Although many companies have a succession plan in place, it still can be chaotic when a leader exits if the planning is too broad or unclear.
To ensure the transition is smooth for your company and its employees, it is important to consider how you can make your succession plan more effective. Harvard Business Review shares the following to tips.
- Focus on developing future leaders. Rather than just identifying backups for existing roles, work on defining the leaders your company will need in the future. Consider potential scenarios and different paths your business could take and develop leaders who could succeed in each path.
- Be prepared. Connect development experiences with succession goals. Identify gaps, offer stretch roles and pair talented employees with mentors and coaching that can be useful for upcoming transitions.
- Make succession an execution priority. Approach succession as you would any other crucial business strategy by identifying owners, timelines and key metrics. Accountability ultimately should be with executive leadership.
- Expect leaders to produce leaders. Ensure developing future talent is a core leadership responsibility. Encourage leaders to train successors for the benefit of their own teams and to help prepare for the company’s long-term needs.
