best practices to identify, assess and develop your next gen of successors

Seminar on Best Practices on Succession Planning on 13 January 2016 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING ON

“BEST PRACTICES TO IDENTIFY, ASSESS AND DEVELOP

YOUR NEXT GEN OF SUCCESSORS”

The Importance of Succession Planning to ensure Business Continuity

Date: Wednesday, 13 January 2016, 1500 – 1630 hrs. Venue: Azmilaw Academy

Synopsis of Presentation: The motivation to have your own business often includes the desire to have more control over and freedom with your time. But many business owners find, at least in the early years of starting their business, that their working hours are much longer than expected and the opportunity to take a vacation is almost impossible. As the business grows, a business owner can find herself stretched to breaking point by retaining all of the decision-making power in the business and trying to do justice to the many job roles she is trying to cover on a day-to-day basis. Having built a business to a stage where it's providing strong returns, it may even be time to inject fresh ideas and energy

1.

Unfortunately, some Founders, Business Owners and CEOs neglect their talent management

accountability – consequently, their pipelines run dry. When this occurs, the downward spiral of

competitive capability becomes discernible, the edge is lost, and the “magic” disappears. The competition

begins to outwit, outflank, and outperform these companies which threatened its survival

This briefing will highlight Centre for Executive Education (CEE) as well as other contemporary research findings on how business owners and founders could implement succession planning to ensure the successful continuity of your business – particularly as it relates to people and processes. We will be looking at why succession plans are a business critical process, how to identify the talent in your organisation and what is needed to provide an effective handover to the next generation of leaders.

About the Speaker: Professor Sattar Bawany is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Executive

Education (CEE Global). He is also the Managing Director as well as Master

Executive Coach & Facilitator with Executive Development Associates (EDA) Asia

Pacific.

Prof Bawany has over 30 years of international business management experience and has assumed various senior management roles including Managing Director/Country Head and Talent Development/Coaching Practice Leader for DBM Asia Pacific as well as Business Leader, and Executive Coach with Mercer HR Consulting, The Hay Group and The Forum Corporation.

Prof Bawany is an astute advisor to executives who need to know how they are perceived and want to focus on what is most important in their professional and personal lives. He has coached a range of founders, business owners and leaders, from CEOs, to senior vice presidents, and high potential managers. His current work in organisations focuses on encouraging individual initiative and leadership from a systemic perspective in order to achieve clearly defined business results. His specialty is effectively linking people processes to business outcomes.

1 Sattar Bawany (2015). ‘Don’t Deprive Your Business of Succession Plan’, in The Business Times, Singapore Press Holdings

(SPH), 8 December 2015. http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/dont-deprive-your-business-of-a-succession-plan

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Copyright © 2016 Centre for Executive Education Pte LtdAll Rights Reserved www.cee‐global.com

CEE is a Strategic Partner of Executive Development Associates (EDA) Inc. 1

Prof Sattar BawanyCEO, Centre for Executive Education (CEE Global)

C-Suite Master Executive Coach, Executive Development Associates (EDA)Adjunct Professor of Organisational Leadership, Curtin Business School (CBS)

13 January 2016 AZMI Law Academy, Kuala Lumpur

Best Practices to Identify, Assess and Develop Your Next Gen of Successors (The Importance of Succession Planning

to ensure Business Continuity)



About Centre for Executive Education (CEE)

Executive Coaching

Succession Planning

Talent Management

Executive Education

High Potential Assessment & Development

2

CEE is the Strategic Partner of Executive Development Associates (EDA), a global leader in executive development & coaching since 1982.



• Centre of Executive Education (CEE Global) is a premier network for established human resource development and consulting firms around the globe which partners with our client to design solutions for leaders at all levels who will navigate the firm through tomorrow's business challenges.

• CEE has established strategic partnerships with Executive Development Associates (EDA) and International Professional Managers Association (IPMA) as well as a network of Affiliate Partners across the globe including Harvard Business School Publishing (HSBP).

• CEE faculty, consultants and executive coaches are highly credentialed with extensive experience to help managers and executives who are being positioned for future career growth.

Who We Are



• CEE collaborates with clients, adapting various organizational development approaches to their specific business contexts.

• We design and implement tailor‐made learning and organisational development strategies that greatly improve our client's performance, increase market value and enhance organisational capability.

• We develop insight into what drives value creation and competitive advantage in our clients' businesses. Then, we work closely with our clients to convert insight into concrete strategies and tactics.

• The implementation of insight has high impact in the form of value created for our clients.

What We Do



• Companies often say that their employees are their most valuable asset, but many struggle to connect each employee's individual performance to the company's strategy and mission.

