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The Importance Of Succession Planning To Any Business

To run a business is all about planning. It is fine to live in the moment, yet it is also necessary for you to consider both the past and possible future events. Succession planning can be surely considered a future event which all businesses have to consider or face disaster.

 

What is succession planning? Well, it is simply a plan put in place that recognizes the business should outlast the key people running it. The classic example used by financial planners is the business that is family owned. The parents often want to pass it down to a child or children. Doing so makes sense logically, but there are a host of tax issues involved. Planning for them is critical.

 

What happens if you don’t plan for the succession of the business? Well, the Miami Dolphins are a good example. They and the beautiful stadium they play in were owned by a gentleman named Joe Robbie. He had a large family and was very successful. Despite having lived a long life, he never planned for his passing on. When he passed away, estate and income taxes kicked in along with the acceleration of certain contracts that he had personally guaranteed. His estate did not have the cash on hand to deal with the taxes and debts. As a result, it was forced to sell the team and stadium among other assets for a song. The massive figures paid in taxes need not have been paid if succession planning had been done.

 

The Robbie situation is well known because of the assets involved. One just doesn’t see an NFL team sold off to pay taxes every day. The underlying problem, however, is a common one that occurs in the business world practically every day.

Otherwise profitable businesses are left in shambles or sold off for pennies on the dollar because no succession plan was put in place.

 

If you are the owner or key member of a business, succession planning is something that must be part of your administrative checklist. To forgo it is to invite doom upon the business.

 

Thomas Ajava writes about succession planning for UFCAmerica.com where you can obtain professional advice on small business succession planning.

How to Develop a Succession Plan

Succession planning has come a long way from the days when it usually meant simply putting names in boxes on organization charts. Effective succession planning has evolved to a process by which successors are identified for key positions, and career development and associated activities are planned accordingly. Here are the key steps in developing an effective succession plan…

1. Decide on the depth of your succession plan.
Although the most common model for corporate succession planning focuses on the most senior jobs in the organization (the top two or three tiers), a broader-based model where a similar philosophy and processes are applied to a much larger population (managerial, professional, and administration) is becoming popular. Sustaining the devolved model will require continued support of a committed management, so that identified successors will embrace the priority given to this process.

2. Identify the specific qualities you seek in suitable candidates.
Whatever you call them – critical success factors, key leadership criteria, core competencies – you must spend time identifying the qualities you are looking for in staff and want to develop further. A suggested process is one of multiple dialogue which involves collecting views of selected individuals and groups, testing those views – focus groups could be a useful tool here – and making any necessary amendments to the list. This approach will not only help to ensure that the view taken by the organization of an individual is
based on objective evidence but also helps to gain the commitment and ownership of those who are likely to be succession candidates.

If you are having difficulty identifying those qualities, this could indicate you need to spend time defining the business you are in. Constantinos Markides in All The Right Moves outlines a straightforward and useful process to follow, providing a clearer picture to help identify the qualities required.

3. Identify high-potential candidates.
A previous decision about the depth of your plan will affect the nature and size of any list of succession candidates. If your plan is for a devolved model, the list must be sufficient to accommodate predicted demands for a wide variety of positions that may become vacant, as well as any others needing extraordinary skills or qualities. Names on your list should also reflect your equal employment policy: succession planning can never be a stand-alone concept. In identifying a strong talent pool…
• Avoid the problem of incumbents choosing and developing successors who are much like themselves, thereby perpetuating the status-quo and limiting diversity. A highly homogeneous organization is susceptible to disease.
• Ensure candidates’ values match closely those of the organization. Jack Welch, when CEO of General Electric, said: ‘Competencies are critical, but the company’s values are even more central.’
• Ensure that all employees understand the identification process and how it works.

4. Work wisely to retain your stars.
Your retention plans must go further than dangling handsome financial packages. Research tells us that people who make career decisions based on money only will always be on the lookout for higher paying positions- they’re liable to jump ship when someone offers them a better package. Your successor candidates should be given opportunities to participate in a rich variety of assignments with opportunities to display leadership skills, become increasingly visible in the organization, gain and handle recognition for their contributions, and receive adequate coaching and mentoring. Share these mentoring and coaching roles among incumbent leaders with information generated about candidates being reviewed regularly. Ideally, discussion about performance and progress should focus on completed projects, so, wherever possible, candidates should remain in their existing posts to see their individual projects through to successful completion. In 2002, the Board of the Australian Broadcasting Commission delayed appointing a new Managing Director, opting to give maximum time for a successor candidate to demonstrate his skills as Acting-Managing Director. His demonstrated success in this acting role resulted in his appointment to the top
position.

5. Measure, reward, and review.
For a succession plan to be effective, it must be able to measure any performance improvements in its successor candidates. Successful candidates must then be rewarded in ways that are valued by individual candidates. Such rewards could vary from bonus compensation based on the extent to which they meet stated goals and objectives to an all-expenses paid weekend for the candidates and their life partners. Any review must take into account the full process from identification, planned individual development, and eventual succession or job filling.

6. Act now.
Training and preparing candidates for key leadership positions cannot be rushed. A well-planned, structured
succession strategy lays the foundation for your organization’s continued success, even when you’re not there. Do not wait until it’s too late to consider business succession – procrastination can paralyze.

Dr Neil Flanagan provides access to essential management know-how for busy people on the move. A FREE gift awaits you every time you visit management2go.com and you can take advantage of your FREE e-Topic and newsletter that will keep you informed about everything management. And if you’d like more information about issues raised in this article, you can go to http://www.management2go.com/products/Management-Medley.html

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