succession planning for a sustainable future
TRANSCRIPT
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