Talent Management - January 2009 - (Page 26)

Transition at the Top Stu Crandell Senior-level executive succession planning requires a careful process. To avoid unnecessary transition anxiety and corporate stumbling, talent managers should be mindful of how they navigate transitions at the top. T he 2008 presidential election took place in November, but this month, America’s 44th president ofﬁcially takes over the helm of state. Successful transition at the top, whether it involves a country’s chief executive or a corporate CEO, has its roots in careful planning and purposeful procedure. Without a deﬁned process that considers every possible complication, turnover can threaten an organization’s existence. Organizations can learn much about succession planning from the U.S. Constitution. For instance, presidential elections are about competing visions for a country’s future. The attributes and experiences voters look for vary from election to election depending on the nation’s challenges. Companies need to approach the selection of top leaders in a similar manner, making sure candidates are qualiﬁed to deal with the speciﬁc challenges the company currently faces or expects to face in the future. Further, it’s important to plan for the unexpected. The Constitution not only prescribes a quadrennial presidential electoral process; it also lays out interim succession should a sitting chief executive resign, become incapacitated or otherwise lose the ability to carry out the duties of the post. Corporations need to be just as thoughtful if they wish to avoid similar threats. petencies and experiences will the new CEO — or other critical senior manager — need to be successful? In considering candidates for CEO, it is important that boards look beyond track records and career histories. One of the most useful initial exercises involves candidates drafting a white paper outlining their visions for the company, strategies to achieve those visions, needed resources and expected ﬁnancial consequences. Similar to the presidential electoral process, these visions often will be signiﬁcantly different. The candidates present their respective visions to the board, affording members the opportunity to test and assess each individual’s thinking and ability to articulate and defend their ideas persuasively under tough questioning. As the succession process moves forward, an external assessor often is brought in to assist in systematically uncovering what each candidate has to offer. Candidates may undergo an intense, multiple-day process that includes in-depth interviews; a battery of tests and inventories to gauge personality, strategic thinking and inherent competencies; and a simulation in which candidates interact with the assessment team as the CEO of a large, ﬁctitious global company facing marketplace challenges borrowed from current business headlines. In addition to real-world simulations, an external assessor can provide candid, objective impressions of candidates. The ability to absorb new learnings, for example, is highly relevant. The position of CEO is tremendously isolating, and candid feedback from subordinates often is hard to come by. Candidates need to be open to feedback about their strengths and weaknesses, and they need to demonstrate the ability to learn from their experiences. After much discussion, the board of directors should reach agreement on the most viable candidates and the development they need to prepare for possible transition. Development can include enhancement of leadership style and capability, and any experiences Understand the Requirements While succession planning should be an ongoing exercise that begins anew each time a transition takes place, the real work for a company’s board of directors involves CEO succession and begins three to ﬁve years out from a planned transition. The ﬁrst and most important item of business is to deﬁne the company’s future executive leadership needs. What challenges does the company expect in coming years, and given these challenges, what speciﬁc comJanuary 2009 26 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - January 2009

Talent Management - January 2009 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Integrate Web 2.0 Into the On-Boarding Experience Show ’Em the Money: Compensation Trends 2009 Transition at the Top How Hollywood Manages Talent and What You Can Learn Get the Most Bang With Limited Training Bucks Life After Layoffs Attract Specific Talent Groups Performance Management: Its Time Is Now Helping the Helpers Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - January 2009

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