Association Leadership - March/April 2008 - (Page 16)

cover story: succession plans Succession Planning Are you passing the baton… or dropping it? Illustrating the process (left to right) are Kurt Wehrs, CAE, Texas Pharmaceutical Association; Emily Brown, Texas Healthcare Trustees; Catherine White Lee, Texas Library Association; and Jon Hilsabeck, consultant, recently retired from Texas Hospital Association. Photographed by Griff Smith (slidesmith@sbcglobal.net). By Vicki Gervickas ost organizations don’t suffer from a lack of planning. Really, it’s quite the opposite – plans abound, from budgets and improvements to growth and strategy. Bring up succession planning, however, and it’s a different story. As Jon Hilsabeck, former senior vice president of the Texas Hospital Association and current health-care consultant, says, “The problem is often the failure to plan, and right next to that are those who claim they have a succession plan, but that plan is often full of holes, it’s very weak, it doesn’t have some of the contingencies in it that a good plan should have. It does not cover the ‘what ifs’ that often come up.” The missing component in many a succession plan is the clear strategy needed to develop people, for it’s the people who implement all of the other plans. Their skills and capabilities make the organization run. Bob Gallman, COO of the Texas Credit Union League, says, “Any business that is successful has to be considering the inevitable changes. Certainly in our case, as with most businesses, one of our biggest expenses is our personnel. It’s a huge cost and it’s something that I think organizations just look right past. They may be more concerned with their hardware, their facilities or things like that, but people can cost you or they can make you a lot of money. And that depends on how well you’re developing them and how well you’ve identiﬁed the potential loss of a key individual in a given position. If you go six months trying to replace that individual, because you didn’t have any thoughts in mind, there’s no telling what it could cost the company.” Still, like writing a will, planning for transitions – whether expected or unexpected – is something no one really wants to think about, never mind do. For association executives, though, this planning can be especially vital – succession planning can help groups avoid many of the problems faced when an executive director leaves, including decreased membership, lack of direction and low staff morale. It’s not hard to imagine the wrong time for succession planning – say, when the executive director tosses the ofﬁce keys 16 Association LEADERSHIP | March/April 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - March/April 2008

Association Leadership - March/April 2008 Contents Chairman's Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions Southwest Showcase Highlights Feature: Succession Plans Interim Executives Job Documentation Coaching: A Walk in the Park Perspectives Technology Column Association Case Study Government Affairs: Focus On Electronic Resources New Members Community Spotlight Houston Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com Board of Directors

Association Leadership - March/April 2008

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