Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2022 - 15

DR. KRISTAL WALKER, CPTM
DIVERSITY AND
INCLUSION
DIVERSIFY YOUR LEADERSHIP WITH
AN INCLUSIVE SUCCESSION PLAN
As organizations continue to establish
a new norm for recruiting, retaining and
engaging talent, the best companies
are mindful of the benefits of intentional
succession planning. These organizations
understand that while their counterparts
are busy facilitating replacement planning
processes, their most competitive
advantage stems from strategic talent
management that supports both the
current and future needs of the business.
More importantly, these organizations
understand that when their leadership
teams are diverse in thought, skill and
culture, the organization is best positioned
to innovate new products and services,
dominate their competitive landscape,
and reinvigorate organizational talent to
exceed performance expectations.
This diversity is not an afterthought. It
is intentional and begins with carefully
crafted career paths that are inclusive of
both the needs of the business and talent.
Here are three key steps to begin the
process of inclusive succession planning.
1. IDENTIFY CRITICAL
LEADERSHIP ROLES
When succession planning is facilitated
appropriately, an organization should
never experience a leadership drought in
its most critical roles.
Identifying critical leadership roles
begins
with
removing subjective
recruitment and selection practices.
When roles and responsibilities are
built to include competencies and
proficiency levels that clearly prepares
the individual for what they are expected
to deliver, then the organization can
objectively convey expectations without
projecting their personal perspective on
the individual's performance before any
results are produced.
WHEN EMPLOYEES CAN
SEE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR CAREER GROWTH,
THEY ARE LIKELY
TO STAY.
2. ENGAGE YOUR HIGH-POTENTIAL
DIVERSE TALENT
Despite the shift in employee career
preferences, engaging high-potential
and high-performing employees remains
at the top of the list of organizational
challenges. Without intentional strategies
to engage these individuals throughout
various phases of the employee life cycle,
organizations continue to run the risk of
losing their most valuable employees.
This oversight typically occurs in one of
the following ways:
* Managers overlook this population of
employees for high-visibility projects.
* Companies don't consider the skills
gaps of this population and the access
and/or resources they need to close
these skills gaps.
* The job expectations for this
population are more rigorous than
those established for their peers.
To overcome these barriers, the
organization may need to re-evaluate how
talent reviews are facilitated, specifically
for critical roles. If the employee has longstanding
tenure with the organization and
has never been considered for career
advancement, the organization should be
questioning this norm.
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3. CREATE THE PATH FOR
ADVANCEMENT
Companies that design intentional career
paths for advancement reap the benefit of
longer tenured and engaged employees.
The career pathing process acknowledges
that employees may shift interest from
their original hired role to something that
appeals to them at different stages in their
career. It affirms the organization's
ability to meet those changing needs
amidst other business priorities.
When employees can see opportunities
for lateral or upward career growth,
they are likely to stay with the company,
even when other opportunities are more
tempting. While the benefit is clear, some
companies cringe at the very thought of
the work and attention to detail required.
Career pathing requires the company to
define what success looks like at every
point in transition. Determining competitive
salary ranges, education requirements,
experience levels and tenure expectations
are all important factors to consider. While
most companies might see this as a critical
consulting experience, others may choose
to engage teams to work through career
pathing as a collaborative project. The
most important aspect of career pathing
is to ensure access points are inclusive to
support the current employee population.
Adopting these three essential
perspectives is a huge step toward
incorporating diversity and inclusion
into intentional succession planning.
Dr. Kristal Walker, CPTM, is the vice
president of employee wellbeing at
Sweetwater. Kristal is also a facilitator for
Training Industry's Diversity and Inclusion
Master Class. Email Kristal.
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Training Industry Magazine - Summer 2022

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