feature | SUCCESSION PLANNING
PUFF OF WHITE SMOKE
In my first HR director role, my MD - who had ousted the previous incumbent - said rather derisively; “next you’re going to tell me we need a succession plan”! Needless to say, I didn’t introduce one during my tenure. Sadly, a few years after I had left, he died prematurely, without an identified successor it seemed - and, in the aftermath of his death, the business was taken over.
In the movie Angels and Demons, set amongst the higher echelons of the Vatican, the Pope has died and the four cardinals in line to be his successor have all been kidnapped and a mysterious cult is threatening to murder them. Thus, a succession plan that was centuries in the making, undone - albeit by some Hollywood hyperbole. The most carefully thought-out and thorough succession plan can go awry - not normally due to kidnap and death threats perhaps - but due to a myriad of unforeseen sets of circumstances, or simply because there is no suitable successor, because the business landscape demands a set of skills and competencies that aren’t readily available. The topic stirs passionate debate with supporters and detractors in equal measure. Amongst organisations generally, it has been suggested that approximately 25 percent engage willingly in adopting a clearly-defined process and policy, whilst the majority - approximately 75 percent - do not. This somewhat polarised position on succession planning is also reflected at Board level and reveals a mixed picture. On the whole, the statistics and research are not positive and indicate a context that suggests a lack of focus or commitment on succession planning, even though current business challenges are characterised by; economic turbulence, rapid technological change, political uncertainty and the heave and sigh of global economies.
ARTICLE BY PAUL ROBERTSON-MARRIOTT, HR CONSULTANT - SEMINIGLOBAL LTD
In 2010, a couple of years into the global financial crisis, search firm Korn Ferry conducted research amongst FTSE 100 companies, which identified that the majority of global companies did not have Board level succession planning in place, even though 98 percent of organisations surveyed identified succession planning as an important part of corporate governance. However, only 35 percent of organisations felt they were prepared for either planned or unplanned departure. Similarly, a more recent survey conducted by search firm Heidrick & Struggles found that 39 percent of organisations, both public and private, have ‘zero’ viable internal CEO successors, as well as a lack of ‘ready now’ internal candidates. Further to this, a study by accountancy firm PwC found that 42 percent of CEO’s surveyed planned to leave their organisations within five years, yet nearly half felt they had not undertaken any real succession planning,
40 | thehrdirector | MAY 2019
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