SUCCEEDING YOURSELF

The market place is changing, ways of doing business don't resemble those of years past, new forms of business (e.g., strategic alliances) are cropping up, competition is unpredictable but a steady presence!!!! You've heard all of this before and you have been witness to it.

How many business people, when faced with a menacing challenge, look around their place of business and discover that some of their very loyal and faithful people are just not up to the challenge, that in order to remain competitive they have to let these employees go, and that, in the process, morale fades because "the owner just didn't care -- he can't be trusted!!"

What about the situation where a "star" has to remain in place despite being needed in a higher or different position as well? The business suffers because he can shine in only one place.

One too frequently overlooked approach to these dilemmas among others is to introduce a program of succession planning throughout the firm. And, by succession planning, I mean a system whereby the needs of the firm for personnel, the needs of the employees for challenge and the strategic needs of the business for growth all mesh.

Succession planning involves the following overlapping themes:

Looking ahead through the prism of the strategic plan and inferring the various skill sets that the firm will need in the future. Strategic planning allows a firm to decide what skills they might need to remain competitive in the future. These skills sets might be in technology, marketing, operations, human relations, finance, administration, etc. Assessing these abilities for every position in the company reduces the chances of being caught unawares.

Either training existing personnel in these required skill sets or hiring people who already possess them. Given the assessment of the skills employees already possess, the next step is to evaluate employees in terms of their ability to develop and learn. Some cannot or will not change; others may not have the innate ability. But, in either case, it is essential to determine this early. Supervisors will need to keep standardized records in order to track individual potential. Additional aids include personality tests and anonymous 360 degree feedback, i.e., feedback using standardized forms from one's supervisor, peers and direct reports (the 360 "circle") regarding individual performance. And, for those situations where the match between need for a particular skill set and the availability of people either now or into the future cannot be made, people from outside the firm will need to be considered.

Updating the training on a regular basis all employees receive. This training refers to those essential non-technical skills that make a vast difference in how a firm operates-- how to function as a member of a team, decision-making and problem-solving, how to communicate and supervise, etc.

Monitoring the match between job position, talent of the existing pool of employees, and future need. A chart similar to the one below could be developed for individual positions, departments or an entire business, as well as one based on skill sets.

The cells contain the number of people at different rating levels (e.g., from 1 to 5 based on various forms of assessment) who are functioning at different levels of ability. Thus, a person may be a "5" in terms of his/her performance but are "At Their Capacity" in terms of ability.

Preparing and notifying people in advance regarding their career ladder. People need to know to what they can look forward. This magnet serves to pull us along, to motivate us to improve and succeed. Similarly, succession planning should be discussed and negotiated with all employees.

What has been said thus far is easily applied to growing companies whose need for talented individuals and for coverage for those being promoted is apparent. However, there are at least two situations for which succession planning presents a problem.

What if a firm's growth pattern does not permit advancement? This can occur for various reasons. The business itself is at a comfortable level of growth and any increased business could be handled by various means, such as outsourcing, utilizing temporary employees, etc. Or, the business is so efficient that growth can be handled by the operations and personnel now in place along with new technology. Another possibility is the business that makes a strategy out of outsourcing and using other firms for their sub-operations or new operations as growth scales upward.

And, what do you do with employees who have reached their levels of ability and competency? You don't want to lose them, especially if they are loyal and do their jobs well. They see others advancing and wonder why they are being left behind.

The two dilemmas are related in that there is a ceiling present in each situation.

A response applicable to both situations focuses on the fact that every firm can become even more efficient and effective provided they are willing to review their operations and their training. So that, even if employees are not moved up (either because of ability or the presence of the ceiling), the training they receive continually upgrades their skills and, consequently, counters any sense of stagnation and "deadendness". The beneficiaries are both the employees who feel they are learning and developing, and the business that is enjoying improved efficiencies and, therefore (hopefully), increased margins.

The growth-oriented firm that doesn't expand its need for employees nevertheless requires an continual upgrading of skills to manage this new kind of growth (e.g., through strategic alliances, outsourcing, etc.). A whole new set of rules are required and, consequently, a whole new approach to training. And, again, the sense of accomplishment derived from training in new approaches functions in place of the sense of achievement that comes from promotions.

Clearly, upgrading of skills and training are two extraordinary tools of the modern business owner and manager. Employees know what's out there. They know how some of the modern techniques ("re-engineering") can lead to downsizing. They know that the efficiently run company stands the best chance of surviving. And, that frequently means few opportunities for promotion.

The antidote, though, for the feeling of "nowhere to go" is succession planning as outlined. And, succession planning also functions to ensure that the company has the right horses to pull along the wagon.