tED Magazine - December 2014

Since succession planning is core not only to retention, but also to having a proactive approach to organizational planning for long-term sustainability, it must become a priority. As noted in the research comments, developing succession planning programs with the opportunity for employees to develop the skills, behaviors, and experiences required to be successful in the postrecession era is critical.

Since businesses have be-
come increasingly complex
and customers’ expectations
are elevated, employers must
be prepared and adept at how
to navigate myriad operational
complexities while managing
risk and handling increased
regulations and requirements.
Key elements of succession
planning include:
• Performance manage-
ment. A critical area of focus
should start with the often-
overlooked fundamental:
performance management.

Employees should never hear new feedback during the yearly performance review process. Instead, managers and employees should meet quarterly to review progress in the prior quarter and to discuss the top priorities for the next quarter. Through the process of reviewing goals and focusing on just the essential few, managers and employees gain alignment and clarity.

Once goals are agreed upon, frequent interaction needs to remain a priority. Immediate and specific positive and corrective feedback must occur. Managers often shy away from addressing problems up front because of fears that it will be uncomfortable and create unhappy employees, but, in fact, the opposite occurs: Employees respect the rare manager who will confront reality in a constructive manner.

Retaining your best and brightest is key to a successful succession plan.

According to a survey performed by the LMA Consulting Group ( lma-consultinggroup.com) in conjunction with the APICS Inland Empire Chapter ( apics-ie.org), executives said that succession planning is tied as a No. 1 priority in retaining top talent. This is especially noteworthy when considering that 87% of manufacturers and distributors are experiencing a skills gap—that is, their employees do not have enough skills to meet the ever-increasing requirements or they have lost qualified people to retirement, job transfers, etc. Yet 77% of manufacturers and distributors are struggling to find qualified candidates. In short, an employer’s ability to retain scarce top talent is considered essential.