What is Succession Planning & Why is it Important?
According to a Global SHRM Survery, executives worldwide believe their two biggest challenges through 2020 will be attracting the best people to their organizations and retaining and rewarding the best people in their organizations through engagement, development, and involvement practices.
Succession Planning is a very important part of that Talent Management process for organizations of all sizes.
What is Succession Planning?
Succession Planning is essentially planning for and executing smooth transitions of leadership positions. This includes recruiting new talent, executive search, selection assessments, on boarding the new leaders, and successfully transitioning the new leader in and the old leader out.
This Succession Planning approach and way of thinking enables organizations to focus on their top talent and leadership could become in the future, establish ways in which top talent can get exposure as well as have a strong career and individual development plan.
Why is Succession Planning Important?
Succession Planning is important because at the heart of Talent Management is identifying key roles and mapping out ways to ensure the organization has the right people with the right skills, capabilities, and experiences, in the right place at the right time.
The number of people in leadership roles who plan to retire in the next few years is higher than the number of people entering the workforce. Organizations need to prepare for this phenomenon to happen and prepare the next generation of leaders to move up.
Succession Planning is also important because executive search is expensive. Having the foresight to develop the top talent you currently have, actively recruiting top talent, and making sure they have the proper experiences to prepare them for the future is an important strategy. The complexity involved at the most senior leadership levels is significant. Preparing top talent to take on these roles and challenges is essential to organizational success.