Obama, Barack, on executive pay, 99
objectives
learning, 252–254
management by, 210
and metrics for SP&M programs, 330–
331, 372
Occupational Heath and Safety Administra-
tion, 163
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970
(OSHA), 163
off-the-job degree programs, 261
off-the-job public seminars, 261–262
Oklahoma City bombing, xvii
Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of
1990, 166
ONet (Web site), 322
online methods of SP&M, 309, see also high-
tech SP&M methods
online portfolios, 236
on-site degree programs, 261
on-the-job training, internal development
with, 262–263
open communication strategies, 172
open SP&M programs, 35
opponent roles, of management, 140, 141
opportunities, seizing, 114–115
Optum, Inc., 236
Oracle, 311
ORC Worldwide, 298
organizational analysis, of future key posi-
tions, 216, 218, 219
organizational change, 72–73
organizational meetings, 74
organizational openness, 362–363
organizational outcomes, 331
organizational redesign, 38
organizational results, 332–336
organizational structure/design, 216, 218
organization charting, 193
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
Organization Metrics, 311
organizations, requirements and strategies
for, 60, 118–121
Orwell, George, 51
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act
of 1970), 163
outsourcing, 39, 281, 352
overpopulation, 359
overtime, 40
ownership, 72
Paese, Matthew J., on acceleration pools, 213
paperwork, 73–74
participants, 142, 184–185
participative individual potential assessment,
231–232
part-time employment, 40
passive recruiting, 293–294
passive roles, of management, 141
PDA (Pregnancy Discrimination Act of
1978), 164
people problems, counseling executives
about, 187–188
people resources, for IDP, 254
performance appraisal, 205, see also em-
ployee performance appraisals
performance contracts, 249
performance management, 204–211
and approaches for employee perform-
ance appraisals, 208–210
definition of, 205
performance appraisals and position de-
scriptions in, 211
performance appraisals in, 205–207
Performance Now!, 323
performance/potential grid, 226–227
periodic evaluation, 334, 339
periodic review meetings, 176
personality testing, 213–214
personnel, trading of, 39, 353
phased retirement, 284
Pieroni, Leonard, 76
pigeon-holing, 72
Pilat HR Solutions, 311
Pilat NAI, 378, 380
Pilat Technologies International Ltd., 378
Plateau (company), 311
policy(-ies), 149–150, 317–318, 321
www.amanet.org
440 Index
politics, corporate, 70–72
poor performers, 299
Popoff, Frank, 79, 80
Porter, Gordon, 405
portfolios, 233, 235–236
position (term), 196
position analysis, 197, 198
position descriptions
future-oriented, 218, 220, 221
present-oriented, 196–199, 207
potential assessment meetings, 75
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
(PDA), 164
preparation for systematic SP&M programs,
105–135
assessing current practices in, 107–114
assessing current problems in, 105–107
benchmarking other organizations in,
123–128
by CEOs, 131–134
demonstrating need for, 114–118
and management commitment, 128–131
by managers, 133
organizational and human resources strat-
egies for, 119, 122–123
organizational requirements in, 118–121
and sustaining program support, 133–135
prequalification for advancement, xxi, xxii
present competency studies, 89
present conditions, assessments of, see as-
sessments of present conditions
primogeniture, 54
Prince Charles syndrome, 11
priorities
in action plans, 169, 170
of systematic SP&M programs, 157–160
and training, 177–178
procedures
for high-tech SP&M methods, 318, 321
for systematic SP&M programs, 149–150
process coaches, 267
process redesign, 38–39
professional workers, xix, 30–31, 152
Program Evaluation for the Succession Plan-
ning and Management Program (work-
sheet), 342–344
programmatic evaluation, 339–343
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
progression planning, 378
promotion, 37
of internal candidates, 246–249, 289–290
and performance appraisals, 207, 211
in SP&M programs, 60
and technical competencies, 92
proposals, for SP&M programs, 175–176
protected-class employees, 306
protégés, 268
psychological assessments, 213–214
psychology, family, 54–55
public sector, 381–394
in future of SP&M, 361–362
New York City Department of Juvenile
Justice SP&M program, 383, 387–393
starting SP&M programs in, 160, 167
see also government entities
‘‘Public-Sector Succession’’ (Ellen Schall),
