Organisations often argue that nobody should consider themselves to be indispensable, but the unexpected loss of enough key players or leaders will put their future in serious jeopardy if they don't have sufficient people on the bench to replace them.
Having a well-designed, sophisticated succession plan is one thing, but unless it is effectively implemented, it becomes a fruitless exercise. Succession planning often appears on the agenda at meetings, but there seems to be a disconnect between talking about it as a central issue and living it out. All too often it is relegated to the human resources department where it lies on the shelf and collects dust.
The primary indicator of whether an organisation is successfully implementing its succession plan is how well top leadership positions are being filled internally and how well prepared those people are to step into their predecessors' shoes. It needs to be treated with importance before it become urgent, because that's when mistakes happen and when people aren't prepared or the wrong people are appointed.
There's no such thing as an instant leader. Succession planning requires visionary leaders who can look beyond short-term imperatives and who are willing to transfer knowledge and responsibility despite it creating discomfort in the short term. It's likely they will encounter resistance to change, but it has to be done and a good leadership team will recognise when the time is right to do it and will manage the process appropriately.
Much of the success around implementing a succession plan lies in having a culture of mentoring and information sharing, rather than empire building. Succession planning should be an organic process, whereby a good leader can't help but produce another good leader. It's unlikely to succeed where leaders are constantly trying to protect their own turf.
One way that companies can encourage this is to make leaders aware that their ability to produce a successor will be an important measure of their leadership success. And while it may be an organic process, people should not be left to their own devices; they will need to undergo some form of formal training. If you have the right leaders in place, leadership development should happen quite naturally, but companies should not rely on that alone, because they will produce an even better leader if formal training is coupled with on-the-job training.
Companies need to be completely transparent with their succession plans. Not only does it engender trust, but it also sends out a clear message about the growth opportunities the organisation offers throughout the ranks. Research has shown that the biggest pull factor for people to join an organisation, even above remuneration, is career growth. Unless a company is speaking to that through their practices, they're not going to be able to attract and retain the best people.
Simplicity of implementation is also important. When someone who is in the job is responsible for creating a successor, if the process is too complex, too far from their practical reality or doesn't align itself with the way things happen in the organisation, it is likely to get discarded.
If it's too theoretical, it's likely to become nothing more than a pen-pushing exercise, a form they fill out at the end of the month. Succession planning must be owned by the executive team and become real for them in growing the next generation of leaders.
