Making Smooth Transitions: Succession Management for Top Executives

Imagine, for a moment, that you are the manager in a key game that could determine whether or not your team will win the division title. Your leading hitter, and golden glove shortstop, suddenly gets hit by the pitch and is carried off the field, writhing in pain. He is out for the rest of the season. You look around at your bench and realize there is no one who comes even close to your shortstop in batting, let alone anyone who even knows how to play that position! What do you do now? Who will finish the game in shortstop?

Well, the same thing can occur to any organization, if the CEO or another key top executive quits or dies suddenly. That’s why some companies engage in succession management. Not only does succession management involve designating who will replace top executives should they leave, but the process also includes preparing people to assume these higher level positions.

Despite the importance of succession management, little is written about it. Here is an article



that can help you prepare for succession management.

Summarizing some of the information in this article and adding some of my own thoughts, here are some basic steps in succession management:

1. Begin the process early, so that you don’t wait till its too late;

2. Review required skills and experience of key positions;

3. Assess current employees who might be appropriate to move into those key positions if and when the time arrives;

4. Determine the degree to which those employees have the necessary skills and experience and where they are lacking;

5. Create a development plan for each of the possible successors, so that they will be ready to move up if and when necessary;

6. Monitor their progress on a regular basis.

The article provides a number of practical examples. Especially valuable are some tips for succession in a family business, including having experienced outsiders evaluate family members for leadership positions; working with teams of relatives to prepare them for working together.

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