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December 18, 2015

Succession planning and employee development

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Succession planning and management skills are vital components of a business.

What is the succession plan of your business leadership?

What is the succession plan of your business leadership?

Does your business have a succession plan for its leadership? Often, leadership is severely under-prepared in terms of who will take the reins when the time comes for a leader to leave. Other business initiatives, budgets and employee development strategies are seen as more important, with succession taking the back burner.
A recent article from Business 2 Community highlights the significance of succession preparation. Developing employees for their future within a business ensures retention, skills are learned and the best leaders are picked from the pack of candidates. 
Employee development for leaders, and prospective leaders, is essential. Many companies on the most recent Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list offered more than 66 hours of training each year for salaried employees and 53 for those who are hourly. 40 percent of these hours were solely devoted to leadership development.
Begin with a plan. A combination of a complete recruitment program from a range of roles within the business, as well as strategic interviews and talent-based selection, is an essential start. Organizations that have created objective, fact-based interviews for leadership roles, hiring only the best candidate, have reported a 48 percent increase in profits.
According to EFMD Development, training budgets have increased by as much as 15 percent in some businesses.

Leadership training trickles down to middle and lower employees, especially in terms of engagement, productivity and performance. As noted by Harvard Business Review, 35 percent of managers aren’t actually engaged in their expected role, which can also trickle down to other employees.

“…People who get the opportunity to continually develop are twice as likely as those on the other end of the scale to say they will spend their career with their company. Leaders must take learning and development a priority for themselves and their managers…” said writer and editor for Gallup Amy Adams.
To enhance the development of your employees, keep the following three tips in mind:

  • Evaluate engagement and productivity for each worker, leader or other.
  • Maintain a continuous focus on performance management, especially from the top down.
  • Set projected goals and use a range of metrics to ensure these are being met. If not, consider a further development plan.

Be sure to keep succession in mind during employee development programming.
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