How many times do we see: “People don’t leave companies’ they leave bad bosses” as a ‘heading’ on LinkedIn articles? In my opinion people leave organizations that have a poor performance management system. In particular, those that fail to provide adequate staff and management development. An example: In many organizations people tend to get promoted into management positions based on their technical expertise with little, if any, thought given to their ability to manage people or to the provision of training and mentoring in staff management. Graduates typically aim for formally designated management trainee positions that promise a structured development programme and steady progression through the management ranks. Why should people that are being promoted from within the ranks of an organization not expect the same?
Much of this should have been covered by the Organizations’ Succession Planning Policy.
Succession planning involves an integrated, systematic approach for identifying, developing, and retaining capable and skilled employees in line with current and projected business objectives. There are five main steps to succession planning:
- Identify key areas and posts that are critical to the organisations’ operational activities and strategic objectives.
- Identify the selection criteria, focus on employee development, set performance expectations, and determine capabilities required by the incumbent.
- Determine which employees might be interested, and consider their potential to fill these key posts.
- Incorporate strategies for knowledge transfer (learning, training, development, and transfer of corporate knowledge).
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the selection process and knowledge transfer – this should be ongoing, and should be a two-way conversation between the individual and line management, in order to ascertain line management’s views on progress, and for the employee to raise any issues whereby s/he requires coaching and/or mentoring.
There needs to be a constant review of the succession plan, as there are a number of elements that bring about change including: a decision by the employee to leave the organization, or the employee is struggling to fulfil the requirements of holding a particular post (i.e. everyone learns in different ways, it may just mean changing the way in which the knowledge transfer process is being delivered, so as to suit the individual). I would also suggest that a succession plan should be enacted in conjunction with the Retention Policy; having a diverse age range across an organization can be a huge benefit to both the Organization and the Individual through the transfer of ‘tacit’ knowledge.
For some years now, organizations have often relied largely on the stability of the organizations’ structure for knowledge transmission. However, in these days of uncertainty, this may no longer be sustainable and people may be reticent to impart knowledge. For this reason, there is a need for organizations to create a culture of learning where the transfer of knowledge is seen as enhancing the standing of the transferor and the receipt of knowledge is seen as an opportunity for professional development. However, a skills audit is required if this is going to work. You need to know who it is that has the knowledge and also identify any skills-fade where additional training may be required in order for the knowledge to be updated. But what is the real benefit?
In short, creating a good learning culture can encourage better leadership and management; enhance employee engagement and retention; encourage cross-departmental collaboration; lead to a better skilled workforce (at a fraction of the cost of more formal training); encourage creativity and innovation; and develop a flexible attitude to cope with future challenges.
