Make a plan now: steps to successful succession planning for your organization.

• Author: Cummings, Judith
• Position: HR MATTERS

"Dad, I just accepted a position in Houston as a director of finance for a wind-energy company. It's a great job. I'll miss working with you but I know Houston is the right place for me."

Joe wasn't really surprised when his only child Jill announced she was leaving the family business. Ever since Jill came back from Harvard with a master's degree in business administration, Joe could tell that the company was not really a fit for his daughter. But Joe always planned on Jill taking over as chief executive officer (CEO) when he retired in another five or 10 years.

Joe's father started the Ready Now dental-supply business in 1970 and Joe joined the business after graduating from college in 1980. Since becoming CEO of Ready Now in 1995, Joe has led the business to expand to 150 employees in 20 states.

Who is going to be Joe's successor now?

Joe isn't alone in leaving leadership succession planning to assumptions and vague probabilities. Companies of all sizes are surprised when a leader retires early or leaves the company unexpectedly and there is no one to step into his or her shoes. The scramble to find the right person at the last minute is often accompanied by productivity slowdowns.

THINK AHEAD

Succession planning is a systematic process that recognizes some positions in a company are too critical to be left vacant or filled by anyone less than the best-qualified person. The intent of a good succession plan is to build a leadership pipeline to ensure leadership continuity. When the succession plan works, the company is able to identify both potential successors already in the organization and possible talent gaps that might require looking outside the organization.

Succession planning is a hot topic among all sizes of companies and there are certain best practices that have emerged in doing it right:

* Senior leaders of the company are personally involved and accountable for the results.

* Succession planning is directly linked to business planning and strategic planning.

* Leadership competencies (i.e., skills and knowledge needed by leaders) are identified and used to select and develop successors.

* The pool of talent within the company is identified early and development planning occurs,

* The process is dynamic and regularly adjusts to the people, business opportunities, and business realities in place at any time,

Here are the basic steps to doing succession planning in your organization:

Step 1: Link Strategic Planning and Work...