TM - August 2008 - (Page 39)

Top Down: AGCO’s Approach to Global Succession Planning Deanna Hartley After determining which it’s better suited for in the short and long term, a company can choose one of two approaches to succession planning, according to Jeff Kristick, senior vice president of marketing at Plateau Systems. In the top-down approach, senior-level management looks at key positions across the organization, examines the depth of its bench and how to move key people around to ﬁll those positions. In the bottom-up approach — often the more understated approach — large organizations try to ﬁgure out where individuals want to go with their careers and how that matches organizational needs. AGCO Corp., one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of agricultural equipment, has determined the top-down approach is advantageous. With markets spanning more than 140 countries, the company’s Web-based global succession planning system supports the geographically dispersed organization so people can access it from anywhere in the world. The ﬁrst step is for business leaders to work with HR to identify critical positions at the senior vice president (SVP) level. Then, they must assess the risk and impact of loss to an incumbent in a critical position and identify potential successors and high potentials, said Lucinda Smith, vice president of global talent management and rewards at AGCO. The company also focuses on its Global Leadership Group, or those in top management positions reporting to the SVP level. The next step is tracking individuals in the system and completing goals and development plans that are separate from their performance goals but housed in the same place in the performance management system. Individuals in the leadership group who are involved in the process must complete two mandatory courses based on a book called Simply Management by AGCO Chairman, President and CEO Martin Richenhagen. Both courses focus on management principles and are internally taught sessions by senior executives that involve case study-based scenarios. Attendees from various functions and locations work on these together, giving them the opportunity to interact with peers they normally wouldn’t work with. Individuals identiﬁed as top high potentials and successors for critical positions attend an additional class called Cultivating Our Leaders, a six-day, intensive leadership development course. While the process is identical across the globe for the company’s top positions, the succession planning process for entry-level supervisor and management positions is driven by regional and local HR management in an effort to deal with cultural sensitivities and local business needs. “When a company is as geographically dispersed as ours globally, we wouldn’t want to dictate how succession planning works below the management levels,” Smith said. “But we partner with HR people at the local level to help provide tools and assistance.” Smith said it’s important to actively manage the succession planning process across HR and levels of management. “Succession planning is not an effective process when forms are completed or lists are drawn up, and no one looks to them when a position becomes open,” she said. When a position becomes available, a company should identify potential successors, and prior to that, consider the development plans for successors and high potentials. AGCO reviews its succession planning results at the executive level and identiﬁes gaps — such as when no successors exist or determining development needs for an individual to advance to the next level — and HR works with managers on development to assemble candidate pools. “Where’s the risk, and where can we close those gaps? That’s a measurement that we use,” Smith said. The company also looks at global metrics including mobility and language skills, as well as building global skills, knowledge and accountability through management and leadership training. talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com 39 http://www.talentmgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - August 2008

TM - August 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations Global Background Screening Does Global Assessment Work? Global Total Renumeration: Creat One Organization Border Insecurity: Immigration Reform and Talent Management The Global Workforce: Communication Across Cultures Around the World in How Many Days? Insight: Exelon: Performance Under Pressure Special Report: Perspectives on Managing People Application: Reinventing Sales Rewards at Motorola Dashboard: Mideast Meets West Dashboard: Mergers and Acquisitions 2008 - Don’t Leave Employees Behind Editorial Resources Advertisers' Index Full Potential

TM - August 2008

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