august2021 - 36

MANAGEMENT
» Create a sense of ownership by using a
potential successor's ideas-people thrive
when they feel like they are contributing.
kali9 | 856726524 | Getty Images
virtual reality or augmented reality. Another
training modality is allowing them to attend
trade shows. Having them take the short classes,
see vendors, and rub elbows with others in
the field is helpful in building a future leader.
Finally, one of the most valuable training uses
is to have the candidate teach various lessons.
Suppose you are putting in a new system
Success in succession
planning requires early start
Succession planning starts with finding
the right candidate and fostering
their professional development
for future leadership positions.
I spoke to a group of maintenance professionals
in the Caribbean recently (virtually),
and the topic of succession came up. The group
consisted of men and women at various points
in their careers, with a strong contingent of
senior leaders and a few newbies.
It turned into a wide-ranging discussion
tips and tricks this group used to
about
prepare the next generation. There was the
usual discussion of the frustration of preparing
someone only to have them leave. Turnover
is undoubtedly frustrating. The advice was all
over the landscape, but here are some of the
broad takeaways from that discussion. But as
the saying goes, " If you think training is expensive,
try ignorance! "
Identify future leaders well
in advance of needing them.
The best time to think about succession is
years before you need someone. Any trainBy
Joel Levitt
PRESIDENT, SPRINGFIELD RESOURCES
Joel Levitt is the president of Springfield Resources, a
management consulting firm that services a variety of
clients on a wide range of maintenance issues. Levitt
has trained more than 17,000 maintenance leaders from
more than 3,000 organizations in 38 countries. He is also
the creator of Laser-Focused Training, a flexible training
program that provides specific, targeted training on your
schedule, online to one to 250 people in maintenance
management, asset management, and reliability.
Have them create checklists
for everyday tasks.
Checklists create great memories. Anytime
there is a complex activity with some grave
consequences of failure, checklists are a great
tool. They are an especially great tool for
upcoming leaders to use.
Use their ideas.
There is no better way to create ownership
than to use people's ideas when solving problems,
setting up new procedures, or changing a
process. People thrive when they feel like they
are contributing.
Offer regular training
opportunities.
Be sure that the potential candidate has training
opportunities available over the years of
their development. Training includes formal
classes, informal shadowing assignments,
books, videos, and any new modalities like
36 Fleet Maintenance | August 2021
ing and planning program should take place
over a good deal of time and involve many
different facets of the job. It does not have to
be formal, but it does have to be thoughtful
and consistent.
Let them take on small
projects from start to finish.
Assignments like this help build confidence,
experience, and motivation. Whole projects
offer many lessons that will be useful to
future leaders.
or upgrading an old one. In that case, these
people are naturals for the file building activities,
auditing of master files, and participating
in discussions on codes and configuration.
Working closely with the vendors and getting
initial training in the system can pay dividends
for years to come.
Rotate their role and
responsibilities.
One of the most valuable assignments is to put
the candidate in rotation for relief supervisor,
relief planner, or stores person. Place them
anywhere in which they can see another part of
the operation and practice dealing with people.
When there is significant work to do, recruit
the candidate to be the one to take pictures, ask
questions, and accompany vendors through the
facility. Instruct them to ask all the questions
they can think of. Tell them to use the opportunity
to learn.
Provide them with opportunities to participate
with multi-disciplinary teams.
The best ongoing group is the defect elimination
group. Early and long experience with
getting rid of defects provides an excellent
basis for understanding the process. Other
teams can be for root cause analysis, focus
groups for HR, design groups, quality, or
process improvement activities.
Have them participate in
presentations to management.
When pitching management on a new idea or
program, always give these folks an appropriate
part in the production. This experience
not only acquaints the candidate with
management but also gives them some visibility
to management.
Another vital consideration is that they
should be involved in the planning for the
presentation. Let them hear the tradeoffs,
challenges, and problems to overcome.
Share learned lessons.
We all have certainly learned lessons the hard
way. While some of the lessons will have to be
learned over again by each generation, we can
help by organizing the lessons learned. So, one
good suggestion was the development of an
accessible history of lessons learned.
august2021

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