Succession planning is the process of identifying the critical positions within your organization and developing action plans for individuals to assume those positions. It is a process of developing talent to replace executive, leadership or other key employees when they transition to another role, leave the company, are fired, retire or die. It is relevant to all companies, from the largest to the smallest, in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
Succession planning is the process of identifying the critical positions within your organization and developing action plans for individuals to assume those positions. It is a process of developing talent to replace executive, leadership or other key employees when they transition to another role, leave the company, are fired, retire or die. It is relevant to all companies, from the largest to the smallest, in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
The succession planning process is meant to create a pipeline of talent that will keep the organization running with little to no interruption when inevitable staff changes occur. Effective succession planning works by assessing staffing needs that may arise as well as creating long-term goals and strategies to manage those gaps, including through leadership development.
In order to understand the situation of succession planning in the private companies of Bangladesh, a seven days LinkedIn survey was undertaken and the result is shown below:-
Total 54 people participated in the pool. It was quite upsetting that only 2% of the respondents voted that every company is having succession planning, 78% voted that “Few had it”, 17% voted that “None had it” and 4% voted that “None of the above” three are true.
So, total 94% (78%+17%) voted that succession planning is missing in the private companies of Bangladesh which is not a good picture. I hope it would be addressed by the board and leadership level at their own ways, as each company is unique with different vision, mission, core values and long term goals.
Succession plans should fit into the vision, mission, core values and long term goals. While the top executive is a key factor in a company’s performance, taking a wider lens to the concept of succession planning is increasingly seen as critical, particularly in the current challenges facing talent management in companies today.
When an employee leaves, there is a ripple effect. It may be most evident when the key leader leaves, but the hole is created when an employee leaves his or her position can be profound, even at lower levels. Replacing employees can be a difficult task, especially in industries with noted shortage of talent and skill gaps. It can be a lengthy process to get a replacement employee to full productivity.
The lack of planning can especially sink smaller and family businesses, which don’t have the sheer candidate numbers to choose from.
