6

Designing Your Succession Plan

 

Introduction

The design of the succession plan is now focused on the key positions you identified in the previous steps. For this step of succession planning, you’re going to use the materials and information you gathered from the assessment of the key positions. This is also a chance to perform a deeper analysis of the job description and see what activities need to be added or removed. That’s a process that you’ll want to perform on a regular basis to ensure that the development plans you design are still relevant for the demands of that position.

Creating Job Profiles

Your team has already collected many of the tools you need to create a job profile while doing your assessments. The most useful elements that will help you create an objective job description include:

• current job description

• incumbent interview

• observation

• 360-degree interviews

• strategic plan

• sample job descriptions

• competency listing

• organizational chart.

Many employees are currently laboring under old, outdated job descriptions. It’s important to keep these documents updated because job descriptions are essential supervisory tools not only for hiring new employees but also for organizing work processes, training and coaching, performance management, and compensation reviews. Basically, if an employee doesn’t know exactly what they are supposed to be doing, a supervisor cannot hold that employee accountable.

Components of a Competency-Based Job Description

Competency-based job descriptions are a vital component of a quality succession program. They identify the duties and responsibilities of the position as well as the skills and abilities needed to be successful in the position. Their components include:

• title: the official title and department of the position

• role overview: one or two concise sentences summarizing the main purpose of the position

• prerequisite experience: a list of experience, education, and certifications required of the employee in this position

• prerequisite skills: a basic list of the competencies needed to perform the duties of this position

• reports to: the position on the organizational chart to which this position reports

• supervises: list of the positions that directly report to this individual

• essential functions: a listing of the essential duties associated with this role

• master list of competencies: these may be broken down into two categories:

General or organizational competencies are the ones that need to be demonstrated by everyone in a particular organization.

Specific or individual competencies need to be demonstrated by the individual doing this particular job.

Communicating the Competencies for Key Positions

The format you use to communicate key positions must be accessible to all employees for it to be fair and equitable.

One of the most important methods of communicating with employees about the competencies needed for advancement is the one-on-one coaching session. These sessions should not just be a part of the annual performance review with the employee. True coaching and employee development occurs formally and informally throughout the year.

Meetings can be held to introduce the concept of competencies, which ones are needed for advancement in that department, and the opportunities available to develop those competencies.

Written communications can include emails, both virtual and onsite bulletin boards, memos, handouts, and as many other methods as you can think of to get the message out that every employee is invited to take control of their own developmental progress. Take care to ensure that you are using methods that are accessible to the group of employees who will be most interested in the positions.

Developing an Inventory of Candidates

The next step toward finding your succession candidates is to create talent pools of all employees interested in being considered for leadership roles. The job profiles and associated competency lists will allow your team to evaluate individuals with potential for key positions.

Normally, organizations use a combination of approaches to identify and assess candidates. These approaches include self-nomination or nomination by manager or management team based upon observation of demonstrated leadership characteristics, performance of the candidate’s team, evaluation feedback, performance on special projects, and survey of other leaders and employees in the organization.

As a starting point in this process, many organizations invite employees to express their interest in career advancement, leadership roles, or lateral moves to areas of special interest. There are various methods to gather this information, including:

• career discussions between employees and managers

• administering a survey

• soliciting applications

• creating an employee profile database with employees’ career interests, special skills, and competencies

• assessment methods

• written exams

• behavior-based interviews

• aptitude tests

• call for resumes.

To formalize the process, you’ll want to create a nomination process. The nominations can come directly from the employee or may be submitted through a manager (Tables 6-1 and 6-2). Nominations should include:

• application form noting minimum requirements and how the employee fulfills those criteria, essay questions, and a questionnaire

• a detailed resume

• a recommendation from the employee’s supervisor

• a written statement expressing the employee’s desire to participate in the program.

Other information you’ll want to gather to assess these candidates includes:

• performance evaluations

• evaluation feedback from peers, supervisors, or direct reports (360-degree interviews)

• any testing indicated by the position.

