succession planning for a sustainable future

Succession Planning for a Sustainable

FutureKansas Health Foundation

April 8, 2015

About the PresenterPam Barrett, ACHE, FACHE

• P Barrett & Associates, LLC• Healthcare & nonprofit business

consultant • 30 year executive leadership in

healthcare/hospice • Services: strategic positioning &

financial sustainability |board & staff development |succession planning | collaboration strategy

• Educator | Speaker | Mentor

Learning Objectives• Identify which roles require

succession planning and why.• Identify best practices in

succession planning.• Size appropriate strategies for

leader development and talent management.

• How to initiate a succession policy (to include consideration of interim leadership).

Why Plan for Succession?

• Minimizes risk • Maximizes opportunity• Supports organizational

sustainability

Who Needs It?

1. Boards of Directors2. Executives3. Key Leaders

Getting Your Board on Board

The Succession Policy– serves as a statement of commitment to:

• Outline the process of planned departure

• Prepare for inevitable leadership changes

• Assess leadership needs before beginning a search

• Appoint interim leadership (as appropriate) to ensure continuity and stability

• Succession Essentials– Succession Policy and Emergency Backup

• Leader Development & Talent Management– Ongoing talent development and investment

tied to your strategic goals

• Departure Defined Succession Planning– Pre-transition planning 1 – 3 years in advance

Critical Planning Elements

Succession Essentials

– THE BENEFIT –

Prepares the organization in advance for how it will handle a transition

when it happens.

Succession Policy Content Focus on both transition and search

• Organizational assessment• Transition/search committee• Succession procedures• Consideration of interim • Internal candidates • Search Plan

Emergency Backup Plan• Simplest and most effective place to start- May be required for licensure/accreditation

• Includes emergency planning for executive and senior managers

• Incorporated into written Board adopted succession policy

Backup Plan Essentials

• An agreement between an individual and his/her backup(s)

• Assigns responsibility and authority

• Identifies key duties and relationships (and needed cross-training)

Emergency Backup Planning

•Designate and Cross-train backups•Develop procedures and protocols •Document the plans •Understand key functions & relationships•Communicate •Refresh

Leader Development & Talent Management

– THE BENEFIT –

Broadens and sustains leadership capacityand builds “bench” strength.

Management and Leadership Training: In This Economy? You BetBy Pam Barrett, ACSW, FACHE

www.pbarrettassociates.com

• Vision: What is the agency’s strategic vision and priority goals?

• Skills: What competencies do we need for success?

• Leader Development:– What competencies do we have?– Which are missing?– Who will acquire competencies needed and how?– How do we back them up?– How will we share leadership & decision making?

Strategic Leader Development

Attention toLeader Development

• Aligns staff development with strategic vision

• Builds staff leadership capacity• Develops potential management

successors• Diversifies organizational leadership• Makes the executive and all other

leader jobs more “doable”

Actions to Advance Leader Development

1. Secure CEO, senior management, and board commitment.

2. Put succession basics in place.

3. Align HR practices and strengthen capacity to support and manage.

4. Make leader development a top priority and central to strategy.

5. Put a bench strength and talent management system in place.

6. Expand development and training opportunities.

Tools for LeaderDevelopment

• Internal vs. External• Mentoring • Mastery Experiences• Intentional Coaching• Out of Sector

Options

Departure DefinedSuccession Planning

– THE BENEFIT –

Strengthens and readies theorganization for transitions.

Effective transitions enhance opportunity for success!

Departure Timetable & Tools

Undefined

•Succession Essentials

•Sustainability Planning

•Leader Development/Talent Management

18 Mo - 3+ Years

•Succession Essentials

•Sustainability Planning

•Departure-Defined

<18 Months

•Succession Essentials

•Formal Transition Planning

Transition Management• Change is an opportunity.• Power of the pivot – the neutral zone.• Acknowledge challenges related to

transition.• Opportunity to redefine roles and

relationships. • Can break unhealthy ties to the past. • Paves the way for new future.

Key Transition Considerations

• Internal vs. Outsourcing Recruitment

• When is an interim Appropriate?• Roles of the Departing (Exec. Leader, Board)

Recruitment

(Internal vs. Outsourcing)

•Needs•Capacity•Market•Budget

Why consider an Interim• Continue operations without stalling

out during leadership transitions • Independent ‘eyes’ and assessment• Turning point for a nonprofit

organization• …why not an interim?

Interim LeadershipOther benefits

• Serves as a bridge• Manages day-to-day• Offers objective assessment and

recommendations; addresses issues• Strengthens and readies the department/

organization • Reassures staff/ stakeholders• An effective interim models excellence

Proceed with Caution

Incumbent staffApplicant

Board memberFormer ED

Community leader

Tips for Hiring an Interim• Begin with the end in mind.• Identify most urgent issues and challenges.• Focus on what the organization needs, not the

prior leader.• Determine priorities for transition. • Seek an individual specifically skilled as an

interim leader.• Compensation considerations.• Tap local resources for candidates.

Roles of the “Dearly Departing"

(Departed)• The Executive• The Leader (s)• The Board

Role of the DepartingDOs

• Limit your “assistance” to essential functions

• Honor the Succession Policy

• Respect and demonstrate confidence in the process

• Support the successor• Get out of the way!

DON’Ts

• Drag out the inevitable• Serve on the Search/

Selection Committee• Attempt to manage/

manipulate the process• Inflate your importance• Overstay

Transition:Coming to Terms with

Change

Ending:LossLetting GoRelinquishing Old Way& Old Identity

New Beginning:CommitmentRebirthNew EnergyNew Sense of Purpose

Neutral Zone:ConfusionDirection FindingRe-patterning

Source: Bridges, William. Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change.2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 2003.

Next Steps

Template and Resources

SUCCESSION PLANNING for a Sustainable Future TEMPLATE & TIPS for Getting Started

CHECK those you have in place BOARD ED/CEO KEY LEADERS

1. A written plan 2. An effective & tested process 3. Clear emergency back-up plan

Resources

• The Nonprofit Leadership Guide– Covers Leadership

Transition and Leadership Development

• May be ordered from Transition Guides:– www.transitionguides.co

m

– Now see: RAFFA – www.raffa.com

Resources

• Chief Executive Transitions: How To Hire And Support A Nonprofit CEO

– Covers Executive Transition Management

• May be ordered from Board Source:– www.BoardSource.org

Resources • SUCCESSION Are you Ready?

– Covers CEO Leadership Transition

• By Marshall GoldsmithAuthor of New York Times bestseller, What Got You here Won’t Get You There

• May be ordered at -www.amazon.comor other booksellers

• Annie E. Casey Foundation monograph series

– Building Leaderful Organizations

– Ready To Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out

– Capturing The Power Of Leadership Change

– Founder Transitions: Creating Good Endings And New Beginnings

– Interim Executives: The Power In The Middle

– Up Next: Generation Change And Leadership Of Nonprofit Organizations

– Stepping Up, Staying Engaged (Boards during transitions)

• Free and available online at:– www.TransitionGuides.com/

resources/monographs.htm

Resources

Special Acknowledgement to colleagues Jeanie Duncan, Raven Consulting Group and Tom Adams, RAFFA

Thank You! P Barrett & Associates, LLC1852 Banking Street #9094Greensboro, NC 27408336.500.8670

pambarrett@pbarrettassociates.comwww.pbarrettassociates.com