Succession Planning and Management: A Guide to Organizational Systems and Practices

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Succession planning and management extends to all levels: Succession planning and management considers all key areas and positions within an organization: Succession planning and management is about creating a pool of talent: Planning for current and future needs involves helping employees to develop the skills and competencies to ensure that the organization has a pool of talent for key areas.

It is not about identifying individual candidates for specific positions. Succession planning and management is values-based and well communicated: There is collaboration among key players, the process is well communicated and fair, accessible and transparent. Succession planning efforts are monitored, measured and evaluated: Processes are established to monitor performance and progress in achieving the objectives outlined in both the succession plan and employees' learning plans. Departures and retirements Based on departure trends , around 25 percent of indeterminate public servants are forecast to leave the Public Service over the next five years to In , two-thirds of all departures were attributable to retirement.

Because retirements will occur over a period of time, this is a manageable issue; however, it requires strategic planning. Effective succession planning ensures that the federal government will have a supply of candidates who are qualified for leadership roles and other key areas and positions when these become vacant. Competition for skilled employees In a survey by the Canadian Labour and Business Centre , over two thirds of public sector managers reported current or expected shortages of skills and identified succession planning as the top action needed to address these shortages.

Introduction

Succession planning helps to retain skilled talent by ensuring that employees are provided with challenging assignments that support their career objectives. Increasing diversity of the workforce Immigration was the source of 70 percent of recent labour force growth, according to Statistics Canada , and projections are that it will be percent by , resulting in higher workforce availability of visible minorities.

Without a systematic succession planning process, job incumbents tend to identify and groom successors who are remarkably similar to themselves in appearance, background and values. Effective succession planning ensures that strategies are in place to meet employment equity goals, and therefore that the Public Service reflects the Canadian population it serves.

Need to retain corporate knowledge When employees leave, organizations may face not only loss of skills but also loss of corporate knowledge. Effective succession planning ensures that strategies are in place for knowledge transfer. Career development leads to higher levels of employee engagement Employees who are given opportunities to develop their careers are more likely to report higher levels of engagement. In other words, they are more likely to be committed to the organization, to take pride in their work and to work hard at what they do, resulting in cost benefits.

There is not a "one-size fits all" approach to succession planning—what works in one organization may not work in another, given different contexts and resources. Moreover, an approach may evolve over time as an organization learns what works and what needs to be improved. Different organizations are at different stages in their approach to succession planning.

You can use the following chart to assess the state of succession planning in your organization. The information you gather can be used to build a more comprehensive, leading approach to succession planning. Succession planning and management must reflect the core values of fairness, access and transparency. Succession planning and management should ensure that employees who express an interest in and who have the potential to fill key areas and positions are provided with appropriate opportunities to acquire the necessary skills and competencies to compete for these positions when they become available.

Succession planning does not entail guaranteed promotions for individual candidates. It is important that organizations carefully identify capabilities for key areas and positions and manage employee expectations to avoid misunderstanding. Although the focus of succession planning and management is on key areas and positions, development initiatives should occur alongside more broad-based learning initiatives.

In other words, all employees should be encouraged to have learning plans and participate in learning, training and development opportunities to further their careers. However, the analysis of key areas and positions may suggest that developmental programs and activities be tailored to build competencies for certain areas.

The five-step process for planning and managing succession is a component of broader human resources planning. As part of human resources planning, a gap analysis may identify key areas, one of which may be succession planning. Other areas may include recruitment, change management, employment equity and official languages.

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Your succession plan should be incorporated into your human resources plan. Templates have been developed to help you prepare and support your succession planning strategies which will be included in your human resources plan. You can use these templates in whole or in part to supplement your organization's existing planning processes. They are not intended to replace any that your department or agency may already have in place. Key areas and positions are the focus of your succession planning and management efforts.

For example, succession planning activities may be geared to developing talent for certain occupational groups e. Review key positions periodically because they may change over time, depending on developments in programs e.

Key positions are those that exert critical influence on the operational activities or strategic objectives of the organization. This means that without this role, the organization would be unable to effectively achieve its business objectives. The five-step process for planning and managing succession is a component of broader human resources planning.

As part of human resources planning, a gap analysis may identify key areas, one of which may be succession planning. Other areas may include recruitment, change management, employment equity and official languages. Your succession plan should be incorporated into your human resources plan.