Assessment of the nominations not only provides the list of candidates who are ready to expand their roles in the company but also allows you to determine the areas of development for those who are not at that level of accomplishment yet.

Table 6-1. Sample Succession Planning Nomination Form

Leadership Succession Planning Program

The purpose of the Succession Planning Program is to give participants opportunities to develop new experiences, competencies, and relationships. This program is designed to address the challenge of preparing the next generation of senior managers in our organization and is an excellent opportunity for employees to gain essential skills and abilities for maximum career potential. Minimum Entry Requirements • Demonstrate successful performance through merit evaluations during the past two years. • Must have five years of supervisory experience with at least one year of experience in a mid-level managerial position. Candidates for the Succession Planning Program must submit a completed application and be recommended by a manager within the organization. The Succession Planning Team will review applications. The application packet consists of two parts: 1. Application 2. Recommendation Letter. Application The application describes the candidate’s background and career goals. Recommendation Letter This letter provides insight into the candidate’s potential to take on higher leadership responsibilities.

Table 6-2. Sample Succession Planning Application Form

Leadership Succession Planning Program Application
Candidate Information Name: Title: Phone: Email:	Supervisor Information Name: Title: Phone: Email:
Please respond to the following statements on a separate sheet of paper. Please keep your total response to no more than two pages. • Brief narrative about how your background and experience has prepared you for these positions. • Brief statement about where and when you obtained five years’ supervisory experience with at least one year in a mid-level position. • Brief description of other accomplishments including awards, presentations, or publications. Attach a copy of current resume including work experience, educational background, and relevant certifications.

Checklist for Managers

Have you spoken to each of your employees to discuss their career plans and interests?

Do you know which employees are interested in moving into leadership roles and which would like to expand into different lateral roles?

Do you maintain an inventory of your employees’ skills, experience, and interests?

Have you considered which key positions in your department may be vacated in the coming years due to retirement or other factors?

Have you identified temporary backups who could handle key positions in the short term if the need should arise?

Do you hold formal and informal coaching sessions with employees to determine changes in career plans and interests?

Do you review multiple perspectives in considering candidates, including supervisors, peers, and direct reports?

Do you track the developmental progress of employees?

This assessment process identifies which employees have expressed interest and demonstrated commitment to developing themselves for key positions, and it also allows you to compare their abilities with the competencies needed to be effective in those positions.

The 9-Box Grid

At this point in the process, organizations might use different methods to follow up with candidates. Some create talent pools for the next level of management; others might create talent pools for each specific position. Perhaps the most popular method, which can be accomplished manually or with the help of succession management software, is the 9-Box Grid.

The 9-Box Grid has long been a useful tool for decision-making, and it has found continued use in the world of talent management and succession planning. It’s a simple tool that allows an overview of employees’ leadership potential based on two factors: performance and potential.

Of equal value to the chart itself are the discussions that take place to complete this activity. Agreeing on definitions and assessments of competencies will bring about conversations that will help any workplace and they are necessary to ensure consistency of performance discussions across the organization.

And perhaps the biggest motivator for choosing the 9-Box Grid is the fact that the tool is free and available to any organization that chooses to use it.

How It Works

If an organization has not performed an assessment to determine the competencies necessary for leadership success, this will need to be completed first. There is a plethora of methods to do this, including in-person and online assessments. What you’re looking for is the ability to identify the specific list of skills and behaviors that contribute to top performance in leadership roles of your organization.

Once a list of competencies has been identified, it’s necessary to determine what success looks like for each of those skills. The group will need to define what behaviors represent low, medium, and high potential in each of those competencies. Numerous samples are available online to help the group get started on this task. The discussion involved in this step is vital to the consistent ratings of individuals in the potential grid.

For the performance ratings, information on all candidates must be gathered, including performance evaluation data for several past years, any assessments done by supervisors, peers, and others who have worked with the candidates, and any other assessments and information that can help identify current level of performance related to responsibilities.

