LIST OF APPENDICES
3.16 Succession planning and management (SP&M)
In the opinion of Hills (2009), succession planning refers to doing all one can to ensure that their organisations have the right people in the right jobs at the right time.
Ibarra, (2005:18) warns that trends, fads, and styles all come and go, but one thing is certain: the upcoming “brain drain” of a large number of retiring employees in upper and middle management positions, mostly baby boomers, will be unsettling. Along with the “brain drain,” the writer believes that local governments must urgently begin to systematically replace talent, as a way of sustaining the performance of their
which contributes to an organisation’s continued survival and success by ensuring that replacements have been prepared to fill key vacancies on short notice, that individuals have been groomed to assume greater responsibility, and that they have been prepared to increase their proficiency in their work. In essence, according to Clutterbuck, (2005), succession planning is about:
• making sure that there are enough suitable people to step into any significant role as it becomes vacant or is created;
• motivating and developing them to adapt to the new role as fast as possible, with the minimum damage; and
• ensuring that every role is a learning resource, in which the incumbent can develop not only skills relevant to that job, but the capability to embrace different and/or larger jobs.
Ibarra, (2005:19) adds that effective organisations do not passively wait for the future; they create it by investing their time, thoughts and planning to ensure the continuity of their talent, both their leaders and their front-line employees. This scholar reasons that the first excellent step toward the adoption of a succession planning process, and a method that will truly reveal the organisation’s situation with respect to the aging workforce, is to collect data as exemplified in the Figure 3.7 below.
Department Total number of employees
Age 50-54
Age 55-59
Age 60+
Total 50-60+
Administration Clerk
Community Services Water &
Sanitation Electricity
Human Resources Human Services
Figure 3.7: Attrition Data and Retirement Projections: A Worksheet
It is suggested here, by the researcher, that the worksheet may be used to enter the number of employees in each categories listed. Depending on the nature of the organisation, a column for the age group 45-49, especially for the police and the army personnel, since many of these may be eligible for retirement at the age of 55 for instance. This commentator argues that, gathering and analysing these types of data (a process often referred to as workforce analytics) will permit organisations influence to grasp the current situation and begin to recognise its significance.
Nowadays, it is claimed by researchers of succession planning, that it requires more than just an organisation chart that shows who holds what job within, for instance, the local government. Best practice organisations use succession planning to develop and maintain strong leadership and to ensure that they address all the competencies required for today’s and tomorrow’s work environment (Ibarra, 2005:19).
3.16.1 Reasons for succession planning & management systems
A key benefit to growing your leadership pool is the positive message it sends throughout the organisation and it is good for the maintenance of the morale, argues Byham et al. (2002). These researchers of succession planning and acceleration pools cite the following as the reasons for SP&M Systems:
• Provide a source of in-house replacements for key leadership positions.
• Retain key talent.
• Prepare individuals for future challenges (e.g., growth or implementing new strategies).
• Align executive resources to new organisational directions.
• Increase the organisation’s human capital.
• Provide challenging, growth-oriented, and rewarding career opportunities.
• Ensure continuity of management culture, which is difficult to maintain when many executives are brought in from outside.
• Avoid lost productivity while new person is learning a job.
• Control costs: developing internal talent is less expensive than hiring from the outside (e.g., costs of recruitment and relocation, higher starting salary).
• Make the organisation more attractive to job candidates.
• Monitor and help attain diversity goals.
• Increase stock value: investment analysts are becoming concerned with organisations’ processes for filling top positions.
• Increase chances of survival: the alternative might be decline or collapse.
3.16.2 Succession planning implementation
This sub section will attempt to provide tangible suggestions as to how to successfully implement succession planning in organisations. It is important to for information to be availed through the study of literature for managers, particularly in public service to effectively implement new approaches to talent management.
According to Ibarra (2005:20), the primary task of succession planning is to outline a sequence of personnel moves so that candidates for key positions are known in advance of actual need. Meyer et al. (2007) further observe that succession planning is focused on the selection, development and promotion of the organisation’s future leaders in order to ensure availability and continuity of high-talent managers that can meet the business challenges ahead.
Throwing his weight behind Ibarra’s observation, is Clutterbuck (2005), who indicates that implicit in many organisations’ view of the talent pool is the philosophy of ‘‘up or out’’. This is huge challenge because in many public sector organisations if one cannot attain a promotion they leave the organisation, hence the up or out notion here. Yet there are many reasons why people may wish to broaden their capabilities by horizontal career moves – for example, to allow for a period of high demand from their non-work lives. Going up may enable an individual to expand their leadership competence; but moving sideways can result in building cross-disciplinary
and which may be highly valuable to the organisation. Moreover, the ‘‘up or out’’
philosophy is discriminatory – and therefore both wasteful and, in many countries, illegal. People from minority or disadvantaged groups appear to have different career trajectories than people from the dominant group; with longer intervals between promotions at early stages of their careers and shorter once they enter senior management. Mentoring can help both the individual and the organisation by enabling the individual to make both the personal and business case for a non- vertical career path.
A comprehensive strategy for instituting succession planning involves a series of strategies and tactics that, together, make up an overall project plan, Figure 3.8 below.
Succession Planning Project Plan
Figure 3.8: Succession Planning Project Plan (source: Ibarra, 2005:20) Future
Service Needs
Identify critical positions and high potential employees
Identify competencies
Complete Gap Analysis
Select Training and Determine Development Activities Management
Training Implement
Development Strategies &
Tactics Monitor and
Evaluate
The project plan has eight steps as outlined by Ibarra, (2005: 20-22).