Templates have been developed to help you prepare and support your succession planning strategies which will be included in your human resources plan. You can use these templates in whole or in part to supplement your organization's existing planning processes. They are not intended to replace any that your department or agency may already have in place.

Key areas and positions are the focus of your succession planning and management efforts. For example, succession planning activities may be geared to developing talent for certain occupational groups e. Review key positions periodically because they may change over time, depending on developments in programs e.

Key positions are those that exert critical influence on the operational activities or strategic objectives of the organization. This means that without this role, the organization would be unable to effectively achieve its business objectives. Executives and managers need to play a primary role in identifying key areas and positions because they are linked to the operational activities and strategic objectives of the organization. However, human resources professionals can play a supportive role by providing criteria to help managers in this role.

This template is available here in Rich Text Format. If it is not accessible to you, please contact TBS Web Services by e-mail or for assistance telephone to obtain other formats such as regular print, large print, Braille, audio cassette or other format. It is important to identify the capabilities needed for key areas and positions for guiding learning plans.

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Capabilities may also serve as the basis for self-assessment tools. Moreover, knowing the required capabilities is necessary for setting clear performance expectations, assessing performance and for selection purposes. For the purposes of this guide, capabilities may consist of knowledge, skills and abilities KSAs or competency profiles.

Whether your organization uses KSAs or competency profiles, it is important to incorporate capabilities for key areas and positions into strategies for succession planning and management. This practice will allow you to better assess gaps and focus development efforts. Many organizations define competencies as knowledge, skills and abilities demonstrated through behaviours that result in superior job performance.

Some definitions include personal qualities, values or traits. Examples include interpersonal effectiveness , teamwork, technical ability and reliability.

A competency profile is a set of competencies typically applied to groups of positions such as occupational groups e. Some organizations also have a set of core competencies that are aligned with the organization's mission and values and that apply to all employees in the organization. Competency profiles facilitate the alignment of succession planning and management with other human resources disciplines, such as recruitment and performance management , by using a common framework and language.

Once you have identified key areas and positions , create a list of the most important capabilities needed for each by using information from job descriptions and merit criteria, and by interviewing incumbents and stakeholders. How to develop competency profiles is beyond the scope of this document, but you can consult Additional Sources of Information in the Succession planning and management resources and key documents section for more information. The main purpose of this step is to identify which individuals are interested in and have the potential to fill key areas and positions so that employees can acquire the skills and competencies they need to fill the gaps when these positions become available.

Organizations typically use a combination of approaches to identify and assess such individuals. For example, the Public Service provides an Executive Talent Management framework to support the ongoing development and retention of executives. If your organization is considering a more formal process of identifying internal talent for accelerated development, be careful to manage expectations to avoid the presumption of guaranteed promotions and so as not to alienate those not selected.

It is important to inform employees who are not initially considered for accelerated development that they can be considered in the future with further career development or that there are alternative opportunities e. As a starting point, many organizations give employees the opportunity to express their interest in leadership roles, career advancement or lateral moves.

You can do this in various ways, including:. You can use a variety of tools to assess an employee's potential for leadership or other key areas and positions. Some organizations use talent review meetings to identify the capabilities required for leadership and key areas and positions, assess the potential of employees to fill those positions and find out what further development candidates need. To prepare for these meetings, some organizations create an employee profile.

These profiles provide important information, including career aspirations, strengths and weaknesses, performance ratings, willingness to relocate, projected date of retirement and learning plans. A key position profile will provide valuable information on time lines, language, capabilities, corporate knowledge, challenges and strategies for replacement and a rating of the importance in achieving business goals.

This information helps to balance the career aspirations of employees with organizational needs for talent to fill key areas and positions. Research has shown that experience-based learning is more effective than classroom training in preparing potential candidates to assume future roles.

It is important to incorporate strategies for learning, training and development and transfer of corporate knowledge into your succession planning and management. Stretch assignments allow employees to "stretch" beyond their current abilities. There are three types of membership - Free, Premium, and Lifetime.

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All Open Enrollment participants receive a free membership providing them access to necessary pre-program assessments and post-program evaluations unique to the participant. Find additional information on our FAQ page. A Guide to Organizational Systems and Practices. Succession Planning and Management: A Guide to Organizational Systems and Practices The purpose of succession-related practices is to ensure that there are ready replacements for key positions in an organization so that turnover will not negatively affect the organization's performance.

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