Canadian HR Reporter

Canadian HR RepoRteR January 26, 2015 6 News succeeding with succession Why do employers struggle when it comes to fi nding leaders? Our roundtable panellists discuss challenges, off er solutions BY SaRaH doBSon at a very fundamental level, succession planning is a strategic process. It's about making sure you have future leaders to make sure a business can meet its goals, according to Kate Humphries, se- nior manager, resource planning and succession management, tal- ent management, at the TD Bank Group in Toronto. But, increasingly, the succes- sion management process is also a competitive advantage, said Humphries, speaking at a Ca- nadian HR Reporter roundtable sponsored by Queen's University Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) . "As we fi nd that it's harder and harder to obtain talent from out- side in the workforce and capabili- ties become more scarce outside the organization, it's really im- portant for organizations to look inside and start building their tal- ent. It really becomes a competi- tive advantage." If it's so important, why do so many companies lack successors? For one, the planning is seldom integrated with business needs, according to Paul Juniper, direc- tor of the at the Queen's Univer- sity IRC in Kingston, Ont. "What I see is often a discon- nect between the strategic plan of the organization and succession planning — which hangs out by itself — and it needs to be so to- tally integrated and it's not." And it can't be a start-and-stop kind of thing that comes into eff ect when there's a vacancy, he said. "It can't be looked at that way or you're going to fail. It's got to be something that's a continuous pro- cess where you're building bench strength, you're building a future and it's not just when somebody leaves that everything clicks." It can also be tough making the connection, said Lee Anderson of HR consulting fi rm Lee Anderson & Associates in London, Ont., cit- ing one employer's experience. "It was on their radar screen (but) they were immobilized by the thought of how to translate the idea into a program." Having the resources and the right timing is also diffi cult, ac- cording to Betsy Smith, direc- tor of global HR at Umbra/TCH Group of Companies in Toronto. "Most people understand that we need to develop the next layer but… there's a restriction on resources and you don't want to bring that talent in too early because it'll go to waste and you won't be utilizing that asset. But if you wait too long, it's a very hard thing to catch up with." Succession planning doesn't have immediate payoff , accord- ing to Les Dakens, principal at HR consulting firm Pineridge Consulting in Toronto. "Human nature is 'I'm going to work on the most immediate pri- orities and tuck away those invest- ment projects' and I think that gets in the way. And if you're in a small company, for example, you've got a lot of priorities on a daily basis… your boss is not likely to be say- ing to you: 'How's your succes- sion planning coming for yourself or your department?' Whereas if it's front and centre with the top management, that will encourage people to spend the time now for longer-term payoff s." CEO endorsement e whole executive team needs to buy in, said Smith. "Most executives understand the concept and the theory of succession planning — it's when it gets down to the actual budgeting process and tying into the strate- gic planning process, it's hard for people to think about losing a top performer and also adding onto their team and they might not need to now but they need to in nine to 12 to 18 months." If the head of HR has a partner- ship with the CEO and they both agree succession planning is a pri- ority and part of business needs going forward, then together they can reward those who are doing it well, make sure it's well-known that you value what they're doing in terms of people development and you confront those who aren't, said Dakens. "But if the two of you aren't in alignment and it's just HR kind of driving the speech on succession planning… you'll make inroads but it's a tough sled. e CEO's got to step up and say, ' is is a priority.'" It's important to help manag- ers and leaders to assess potential gaps, said Humphries. "Being able to just look at ca- pability needs and capacity needs and culture needs to plan for the future is diffi cult for leaders to do and… sometimes they feel like they're being asked to look into a crystal ball: 'How do I know what we're doing in three to fi ve years?'" she said. "A lot of leaders don't have the language so you need to support them in doing that and build the model that's going to help them make that translation from strat- egy to people." ere are so many disincen- tives to managers producing new people, said Juniper. Credit: Sandra Strangemore SPONSORED BY Both > pg. 8 Paul Juniper, Queen's University IRC Lee Gonsalves, Calgary Co-operative Association Betsy Smith, Umbra/TCH Group of Companies Lee Anderson, Lee Anderson & Associates Les Dakens, Pineridge Consulting Kate Humphries, TD Bank Group

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