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Large businesses, organizations, and corporations should understand the importance of succession planning to the long-term survival of an institution. The legacy of the existing management and top leadership of an organization is normally put on trial when the leaders are about to leave office as they should leave behind a well-equipped team to carry on. When it comes to organizational succession planning, three important best practices should be focused upon to ensure that the process is seamless and effective in fulfilling its objective.

The Benchmarking Process

The existing management in an organization has to weigh multiple candidates to determine their competency and suitability in holding various leadership positions. To ensure comprehensiveness in the evaluation process, it is considered a standard and good practice to benchmark the potential candidates. Sufficient time should be allocated towards this process to ensure that all factors to consider during succession planning process are weighed. A comprehensive benchmarking process for succession planning purposes should come up with at least two suitable alternative persons to replace a given position.

Using a Futuristic Approach

Organizational benchmarking is all about strategically positioning an organization for prospective performance and management. As a good practice, the succession planning process should factor in the strategic direction that the organization needs to take. Using this approach enables the current management to shortlist their potential candidates based on their competencies and abilities that are in line with the organization’s anticipated future. For instance, an organization that targets incorporating more of digitization in its future operations would be more likely to succeed if it plans its succession by preferring managers who have competency in the IT industry.

Ensuring a Dynamic Process

Succession planning should be a dynamic process that spans out throughout the organization’s existence. Making the process a culture, even with the junior positions, allows the organization to build the right set of leaders who are poised to take over from their seniors with time. Undertaking continuous succession planning prepares the organization for that moment when a suitable leader would be expected to fill an urgent vacancy without having to rush the process. Making the succession planning process a continuous activity minimizes the prospects of committing the common mistakes during succession planning. It also paves the way for a smooth transition process.