Simple Subscribe
I recently listened to a webinar put on by HR.Com with a presenter from the ManpowerGroup. They indicated that we are entering a new age, where the true power of human potential will be fully realized.
When we take into account that we are seeing a shift – but not necessarily one that organizations have bought into yet – we see turmoil ahead that we can avert to some degree. The better we plan for the future, the better of we will be. Take for example the preparedness that was done recently for Hurricane Irene. Some would say that the City of New York was over prepared – we didn’t have to go to that extent. Let’s ask ourselves though what if they had not done that planning and things went really wrong. There was massive flooding in all the low lying areas including the subways. Fortunately we didn’t get to that stage.
Now let’s look at this from some current challenges that we are facing – aging workforce, talent shortage and lack of succession planning. Let’s assume that for the purpose of this article that these three challenges form part of a large hurricane that is bearing down on us globally where a large number of organizations exist and are directly in the path of the eye of the storm. We have a couple of choices just like the City of New York did. We can bury our head in the sand and hope for the best – perhaps surviving but more than likely not. If you wonder about the outcome of being in the path of the storm – think of the recent announcement of Steve Jobs – CEO of Apple, or think of the large number of corporate executives that lost their life in the tragic 9/11 Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.
The time is now to begin your succession planning process before you are swallowed up by the eye of the storm. This process will take time and needs to be done correctly. Once you have your plan in place you are still within the path of the hurricane as you need to implement the plan. Putting the plan on the shelf and stating that you are one of the companies that has a succession plan is only half the battle of surviving this storm. Work with potential successors to prepare them for the challenges. You may be surprised at the talent that you have within the organization. Do not set them up for failure and have them become a casualty of the storm. Develop milestones that the successor works towards and most importantly have a mentor assigned to them. You may find the need for two mentors depending on their respective strengths – but make sure that mentoring is factored into the succession development process and continues thereafter.
Organizations today are struggling to fill roles that are crucial to their ongoing successes. As the storm continues to grow, the challenges and struggles to fill those roles are going to increase. Developing and implementing your succession plan in conjunction with a succession development strategy that includes mentoring will assist you in meeting that storm head on and lessen the impact that it might have. Just like the City of New York. Remember, “Failure to plan ahead on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”
Your organization’s true power of human potential can be realized if you meet the eye of the storm head on and plan for the future. Enable that potential through the “power of mentoring.”
References: