Organizations ignore the need for a robust succession plan at their own peril. Having one will greatly impact the short and long term health of any organization. Further, it will help reduce many of the costs while increasing the overall competence of the workforce.
We have all heard of the phrase “Any organization is only as good as its people”. While that is true, in our experience “Nobody is irreplaceable” also holds true.
The bitter truth however is that “Good people will leave you”. Be it a better job, worsening health, or even death.
People Leave
In this information age, people change their jobs and careers multiple times. With access to so many avenues, it’s hard to keep anyone satisfied and motivated.
Plan A in succession planning should focus on working with people you already have. It is essential for an organization to work with employees to identify their skill gaps and fill them.
As the needs of any organization change and evolve, so does the requirement for skill development of its employees. Having a clear outline of what skills an employee has and what they need is paramount.
We may be able to reduce employee churn but we can never eliminate it. Hence Plan B is to have more than one person ready, at least skill-wise to take up the vacant role.
Cost of Change
The cost associated with hiring new talent is generally way more than developing talent in-house. The cost of lost time due to training and onboarding, financial cost, and the risk of disturbing group cohesion is just too great.
Consider the alternative: You have an employee already in your team with enough experience as well as skills to take up that vacant role. All you need is to change job roles, revise remuneration, and just like that the position is filled.
Minimal lost time, slightly higher remunerative cost, and virtually no increase in the risk of disarray in the group. Which one would you prefer? This is the advantage of having a good succession plan.
Also read: Succession planning using SWOT analysis
Cost of Retaining Talent
For the organization to ensure that the best talent stays with them, a good financial remuneration is not always going to solve their problem. Often, people get bored by the monotony of their day to day job.
To avoid turning the job into a chore, we have to challenge and inspire employees to learn new skills and grow. Once the employee is motivated to grow, we just have to bear the cost of retaining good talent. This cost is much lower than the cost of replacing talent.
Cost of Replacing Talent
The costs associated with replacing a talent from outside are huge. Further, if not done correctly, it can even bring a company down to its knees.
First, is the cost of time lost in finding a replacement. Next comes the cost of training and acclimatizing the individual in the organization.
Add to that, the cost of acquiring talent at short notice, which will surely increase the financial burden. Finally, is the cost associated with the risk of the new member not being able to gel with the colleagues.
Employee-Manager Relationship
A strong employee-manager relationship is a hallmark of a great organization. The free flow of ideas & needs helps bridge the gaps seen by either of the two. Managers need a good skills management solution to ensure that the succession planning envisioned by the organization is implemented. To get in-depth information please go through our article Best Practices in Skills Management techniques.
A good skills management solution helps in saving time and cost while bringing in accountability. It saves time for the manager in identifying the skill gaps. It also helps in reducing the costs associated with training and development.
SkillsDB helps in identifying those gaps, and building competency to develop the best team for the job. Managers can find the skills that are lacking, and assign new skill development programs for the employee. It’s just that easy!
How Good Succession Planning Helps
A good succession plan ensures that you will always have talent available in-house to step up to any role at short notice. The wheel of learning keeps rotating and developing new talent. To learn more read our article on Succession Planning in 8 easy steps.
Companies don’t need to focus on recruiting talent anymore. Adding to that is the likelihood of maintaining group cohesion while minimizing costs.
A strong individual growth plan helps managers identify promising talent, look at their skill gaps, and pursue corrective action. Employees value organizations that invest in their personal growth.
When their goals align, employees rarely leave, build on their skills, work harder, better, and smarter. When a crisis will arise, as it certainly will one day, employees often step up and lead the way.
Also Read: Skills & Competencies, Similar but Different
Also Read: How to best Implement a Competency-Based Training Program