A large percentage of leadership positions in organizations across sectors are occupied by boomers. As boomers gear up for retirement, the looming loss of intellectual capital can devastate companies that are not preparing emerging leaders to fill the leadership gap. Hence, companies must be proactive about succession management and focus on grooming the next generation of business leaders. Diverse business leaders take distinctive approaches to achieving this goal. For instance, Richard Ghilarducci, CEO of Humboldt Creamery, has implemented a plan to have a half day meet once a month with “Young Up-and-Comers” — young representatives from each of the company’s distinctive departments.
Richard Ghilarducci mentions certain vital elements of succession management at an organization
Companies that fail to develop their emerging leaders risk losing that top talent to competitors that actually do have a succession plan and leadership development strategy in place. The majority of renowned business leaders give credit to a mentor for passing on key leadership competencies. Mentoring plays a vital role in engaging employees to commit to a company, and eventually becoming a part of the succession pipeline.
Sharon Cissna, Vice President and Manager of Umpqua Bank in Arcata, for instance, mentioned that when she first began her career in the banking sector, she worked for a manager in San Francisco who pushed her to do more than she thought she could accomplish. She underlined that it was a great help to have someone express confidence in her abilities and it really helped her to grow professionally. The experience of Richard Ghilarducci is also somewhat similar. He acknowledges Rich Lewis, his predecessor, as his mentor.
Ghilarducci mentions that his predecessor gave him the required space to grow, as well as the latitude to make mistakes and to learn from them, which is not always easy. He spoke about how Lewis taught him that in business, at times even the best-laid plans do not turn out right. Hence, one needs to have the ability to quickly identify the challenges and make appropriate adjustments in the business landscape.
These stories are just some of the few examples of how boomers can groom the young up-and-comers and ensure that there are competent individuals in place to hold top leadership positions. The distinction between succession planning and succession management is that key professionals not only have to be identified but also developed to move into future leadership roles. For succession management, one must:
- Identify the required executive competencies on the basis of the future business needs, strategies and values of the organization.
- Identify high-potential individuals for possible inclusion in a pool.
- Evaluate the chosen individuals to find strengths and skills gaps that help in determining who will be in the high-potential pool.
Organizations should ideally establish an individually tailored development program for each high-potential individual that includes training, job rotation, special assignments and time with senior executives. Each and every professional must be effectively placed into senior jobs based on their job performance, their experience and assessment of their potential for the specific job.
