This document discusses succession planning practices and provides recommendations for improvement. It begins by outlining goals and discussing the urgency of succession planning given trends like an aging workforce. It then compares past, present, and recommended next practices for various aspects of succession planning such as linking it more closely to business strategy, increasing leadership accountability, focusing on multiple levels of the organization, assessing potential more rigorously, providing targeted development, and integrating it within talent management. Recommendations emphasize collaboration, transparency, metrics, and strengthening the connections between succession planning and other talent processes.

1. Succession Planning:
There is No Me Without
You.
Lepora Menefee, PhD, SHRM- SCP, Prosci, PMP, SSBB
HR & Strategy Innovation Summit
January 22-24, 2017

2. GOALS FOR TODAY’S JOURNEY
The
Burning
Platform
Past
Practices
Present
Practices
Next
Practices
2

3. What Looks like the Ideal Picture…
3

4. Unexpected Attrition
Overestimated
Supply
Ignored, so not
ready
often is not…
4

5. Why the Urgency?
10,000
Baby Boomers
Turn 65
everyday
GLOBAL SKILL SHORTAGE
36% of U.S.
Companies
34% of
Companies
in EMEA
29% of
Companies
in Asia
Pacific
CEO Average
Tenure has
decreased from
10 to 8 years
since 2000
75 million Baby
Boomers will be eligible
to retire this year. Only
45 million workers will
be available to enter
the workforce
5

6. 96
96
100
96
84
73
76
78
75
41
0 20 40 60 80 100
Identification of a leader's current
performance v. future potential
Assessment of Potential for advancement
Assessment of Leadership skill gaps
Development of Successors for specific
positions
Workforce Plan (3-5 years)
Global Top Companies are Serious About Succession Planning
All Others Global Top CompaniesAon 2013 6

7. Are You Experiencing Pain in Your
Succession Planning Process?
Dissatisfaction with the status quo
Too much bought vs. built
Confusion about Potential vs. Performance
Not Enough Ready Now Talent
1
2
3
4
7

8. The
New Era
Of
Succession
Planning
Fluid
Flexible
Fast
8

9. Present Practices Next Practices
 Select, develop, assess,
reward and retain
leaders who have
competencies to deliver
the short & long- term
Business Strategy
 Make Succession
Planning a key business
strategic priority
Past Practices
 Limited to who
”thought” like the CEO.
 Skill replacement for the
CEO.
Alignment with Business Strategy is key.
 Replacement of current
competencies of CEO &
SLT
 Select leaders who
have competencies to
deliver the short- term
Business Strategy
9

10. Practices are more linked to Business Strategy among Global High
Performing Companies…
68
84
80
76
72
36
42
42
42
41
0 20 40 60 80 100
Retaining Leaders
Rewarding Leaders
Developing Leaders
Assessing Leaders
Selecting Leaders from within your organization
All Others Global Top Performing CompaniesAon 2013
10

11. Present Practices
 Leaders are
encouraged to build
healthy succession
pipelines for their top
pleaders
 HR owns the Succession
Planning Process
Next Practices
 Leaders are held
accountable for healthy
succession pipelines
 MBOs on Performance
Reviews and recognition
and rewards are linked
to leadership and
succession planning
 HR defines the
Succession Planning
process in collaboration
with Leaders who own
it.
Past Practices
 CEO/ Board was
accountable for
choosing CEO
replacement
Leadership Accountability: Who is the Last Throat to Choke?
11

12. Present Practices
 Once a year,
companies refresh their
leadership slate with
HiPos for VPs and up.
Next Practices
 Potential is continuously
assessed.
 Leaders provide
feedback to employees
regularly.
 Development is
regularly tracked.
 Talent Review
discussions take place
on quarterly basis or
more.
Past Practices
 Once a year, the slate
for the CEO was
refreshed.
What is the Timing of your Succession Planning?
12

13. Present Practices
 Most major companies
will focus on senior
leadership roles (eg.,
VP) up to CEO/ Layer 1
Next Practices
 Succession Pipelines will
need to be applied to
all of the generations of
the organization
 Segmentation is
important beyond
hierarchical layer, but
apply to critical of roles.
 Precedence should be
placed on the most
pivotal/ critical roles
Past Practices
 There was a slate for the
CEO/ Layer 1 only..
At what Position Layers do you Focus?
13

