PROGRAM DETAILS

Introduction

Research shows that most companies have little or no deliberate succession planning in place and aren’t fully aware of how much the lack of knowledge of the organisation’s pool of leadership talent can cost.

Managing talent succession is a vital, strategic, process that minimises gaps in future leadership by identifying and cultivating best talent throughout the business that allows your best people to develop the skills necessary for (possible) future roles. It’s all about managing your company’s pool of leadership talent.

The goal of succession planning is to build bench strength and a pipeline of talent through the managerial ranks. All too often, however, the succession planning process is shrouded in mystery. The lack of clarity about the process and its results stands in the way of effective planning, assessment and personal development.

Learning Objectives

By attending this highly interactive programme delegates will learn how to:

• Articulate the business need for succession planning and understand what it means for your organisation
• Describe how the succession planning process is implemented and identify organisational roles and responsibilities of all those involved
• Learn how to identify core competencies and build an effective succession planning process and individual development plans
• Assess where you are today in terms of talent and identify what to do to implement a highly successful succession strategy
• Evaluate, measure and define the change management process involved in refining and adjusting your organization’s succession planning strategy and process
• Know how to create and present a succession plan
• Create a consistent approach to succession planning and talent development
• Link succession planning to the overall strategic direction of your organization
• Understanding the staffing requirements necessary to implement your organization’s plans, in terms of, skill mix and development programme requirements

Training Methodology

This practical and results-oriented programme is based on adult learning concept. It incorporates short inspiring lectures with structured lessons from the learning manual; captivating PowerPoint slides with videos to enhance learning; ongoing discussions with action planning; ample time for Q&A; training activities to reinforce key concepts within a fun learning environment.

Pre & Post-course assessments will be implemented to measure the effectiveness of the training.

PROGRAM OUTLINE

 Day 1: The Purpose of Succession Planning – Strategic, Tactical and Operational 

• Strategic – understand the strategic direction of your organisation. Being proactive on critical people issues facing your organisation and be accountable for ensuring changes made are effective
• Tactical – understand staffing requirements necessary to implement your organisation’s plans. What skill mix is required? What training do you have in place to deliver these skills?
• Operational – understanding the specific requirements of senior management to meet their objectives

 Day 2: Aspects to be Considered to Identify Key Positions 

• The impact of succession planning and know how to differentiate between replacement/backup planning and succession planning
• Explore best practice principles – do’s and don’ts – for identifying key positions, managing talent pools and high potential individuals
• Discover how to use forecasting for talent identification and succession planning
• Key factors for identifying levels of current talent and determining what’s required in future succession planning that supports changing business drivers
• Create a business case for succession planning that delivers tangible business benefits
• Do’s and don’ts and the role of senior management, HR and Learning & Development (their roles and responsibilities) in creating a talent pipeline – sample case 

Day 3: Implementation Strategies and Deploying the Process 

• Succession planning obstacles and derailers to watch out for and how to overcome these
• Identify core competencies and assessing and selecting key talent against these
• Decide the resources, documentation and materials required that link with business and financial planning activities
• Determine the criteria used to assess talent and all the tracking, milestones and quality cross checks required (and by whom)
• Decide how to develop those who do not meet required talent standards
• Create individual (talent) development plans that measure, evaluate and establish feedback loops 

Day 4: Succession Planning 

• Meaningful executive reviews and mechanisms to ensure follow-up on development plans
• Leadership competency models and introduce 360° feedback sessions
• Multiple points of view in assessment
• Benchmarking against external talent
• Leveraging external search firms

Day 5: Delivering the Succession Plan\

• Refining (future) management competencies
• Understand senior management, HR and Learning & Development implementation requirements and highlights required
• Succession planning implementation schedule, managing implications and responsibilities
• Decide all related HR and Learning & Development communications plans required to implement succession planning
• Select priority items and develop an action plan that identifies the next steps to take after you return to the workplace
• Decide management implications and responsibilities required to implement successful planning