Design and Implement an Effective Succession Management System

Overview: Succession planning is a people strategy. It is an ongoing process that must be placed in the culture over time to become effective. There is a tendency to get the succession plan done and presented. This is a natural need for closure on the part of management.

The context and purpose of succession management and developing leadership talent is to:

• Build a strategy-driven talent management system
• Have an explicit vision of future talent needs
• Create processes for identifying and developing competencies that prepare and sustain talent at critical transition points
• Maintain structures that enable the movement of future talent
• Expose high performance/potential talent to the strategic agenda and concerns of current senior management
• Conduct development activities that allow for intensive scrutiny of "next-generation" talent by members of the senior executive team
• Be accountable for developing a strong talent bench
• Provide assessment, coaching and mentoring assistance

Why should you attend: Succession planning in organizations happens either well or badly. It may be one person deciding which people will fill key leadership roles or it may be a highly systematic process with thoughtful consideration by a wide range of people.

Most organizations are not static. They are dynamic industries and environments change. Organizations must change with them. However having information about present work requirements, individual job performance, and immediate replacement plans provide only a one-dimension picture.

To make the picture more complete, future work requirements and insight into how markets, environments and the organization will change in the near term is necessary in order to craft a clearer picture of the key issues to be resolved, including both the present and future state of leadership along with retention and diversity issues.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• PRESENT STATE - What is the present state of leadership in the organization? Is there adequate coverage for each of the key positions?
• FUTURE STATE - How will the organization change and what are the implications for future positions? What skill gaps exist that will impact the future state of the business?
• RETENTION ISSUES - What retention issues does the business unit face? How is the organization dealing with them?
• DIVERSITY - What is the availability of minority and female candidates in the organization? What processes are being used to develop them?
• ACTION PLAN - What specific results will the organization try to achieve during the coming year to improve the strength of the management resource talent pool?

Who Will Benefit:

• CEOs
• Business Unit Leaders
• HR/OD Professionals
• Mid- to Senior Level Leaders
• Anyone interested in learning more about Talent Management and Succession Planning

Instructor: Dick Buckles is CEO of Bianetics, LLC, a San Antonio, TX based firm that consults to such companies as Chevron, Chevroil-Kazakhstan, Fluor, Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett-Packard, the University of California, and others. Prior to owning his own firm, Dick was a senior manager with world class companies such as Edison International, WellPoint, Amoco, ARCO, and Hughes Aircraft Company. He is the author of numerous articles on organizational effectiveness and change and has taught MBA and graduate courses in Quality Management, Organizational Behavior, Human Resources Management, and Psychology at California State University, UCLA, The University of La Verne, and the National Graduate School of Quality Management.