14. How are you defining High Potential?
14

15. Present Practices
 Ability
 Aspiration
 Engagement
 Experience
 Competencies
Next Practices
 Agility
 Aspiration/ Drive
 Influencing Change
 Values
 Calibration/
Collaboration
 Assessments &
Simulations
Past Practices
 You’re smart and we
like you.
How do you Assess Potential?
15

16. Present Practices
 Leadership
Competencies
 General Leadership
Competencies Training
 Exposures to Senior
Leaders
 Stretch Assignments
Next Practices
 Targeted Role
Development/ Feeder
Roles
 Strategic Cross- Training
 Expedite Development/
Bootcamps
 Simulation
 Mentoring & Sponsoring
 360; Crowd Sharing
Past Practices
 No direct alignment to
specific roles
 General Leadership
Training provided
 General Organization
Cross- Training
Development is an essential key for effective Succession Planning
16

17. Have you ever been Sponsored?
What did it do for your Career?
17

18. Present Practices
 On the radar of most
large organizations
 A stated desire for most
major organizations
Next Practices
 Mentorships
 Sponsorships
 Targeted development
programs
 What gets measured,
gets done
 Require diverse slates
 Objective assessments
Past Practices
Is Diversity a Targeted element of Your Succession Planning?
 Good ol’ boy network
 Skills + Relationship
18

19. Present Practices
 Some transparency of
good news only to
direct recipients
Next Practices
 Clear Career Paths
 Transparent Potential
Feedback regarding
good and bad
 Development needed
for next step
 Frequent feedback
Past Practices
 Zero Transparency
How Transparent is your Succession Planning process?
19

20. Top Companies are more likely to communicate to an individual when he or
she is no longer considered high potential (71% versus 33%).
Aon, 2013
Transparency is Ultimately Healthy for Your Organization
TRUSTCLARITY
FOCUS BRAND
20

21. Present Practices
 Hi- Potential Employees
are informed of their Hi-
Potential status
 Hi- Potentials are
assigned to
developmental tasks
Next Practices
 Collaborate with
employees through
regular conversations
 Collaborate regarding
Engagement
 Collaborate regarding
developmental paths
 Collaborate regarding
assignments
Past Practices
 No conversation with
employees regarding
potential
Are You Collaborating with Your Employees?
21

22. Present Practices
 What has already been
done on the leadership
level, eg.,
 % of Internal Hires for
the year
 % of Diversity
Leaders
Next Practices
 Also, forecast what we
are likely to accomplish
 # of Unique
candidates per
succession position
 % of Diverse
Candidates per
Successor Role
 Retention Risk of
HiPos
Past Practices
Are you best utilizing Metrics in your Succession Planning?
 No measurement
22

23. Present Practices
 Some targeted
development toward
Succession Planning
 Some Performance
Management ratings
are incorporated into
Succession Planning
decisions
Next Practices
 Integration with:
 Talent Acquisition
 Onboarding &
Engagement
 Development
 Retention
 Performance
Management
Past Practices
 No Integration
Is Your Succession Planning integrated into the rest of your
Talent Management?
23

24. Is Your Succession Planning Process
seamlessly integrated into Talent Management?
Succession
Planning
Retention
Do we know why our
best people leave or
stay?
Talent
Acquisition
Are we hiring and
building external
pools that align with
future needs?
Workforce
Planning
Are we identifying
successors who align
with future business
requirements, values
& vision?
Performance
Management
Are our managers
held accountable for
developing our
leaders?
Development
Are we developing
our employees to be
successors?
Onboarding &
Engagement
Are we facilitating
relationship- building
on the onset of our
employee tenures?
24

25. Strong Leaders
Re- Hire Cost Savings
Business Growth
ROI/
Increased Profits
Happy Employees
= Retention
Business
Continuity
=Increased
Productivity
Rigorous Succession Planning is worth it.
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