381
purpose statements, 143, 372, see also mis-
sion statements
Pygmalion effect, 72, 205
questioning
about bench strength, 243
about key positions, 193–194
and development of high potentials, 62
see also interviews
question marks (performance/potential
grid), 226, 227
quick-fix attitudes, 72
Quick Start Guide, xxxvii–xxxviii
Rainey, Hal G., 383, 384
rapid results assessments
future-oriented, 222–224
present-oriented, 199–201
Rating Your CEO for His or Her Role in Suc-
cession Planning and Management
(worksheet), 134
reaction, in Hierarchy of Training Evalua-
tion, 331
realistic future scenarios, preparing, 218, 220
recency bias, 71–72, 227
Recession of 2007, xvii
recommend and listen approach (mission
statements), 147–148, 149
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Index 441
recruitment, 287–297, 352
continuous, 290–293
definition of, 287–288
external, 289–290
global, 354
internal, 289–290
internal vs. external, 289–290
for sourcing talent, 288–289
strategies for, 293–296
referrals, 295, 296
refining systematic SP&M programs,
169–188
and counseling of managers, 185–188
with program action plans, 169–173
with SP&M meetings, 173–177
and training in SP&M, 177–185
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 163
reluctant-to-leave leaders, 385–386
reorganizations, 280, 352, 353
replacement charting, 242–244
replacement planning, xxxviii
for CEOs, 75–77
in public sector, 386–387
SP&M vs., 12, 211, 371
transitioning from, 79
responsibility, 59–60
results, quantifying, 115–117
retention, 47, 79, 298–308
and bench strength, 242
and cost of turnover, 299–303
definition of, 298–299
in future of SP&M, 354, 358
increasing, 23–25
managing, 299
misconceptions about, 303–304
systematic approach to, 305–308
retirees, employment of, xviii, xx, 40, 281,
284–285, 354
retirement
phased, 284
in succession risk analysis, 138
trends in, 46–47
retreats, 148, 175, 388–389
return on investment (ROI), 374
Revans, Reg, 270
review meetings, 176
rewards, for retention, 305
American Management Association
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Rhodes, Frank, 8, 9
rifle approach (SP&M programs), 20
risk analysis, 16, 137–139
risk management, 12, 369–370
ROI (return on investment), 374
role conflict, 140
role descriptions, 142, 155
role receivers, 139
roles, in SP&M programs, xxxviii, 139–142,
155–157
role senders, 139, 140
role theory, 139–142
rollout strategies, 167–168
Rosen, Ned, 383
Rothwell, William, 33
Rummler, G., 273
Saba (company), 311
salaries, retention and, 303
Salary.com, 311
SAP, 311
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, xviii, 50, 132
scandals, corporate, xvii–xviii, 98–99, 368
scenario planning, 324
Schall, Ellen, 381
scope, of SP&M programs, 34–35
Scoville, John A., 76
searchiq.com, 316
secondary information, researching,
315–317
security, 369–370
selection decisions, 287–288, 368–369
self-concern stage (ABCD model), 129, 131
seminars, internal development with,
261–262
senior executive team, 77, 193–194, 376, see
also boards of directors (corporate
boards)
seniority, xxi
September 11, 2001 attacks, xvii
Service Contract Act of 1965, 163
seven-pointed star model, for systematic
SP&M programs, 83–85
shadowing, of decision makers, 195
Shiloh Nurseries, Inc., 404–406
SHRM, see Society for Human Resource
Management
SilkRoad Technology, Inc., 311
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442 Index
‘‘silos,’’ 40
Silverman, Marc, on succession in small
businesses, 403–404
site visits, 124
Slugging Through the War for Talent (survey),
296
small businesses, 53, 402–404
social desirability bias, 303
social network (social relationship) succes-
sion planning, 31, 137, 154
Society for Human Resource Management
(SHRM), 28, 92, 124, 128
Softscape (company), 311
soft skills, 29, 361
software, 73, 310–315, 378, 380
in business environment for SP&M, 49–50
for employee performance appraisals, 323
for full circle, multirater assessments,
324–325
for high-tech SP&M methods, 311–315
for managing talent inventories, 326–327
for writing job descriptions, 322
Sonar6 (company), 315
Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey, 11, 385
speed, in business environment, 43–47
speed of filling positions, measuring, 115
spirituality, 363, 368
SP&M programs, 377–407
benefits of, 375
for CEO succession, 406–407
definition of, 6, 9
essential components of, 372–373
for family businesses, 404–406
matching talent with tasks in, 377–381
