Succession Planning in the 21st Century - Coursework Example

Reading Header: SUCCESSION PLANNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY Your institution: Your name: Course name: Course instructor: March 23, 2010 A corporation in its talents has got the most valuable of resources hence these require management in order to achieve successful and effective succession planning and leadership development. The firms are moving beyond the 20th C. restrictive management systems/styles in the ever-changing business world and are embracing the understanding of attraction, retention and development of talent to provide framework for intellectual organizational capital. This management of talents strategically and development of leadership are among the most powerful tactics that businesses are using to build the value of their workers/employees to the firm and also increase their bottom line and this has become paramount should the company prefer to operate at optimum capacity. The companies are now putting the right individuals to the right positions and at right time periods in order to aim at realizing the company goals. Hence as the leadership generation continues to plummet and diminish, corporations have to plan strategically and manage top level replacements in order to avoid neither any negative effects nor any interruptions to business performance and continuity. Hence it has become vital for managers in the 21st century to plan in advance on how to recruit, manage, develop, retain, plan and promote its workforce for the posterity of the company (Rothwell, 2005). This research paper therefore deals with issues of succession planning and help executives acquire knowledge in order to identify important methods of retaining their main talents, utilize, assess the talent currently in their organizations and be able to launch succession planning within their firms, while recognizing potentiality of leadership and to nurture them. They would also be able to quantify and evaluate the metrics that are behind development of talents while measuring the efficiency of the management of their talents including planning for succession strategies. Succession management and planning are the critical drivers that organizations use in their quest for transformation in the 21st C. Hence as part of reexamination of what federal government should put in place, how it should conduct it, including who should be involved in its performance, its vital for it to focus both on the past as well the future trends including challenges hence this can help organizations become what it requires to be without having to simply recreate the existing firm. Leading multilateral firms are going beyond planning for succession approach that would only focus on employee replacement and are engaging in broader, integrated succession planning strategies and management efforts that focus on giving strength to both current and future capacity of the corporation. They would then, as part of the broad approach, identify, select and develop successors who are the right individual, having the right skills and knowledge, right time for leadership including other key positions of leadership (Mead, 2005). Agencies of government around the world have anticipated the need for leaders including key workforce with necessary competencies and skills to meet successfully the complicated challenges of this 21st C. hence to this end the experiences of agencies in Canada, Australia, new Zealand and the UK can provide insights into federal agencies several of which are yet to adopt succession management and planning initiatives that would prepare them adequately for the future challenges. The agencies and corporations have implemented several practices and some of them include receiving active top leadership support, linking succession planning to strategic planning, identification of talent from a multiple of organizational levels with critical skills early in career, emphasizing on developmental assignments in addition to formal training, facilitation of broader efforts of transformation, and addressing specific challenges concerning human capital like leadership, retention, capacity, diversity etc (Berger, 2004). Corporations and countries, over the past several years, have increasingly recognized the challenges that succession pose, for instance, Canada faces a public service workforce with 815 of both its executives and feeder groups eligible for retirement by end of the decade, while in US, its projected that more than half of the members of the senior executive service/SES who were employed in 2000 by government will have left office by 2011 and about 15% of the overall federal workforce would have retired from 2009 to 2015. hence despite all this challenges, many government agencies in the USA have yet to embrace succession planning and management initiatives that would prepare them adequately for the future. The national academy of public administration, in 2008, reported that of the 28 agencies responding to its survey, 3 agencies had succession planning program/process in place. In 2009, joint office of senior executive association/SES and of personnel management/OPM, more than fifty percent of all career members said that their agencies did not have a formal succession planning program for the SES, and almost 76% said that their agencies did not have such a process for mangers (Strassmann, 1995). Succession management and planning is beginning to receive increased attention since GOA is to review how selected U.S. federal agencies are managing their succession challenges. In addition, the office of management and budget revised circular A-11 to require that federal agencies and corporation’s fiscal year 2010 annual performance plans prepared under the government performance and result act identify specific activities such as development, training, and staffing actions that agencies plan to take to ensure leadership continuity. As part of administration, additionally, the administration’s efforts to implement the president’s management agenda, the OPM set the goal that continuity of leadership and knowledge is assured through succession planning and professional development programs in 255 of all federal agencies by July 2011. There are several key practices for effective succession planning and management identified from abroad that are encouraged for consideration by both corporations and federal agencies as they revise or develop their own programs in this area. Through the advice of the comptroller general, GOA has got several initiatives to strengthen its current and future organizational capacity that are consistent with these practices. For instance, implementation of an Executive Candidate development Program to prepare candidates for assignment in the senior level managements; hired senior-level individuals with critical scientific, technical and professional expertise; recruitment and hiring diverse, high-caliber staff with required skills and abilities; and instituting of a program that would allow select retires to become reemployed annuitants to facilitate the transfer of knowledge in critical areas and allow for a smooth transfer of responsibilities, among other things (Bohlander & Snell, 2009). Collectively, corporation agencies’ succession planning and management initiatives have demonstrated the following six practices: 1. Receive active support of top leadership Planning and management initiatives have the support and commitment of their organization’s top leadership. In other organizations and agencies, to demonstrate its support of succession planning and management, top leadership actively participates in the initiatives for instance each year the secretary of the cabinet, Ontario Public Service’s OPS top civil servant, convenes and actively participates in a a2-day succession planning and management retreat with the heads of every government ministry. At this retreat, they discuss the anticipated leadership needs across the government as well as the individual status of about 200 high-potential executives who may be able to meet those needs over the next year or two. 2. Linking to strategic planning Leading corporations should use succession planning and management as a strategic planning tool that focuses on current and future needs and develops pools of high-potential staff in order to meet the organization’s mission over the long term. Succession planning and management initiatives focus on long term goals, are closely integrated with their strategic plans, and provide a broader perspective. For instance, statisticians Canada considers the human capital required to achieve its strategic goals and objectives. During the 2001 strategic planning and process, the agency’s planning committees received projections showing that a majority of the senior executives then in place would retire by 2010, and the number of qualified assistant directors in the executive development pool was insufficient to replace them. In response, the agency increased the size of the pool and introduced a development program of training, rotation, and mentoring to expedite the development of those already in the pool. 3. Identification of talent from multiple organization levels, early in careers, or with critical skills Efficient management and plans on succession would help identify employees who are performing highly from multiple organizational levels and at earlier stage in their careers. Hence several separate development programs that identify and develop high-potential employees at several organizational levels should be instituted, for instance, beginning at entry level, the full potential program reaches as far down as the front-line employees and identifies and develops individuals, who demonstrate the potential to take on a future management role. The program should be able to identify and prepare staff for increased leadership and managerial responsibilities and to successfully compete for admission candidates’ pool 4. Emphasize developmental assignment in addition to formal training Succession plans and management initiatives should emphasize development or stretch assignments for high potential employees in addition to more formal training components. These developmental assignments place staff in new roles or unfamiliar job environments in order to strengthen skills and competencies and broaden their experience. 5. Addressing specific human capital challenges, such as diversity, leadership capacity, and retention Leading firm stay alert to human capital challenges and respond accordingly. Government agencies on the other hand, around the world, including United States of America, are facing challenges in the demographics makeup and diversity of the senior executives. Also firms should strive to achieve a more diverse workforce through recognition that diversity can be an organizational strength that contributes to achieving results. Hence ethnic minorities should be well represented in the organizational hierarchy. They should also maintain their leadership capacity since both at home and abroad, a large percentage of senior executives will be eligible to retire over the next several years. 6. Facilitation of broader transformation of efforts. Effective management and plans on succession would provide a vital devise that can be used to foster broader agency or government-wide transformation through selection and development of leaders who would champion and support in organizations. For instance, in 2009, the UK launched a wide-ranging reform program known as Modernizing Government, which focused on improving the quality, coordination, and accessibility of the services government offered to its citizens. References Bohlander G. & Snell S., 2009, Managing Human Resources, 15th Ed, Cengage Learning: ISBN0324593317, 9780324593310 Berger, 2004. The Talent Management Handbook, McGraw-Hill: ISBN0070589674, 9780070589674 Mead R., 2005, International management: cross-cultural dimensions, 3rd Ed., Wiley- Blackwell: ISBN0631231773, 9780631231776. Rothwell W. J., 2005, Effective succession planning: ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within, 3rd Ed. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn: ISBN0814408427, 9780814408421 Strassmann P. A., 1995. The politics of information management: policy guidelines, 2nd Ed. Strassmann, Inc.ISBN0962041343, 9780962041341 Read More