Developing Leadership Strength: Succession Planning for C-suite Roles
Succession planning should be a part of any organisation’s talent acquisition strategy. Whether it’s internal promotions, creating new roles or hiring externally to fulfil organisational leads, succession planning is a key factor in an organisation's success. Not only does it ensure that your teams are growing at a pace that will still challenge and inspire them, but it also creates structure and order as you look to scale.
Particularly at the executive level, succession planning is even more crucial:
“In our research into the factors that contribute to a leader’s success or failure, we’ve found that certain companies do succeed in developing deep and enduring bench strength by approaching succession planning as more than the mechanical process of updating a list. Indeed, they’ve combined two practices—succession planning and leadership development—to create a long-term process for managing the talent roster across their organizations. In most companies, the two practices reside in separate functional silos, but they are natural allies because they share a vital and fundamental goal: getting the right skills in the right place.” - HBR
This article by HBR highlights the common mistakes and pitfalls that organisations make - and that is falling short on skill sets when appointing executives into roles. We often assume that title and years of experience equal compatibility for a role, when in fact it’s down to someone's variation of skill set, adaptability, and openness to learn that enables them to step into a role at an executive level.
What is the best practice for identifying and training potential leaders within an organisation?
Succession planning is less about having a “subs bench” of potential talent and more about gearing people up to step into the role without throwing them into the deep end and applying too much pressure. Just like you would with installing a new piece of technology - you wouldn’t eliminate the old piece of tech immediately and hope that employees will manage with the new piece with no teething problems. The same approach should be applied to succession planning. We like to think of succession planning as human transformation, and just like any other transformation in a business, you should ensure that there is time for someone to step into that role.
However, it’s important to highlight that unlike a solid piece of technology - which doesn’t have thoughts, feelings, or aspirations - ensures we have much more control over it. When dealing with people, often there isn’t the luxury of allowing someone months and months to step into a new role. Someone may have left abruptly, been fired, or simply is refusing to comply. However, any established organisation should have parameters in place such as notice periods and gardening leave to ensure that executive-level positions - at a minimum - are safeguarded from such knee-jerk reactions.
When looking at best practices, there isn’t a perfect formula that an organisation should follow. Instead, you should look at best practice as something holistic, and ensure that when succession planning you’re looking for someone who can develop into a role instead of a ‘perfect’ candidate. With training and development, HBR also highlighted excellent points (and a couple of case studies) that discuss this notion perfectly:
“The fundamental rule—the one on which the other four rest—is that succession management must be a flexible system oriented toward developmental activities, not a rigid list of high-potential employees and the slots they might fill. By marrying succession planning and leadership development, you get the best of both: attention to the skills required for senior management positions along with an educational system that can help managers develop those skills. It’s a lesson that might have helped Coca-Cola and Mattel.
Coke’s Ivester was given the top job largely as a reward for his financial savvy and years of loyalty to Goizueta and the company, but not enough attention was paid to how his particular skills might apply to the broader role. And as for Barad, she had grown Mattel’s Barbie brand nearly tenfold in less than a decade, yet her controlling management style and lack of experience in finance, strategy, and the handling of Wall Street—essential capabilities for any CEO—proved to be her downfall.”
What about fresh talent?
As mentioned, succession planning doesn’t have to be an in-house talent that is gearing up for promotion, either. You can develop your succession plan by using fresh talent that is external to your organisation. A huge benefit of this is getting new perspectives and experience into your team. Particularly at the C-level, this is sometimes needed to shake things up and create meaningful, actionable change.
However, it can sometimes be harder to integrate someone into an organisation into a leadership role if they aren’t “home-grown” talent. With succession planning and using external talent, you may want to consider a transitionary period whereby they have time to learn about the organisation and get to know the people they’ll be managing before stepping into that role in practice.
For candidates: 3 tips to enter an organisation externally and carve your career path
From a candidate's perspective, it can be difficult to know how to enter a business and be included in their bigger plans from the get-go. For example, if you’re already in a leadership position but know that you have ambitious aspirations to grow into an executive role.
There are three things we advise:
Be upfront at the interview stage: Honesty is the best policy. Be completely transparent about what you want from an organisation as well as what you can give. Although you may not be able to get all of the answers at the first stage, being open about your goals and where you want to go will give you an idea of what is on offer.
Have your progression plan signed and sealed in writing: If you join the organisation, ensure that the plans that have been discussed within the four walls of a meeting room have some kind of permanence - whether this is in a written contract or as part of your progression plan. Ensure that there are metrics you need to hit as well as a clear path drawn up so both parties are aware of what is coming next.
Get an understanding of whether this is a stepping stone or a forever job: What we mean by this is solidify how much progression you could have with an organisation and ensure it aligns with your long-term goals. In the early stages of your career - even as a senior leader - some organisations may only be able to serve you up to a certain point. This could be due to a lack of opportunity or glass ceilings, or simply because it’s a “one in, one out” policy for promotions. Having a 3 or 5-year plan in roles like this can be great for you to get everything you want out of an organisation without sacrificing your development in the process. It is often a fine balance between patience but also knowing when it’s time to move on.
