TM - December 2007 - (Page 43)

recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning CHANGING WORK ENVIRONMENTS AFFECT SUCCESSION PLANNING Kellye Whitney The state of the modern, multigenerational workforce is directly affected by factors such as globalization and the rapidly changing nature of work. When you add diversity challenges to the mix, succession planning considerations move far beyond simply establishing processes for candidate selection or creating development opportunities. At its base, succession planning is about just that: selecting and preparing people to take on new roles. How they think, how they manage others and how an organization builds a process to inject specific behaviors into its culture is critical to ensure top performers’ future success. Thus, the commonly used one-to-one successor model may need to change to accommodate the needs of the boomers, Generations X and Y and next-generation workers. David Smith, Accenture’s managing director of human performance for the Americas, said there actually may be five generations at work if one includes the “silent” generation, the oldest and probably the smallest viable demographic of workers who already have moved into some form of retirement. These workers are ripe for recruiters looking to lure their vast store of institutional knowledge and experience back into the workplace. “The real issue from a succession planning standpoint is the change in work,” Smith said. “Driven by global demographic changes and globalization of the workforce, there’s no longer a one-to-one replacement occurring like there was in past generations. In fact, succession planning is now a one-to-many model that is beginning to look very different because of technology changes and globalization.” Smith said the new one-to-many succession planning model is having a compounding impact on organizations and the complexity of their succession planning efforts. Implementing mentoring programs or phasing retirees out of the workforce more slowly to facilitate them sharing institutional knowledge are some common ways to ease process pains. “Moving some of the silent generation and boomers into coaching positions is one example of what organizations need to do,” Smith said. “As they look to retain or ‘un-retire’ them for specific roles, coaching roles are great because of their wisdom, knowledge and experience base. Use that next generation to capture some of that knowledge. Then codify it into your knowledge systems and into your work processes.” Reverse mentoring is also an option. Smith said some leading companies are beginning to create more formal reverse-mentoring programs so the next generation and Generation Y can create relationships with the boomers in management roles or Gen Xers in supervisory positions. This serves a dual purpose. First, it helps prepare successors and better equip retirees who choose to remain active contributors in the workforce. Second, it enables successors to manage work in a different way. The globalization of work, and generational and diversity issues require that organizations engage in development activities to help build diverse teams. Generation X and Y workers expect that kind of flexibility, and it obviously helps organizations retain a key competitive advantage in the global marketplace. “Some of Gen X and baby boomers in management positions really haven’t worked in this sort of environment, whether it’s global or race or gender diversity,” Smith said. “Reverse mentors can help them understand and deal with that. When you think about succession planning, you’ve got to think about the qualification of people and the programs you’ve put in place to help them manage different issues that organizations haven’t had to deal with in the past.” Diversity development programs can help, Smith said, but to maximize this type of initiative, diversity programs shouldn’t just be embedded throughout the organization. To have a real impact, they also should be embedded into the actual work teams. He said organizations must understand and reward different levels of diversity. Take the common perception that newer generations of workers don’t have very good work ethics, for instance. Smith said this isn’t true. These new knowledge workers are simply using the technology they grew up with to work differently than previous generations. 42 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - December 2007

Talent Management - December 2007 Editor's Letter Contents Letters to the Editor Human Performance Leading Edge Capabilities The Engaged Difference: What People Want Analytics in Talent Management: The Sports View The Use of Merchandise for Employee Recognition Taking Aim at Performance Appraisals Talent Management Drives Organizational Change Generational Diversity: Mastering the Boomer-X-Y Divide Dashboard: Security-Savvy Workforce: Designing a Security Awareness Program That Works Application: Hilton Hotels Corporation:Checking Out the Merits of Paperless Efficiency Insight: Unlimited Engagement: Innovative Corporate Communication at Deloitte & Touche USA Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Foundations

TM - December 2007

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