Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Effective succession management

by Personnel Today 10 Dec 2002
by Personnel Today 10 Dec 2002

International
consultancy DDI outlines its top 10 tips

A
DDI survey of more than 1,000 executives and HR professionals found that in
most cases organisations prefer to fill over two-thirds of senior leadership positions
from within. Over the years, working with 19,000 organisations worldwide, DDI
claims to have identified the most important drivers that provide effective
succession management.  Here is their
top 10:

1.
Have an up-to-date-succession management system

Aim
individuals at an organisational level rather than being position specific;
then seek the best match of people to jobs as vacancies appear. Meaningful,
measurable goals should be set that are associated with tangible succession
management outcomes and people should be assigned to monitor the effectiveness
of systems through periodic reports.

2.
Know all the high-potential people within an organisation

CEOs
should be encouraged to look throughout their entire organisation for
candidates for accelerated development rather than rely solely on their
personal knowledge. Systems must be in place to find these employees –
particularly those who don’t typically interact with senior executives.
However, CEOs should get to know their organisations’ high-potential people
themselves as far as possible.

3.
Have common standards across your organisation

Effective
organisations have set up systems to source exceptionally talented individuals
throughout their organisations, especially those working internationally.
Commonly accepted criteria around what constitutes high potential in an
individual needs to be agreed to help line managers and divisional HR
professionals to spot talent and create transparency in the system. A common
standard is needed which reflects the challenges inherent in both senior field
and corporate leadership assignments. It is important to give similar
recognition to previously unknown emergent leaders from newly-acquired segments
of the organisation.

4.
Know that the best people are not always the ones who get the most meaningful
early assignments

Not
all potential leaders have equal access to the choice job and development
assignments, or opportunities to take on significant responsibility early in their
careers, or the chance to hold highly visible positions. The evaluation of
individuals with high potential should be based on core, basic skills enhanced
by well-crafted evaluation to level out the playing field for all of an
organisation’s prospective leaders.

5.
Treat candidates as individuals

Once
individuals are identified as having high potential, their development needs
must be diagnosed so they can be given the unique experience and training
necessary to prepare them for success at high levels.

6.
Ensure that development plans are implemented

Ideally
a development-planning discussion would be combined with setting job objectives
at the start of each new assignment. 
Given their knowledge of the tasks they must accomplish, the timeframe
in which they will be expected to work and support they can anticipate from
above, individuals with high potential can realistically determine which of
their development needs can be met in their positions.  

7.
Never assume that short-term issues are more important

The
best companies act on the belief that their organisation’s future lies in the
hands of the people they develop.  Many
are also driven to make time for succession management activities because they
believe that both their boards and the stock market are increasingly concerned
about the depth of talent in an organisation.

8.
Know that diversity cannot be left to chance

Once
a succession management system is in place, diversity goals must be set and
aggressively reinforced through the CEO’s actions. Leaders need to understand
that must communicate the organisation’s need for diversity, but their
involvement in planning and championing the development of those with high
potential sends a stronger message than can be conveyed by any speech.

9.
Let people learn from their mistakes

When
a person makes a wrong decision it offers them an opportunity to learn from
mistakes.  Indeed fostering an
atmosphere where people can make mistakes and learn from the experience is an
important part of a successful management programme.

10.
Remain patient

Remember:
just as it takes time to build a client base or penetrate a new market, people
– even bright or talented people – need time to grow and develop.  Succession management is a multi-year
strategy that must be viewed long-term.

www.ddiworld.com

Personnel Today
Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Senior staff fare better over Christmas perks
next post
Failing to spot sickness trends costs UK £11.8bn

You may also like

Employees going into office just 1.5 days a...

15 Aug 2022

Barrister wins gender critical belief discrimination claim

27 Jul 2022

‘Patchy’ mental health services failing ethnic minority communities

11 Jul 2022

Global study highlights hypertension treatment failings

8 Jul 2022

NICE sets out new guideline on managing depression

8 Jul 2022

Half of employees struggle to switch off on...

8 Jul 2022

Five steps for organisations across the globe to...

8 Jun 2022

The Search for Talent: Six Major Employer Pitfalls

24 May 2022

Grants scheme set up to support women’s health...

16 May 2022

How music can help to ease anxiety at...

9 May 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+