When a key employee in a leadership role announces their exit from an organisation, effective immediately, often it is one of those unpleasant surprises that create unsettles human resources (HR) professionals. Especially when such persons have been identified as having the potential to be developed for a senior leadership role and positioned for a more responsible upper-level position, however, the departure then creates a chain reaction that creates leadership gaps in the succession line.
Inevitably, human resource managers will always experience surprises like this. However, instead of being reactionary, HR professionals must respond with a succession plan and talent development strategy to successfully resolve staffing surprises.
It is not when there is a surprise resignation that leaders should begin contemplating a succession planning process. Succession planning is not a replacement planning exercise. It is a comprehensive employee development system. Where work requirements and key positions have been identified, the organisation should test bench strength, says Rothwell. It is important because it provides information for identifying and developing replacements or successors for key positions. This is the essence of succession planning.
Succession management is a lot more definite than succession planning. It must be carried out according to organisational strategy and is responsive enough to deal with rapidly changing organisational settings. Effective succession planning and management programs must anticipate and not just react to the changes wrought by an increasingly dynamic business environment. It should be applied to daily managers, who are charged with and held accountable for developing the organisation’s bench strength for the future.
In the event of a sudden leadership void, it makes no sense to jumpstart the leadership development process; rather, it would be too late because proper development can take months or even years. Hence, succession planning and leadership development initiatives must be connected in clear and coherent ways to best manage an organisation’s leadership talent. The organisation is afforded a soft landing in a surprise resignation because there is an integrated succession management system in place. In such cases, an individual’s loss is not so traumatic to the organisation because of a greater overall leadership capacity.
There is the capability to temporarily fulfil the job responsibilities of the person who is leaving through existing employees. There are options for who can step-in and assume part or all the duties pending when a successor is appointed either from the inside or as an external hire. This deep leadership capacity implies that no one is irreplaceable. Sadly, the greater the number of irreplaceable employees in an organisation, the more risk an organisation is to turnover trauma.
An organisation cannot afford to pin its succession hopes on one incredibly talented individual to have tragedy strike. Surprises do not only happen when key employees suddenly quit or retire. It is dangerous to designate only one possible successor to a key position, regardless of its level. Leadership bench strength, the leadership pipeline, and leadership capacity are popular metaphors for the underlying issue of ensuring that an organisation’s leadership is adequately developed to face current and future challenges.
Regardless of the term used, the concept emphasises that leadership is not centralised in a single or small number of individuals. It begins with the belief or organisational norm that leadership is everyone’s business. Why? Because the kind of challenges faced in today’s globally competitive environment is way too complicated for any individual to figure out alone. To survive and thrive, thriving organisations must be keenly aware of their leadership talent and best develop it across all levels.
Regardless of the industry sector, there are several overarching and interrelated reasons why succession planning and leadership development are crucial concerns.
Rapid, radical, and discontinuous change
The speed of change is increasing, and the type of change that organisations experience is likely to be radical and discontinuous. This argues for more significant shared leadership in organisations. Shared leadership supports more effective change management in sensing needed organisational changes and building momentum for change more quickly than relying on a single change leader.
Increasingly complex challenges
Complexity in the challenges faced by organisations across most industry sectors is increasing exponentially. This has resulted in a heightened feeling of anxiety and uncertainty. Such complexity typically exceeds the capacity of any single leader to make sense of and develop workable solutions.
Greater leadership responsibility at lower levels
Task migration occurs whereby traditionally higher-level leadership responsibilities are transferred to leaders at lower levels. This is partly a function of redesigning flatter organisations in which greater leadership gaps become apparent. However, it is also due to more incredible speed and complexities of challenges. What was typically handled by senior leaders in the past has been handed down to junior leaders so the former can focus on even more complex issues.
Recruitment and retention of the best talent
Recruitment and retention are tied to whether employees believe that their professional potential is being developed and utilised in the best possible way. Also, having opportunities across the organisational spectrum to participate in leadership development efforts can provide an incentive to remain with an organisation on a long-term basis.
In conclusion, these factors are the primary drivers behind the need for effective succession planning and leadership development, but many others could be included. Rather than providing an exhaustive list to justify the business case for development, it might be more persuasive to imagine your organisation’s future if you do not practice succession planning and engage in developing leadership talent. What would be the guarantee of your organisation’s long-term survival and success?
Sobande is a Lawyer and Leadership Consultant. He is a Doctoral Candidate at Regent University, Virginia Beach, USA, for a Ph.D. in Strategic Leadership. He can be reached through Email: [email protected]
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