Phil Holdsworth is Head of Impact Asia.
How's your talent pipeline looking?
Amidst geopolitical uncertainty, technological advancement, and market disruption, one problem leaders don’t need is worrying about the continuity of their business. This is why succession planning has become a key strategic priority for today’s organisations.
But with talent shortages, burnout, poor employee engagement, and a constantly changing raft of challenges, planning for the future isn’t simple. So how can you build a succession strategy that will ensure long-term organisational continuity?
Succession planning best practices
Here are three top tips for changing how you think about succession planning:
1. Continuous leadership development over replacement
Traditionally, succession planning strategies focused on replacing specific roles. But the pace of change is so great now that planning around the job titles of today won’t help you with the demands of tomorrow. Instead, prepare for the future by focusing on the skills and qualities you will need your future leaders to have, and start developing them now. What skill gaps can you identify? What emerging challenges or market disruptors are you noticing that will demand new skill sets? Most organisations build their strategies around purpose and goals, but very few take a deep dive into the skills and mindsets they will need to achieve them.
And don’t just think about who you’ll need to develop for the next two to three years. Take a long-term view of success and ensure that your talent development strategy covers all levels, even entry level. This means focusing on the next generation of talent joining your business now and providing learning and development opportunities from day one.
Further, learning and development happen best when people feel ownership and engagement in their own development. And when their managers see themselves as developers of people too. So, create a learning culture full of opportunities: coaching, mentoring, high-potential leadership development programmes, stretch opportunities, feedback processes and more.
Finally, always bear in mind the importance of learning as a leadership quality in itself. When considering individuals for future roles, think about their commitment to learning, willingness to take risks, contribution to your learning culture, and their values. Don’t just look at their demonstrated performance.
2. A human-centred succession strategy
When managed badly, succession planning can trigger a lot of emotion, both from those nearing the ends of their careers who may feel discarded and no longer valued, and from younger talent who may feel overlooked or excluded.
This emotional dimension is one of the main reasons why business succession planning fails. So, prioritise a human-centred, inclusive approach by being completely transparent. Let people know what you’re thinking and planning. Include them in the conversation by sharing the frameworks or processes you will use to guide your talent development strategy, and then invite questions and feedback. It’s important to recognise that change management is a learning process that everyone should be part of, enabling people to take personal ownership.
Bringing people on board in this way will build trust, engagement, and ownership, ensuring a smoother approach to talent pipeline management.
3. Agile succession management and planning
Ensuring agile succession planning isn’t about being restricted to a single, fixed plan or strategy. It should be a living process that adapts to the changing needs and context of the business. While your organisational purpose and goals should always guide your succession strategy, staying aligned to these drivers doesn’t mean you can’t be agile in the face of change.
Collective thought exercises can help you here. For example, identify specific scenarios that may emerge in the future and engage your people in thinking about how you would adapt to them. Encourage your teams to sharpen their attention on what’s going on outside the organisation, so that you can collectively notice and discuss when things are changing or new challenges are coming your way.
Further, ensure that your succession strategy always adapts to your people and their changing needs, as well as to broader people trends dominating the market. Team development means engaging all team members in key processes and decisions, and if you aren’t responsive to what people need, you won’t maintain an organisational environment and culture in which they want to stay.
Start developing your future leaders today
Start building your next generation of talent today and remember that what got you here won’t always get you there. When executed with an agile, human-centred approach that prioritises continuous learning and development, managing your talent pipeline can be something that everyone feels excited by and invested in.