Succession planning is one of those business items that no
one wants to attack but no business can afford not to. Many owners and managers
don’t want to face the fact that they will not always be there to lead the organization.
Others are afraid of the inherent confrontation and decisions to be made in the
succession planning process. Regardless of the reason, succession planning is
too important to your business to leave unaddressed. To help you get started,
this week’s tip is four in one: Four Tips for Succession Planning Success.
- Take time to make a plan. This may sound obvious but so many businesses just coast onward in hopes that they will have someone in place when the time comes, or worse they assume the leader in place will always be there. Get out your calendar and make time for succession planning.
- Expect emotions. Whether you’re in a family business or not, you can safely expect to encounter emotions when moving through the succession planning process. If you expect emotions, you can pre-empt them and focus on communicating through them.
- Utilize objective third parties. Because you expect emotions, it’s valuable to have an objective third party as part of the process. He or she can help you think of things in a new, different way and hopefully come to the best conclusions for the company, not just one or two subjective and outspoken individuals.
- Make it ongoing. Don’t just develop a plan and then not touch it until the moment comes to name a successor. Continue to revisit the plan and make adjustments. The plan should be referred to along the way as you select a successor and prepare that person to take your place.
Additional succession planning resources may be found on the
International
Succession Planning Association (ISPA) website. A representative from ISPA
presented at our 2012 Spring Regional in Jacksonville, Florida and shared additional
resources just for RCI members. (Members
of RCI may access these worksheets and resources as part of past education
session links by signing in to the RCI website.)
Has your business been through a succession planning
process? If you have additional tips to share from your experiences, leave them
in the comments below.
RCI Members: Each
2012 issue of Kettle Talk, our quarterly membership publication, included a
series on succession planning. RCI members may view digital copies of the
publication by signing in to the RCI website. Then navigate to Member
Resources, Publications and click on Kettle Talk.