Armed with this information, the team sits to rate each individual candidate based on the same criteria for performance and potential.

The x-axis (horizontal line) measures the level of past performance of candidates as high, medium, or low. The y-axis (vertical line) assesses the level of future potential as high, medium, or low. By combining these, the top leadership candidates will appear in box 1 of the grid (Table 6-3). The next highest boxes (2, 3) indicate other employees who could be developed and move into box 1. The other boxes can be used to identify other talent management considerations, including development plans, coaching needs, or changes in position.

Table 6-3. The 9-Box Grid

Additional Notes for Each Box of the 9-Box Grid

1. High Potential/High Performance: This is the box of future leaders, strategic thinkers, and problem solvers. To keep these employees engaged, you’ll want to implement frequent discussions, possible promotions, variety in assignments, and new challenges.

2. High Potential/Medium Performance: This person is good at their current job and has the potential to do more. Stretch assignments and additional opportunities to develop skills will help this individual continue to grow into a higher level of performance.

3. Medium Potential/High Performance: A good candidate who can grow by help in focusing on development of specific skills and strategic thinking.

4. Low Potential/High Performance: This is a strong employee who may have reached the limit of their career potential. Focus should be made on continued motivation and commitment. Consider recognizing the strengths of this employee by allowing them to teach others.

5. High Potential/Low Performance: While capable of an expanded role, this employee’s challenges may require development through coaching and mentoring to achieve those results.

6. Medium Potential/Medium Performance: May be considered for expanded roles. Develop through coaching, supervisory skill development, and stretch assignments.

7. Low Potential/Medium Performance: This is an effective performer, but may have reached career potential. Focus should be on performance and consideration for different roles.

8. Medium Potential/Low Performance: Performance development needs to be assessed and an action plan developed.

9. Low Potential/Low Performance: May be a candidate for reassignment, reclassification to a lower level, or exit. Options include a focus on improvement, finding a better fit, or release from the organization.

A quick view of your leadership pipeline can be gained by looking at boxes 1, 2, and 3. These are the best potential candidates for development. By studying this chart, discussing development of these high potentials, and continuous communication, you can improve retention and growth of the best of the best in your organization.

A reminder about the importance of communication throughout this process: The method of communication can make a difference in gaining acceptance for those in the leadership system and ensuring that others know this does not preclude them from advancement.

Even after you create the inventory of candidates, you’ll want to review these candidates’ potential regularly. Circumstances change. Individuals exhibit different levels of commitment, interest, and development. You want to ensure that when it comes time to replace a key position, the final decision maker has the latest information.

That final decision maker may be the executive team (for high-level positions) or a department manager (for intermediate level positions). Regardless, the decision maker needs the input of this candidate inventory and the assistance of human resources to be sure they have identified the right person for the right job at the right time.

Summary

In this stage of succession planning we’ve created the profiles for our key positions, begun to communicate this information, and started creating talent pools. These are the first steps that start to have an impact on the individuals in the organization. This is an exciting opportunity because at this point they start to realize how the whole process directly affects them.

As you complete these steps, you have the satisfaction of knowing you are creating a career map for those in your organization who might have thought growth opportunities were not available to them. This makes the career map a tool for retention and recruitment in your organization because surveys have shown that challenges and opportunities for growth are some of the strongest motivators of employees. Your succession plan creates those opportunities.

Getting It Done

The steps your team will take in this phase will incorporate the information they’ve gathered in the previous chapters. Using the competency lists, interviews, job descriptions, and other data, the team will develop competency-based job descriptions for the key positions.

Next, you will use your communication vehicles to introduce this information to the organization and to solicit nominations for key positions.

Additionally, you’ll want to distribute the checklist for managers to ensure that all employees are made aware of the opportunities and what competencies are needed for those positions.

To pull together all the elements of this stage, you’ll create talent pools of individuals who are qualified or poised for development into leadership positions (Table 6-4).

Table 6-4. Sample 9-Box Grid Talent Pool and Development