Succession Planning

Every organisation has a long term plan. No organisation ever wants to wind up.

No wonder then, that a major headache today for most organisations lie in ensuring that succession planning takes place in the right way and there are solid rules regarding the same.

Succession planning simply explained, is the process of looking for suitable employees for vital designations in the organisation such as the CEO or other key posts in the organisation.

This is important because once the term of a leader expires, there has to be someone to take his place in the organisation and lead the organisation later. This is truly difficult as one has to ensure that the employee groomed is fit for the post.

Any mistake can prove to be quite costly as the organisation would have a wrong leader and this would pass across wrong messages to the employees and shareholders.

In today's era of stiff competition a big organisation needs to have a capable leader who takes the organisation ahead and ensures that its long-term goals are fulfilled. But this does not end here for obvious reasons.

Depending on one man alone can often be dangerous and thus a backup is required. This is where succession planning comes to the rescue for it ensures that the organisation does not come to a standstill and there is always someone to take it forward.

This is why succession planning is an on going process and senior executives review the performance of their top executives and those in the next lower level on a regular basis to have a look at their work and decide on who the right person would be.

This process takes years as the candidate needs proper grooming to develop successful and competent senior managers. Thus a list of candidates who would suit the job and a pool needs to be created.

An employee's performance is obviously the first thing that should be noted. A good consistent performance goes a long way in sending a message to the senior management about the capability of the employee.

However its not just performance that matters- though it does play a very vital role- there also other factors that need to be considered out here. Leadership qualities being one of them.

If an employee gets alone well with his colleagues and has good relations with them it helps, so does the fact of them looking up to him. If an employees opinion matters and is taken seriously amongst his peers, it's a sheer sign that he has leadership qualities and people look up to him.

This is very important because if he has to become a key player in the organization at a latter stage having the respect of his people will help him be a popular leader and that would also help him perform better.

Everyone wants to be a leader thus things could get over competitive in the organization with everyone trying extra hard to get noticed but if handled in the right way this competitive spirit could have a positive impact on the profitability of the organization.

Clearly succession planning is an important cog in the wheels of the future from an organization's point of view. Today thanks to globalisation the world is a small village, in such a scenario MNC's and big organizations work across borders.

Thus the fight to be an industry leader may not always be from domestic competition but from international companies as well. This highlights the importance of a good leader as well as good top level management than ever before. Once this is sorted out, half the battle is won and the organisation can look into the future.