for nonprofit organizations, 395–402
in public sector, 381–394
for small businesses, 402–404
see also related topics, e.g.: evaluations of
SP&M programs
staff work, 147
stakeholders, 157
standing committees, for SP&M activities,
175–176
stars (performance/potential grid), 226
Starting Point for a Rating Sheet to Assess
Vendors for Succession Planning and
Management Software (worksheet),
311–314
American Management Association
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starting systematic SP&M programs, 136–
168, 373–374
and addressing legal issues, 158, 160–167
choosing method for, 136–137
and clarifying program roles, 139–142,
155–157
and creating mission statements, 142–149
and identifying target groups, 151–155
policy and procedures for, 149–150
problems with, 374–375
with risk analysis and commitment to
change, 137–139
rollout strategies for, 167–168
and setting program priorities, 157–160
Stebbins, Michael, 404–406
Steingraber, Fred, on succession plans of
Standard & Poor’s 500 companies, 55
stepfour.com, 322
StepStone Solutions, 311
stereotyping, 72
strategic business plans, SP&M in, 18, 20–21,
171
success factor analysis, 228–230
SuccessFactors, Inc., 311
succession management, 6
succession planning and management
(SP&M), 3–41
best practices for, 31–36
CEOs and corporate boards in, 13–16
competencies in, 88–89
current research in, 27–29
definition of, 6–12
frequently asked questions about, 371–376
at General Electric, 7–9
and global location, 27
leadership continuity in, 36–41
at McDonald’s, 10–12
ministudies in, 3–5
replacement and workforce planning vs.,
12–13
systematic programs for, 16–27, see also
systematic SP&M programs
talent and human capital management vs.,
13–14
for technical and professional workers,
30–31
telling successors about, 29–30
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Index 443
in tough economic times, xxiii–xxiv
values in, 96–97
see also future of SP&M
successors
identification and preparation of, 61
informal selection of, 15–16
informing of, 362–363
and talent pools, 212
telling, about SP&M, 29–30
see also internal successors
SumTotal Systems, 311
supervisors, 151, 152, 204
support, 59, 70, 133–135
supporter roles, of management, 140, 141
surveys, 111–114
sustainability, of systematic SP&M pro-
grams, 133–135
systematic approach to retention, 305–308
systematic SP&M programs, xx–xxi, 16–27,
58–86
alternatives to internal development in,
284, 286
characteristics of, 58–67
evaluating, 327
life cycle of, 75–81
mistakes in, 63, 70–75
requirements of, 82–83
seven-pointed star model for, 83–85
whole systems transformational change
and appreciative inquiry in, 78, 81
see also related topics, e.g.: preparation for
systematic SP&M programs
tactical succession planning, xx
Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, 161
takeovers, 353, 369
talent
development of, xviii–xix, 61, 368
in future of SP&M, 349, 352–357
future requirements for, 215–218
globalization of, xviii
internal, 28
leveraging of, 369
matching, with tasks, 377–381
sourcing of, 287–289
talent inventories, 325–327
talent management, xviii, 13, 287
Talent Management Suites (study), 315
American Management Association
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talent pools, 39
and assessments of present conditions,
207, 211–212
external, 77–78
for government entities, 52
increasing, 21–22
internal, 28, 77
in SP&M life cycle, 77–78
talent shows, 245–247
Taleo Corporation, 311
target groups, 151–155
task analysis
future-oriented, 218, 220–221
present-oriented, 196–199
task inventory, 196
teams
action learning, 40
redistributing duties to, 280, 353
senior executive, 77, 193–194, 376
technical (functional) competency models,
91, 92
technical succession planning, 31
technical workers, xix, 30–31, 38, 152, 201
technology, 49–50
in competency modeling, 91
in future of SP&M, 361
in public sector, 387
see also high-tech SP&M methods
Technomedia (company), 311
temping, 40, 352
termination, 37, 288
Terner, Donald, 76
terrorism, xvii, 132
Teslik, Sarah, 132
Tholan, Stuart, 76
Thomas, Clarence, 269
Thomson Corp., 294
360-degree assessments, 82, 201, see also full-
circle, multirater assessments
time resources, for IDP, 254
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 162, 164
Tobias, Randall, 94
Tool for Contemplating Ten Ways to Tap the
Retiree Base (worksheet), 285
top-down approach (SP&M programs), xxx-
vii–xxxviii, 20, 31, 137
