The NonProfit Times - February 1, 2008 - (Page 23) SPECIAL REPORT used to develop internal talent to assume leadership positions, whether it is as executive director/president, or other positions,” said Scott C. Benjamin, president of Charles Settlement House, a 90-year-old, neighborhood-based human services provider in Rochester, N.Y.“We also realized that we don't have a structure in place for any unexpected leadership void -- for instance, if I had a serious medical crisis that took me out of work for an extended period of time, how would my duties be split up or handled in my absence? And that also goes for other management positions.” On a short-term basis, the organization of 22 employees and a $1.3-million budget gets by, but there's no plan for longer-term situations, said Benjamin, who replaced a retiring executive director two years ago. Succession planning also is a process of ongoing communication between the board and CEO on their expectations and how those two are aligned. There should be conversations between the board and CEO at least once a year, Crompton said. “If you make it a routine thing, perhaps at the evaluation meeting of CEO, part of that will be focused on succession, and it’s not such an awkward topic to raise,” she said. “People know it’s there, it’s on the list, but it tends not to rise to the top of the list until it has to,” Crompton said of succession planning. “That’s why we’re big advocates of building in elements you’ll need in the recruitment of a CEO into an ongoing, systematic process, so it’s seen as an automatic thing, more likely to get done rather than treating it as a discreet set of tasks that look daunting.” NPT The EcoTarium was among the organizations that would consider offering a bonus to if it had to recruit a chief executive. ‘When you have a board that’s dominated with people from the private sector, those things tend to be more common,’ said Stephen Pitcher, president. organizations 30 years ago or so,” Eddy said. “It’s a daunting task for a board that has had an executive that long.” Executive succession “seems to be an area of increasing interest, judging by the number of people accessing our tools,” said Linda Crompton, president of BoardSource in Washington, D.C. People are definitely starting to pay attention to the impact that demographics will have on both the CEO and board level, she said. If nonprofits don’t have a success plan, when there is a change in leadership, often an organization pays the price because of a lack of leadership, and the potential for more staff to leave, potentially having an effect on donor support. “You run the risk of losing focus and direction if you don’t have strong leadership and a plan to continue that leadership if a CEO resigns or is let go,” Crompton said. She suggested looking at succession planning more as a process than an event, with ongoing planning even if a CEO is in place.The process never really stops, beginning with a job profile that should be updated periodically, as the organization changes and adopts new strategic plans, opens new lines of business or drops others, she said. “There probably will be a need to constantly refine and redefine that job description for the CEO.” Trees Forever in Marion, Iowa currently has a CEO and still has had a succession plan in place for less than a year, though it’s purposely rather general in terms of how to handle situations.“We’re a fairly small organization so we felt like there was no real way to try to address it other than to be real general,” said Paula Land, director of operations and organization effectiveness. The plan came out of a “recent emphasis on the need to succession plan.” There is definitely becoming much more emphasis and effort on developing talent, according to Kristin Mannion, senior client partner and nonprofit practice leader with Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm in Washington, D.C. “The smart organizations are really looking at that,” she said, and looking internally to develop successors as it becomes more pressing. “Although I’m not planning to go anywhere anytime soon, we realize that a good succession plan also can be FEBRUARY 1, 2008 THE NONPROFIT TIMES www.nptimes.com 23 http://scps.nyu.edu/x187 http://scps.nyu.edu/x187 http://www.nptimes.com
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