8

Assessing Succession Management Software

Introduction

Succession management software enables organizations to identify and develop high-potential employees at all levels of the organization. Because doing this manually takes additional effort and time, many organizations without software opt to only address the needs of senior levels and a few critical key positions. Software makes it easier to increase the scope of succession planning to go deeper into the organizational levels, allowing you to address additional key positions and even positions that are likely to grow in importance based on strategic planning of the organization.

Software solutions can invite employees to become more engaged in their own career paths and help them monitor the development of their skills to reach career goals. It allows them to instantly see where their skills measure up in the organization and discover the areas in which they need to develop. These features are of increasing interest to the more digitally-inclined and younger generations who want more control over the speed and direction of their career growth.

This is also an advantage as organizations work to overcome the old model of assuming that growth always meant moving a higher level. If the advancement opportunities in an organization are identified solely as upward movement, it’s easy for high-potential talent to become frustrated and consider leaving if they see that the full layer of management above them is currently occupied. This is when an organization can lose future leaders. Even more important is the fact that these are employees who already understand the climate and operations of the business. In short, valuable knowledge and potential are walking out the door.

Four Considerations for Succession Planning Tools

Succession planning software can allow employers to discover gaps in competencies before there are open slots on the organizational chart. Dashboards and the ease of creating reports can make identification of skill gaps more accessible, leading to an improved monitoring of potential problem areas and positions.

Regardless of the size or type of the software solution an organization selects, certain features are vital to effectively use it as a succession planning tool. This next section outlines some of the most important considerations based on software reviews and research.

1. Ease of Use

The first consideration doesn’t even start with the actual software. It’s the organization’s employee base. The best system is useless if your employees can’t make it work for them. So, while all the advanced features are exciting to consider, an organization would do well to start with what is needed along with an understanding of the technology skill level of that workplace. An expensive and feature-packed system can become a point of contention if organization members are not equipped to make full use of it.

2. Competency Modeling

Your organization has taken time and effort to identify the competencies that are important to its values, performance, and growth. The system you select must be customizable enough to integrate these specific competencies into any succession planning efforts. A good succession planning software solution will include the ability to weave these competencies into planning for the organization’s current needs as well as needs based on future planning and goals.

3. Talent Inventory and Gap Analysis

An effective system will make it easy to identify the competencies currently available in the workforce, as well as those that are in short supply, and determine what needs to be done to overcome those gaps. The activities that an organization might have completed using a 9-Box Grid become more streamlined as managers are able to use these tools to assess talent pools to address current and future needs.

4. Reporting Measures

Strong reporting capabilities help to determine the effectiveness of succession planning measures, see what’s working, identify areas for improvement, and adjust as needed. The ease of creating these reports will ensure that problems have more opportunity to be discovered and strengths can be maximized.

Other Features

• Employee profiles that allow quick identification of skills, tracking of development, and goals

• Organizational charting to readily identify positions at risk and talent pipelines

• Mobile apps to allow ease of tracking for managers and employees

• 360-degree feedback for positions that allows in-depth analysis and planning

• Recruiting management based on the current competency base and strategic planning of the organization

• Performance management based on employee talent profile and agreed-upon goals

• Development plans and strategies that managers and employees can access

• Career paths based on various internal and external scenarios

• Mentor programs that allow identification and matching of skill sets

Software Considerations

Organizations will also need to consider whether they want a succession planning solution or a full HR software system. A specific succession planning software would be considered a “Best of Breed” system. These systems typically are more customizable and allow a user to select the system that more closely addresses specific needs. The other choice would be an integrated system, which addresses many of the core human resource needs of an organization and includes a module for succession planning.

A Best of Breed system is an excellent choice if an organization already employs an HR system that it is satisfied with; however, care must be taken to ensure that it integrates effectively with the current system. If it will include a different user interface, the learning curve also needs to be considered for potential users of the system.

If an organization is looking to upgrade its current HR software solution, it will want to study the individual succession planning module to ensure it meets all needs or is customizable to meet those needs. Benefits of an integrated system is the assurance that all modules will work together and that learners will only be required to learn one system.

Most software solutions fall under one of two pricing models.

Subscription pricing or Software as a Service (SaaS) is normally associated with cloud-based HR tools. These may be charged per employee or per user per month or by annual fee and can include implementation fees. The scalability and lowered cost per user as employee numbers increase make this format more affordable for smaller organizations. The subscription pricing also includes updates to the program, ensuring that it stays current and has any bugs addressed in a timely manner. When considering vendors of SaaS solutions, ensure that you agree on the definition of “user” so that you know whether you will be paying for administrative users or for all employees who access any self-service features.

Perpetual license, or buying the software outright, allows users to use the system on-premise for as long as desired. It is more expensive up-front but removes the monthly fees and ensures that the organization retains control of data, which can make it easier when updating to a different system in the future. System updates may be limited for perpetual licenses. Perpetual licenses are more popular with organizations that do not want their information to be cloud based.

Regardless of the model, you’ll want to ask about training and support for the software. What kinds of training are available? How much training is included in the software contract? Is support available online 24/7 via live representatives or is it specifically available during business hours? These needs will increase in importance if the tech skills of your users are more limited.

Study the reviews of any product you’re considering to determine the challenge areas. That will help in discussions with vendors to see how these issues have been addressed. Additionally, these are some common challenge areas identified in customer reviews:

• level of customization available

• timeliness of response to service requests

• unexpected additional costs for training, support, and implementation

• cost-effectiveness or scalability for size of organization

• search engine effectiveness

• end-user experience

• intuitiveness of interface

• connectivity with other software

• license pricing and whether licenses are transferable

• learning curve

• ease of deployment

• customer service, including quality, availability, and languages supported.

Summary

In the end, it’s all about finding a solution that best fits the succession planning and competency system your organization uses and is easy for users to adopt and grow with. A system with advanced features may not be the best solution unless your employees will use it. And a basic system that will not grow with the organization is not a cost savings if it will force you to purchase an upgraded system sooner than expected. Look at all the options, have your team test drive software solutions, and ask the hard questions of the vendor to ensure that you’re getting a service that will meet your immediate needs as well as your future strategies.

Getting It Done

To help you assess your organization’s options, use the following checklist (Table 8-1) to track your desires and needs and how they match up with real software features and performance.

Table 8-1. Software Requirement Checklist