Human Resource Management

STUDIES ON SUCCESSION PLANNING

BSBA-1BA1F

Members:

ESQUILONA, Demie Anne E.

FERIDO, Daryll L.

FUENTES, Rafael Angelo

QUINTOS, Robert Jero A.

TENDENCIA, Reychelle Mae P.

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STUDIES ON SUCCESION PLANNING

What Are Competencies

The word competence was first linked to a human trait in 1959.1 Using that work as a starting point, David
McClelland focused attention on competencies in 1973.2 McClelland noticed that standardized intelligence tests were
not good predictors of job success, and he wondered why. Competencies as understood today stemmed from his
initial questioning about why standardized intelligence tests did not predict job success. Other authors and
researchers, of course, contributed to the development of competency identification, modeling, and assessment as
known and practiced today.3 Although the term job competency has different meanings, it can be understood to
mean ‘‘an underlying characteristic of an employee (i.e., motive, trait, skill, aspects of one’s self-image, social role, or
a body of knowledge) that results in effective and/or superior performance in a job.’’4 Competency identification is the
process of discovering job competencies.5 A competency model is the result of competency identification.6
Competency assessment is the process of comparing an individual to an existing competency model,7 and that can
be done by many means—including full-circle, multirater assessment.

How Are Competencies Used in Succession Planning and Management

Competency models are essential building blocks on which to base an SP&M effort. Without them, it is difficult to:

 Link and align the organization’s core competencies (strategic strengths) to job competencies.
 Define high-potentials or other broad categories of employees.
 Clarify exactly what present and future competencies are essential to success in the organization and in its
various departments, jobs, or occupations.
 Provide a basis for performance management by creating a work environment that encourages high
performance among all workers.
 Establish clear work expectations for the present and future.
 Create full-circle, multirater assessments that are tailor-made to the unique requirements of one corporate
culture.
 Devise competency menus that describe how individuals might be developed for the future.
 Formulate individual development plans (IDPs) to help individuals narrow the developmental gap between
what competencies they need to be successful (as described by the competency model)

and what competencies they presently possess (as identified by a full-circle, multirater assessment or other
approaches to examining current performance or future potential).

What Are Values, and What Is Values Clarification

Simply stated, values are beliefs about what is good or bad. Values clarification is the process of making clear what
values take priority over others, what is more important than other things. While competencies clarify differences
between individual performers, values add an ethical dimension.

How Are Values Used in Succession Planning and Management?

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Values statements and values clarification, like competency models, are essential building blocks on which to base a
succession planning and management effort. Without them, it is difficult to add an ethical dimension to the
development of people in various departments, job categories, or occupations. Much like competency models, they
help to do the following:

 Link and align the organization’s core values to group and individual values.
 Define high potentials or other broad categories of employees.
 Clarify exactly what present and future values are essential to success in the organization and in its various
departments, jobs, or occupations.
 Provide a basis for performance management by creating a work environment that encourages value-
based performance.
 Establish the values underlying work expectations for the present and future.
 Create full-circle, multirater assessments that are tailor-made to the unique requirements of one corporate
culture.

CASE STUDY

Why succession planning matters and why so many companies get it wrong

Every business knows the seriousness of a faulty sales pipeline.

There’s little point investing time and money in securing customers at the start, only to neglect them further through
the process before the sale has been made and before they have realized their full potential.

Ironically, most businesses fail to realize that the same pipeline process within the company – this time with their own
personnel – needs to be equally robust.

There’s little point investing time and money in securing employees through recruitment, only to neglect them further
through the process before they have risen in the company and before they have realized their true potential for the
business.

While over half of businesses believe they have a talent pipeline in place, many overlook one thing the pipeline is
probably leaking.

When things are going well and the business is functioning successfully on a day to day basis, it’s easy to assume
that things will continue as they have been. Succession planning, talent management and moving employees along a
talent pipeline can seem like a daunting and complicated task and, when things are running smoothly, the motivation
to do so is often lacking.

However, to ensure that continued smooth running, all companies – whether big or small – need to identify and grow
talent to fill their business-critical positions in the future. The implementation of a structured process for doing this is
essential.
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We can all appreciate that recruiting and training staff is an expensive and time intensive process, but this effort is
wasted if those staff gradually decrease in efficiency and enthusiasm, feel unrewarded and unhappy in their role, and
as a result leave the company.

Investing in your staff on a regular and consistent basis to make sure their career path aligns with your own corporate
goals makes good business sense, yet many businesses neglect it because it feels too overwhelming to organise.

Supporting staff from the bottom up is the best – and most cost-effective way to ensure your company continues to
function successfully in the future.

So, how can companies make sure their succession planning is robust enough and encourage the continuous
movement of employees through the ranks?

Know Your Talent Pool

It sounds obvious, but knowing what talent and skillets you already have within your company is the first step to
recognizing how to move those employees along the right path.

All organizations need leaders and managers with a range of experience, so it makes sense to have an overview of
who is proficient in which areas, even if those skills and qualifications don’t pertain to the current job role that
individual is performing.

Maintaining a database of employees’ skills, training and track record is the only way to confidently know where the
assets within your company lie and it makes your life easier if you have access to the right resources to achieve this.

Using appropriate software is the most efficient way to do this and can enhance visibility of your talent pool through
employee skills and qualifications, making it easy to keep track of where your personnel are on their career path and
where they need to go next.

Identify Leaks Before They Happen

In order to know that you have suitable people in place to step into key roles when they are needed, you need to be
confident that your staff isn’t planning to leave the company before that happens.

By tracking and monitoring the lifecycle of every employee who joins or leaves your organization, you may find there
are obvious leaks in your pipeline where staff feels inclined to move on.

Keeping track of this information, and taking the time to identify potential key bumps in the road ahead, will give you
the ability to pre-empt the loss of talent you have invested in.

Listen to Employees

It sounds like another obvious one, but listening to employees is one of the simplest – and under-utilised – ways of
understanding what is happening within your company and how your succession planning can react to that.

Study after study shows that employees want their voices heard and this not only helps improve engagement and
retention, but also gives you a clearer idea of where any issues within the company lie.
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