• Developing an integrated talent‐development process can solve that problem while also helping companies identify critical skills gaps and address succession planning.

CEE Philosophy –Talent Management as a Strategic Priority



Succession Planning - Defined

Process of identifying the future leaders of your organization and creating a development plan for them to be ready when the time comes.



CEE POV on Succession Planning• Our Succession Planning process is rooted in the understanding that addressing the future now allows the most time to successfully transition management.

• It is imperative that Succession Planning is a key part of a company’s strategic planning process and business continuity management.

• Without a proper succession plan, it would be difficult to develop your key talent and future leaders.

• Succession Planning is much more important than most companies realize in both SMEs and MNCs.



Succession Planning Process

• Succession planning involves the identification of next generation of successor, evaluating and honing their skills and abilities, and preparing them for advancement into key leadership positions which are key to the success of business operations and objectives.

• Succession planning involves two key elements:

Understanding the organization's long‐term strategy, goals and objectives.

Identifying the successor candidates and their respective developmental needs.



Challenge of Succession Planning for Family Owned Businesses• If you're running a family business and want to pass the baton of leadership down to your son or daughter, the choice of successor is not really cut and dried.

• Don’t assume that your offspring will want to take on your business. Start by first asking what their career goals and aspirations are and then explore if he or she is ready to take over your role.

• They will probably need the professional development support to meet the challenge of leadership.



Succession Planning Process

Establish Board Level

Succession Planning Committee

Integrate the Process into the Organization’s Performance Management System

Integrate Potential Successor’s Leadership Development with Succession Management

Identify PotentialSuccessors

AssessPotentialSuccessors

Develop PotentialSuccessors

Implementation and Ongoing Evaluation / Review of the Process

Define for the

Future Success of

the Organization

Reference: Sattar Bawany, Creating a Succession Plan: Importance of Succession Planning published in Talent Management Excellence – Issue 12.2015 (December 2015) E-copy available from: www.cee-global.com/6/publication



Critical Steps Involved1. Understand Business Strategy and the needs of the future

company that the potential successor will need to fulfil

2. Establish Board‐Level Succession Planning Committee

3. Define Leadership Competency Models

4. Conduct Assessments and Establish Baseline

5. Review Current Performance Management system

6. Assess Future / Potential Successors

7. Managerial Leadership Competency Gap analysis

8. Individual Development Programs

9. Assign Accountability for Development of Potential Successors

10. Implement, Measure, Review, Revise if necessary…Repeat!



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Identifying Potential Successors1. Strong track record of performance2. Demonstrates initiative, drive, and persistence to reach higher 3. Understands the people side of the business and demonstrates

strong interpersonal and communication skills4. Learning Agility with strong desire to grow and develop5. Understand organization dynamics (up‐down‐across) with the

ability to communicate with and influence key stakeholders6. Readily seeks out and accepts feedback for self‐development7. Improvement focus/mentality (self, team and business) with the

ever willingness to change behavior and embrace changes8. Gravitas and leadership presence with strong communication skills9. Strong work ethic and the willingness to go above and beyond10.Strong drive to succeed and continuous improvement



The difference between high‐performance employees and

high‐potential employees is that the high‐performance

employee are very good at performing their jobs, while the

high‐potential employees have demonstrated measurable

skills and abilities beyond their current jobs.

The real damage is done when the high‐performance

employee is promoted to a managerial level, is uncomfortable

and struggles in their new role, resulting in high levels of

stress and anxiety, causing them to quit.

High Performers vs. High Potentials



Assessment and Gap Analysis• Assessment against core, leadership and functional

competencies

• Gap Analysis for each person and for each position

• Sample Assessment tools:

– 360 Degree Feedback

– Structured Behavioral Interview

– Emotional and Social Intelligence Inventory

– Extended DISC for Leaders

– Hogan – Leadership Potential

– Watson Glaser – Critical Thinking

• Assessment Center may be included



Plan for Development• Leadership Transition Plan – The First 90 Days

• Create a specific developmental plan for each potential successors which may include but not limited to :– Movement to a developmental role

– Cross‐functional projects or teams

– Stretch assignments

– Board Mentoring Support

– C‐Suite Executive Coaching Support

– Action Learning projects

– Corporate Training Programs

– University’s Executive Education Programs, etc.



