Succession Planning – Preparing for Growth

Ensuring the long term success of an organization is the function of succession planning.

As companies grow, often times areas of need can develop as top performers take on additional responsibilities and can no longer attend to existing job requirements. Understanding this trend can affect many areas within an organization, allowing proactive planning for the future.

Talent Management Key To Succession Planning

For successful succession planning, identifying the next generation of top performers is paramount. Talent management in terms of providing training and development in preparation for promoting employees to the next level of growth is a must. Having the candidates most likely to succeed coupled with the correct skills training is no accident. Succession planning relies on deliberate talent management activities designed to groom top performers for the next level of growth and achievement.

Career Development Guided By Succession Planning

Most employees take pride in fulfilling their daily requirements at work. However, just because one takes pride in doing an existing job well, it does not mean they are not thinking in terms of career development and the next level of achievement – or for that matter the next two or three levels of achievement. By helping top performers see future opportunities, career development can be a very useful component of succession planning for any business. Knowing the future growth steps in an individual’s career development provides motivation and improves talent retention.

Talent Management – Rewards For Top Performers

Succession planning is an excellent tool for showing top performers what opportunities are available to them. As part of an inclusive organizational discussion, top performers understand the target and can focus their attention and efforts toward building knowledge and skill sets needed to attain that position. Conversely, those employees not interested in the next step within the organization also understand options available to them. Lower performers can accept their positions or move on, opening an opportunity to fill a position with a potentially new top performer. 

Bartlett Consulting Inc. helps companies of all sizes with succession planning efforts by providing talent management and career development tools and insight.