Fly High Kites Ltd

It was the end of Amir’s first week as HR manager at Fly High Kites Ltd when Petra the marketing
manager handed in her notice. After eight months of R&D, Fly High Kites was just about to launch a
revolutionary new Kite Surfing board. Petra’s resignation could not have come at a worse time. Amir
asked the Managing Director (MD) if he felt there was anyone in the department worthy of consideration
since he wanted to avoid the lengthy process of recruiting externally. He looked saddened and explained
that the person he had earmarked to take over had already ‘jumped ship’. Amir set about reading the
records of the other employees in the department but found little inspiration. That night whilst flicking
through his copy of Management Today, a magazine he had subscribed to since his final year at
University, he stumbled across an article entitled ‘Crash Course in Succession Planning’. If only his
predecessor had read it, he thought to himself. He did however think that the article, as summarised in
Appendix A, should be shared with all department managers at the next planning meeting.

Appendix A: Crash Course in Succession Planning

1. Put it in context – must be in the context of the overall business strategy

2. Look ahead – the need to understand where people are moving to and where they are coming from
‘the flow of critical business skills’. An HR consultant of HR company Mercer explains: ‘you may have a
chunk of retirement coming up in the next 10 years, with lots of expertise about to walk out the door,
so you have five years to bring the next generation on’. Make sure that each department formulates its
own plan.
3. Who is included? – emphasise the importance of this at all levels, not just top management and advise
each department to formulate its own plan
4. Think laterally – look across departments not just within departments and don’t assume you know who
all the good people are. ‘Having seen someone present to the senior team, or picking those with whom
you regularly interact (e.g. lawyers and accountants) doesn’t qualify as a talent trawl and will not be
perceived as fair’, warns Lucy McGee, Marketing Director of global HR company DDI.
5. Talk to them – ask employees about their ambitions and commitment.
6. Act on it – once you’ve identified potential successors, groom them for the challenge. ‘Carry out a
robust gap analysis to measure them against your template’, says McGee.
7. Pool, not grid – don’t make decisions between one or two people, pool a group of talents together and
make the decision when needed, not prematurely.
8. Keep it under review
9. Do say – we’re developing people with the experience and contacts to be our leaders of tomorrow.
10.Don’t say – this is my mate Robin who’ll be taking over from me when I retire in 10 years time.

Source: Management Today, June 2004.