Executive Development ApproachesExecutive Education (classroom/online),

Stretch Assignment, Action Learning, Executive Coaching and Mentoring

Company/Sponsor

Expectations

Individual/Coachee

Expectations

Transition Readiness

Assessment

Company/SponsorFeedback

Individual/CoacheeFeedback

GapsActionPlan

GapsActionPlan

Adapted from: Sattar Bawany, The ART of War for Talent, Human Capital (SHRI), Vol. 10 Issue 1 E-copy available as a download from : www.cee-global.com/6/publication

CEE Framework for Developing Sustainable Leadership Pipeline

(Critical Leadership -EQ & SQ Competencies)



• Next Generation of leaders at all levels demonstrate a high degree of Emotional Intelligence in their role

• Emotionally intelligent leaders create an environment of positive morale and higher productivity resulted in sustainable employee engagement

• Critical EI competencies includes: relationship management; cross cultural communication; effective negotiation and conflict management

Reference: Bawany, Sattar: ‘Maximising the Potential of Future Leaders: Resolving Leadership Succession Crisis with Transition Coaching’ In ‘Coaching in Asia – The First Decade’., Candid Creation Publishing LLP, September 2010. E-copy available as a download from : www.cee-global.com/6/publication

Leadership Competencies of Next Generation of Leaders



Case Study on Meeting the Challenge of Succession Planning



• Succession Planning Process:

Identify a critical position in the organization (Ann, the CEO)

Delve down three levels below the critical position: no one, then Abby (Head of HR), and finally Robin (Head of Organisational Excellence)

• Looking at this example, what are the potential challenges do you foresee to the subject of succession planning for Ann’s role as the CEO and what are your recommendations to the Board?

Case Study on Meeting the Challenge of Succession Planning



Prof Sattar BawanyCEO, Centre for Executive Education (CEE)

Managing Director, EDA Asia Pacific

Email: [email protected]

Articles: www.cee-global.com/6/publication

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ceeglobal

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ceeglobal

Twitter: www.twitter.com/cee_global

Presentation: www.cee-global.com/7/speaking_engagements

For Further Information, contact:

14 Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 12.2015Submit your Articles

By Prof. Sattar Bawany

The importance of succession planning

Creating A Succession Plan

The motivation to have your own business often includes the desire to have more control over and freedom with your time. But many business owners find, at least in the early years of starting their business, that their working hours are much longer than expected and the opportunity to take a vacation is almost impossible. As the business grows, a business owner can find herself stretched to breaking point by retaining all of the decision-making power in the business and trying to do justice to the many job roles she is trying to cover on a day-to-day basis. Having built a business to a stage where it’s providing strong returns, it may even be time to inject fresh ideas and energy.

As a business owner, it may be time to consider succession planning to ensure the successful continuity of your business – particularly as it relates to people and processes. The Centre for Executive Education (CEE) looks at why succession plans are a business critical process, how to identify the talent in your organisation and what is needed to provide an effective handover to the next generation of leaders. Why create a succession plan?

There are many pertinent reasons to create a succession plan. You may wish to take a back seat for a while, perhaps to facilitate a change of lifestyle or to investigate a new project or business venture. If you head up a family business, you may simply want to give your chil-dren a chance to shine and make their own mark. If your business is experiencing a strong period of growth, you may want to stay at the helm while building a strong management team to support you or develop the business.

Another reason to create a succession plan could be that you intend to sell your business. You will be in a better position to attract interested buyers if you have a proper succession plan in place that demonstrates continuity and stability within the management team. Regardless of the reason why you may be selling your business, good business practice dictates that you ensure a smooth and successful handover to the next owner, especially if you are planning to remain in the business after the sale or start another venture. Good personal and professional networks will be vital in your future business ven-tures, and by generating the goodwill of your successor, you will be in a better position to maintain and even give a boost to your current business relationships.Perhaps the most compelling reason of all to start planning for suc-cession is the fact that the plan you put in place could well save your business in the event of your death or serious illness. Many business owners are very much the key-players in their business. It is the ones who are most depended upon who have the greatest need to plan ahead by making sure there are people and processes around them that ensure the successful continuity of the business in their absence.Creating a Succession Plan

Before you start planning, take a moment to consider all the ele-ments that make up the day-to-day running of your business. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your business? Where are the opportunities and threats? Who among your team members holds the key competencies and responsibilities? What skills and experience

are missing in your business? What procedures have been established that need to be formally documented? What systems need to be implemented to capture important information such as supplier or customer relationships that you or others in the business keep in your head or personal diary?

The answers to these questions should be the foundation for the creation of a formal document outlining your succession plan. By documenting your plan, you create an easy way of reviewing and

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15Talent Management Excellence Essentials presented by HR.com | 12.2015 Submit your Articles

Creating A Succession Plan

modifying it as you move through the process of handover. Your business will also benefit from the insurance of having a physical docu-ment ready to be referred to in the event you cannot run the business.

