#HRmust-know: Why Succession Planning Is Crucial For Your Business?

What is succession planning?

The main objective of succession planning is to identify and develop potential future leaders, senior managers, as well as individuals, to fill critical leadership roles in the business. 

Traditionally, major businesses ran highly-structured, confidential and top-down succession plans with the aim to find internal successors for key posts and to tailor potential employees’ work experience to their career paths accordingly. However, as the Covid-19 and uncertainties are causing “the great resignation”, businesses need to drop the traditional ways and look for successors outside of companies. Furthermore, businesses are trying to include non-managerial roles in succession planning because technical roles such as IT, Engineers, Analysts… may play bigger roles in the future of the organization. Modern succession planning looks quite different, with a broader vision, more diversity, and closer links to talent management. 

Benefits of succession planning

According to Investopedia, a proper succession plan will bring certain benefits to both employees and businesses:

• Employees are aware of the opportunities for promotion and ownership, resulting in the increase of empowerment and happiness in their employment.
• Professional growth among workers is stronger as workers understand that the organization plans for prospective opportunities.
• The commitment of management to succession planning implies that supervisors will guide staff to successfully transfer knowledge and skills.
• Management monitors the value of workers more effectively so that vacancies may be filled internally when there are openings.
• Managers and workers may share corporate values and vision better through succession planning.
• A new generation of leaders is needed as senior company owners and leadership start to withdraw in enormous numbers.
• Appropriate succession planning benefits the shareholders of publicly traded enterprises. A typical case is when a candidate for the CEO position is familiar with the business practices and has already achieved great respect for many years before the current CEO retires.

Succession management might be a daunting task, yet, it can increase employee’s satisfaction, commitment and retention. In the long run, the goal of succession management is proofing the firm’s future and mitigating the risk when key personnel leave the organization. 

If you already had a succession plan but still doubt its effectiveness or even you don’t know where to start, you’re well on your way to a bright future with the help of Talentnet. We are a human resources consulting company with expertise in the field of dealing with people-related issues, included succession management. Contact Talentnet and let us provide you with the most effective way of handling succession management.