Safeguarding Your Organisation’s Future With Competency-Based Succession Planning

On the 22^nd of June, a seminar organised by HR Media and TRG International raised a controversial topic: “Safeguarding your organisation’s future with competency-based succession planning”. The main speaker of the event was Mr. Rick Yvanovich – Founder & CEO of TRG International.

Safeguarding Your Organisation's Future With Competency-Based Succession Planning

Through the talk, Rick emphasised the importance of succession planning as an integral part of the overall business strategy, how can it help business to answer questions as what they will look like three or five years from now, and which competencies the key people will need in order to bring the business’ vision to life.

Here are some key takeaways from Rick’s elaborate talk.

Succession planning vs. Replacement planning

You can’t expect any of your employees to stay in one place forever. Once a person leaves his/her position, what does the organisation need to do to prevent the negative impact from this loss, especially when the person holds a key position in your business? You definitely can’t leave the position vacant for too long; you have to choose whether to build from within or find an external replacement.

Oftentimes, the replacement method is viewed as temporary, and candidates may or may not be considered permanent unless they meet all requirements. While replacement plans are critically important to the business’ growth, these plans only address short-term needs.

Companies, regardless of size, are gradually shifting from replacement planning to succession planning. The former involves envisioning all the vacancies that may arise in the near future as well as over the long term. It pays for a company to have a system in place that keeps the internal pool ready for promotions.

4 risks to mitigate with succession planning

When there’s a loss at a key position, the organisation faces four leadership risks in finding a replacement. Having a well-prepared succession plan can help the organisation to mitigate these risks.

1 – Vacancy Risk: This is the risk of having the critical leadership positions left vacant for any period of time.

2 – Readiness Risk: This is the risk of appointing underdeveloped or unprepared successors for the critical positions. This risk is especially detrimental when organisations fail to prepare and develop their potential future leaders.

3 – Deployment Risk: This is the risk of poor deployment or poor use of talent to execute the business strategy. This risk is particularly challenging, as many organisations struggle to ensure they have the right talent, at the right time, and in the right position.

4 – Transition Risk: This is the risk of poor transitions – not taking the precautions to ensure that leaders are smoothly onboarded and transitioned into new roles.

Defining competency

When we select an individual for a particular position, we examine their K-S-A: knowledge, skill and abilities; in other words, the individual’s competence.

The competency framework also plays an important role in benchmarking your talent’s developmental journey; therefore, it should be well established in advance as a foundation of your organisation’s talent management strategy.

However, the process of evaluating one’s competency can be overwhelming. Thus, Rick suggested that organisations identify the business targets first and foremost, then narrow down the list of key positions prior to moving to the step of identifying the key competencies for such key positions.

Ask yourself these questions:

What qualities do our people need to have?
What will our company look like 3 or 5 years from now?
How do we ensure that we have such people?

It’s best to establish a focus group to discuss and figure out the set KEY competencies for each of your required position.

Starting with a competency framework

Competencies can be either technical or behavioural. Technical competencies reflect the knowledge required to perform a specific role. Behavioural competencies describe the KSAs that facilitate the application of technical knowledge to job-related behaviour.

A framework to improve leadership competencies

Leadership competencies are leadership skills and behaviours that contribute to superior performance. By using a competency-based approach to leadership, organisations can better identify and develop their next generation of leaders. However, the skills needed for a particular position may change depending on the specific leadership level in the organisation.

By using a competency approach, organisations can determine what positions, at which levels, require specific competencies. Researchers at the Centre for Creative Leadership have identified some essential leadership competencies that are consistent among organisations. They divide the overall structure into competencies for leading the organisation, leading self, and leading others.

Safeguarding Your Organisation's Future With Competency-Based Succession Planning

Competencies can be tested online

In the age of HR 4.0, no mistake is as detrimental as putting the wrong talent in the wrong position. This is where a psychometric-based Job Fit solution can come in handy for your HR department.

Job Fit solution is a series of online assessments that measure the essential behavioural characteristics of your potential candidates and match them with your specific job requirements. The solution can also be used to match your internal candidates with the currently open role, provide coaching or suggestions to help individuals improve their performance.

At TRG International, we provide Job Fit solution along with a wide array of other psychometric assessment tools to help your business maximise your existing talents’ potential, match the right person to the right job, retain and duplicate your top performers, all to ensure a healthy growth for your business.

Find out more about TRG International and our talent management solutions by downloading our brochure today!