Boost Your HR’s Succession Planning Effectiveness

In addition to making sure the right workers are hired, human resources professionals also are in charge of succession planning in which employees are matched to potential future job openings. To make that process more effective, Dr. Dale Albrecht of Alonos advises HR challenge leaders to identify and develop high-quality and diverse talent to ensure business continuity during the succession process. Tania White of The Loretto Hospitals adds HR should ensure that there are no key positions left open and that there is always another employee trained and ready to step in. HR professionals need to focus on their learning and development programming to achieve these goals, says Dr. Kelly Lum of Highgate. As part of that process, Molly Nuhring of Otis Elevator says HR needs to determine who is at risk of leaving and how the company would be affected, whether they can be retained and how and who could step in to fill the gap. This means that succession planning needs to be an ongoing priority, says John Feldmann of Insperity. Other key steps in the process are identifying business critical roles and top performers and ensuring HR remains a development partner in training, coaching and mentoring. HR also should facilitate a simple process to prompt leaders to future-plan, as well as ensure the plan is aligned with company goals and values. Lastly, HR needs a process to identify and capture critical knowledge and help leaders understand people’s strengths and potential.

Read the full article on Forbes.com.