People are usually the greatest competitive advantage for and asset of any business, so you’ll want to ensure that your succession plans adequately address succession planning in your critical existing or future job roles. Many businesses unwittingly fall into the trap of allowing key knowledge or expertise to lie in the hands of just one individual; whether it is the knowledge of something as important as the financial details of the business or something as seemingly trivial as the software the business uses. To ensure business continuity in times of transition, you should always ensure that more than one or two people have access to critical knowledge. The ideal is to have a back-up person for every role within your business.

Consider the key external stakeholders who are important to your business. A big part of the successful handover of your business will be in making sure these relationships – whether they are with clients, customers, suppliers or partners - continue to be nurtured as you take a less prominent role. Make sure you create opportunities for your customers and other key contacts to gradually communicate with your future replacement. If this is done smoothly, it will reduce anxiety among stakeholders when you tell them you’re leaving. Keep in mind the departure of a customer’s key contact in your business could be enough to allow one of your competitors to tempt them away!

Once you have completely evaluated your business situation, use this analysis to focus on your objectives and detail what you need to achieve to be able to start the succession process.Things to be included in your plan could include:• A list of potential successors• A training and coaching program for your future leaders that will

need to be personalised once you have identified potential successors• A list of the key stakeholders in your business and a relationship-

building plan• A breakdown of all the job descriptions in your business• A detailed manual of key procedures of your business

Identify the next generation of leadershipThe leadership of a business is fundamental to its success. While

the temptation may be strong to identify a leadership successor first and then built a succession plan, try to avoid it. It can be fatal to a business to put a successor in place only to find they lack one or all of the skills, qualifications, experience, cultural fit, and motivation to run the business or manage the areas you identified in your succession plan.

Choosing the right future leader or leaders for your business requires consideration of a number of factors. While there are some common attributes fundamental to any leadership role such as communication skills, financial acumen, people management and so on, every organisa-tion will require different qualities of its leaders and every great leader will have their own strengths, weaknesses and personal leadership style. Therefore, there are many questions you should ask yourself when deciding on the leadership qualities that are most important to your business. Who among your team consistently achieves results? Who motivates and inspires those around them? Who has a clear vision for the future of your business? Who constantly finds innovative ways to improve processes? Who has the interpersonal skills needed to maintain the stakeholder relationships?

If you’re running a family business and want to pass the baton of leadership down to your son or daughter, the choice of successor may not necessarily be cut and dried as one would expect. Don’t assume

that your offspring will want to take on your business. Start by first asking what their career goals and aspirations are and then explore if he or she is ready to take over your role. They will probably need the help of further training or coaching to help them meet the chal-lenge of leadership.

If more than one of your children is interested in taking over, you need to carefully consider how this will work. Could the major roles and responsibilities of leadership be distributed among them? Do they have individual talents that could help to show you how to split the demands of managing the business?

Handing over the reins of your business should be a gradual process rather than an event. The earlier you start planning, the more options you will have. You will be able to facilitate the gradual transfer of roles and responsibilities that will enable you to observe individual leadership styles and abilities. This will not only let you to see if the people you have chosen are going to work, but will also give these people a better chance to grow into their new positions. The other benefit to a longer lead-time is that it will enable you to get used to your diminishing role in the business.

Identifying the talent in your organisation is not an exercise that begins and ends at the senior levels. Look down through the ranks to see where talent is. Are there any existing staff members who could step into the current role of your future leader once they have moved up?

Perhaps the hardest thing to let go of in any business is decision making. Business owners must remember that despite the many leadership theories that proliferate the market today, there is one fundamental of good management that hasn’t changed Responsibility + Authority = Accountability

You cannot expect any manager, leader or successor to be account-able or responsible for the business if you give them no authority to make decisions and second-guess or countermand their every move. Authority does not mean having a free reign; it is about establishing what is appropriate to a role and ensuring there are checks and bal-ances relevant to the impact a decision has upon the business. For example, you may impose a set of spending levels that do and don’t require your input. Or, you may schedule a series of projects or job functions that allow incremental steps in authority while you build your confidence in your chosen successor. If you have good informa-tion management systems in place then you’ll have the early warning systems needed to identify if there is an emerging problem and take appropriate action without having to micro-manage on a daily basis.Conclusion

Finally, remember succession planning is an ongoing process. Start planning sooner rather than later and keep your plan up-to-date when key business changes happen. Just as you would never leave your business assets uninsured, so too you should never leave your business without the security of a succession plan. ITM

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Prof Sattar Bawany is the CEO & C-Suite Master Executive Coach of Centre for Executive Education (CEE Global). CEE offers human capital management solutions for addressing challenges posed by a multigenerational workforce in-cluding talent management and executive development programs (executive coaching and leadership development) that help leaders develop the skills and knowledge to embrace change and catalyse success in today’s workplace. Visit www.cee-global.com Email: [email protected] Connect Sattar Bawany

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