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SUCCESSION PLANNING | opinion
REVOLUTION NEGATES THE EXISTING
Despite creating, “both huge promise and potential peril”, Te Fourth Industrial Revolution, the WEF says,
presents us with an opportunity to; “look beyond technology, and find ways to give the greatest number of people the ability to positively impact their families, organisations and communities”. It also presents organisations with one of their greatest future challenges, succession planning.
ARTICLE BY SUSY ROBERTS, FOUNDER - HUNTER ROBERTS
As well as developing business strategies that can deal with the disruption caused by an ever-changing political landscape and the challenges of an increasingly wide generation gap, there is a growing need to address the skills gap brought about by technological change. Today’s generation is simply not focused single-mindedly on the top table,
in the way previous generations might have been. They aspire to flexible working and good work-life balance and eschew the always-on culture. Consequently, succession planning has to be recalibrated to not only meet ever-changing business needs, but also the challenges of disruption. This calls for agility and a complete re- assessment of what constitutes talent and potential. Today’s succession planning should not be solely fixated on meeting promotional aspirations, or filling leavers’ shoes. Increasingly critical are knowledge transfer and operational continuity, in order to meet the challenges of a fast-changing business landscape, where the future remains unpredictable. Deloitte’s second annual survey of business readiness, found that the top challenge faced by executives - in terms of talent planning - was too great a mismatch between current skillsets and those which will be needed in the future. The rise in robotics and automation was cited as creating an increased demand for softer skills such as; adaptability, communication, agility, intelligence and judgement. But tellingly, more executives than ever did not believe that education systems were evolving with the pace of technology and preparing talent for this shift in the required skillset. This is where business leaders must step in to fill the gap. Data-driven, agile training and development strategies that are tied to the individual, rather than a one-size-fits-all training plan, must be developed to ensure that five-year business strategies are not redundant, as soon as a new piece of technology becomes commonplace. Individuals must be prepared and equipped for the possibility that their roles will change and helped to refine their skills accordingly.
STEPHEN HAWKING SAID, “INTELLIGENCE IS THE ABILITY TO ADAPT TO CHANGE.” INTELLIGENT SUCCESSION PLANNING IS THE ABILITY TO
RECOGNISE THAT CHANGE IS CONSTANT AND TO
EQUIP PEOPLE WITH THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO DEAL WITH IT
Deloitte’s survey also identified four new types of leader who are already embracing the challenges of this new age: Social Supers, Data-driven Decisives, Disruption Drivers and Talent Champions. One thing they all have in common is the willingness to, not only adapt to ongoing change, but to embrace, invest in and drive the use of data and new technology to improve business outcomes. New roles may be created and old roles may be lost, so it’s important that business and succession planning anticipates and prepares for developing future talent, by ensuring there are ongoing conversations with people to identify what they’re doing well, what challenges they are facing and what support they need, in order to perform their role effectively. Data is essential to this. A survey from Accenture found that 92 percent of employees were open to the collection of data on them and their work, in exchange for an improvement in their productivity, wellbeing or other benefits. Rather than being seen as invasive, data-driven succession planning is welcome, if it leads to personal development and work satisfaction. Stephen Hawking said; “intelligence is the ability to
adapt to change.” Intelligent succession planning is the ability to recognise that change is constant and to equip people with the tools they need to deal with it. Succession planning always has and always will be an essential element of any organisation which wishes to remain viable. We will always need HR directors, finance experts, sales and marketing managers and those who excel in client relationships. Rather than constantly looking for new ways to re-invent the wheel, what we need to address is not how to identify and retain talent, but how to develop people so that they’re agile enough to deal with constant change without disruption.
• FOR FURTHER INFO
WWW.HUNTERROBERTS.COM
MAY 2019 | thehrdirector | 43
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