Total Quality Management (TQM), 123
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444 Index
trading, of personnel, 39, 353
training
attendance at, 183–184
in high-tech SP&M methods, 327–328
and job posting, 249
of management employees, 184
on-the-job, 262–263
of participants, 184–185
and program planning, 177–178, 183
sample outlines for, 179–182
and SP&M, 21
in SP&M, 177–185
training, education, and developmental
meetings, 75
trait rating approach (employee perform-
ance appraisal), 208
transfers, of employees, 353
transformational change, 105
triangulation, 195
trust, 47, 232
turnover
appropriate, 79–80
and bench strength, 242
benefits of, 304
CEO, 55, 132
cost of, 298–303, 299–303
critical, 20
decreasing, 305–308
in human resources, 134
preventing, 354, 358
and recruitment, 289–290
reducing, 23–25
and retention, 298–299
two-in-the-box arrangements, 39
unavoidable turnover, 242
understaffing, 374
unemployment, xvii, xxiii–xxiv
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection
Procedures, 160
United Kingdom, 359
United States, 27, 51, 358
uproar method of identifying key positions,
193
U.S. Constitution, 160
U.S. Department of Justice, 165
U.S. Department of Labor, 161–166
American Management Association
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U.S. General Accountability Office, 14
US—Agencies Credit Union, 406–407
values, 94–98, 100
in business environment, 48–49
definition of, 94
and future of SP&M, 368
in SP&M, 96–97
and values clarification studies, 97–98
vendors, of SP&M software, 311–315
verified succession planning and manage-
ment, 36
vertical advancement, 207, 211
vertical loading, 38
VEVRAA (Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjust-
ment Assistance Act of 1974), 164
videoconferencing, 321
videotaping, of training sessions, 184
Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assis-
tance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), 164
visibility, of succession, 72
visual aids, 138
Vizzini, Kelly, on work portfolios, 236
Vodafone, 11
voluntary turnover, 299, 358
‘‘voodoo competency studies,’’ 90
wages, 303
Wagner Act of 1947, 161
WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining
Notification Act of 1988), 166
Warren Pike Associates, 402
Web sites, 293–294, 315, see also high-tech
SP&M methods
Wechsler, Barton, 383, 384
Weintraub, Joseph, 266
Welch, Jack, 7–9, 11, 132, 140, 247
wetpaint.com, 318
what-based strategies (internal develop-
ment), 259
what-if scenarios, in risk analysis, 138
when-based strategies (internal develop-
ment), 259
where-based strategies (internal develop-
ment), 259, 264
Whistleblower Protection statutes, 166
White, Blessing, 56
Whittaker, Robert A., 76
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Index 445
who-based strategies (internal develop-
ment), 259
whole systems transformational change
(WSTC), 78, 81
why-based strategies (internal development),
265
Wikipedia, 318
WikiWikiWeb, 318
Windows messenger, 321
W.M. Steele Co., 403
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifi-
cation Act of 1988 (WARN), 166
workforce, 22, 25, 360, see also aging work-
force
workforce planning, xix, 12, 53, 378
workhorses (performance/potential grid),
226–227
work-life (work-family) balance, 35–36, 46,
156, 305, 363, 368
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
workload, measuring, 115
workplace climate, 306
work portfolios, 233, 235–236
work process, in organizational analysis, 216
work requirements
competency models for, 199, 221–222
and high-tech SP&M methods, 321–324
job and task analysis for, 196–199, 218,
220–221
rapid results assessments of, 199–201,
222–224
in systematic SP&M programs, 84–85
work requirements meetings, 74
WorldCom, xviii
World War II, 229
World Wide Web, 309
WSTC, see whole systems transformational
change
Yahoo messenger, 321
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About the Author
William J. Rothwell, PhD, SPHR, is professor of workforce education and develop-
ment in the Department of Learning and Performance Systems in the College of
Education on the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University. He
leads a graduate emphasis in workplace learning and performance. He is also presi-
dent of Rothwell & Associates, Inc. (see www.rothwell-associates.com), a full-service
private consulting firm that specializes in all facets of succession planning and man-
agement and related HR issues.
