Though succession planning has been receiving considerable attention in recent times, many Indian companies do not have a formal plan of action to replace their higher management. In most parts of the world, a succession plan is considered a crucial part of corporate strategy; however in India, most companies lack a formal process to ensure a smooth transition.
When a succession plan is not in place, organisations can face problems that range from absence of an effective strategic direction to reduced financial prudence.
Use advanced tools
Succession planning is not just about putting a name behind a title, which in fact is called replacement planning.
Every key position and key person in an organisation should be part of succession planning. Succession planning doesn’t have to be restricted to just selecting a CEO. The process should include identifying and nurturing key people to build the next generation of leaders.
Having said that, many companies don’t know how many leaders they have and how many they need. Often, they lack a clear definition of what a leader is. This is because many companies don't have a formal succession plan in place; or, if they do, it's old and outdated. Here, technology can help. Companies now have access to the next-generation Human Capital Management (HCM) system that captures the complete workforce data and is supported by powerful analytics and better decision-making. Succession planning will help companies stabilise and streamline their operations while ensuring that their employees remain satisfied. Many organisations are clueless about how to find the right method for successful succession planning.
This is where HCM solutions can come in handy.
HCM enables senior leaders, managers, directors, and the HR department to take a strategic approach to recruiting and nurturing the required skilled manpower. It is an effective method for recruiting and retaining top-performing employees.
The HCM tool ultimately simplifies HR’s role in the search for successors.
Create a talent pool
For both small and large enterprises, technology saves time and effort by managing employee data related to employee performance, talent requirements, training needs, learning application and employee feedback, giving HR professionals a more complete view. Succession planning is not just about identifying and making a talent pool available for replacing key roles whenever a vacancy arises. From identifying high-potential talent to selecting and preparing a talent pool for succession, training them, planning their learning and career development to implementing the initiatives and assessing performance, the whole process can be integrated using a single efficient HCM tool.
This supports seamless execution of the succession plan.
Curate career paths
Succession planning has become even more reliable and efficient with the intervention of learning and career development initiatives for the employee.
Organisations should realise that creating a culture of growth and mobility is the key to engaging and retaining employees. The individualised talent development approach is critical to yield better employee engagement. Successfully promoting someone requires a trained person to take over the position being vacated.
However, it is important to realise that one size (of learning and development methods) doesn’t fit all.
Hence, here the HCM platform plays a crucial role which develops employees at a very personalised and individual level which is not possible in traditional, standardised classroom training methods. The technology curates career paths tailored to fit each individual’s needs and capabilities.
There are instances when companies don’t have any formal policy on whether they should hire internally or look outside for succession. However, preference would always be given to an internal talent who has already performed successfully.
An integrated HCM solution can analyse the current workforce and this exercise includes studying detailed talent profiles, employee summaries, organisation charts, competencies, and job profiles. Secondly, it can assess employees on key areas of leadership potential, job performance and risk of leaving. Organisations need such integrated processes to promote and support career and talent mobility. And such dynamic talent mobility is vital to succession planning.
(Basanth Govindapillai is VP & GM – India Operations at SumTotal Systems)
