SUCCESSION PLANNING: ACQUIRE OR DEVELOP?

It is our belief that succession planning remains at the very heart of an organization’s ability to consistently compete and deliver shareholder value in today’s rapidly evolving global economy. The dynamics of today’s marketplace dictate that companies take a more proactive approach to their succession planning practices. It is not merely enough for companies to prepare for planned, executive transitions of senior company officers. Long gone are the days when a company has the luxury of time to prepare themselves for the “passing of the baton” when executive succession was a tidy, well orchestrated event.

Without a proactive succession planning framework, any organization is at great risk for unexpected executive departures or rotations, shifts in strategy that require different leadership talents, or a variety of other reasons. Commitment to the succession planning process can be an organization’s best safeguard against unexpected executive changes and ensuring that succession plans are aligned with the talent plans and business strategy.

We partner with clients to conduct a thorough examination of potential areas of exposure that could arise from unexpected executive changes and shifts in corporate strategy that demand new leadership skills and behaviors. After these specific areas of need and risk are identified, we work with our clients (partnering with Human Resources) to develop a succession planning framework across multiple functional areas. This succession framework is then used by our clients to proactively manage the talent plan.

TALENT ACQUISITION

Our strategic partners have perfected a process that is changing the way companies hire. Our consistent disciplined execution greatly increases the odds of your finding, attracting and hiring the best candidates for your business. We provide a unique assessment process that identifies the best qualities of your “A players”.

• We verify an understanding of your needs and align recruitment plans with your business strategy.
• Leverage relationships, access, research and databases, and reach the right people quickly.
• Introduce you to select candidates and evaluate them via behavioral interviews, Our services are based on our steadfast commitment to innovative, fact-based, human capital management.
• Facilitate finalist negotiations on your behalf.
• Accelerate on-boarding and maximize long term success for your organization with a New Hire integration program.

Our strategic partners in search have conducted searches at the CEO, President, CFO, and VP levels and are experienced in and connected to a range of industries, including consumer products, education, private equity, real estate, retail, entertainment, technology, e-business, manufacturing, health care, education, professional services, financial service, and more.

DEVELOP

As an organization grows in complexity and responds to changes both in the internal and external environments, it is essential that once senior leadership constructs a powerful vision that aligns and guides the organization towards a desired future state, the leadership capability is continually strengthened to provide direction, develop capability for continuous growth, and guide the fulfillment of the promise to customers. Additionally, the senior leadership team must develop the competence and confidence in those capabilities which will enable high performance teamwork, leadership of change, business skills that will grow the organization and its employees, communicate effectively with all stakeholders, and motivate employees to high levels of performance. Key roles must be filled with the right leaders for the company’s strategy — to mobilize and align the organization in the desired future direction.

A systematic process for identifying the right leaders for the priority population with the company strategy in mind, generating development plans to build the right capabilities for excellent leadership, building developmental experiences that address the needs, and measuring success with continuous improvements along the way will keep strategic leadership development sustainable and adaptive as the strategy shifts.

OUR APPROACH TO STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Our approach to Strategic Leadership Development cascades from senior-most leadership to a broader group of leaders, integrating successful programs already in place and generating a solid connection to the corporation’s growth strategy. Our approach is predicated on the following basic assumptions:

• Being an effective leader in one organizational environment does not equate with leadership effectiveness in another organization. The nature of the organization culture, it’s people, the work that gets done, and external environmental factors, e.g., competitive climate, availability of resources, will have a bearing on what are deemed as appropriate leadership practices;
• Leadership and management effectiveness are not the same, although to be an effective leader necessitates effectiveness with certain managerial skills and vice-versa, e.g. the need to be both strategic and innovative (leadership skill), while also being capable of delegating effectively (managerial skill);
• It is important that the leadership practices of senior-most leaders builds on the capabilities of the next level of leadership (must be value-added);
• Some leadership practices remain constant regardless of modifications to strategy, e.g., those based on core values such as integrity and respect for others. Other leadership practices, including technical, may change as organization strategy changes;
• Organizational effectiveness is predicated on the individual and team leadership’s ability to effectively execute the organization’s strategic intent and achieve organization objectives, both short and long-term (sustainable success);
• Leadership effectiveness at the most senior levels can be enhanced, but requires an approach which is a combination of skill-based training and coaching skills to assist with overcoming personal obstacles to high performance, e.g., emotional intelligence;
• To have impact, leadership development efforts should have both quantifiable and qualitative measures of success, e.g., expanded reach of the organization into targeted markets (quantifiable), retention of top talent (quantifiable), cultural elements (both quantifiable via climate surveys and qualitative; descriptive of “how we are.”)

Our approach comprises three phases and several concrete steps for each phase to create a strategic, sustainable approach that delivers the right leadership skills to meet the desired measurable outcomes. The 3 phases are:

1. Assessment and Feedback, consisting of 3 Steps; Strategic Directions Questionnaire, Leadership Effectiveness Assessment and/or Sales Performance Analysis, and Feedback/Validation Meeting.
2. Skill Development and Coaching, consisting of 3 Steps: Targeted Skill Development Programs, Planned Developmental Experiences/Movement, and External/Internal Coaching and Mentoring.
3. Action Learning, consisting of 2 steps: design of strategic projects for teams and tracking/measuring results.