Succession management for the entire organization

✍ Scribed by Scott T. Fleischmann

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 47 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0745-7790
• DOI: 10.1002/1520-6459(200022)27:2<53::aid-ert6>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

uccession planning, if it is implemented at all in an organiza tion, is typically reserved for the top executives. In fact, many organizations are just as vulnerable regarding positions that are nowhere near executive row. The limitation of succession planning to executive positions is erroneously justified because the cost is considered to be so high. However, the cost does not need to be as high for other positions because of the economies of scale. Furthermore, the risk more than justifies the expense.

PROTECTING THE COMPANY'S KNOWLEDGE BASE

About 25 years ago I was promoted to a position similar to that of the present-day business analyst. While I was in that job, an administrative assistant to one of the top executives announced that she was leaving the company in two weeks. Since she had been with the company for over 30 years, she knew more about the operations, communications, and politics of our organization than most of the employees. In fact, she knew more about our business than many of the top executives.

In order to prevent this significant loss, the company offered her a better comp plan, perquisites, and more convenient working hours, but she had made her decision and could not be swayed. Although we all scrambled to learn from her before she left, we could not accumulate all of her knowledge before she left. What followed was chaos and inconvenience for many employees, vendors, and customers. This simple resignation clearly gave our competitors an advantage in making a first entry into the market. At the time, this was just an observation for me.

About ten years later, I observed a database analyst leave a technology project that was important to the company's strategic plan. This event pushed the project back and, in my opinion, allowed a competitor to get to market with a new product before us.