Succession Planning: Recruit, Develop and Retain

The following is the fourth in a series of articles about the importance and benefits of succession planning within your business or organization. Throughout this series, we will explore the various steps of this critical planning process that will help protect the longevity of your business and provide professional growth for your future leaders.

Choosing your successor is not always easy. You need just the right mix of skills, innate abilities, vision, leadership and winning personality.

In a previous article, we explored how to evaluate employees to determine whether they are “successor material” and, if so, in what areas they will need to hone their skills. One of the best ways to ensure that you can fill your seat with an internal candidate is to prepare early and develop the talent through sound recruitment, professional development and retention practices.

Your business is about providing a quality service and quality product while earning a profit. You are not afraid to “invest” financially in various assets in order to make that happen. Neither should you be afraid of “investing” in your most valuable asset: your human capital.

The reported cost for filling a single vacant position varies from study to study, but the bottom line is that you will incur thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of dollars in your effort to fill each vacancy when you consider staff time, advertisements, interviews, testing and lost productivity. Often, when faced with such a sizable investment, you explore ways to spread that investment out over time, and human capital is no different.

Start early by strategizing your current staffing needs and your future needs for the next five years. Develop a mental picture for the skills and personalities that you are going to need to ensure your business’s success, and then start looking! Everywhere you travel, shop or work, you will be surrounded by people, some of whom are searching for the right opportunity to satisfy their career goals. If you can find a number of sound potential candidates and have them ready to interview with you for your next opportunity, you have just increased your chances for hiring success.

Some time ago I visited a local retail operation and was helped by a young man who exhibited a sometimes-hard-to-find professional look and personality. After he sold me more than I had intended to purchase, I thought to myself that this is the kind of personality that would really work well in my operation. He commented on the company ID badge I was still wearing and asked me what I did. After I explained my title and duties, he commented that he was interested in pursuing the same line of work and asked if I knew of any current openings. At the time I did not have any openings, but I gave him a business card and encouraged him to forward me a résumé, which he did. Eventually, we were able to work this emerging young professional into an internship position, which turned into a full time position. Although he may have been a bit short of my desired education and experience in the field, he had the personality and the desire to learn. While I am no longer with the company, I still run into the staff from time to time and I am encouraged to know that this young professional did not disappoint me. In fact he recently received a promotion.

Once you have hired outstanding talent, it is critical that you do not stop investing. Make the commitment to your employees to continue their professional development. It suggests that you are genuinely interested in them, and in turn, you will realize a higher level of dedication from those employees.

After taking over a small technology operation I had identified two specific talent needs: the need to develop the underachievers and retain the overachievers. Immediately I instituted a professional development program. This program allowed us to concentrate on obtaining the much-needed training for those whose skills were not completely up to date and on developing new skills for those that were eager for more knowledge and expertise.

During this process I worked very hard to foster an environment of open communication. I wanted each of the employees to fully understand what this investment was worth to them as an employment benefit and also to the company in terms of a return on our investment due to increased productivity. After a year I learned that one of my overachievers was interviewing for other job opportunities. She later came to me with some news: She was going to stay working with our company. Since she was an overachiever, this was good news. But what made this news even better was the fact that her primary reason for staying was the opportunity for professional development. She explained to me that through all of her interviews, not one single business or organization was able to make the same level of commitment for professional development that I had made. To me, this proved that my investment was paying off, and in fact it had reinvigorated her to work that much harder and appreciate her working environment that much more.

These principles are not confined to the entry levels of your business; they are applicable at the top of the organization chart as well.

So whether you are filling an entry-level position or seeking your successor, you should always be on the lookout for good talent and not be afraid to invest in the talent you have.