Rothwell completed a BA in English at Illinois State University, an MA (and all
courses for the doctorate) in English at the University of Illinois at Urbana–
Champaign, an MBA at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and a PhD degree
with a specialization in employee training at the University of Illinois at Urbana–
Champaign. He holds life accreditation as a Senior Professional of Human Resources
(SPHR) and was the first U.S. citizen awarded trainer certification (CTDP) by the
Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD).
Before entering academe in 1993, Rothwell had 20 years of experience as an HR
practitioner, serving first as training director for the Illinois Office of Auditor General
(a state government counterpart of the U.S. Government Accountability Office) and
later as assistant vice president and management development director for The Frank-
lin Life Insurance Company, at that time a wholly owned subsidiary of a Fortune 50
multinational company.
Best known for his extensive and high-profile consulting work in succession plan-
ning and talent management, Rothwell is a frequent speaker or keynoter at confer-
ences and seminars around the world. He has authored, coauthored, edited, or
coedited more than 300 books, book chapters, and articles. His most recent publica-
tions are The Manager’s Guide to Maximizing Employee Potential (AMACOM, 2009),
Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for Consultants, 3rd ed. (Pfeiffer, 2009),
Basics of Adult Learning (ASTD Press, 2008), Cases in Government Succession Planning:
Action-Oriented Strategies for Public-Sector Human Capital Management, Workforce
Planning, Succession Planning, and Talent Management (HRD Press, 2008), Mastering
the Instructional Design Process: A Systematic Approach, 4th ed. (Pfeiffer, 2008), Work-
ing Longer: New Strategies for Managing, Training, and Retaining Older Employees
(AMACOM, 2008), Cases in Linking Workforce Development to Economic Development:
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
447
www.rothwell-associates.com
www.amanet.org
448 About the Author
Community College Partnering for Training, Individual Career Planning, and Commu-
nity and Economic Development (American Association of Community Colleges,
2008), and Human Resource Transformation: Demonstrating Strategic Leadership in the
Face of Future Trends (Davies-Black, 2008).
Rothwell is the U.S. editor of the International Journal of Training and Develop-
ment (Blackwell’s), an academic journal on which he works with editorial counter-
parts in Europe and Asia. He is also a book series coeditor, with Columbia University
Professor Victoria Marsick and University of Illinois Professor Andrea Ellinger, of the
AMACOM book series Adult Learning Theory.
Rothwell can be reached by email at wjr9@psu.edu (or at wjrothwell@yahoo.com)
or by phone at 814-863-2581.
American Management Association
www.amanet.org
www.amanet.org
Contents
List of Exhibits
Preface to the Third Edition
Acknowledgments
Advance Organizer for This Book
Quick Start Guide
What’s on the CD?
PART I: BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT 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 SP&M from Replacement Planning, Workforce Planning, Talent Management, and Human Capital Management
Making the Business Case for Succession Planning and Management
Reasons for a Succession Planning and Management Program
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
Characteristics of Effective Programs
Common Mistakes and Missteps to Avoid
The Life Cycle of Succession Planning and Management Programs: Five Generations
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
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 SP&M 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 in Where 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
Summary
PART III: ASSESSING THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE
Chapter 8 Assessing Present Work Requirements and Individual Job Performance
Identifying Key Positions
Three Approaches to Determining Work Requirements in Key Positions
Using Full-Circle, Multirater 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 to Determining Future Work Requirements in Key Positions
Assessing Individual Potential: The Traditional Approach
The Growing Use of Assessment Centers and Portfolios
The Latest Issues in Potential Assessment
Summary
PART IV: CLOSING THE DEVELOPMENTAL GAP: OPERATING AND EVALUATING AN SP&M PROGRAM
Chapter 10 Developing Internal Successors
Testing Bench Strength
Formulating Internal Promotion Policy
Preparing Individual Development Plans
Evaluating Individual Development Plans
Developing Successors Internally
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, and What Is Selection?
When Should Recruitment Be Used to Source Talent?
Internal Versus External Recruitment: Integrating Job Posting with Succession Planning
Recruiting Talented People from Outside
Innovative Recruitment Approaches to Attract High Potentials
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?
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 SP&M 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 SP&M Programs?
What Should Be Evaluated?
How Should Evaluation Be Conducted?
How Can SP&M 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: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Succession Planning and Management
Appendix II: Case Studies on Succession Planning and Management
Notes
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
About the Author
