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Industry News

 

Report: Most Companies Lack Formal Succession Planning Process

Monday November 24, 2008

 

Seattle
Succession planning is about more than just planning, according to the new “Succession Planning Highlight Report” from the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp).

The organization said a good succession plan gives careful consideration to a range of issues including transparency, retention, the development of high-potential talent, the dilemmas of internal versus external successors and the overall management and execution of such plans.

i4cp’s research shows that succession planning is a business consideration that will increase in importance in the coming years, with nearly nine in 10 business professionals saying it will be an extremely important or important issue in the future. The report also found that a significant percentage of 526 executives (75 percent) ranked succession planning among the top five challenges facing them in 2008 and in the future, followed by developing leadership skills among leaders and recruiting and selecting talent.

“Succession planning is something that needs to be addressed candidly a few times a year,” said Jay Jamrog, i4cp’s vice president of research. “Assessing the skills and competencies in the organization — who you have right now, and who is ready to step up in the event of unplanned attrition or in a crisis — is critical in this environment. Companies often don’t spend the necessary time on this issue, but it’s important to have the discussion, even informally at first, and long term have a formal plan.”

Components of succession planning and management addressed in the report include:

• Using technology for succession planning is becoming increasingly more popular in companies and is seen as either critical or very important in addressing the knowledge/skills gaps of the future.
• The actual execution and management of succession plans are major challenges for many companies; most directors don’t think their board is managing their CEO succession plan effectively.
• Poorly-managed planning can create internal backlash, and corporate revamping and controlling shareholders can impede succession planning.

For more info: http://www.i4cp.com