Beginner’s guide to succession planning: 6 essential steps

Succession planning is. That way, when a key employee leaves, you already have someone in mind to fulfill their position (who, hopefully, has been groomed for this eventuality).

Succession planning keeps your business moving ahead through the inevitable changes that come with running a business. And such programs serve as an excellent tool for keeping your strongest actors, who tend to be the type.

Just like you will need to know where your business is headed.

Be prepared to make succession planning an ongoing effort. You can’t just sit at a meeting for two hours analyzing your org chart, then return to routine business and forget about it.

The series plans are currently living, breathing.

It’s a process that, once you start, you need to continue. It’s something your company should revisit annually to make sure people are on track and to see if there have been any changes or motion within the organization.

Here’s your guide on how to get started. Follow these tips:

Know that you are as a company

It & rsquo; s important to recognize that it & rsquo; s not a one-size-fits-all procedure, when it comes to succession planning. To get the maximum benefit from succession planning, your organization ’s top management must begin with a good idea of who your business is in order to plan properly for its future.

Consider the examples of an electric company versus Tesla. The electric supplier is a business that guarantees consistency and reliability to its customers, while Tesla focuses on best-in-class performance. There’s no right or wrong here.

By understanding &ldquo you can identify its potential leaders.

Look at your entire company

The next step is to assess your existing workforce to identify key positions and key workers, recognizing that sometimes key workers aren’t in upper leadership but in support positions.

Yes, you will need succession plans in place for the C-suite, but what about your shop foreman who never met with a problem he couldn’t solve? Or the customer service rep that every client loves and asks for by name?

The key to a successful succession plan is that you be sure you haven & rsquo and have a look;t missed any significant person or position.

Determine your succession planning approach

There are many ways that you can go about succession planning. The ideal succession strategy is. To determine what will work best for your business, consider these questions:

Do you want a succession plan that includes every place and employee in your organization? Or, would you like a succession plan that covers other significant leadership positions and just upper management?
Will identifying and grooming successors be integrated into your managers’ performance reviews?
Does your company have particular vulnerabilities, such as a large percentage of retiring employees in a particular branch?
What’s your aim? What results are you hoping for?

Ultimately, any succession plan needs to focus on what you can do to proactively preserve the wealth of institutional knowledge that drives your organization ’s productivity.

Identify your rock stars

You need to locate two to three workers who would make successors for every one of those roles that are critical once you & rsquo identified key positions. This requires you to take attachments, and to look at employee performance objectively.

Employees who are the most extroverted are. But occasionally your strongest actors aren’t the very visible. That’s why you will need to consider every individual for both skills and intelligence.

Your highest-potential employees will be lifelong learners who are both aware and self-aware. They’ll also be great problem-solvers, ready and adaptable . You’ll want to avoid promoting people who tend resist change to become involved with office play and disperse negativity.

Tackle tough decisions and discussions

In addition, you need to have conversations with your employees to find out what their career goals are, where they see themselves in the future, and what development they (and you) feel they need so as to get there.

Be prepared to find that some workers you consider to be potential for progress aren’t interested. That’s okay. You need performers.

Done right, succession planning can be a powerful recruitment tool, helping your organization improve retention and business culture. For the benefits to occur it’s important to convey behind who has been tapped to move up the hows and whys.

Succession planning won&rsquoit will also expose the workers who aren’t promotable, at least at this time.

For those who aren’t slated to move up, you need to be prepared to talk through the tough decisions you’ve made — and have what might be difficult discussions with a number of your employees.

Understand rsquo, that growth doesn &;t have to be up

Your employees are the backbone of your organization, especially the people who do a good, solid job, day in and day out. But a number of these employees may not have the capability to move up — either because they’re already doing the tasks they’re best suited to, or simply because they’re not interested in rising through the ranks.

That’s where your definition of growth needs to be expanded to include more than simply mobility. Employees may also grow and develop laterally, positioning them to continuously improve at their current jobs and even find new meaning in them.

To maintain your “strong Sams&rdquo. These employees will need to know that because they won&rsquo t mean that they can&rsquo.

Let them know that you will continue to help them grow so that they can remain fresh. You might need to expand their responsibilities to include training workers or invite them to speak at industry conferences to feed their need for recognition. The possibilities are endless when it comes to private development.

The most important thing is to make sure they feel that, even though they’re not slated for the C-suite, their contributions are crucial to your organization’s success.

Not sure how to get started with your business ’s succession planning? Get more great tips by downloading our free e-magazine: The Insperity guide to succession planning.

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