succession planning: the missing ingredients

Succession Planning: The Missing Ingredients

Cezanne Software White Paper

Cezanne Software Ltd · T: +44 (0)20 7202 9300 · F: +44 (0)20 7202 9321 · E: [email protected] · www.cezannesw.com

Contents


• Introduction

– why succession planning is relevant NOW

• Mind the Middle Management Gap

• Joining up the Dots

• Keeping Development on the Radar

• Keeping Line Managers in the Loop

• Robust Systems and Processes

• Getting Fit for the Future

• About Cezanne

3

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

http://www.cezannesw.com/

mailto://[email protected]

Introduction - Why succession planning is relevant NOW

At a time when survival is still top of

the agenda in many organisations,

it may seem incongruous to focus

on planning ahead for succession.

The first tentative green shoots of recovery

may be appearing, but the reality is that

private sector organisations are still hunkering

down, tightening their belts and shedding

jobs. There are undoubtedly difficult times

ahead in the public sector too, with estimates

suggesting 350,000 jobs will be lost between

now and 2015.

So at a time when no-one quite knows what

is around the corner and talented people

are in plentiful supply, why bother with

succession planning?

Our view is that it comes back to the old

adage about knowledge being power. If

organisations don’t know who they’ve got

and what they’re good at, how can they

ensure the business is equipped to meet

the next challenge, whatever that might be?

If companies don’t know what their people are

potentially capable of, how can they ensure

they are maximising their talent and getting

the absolute best out of their employees?

If they don’t have a clear picture of where the

best people are sitting in the organisation,

how can they slot them into the right place

at the right time as circumstances change?

Forward-looking organisations have

already recognised that an on-going focus

on succession planning will enable them to

keep fit for the future. Recent research from

the Chartered Institute of Personnel and

Development (CIPD) shows that many

businesses strongly believe effective talent

management could help them out of recession

- and they are in fact spending more time

on engaging, motivating, retaining and fully

using the skills of their existing workforce.

But the constantly changing and highly

competitive environment we’re currently

in means it’s more important than ever

to make sure that talent and succession

initiatives are delivering the goods. Cezanne’s

experience of working with numerous

organisations suggests there are several

key areas where organisations struggle

to ‘join the dots’.

There are some issues – such as line

manager involvement – that are regarded

as ‘difficult’ to deal with, so they get left out.

Or other areas, like providing wider access

to talent data, that organisations perceive

will force them to be more ‘transparent’

about their processes than they are

comfortable with.

The trouble is, if important issues like

these are brushed aside, the result is

a talent management and succession

planning programme that is dis-jointed

and only working at half pitch.

This report provides an overview of the

common ‘missing links’ and gives guidance

for those organisations who want to meet

the challenges face on and take their talent

management and succession planning

activities from good to great.

Julie Windsor, Cezanne Software

Cezanne Software Ltd · Succession Planning: The Missing Ingredients

Introduction - 3

“Employers have to know where

their key talent is if they are to

meet business critical needs.

It’s about ensuring your business

is sustainable.”

Claire McCartney, CIPD

Mind the Middle Management Gap


Succession planning programmes

typically revolve around the top

layer of the organisation – the critical

positions that provide leadership

for the business and keep a firm

hand on the steering wheel.

There are of course good reasons for this.

The people who sit in these senior roles

are the ones who have the knowledge

and experience that will take the

organisation forward.

If the business is to meet the challenges

ahead, it has to have a cadre of talented

people, ready to step into these pivotal

positions when the current incumbents

move on.

The top end is also, quite sensibly, where

organisations tend to start when they are

first getting to grips with succession planning.

The reasoning is that if they can cut their

teeth by successfully managing succession

at the top – they can filter the process down

through the organisation later on.

What organisations often fail to pay enough

heed to, however, is that decisions they

make about the top leadership and

management positions can have an

enormous impact in the ranks below.

The leaders of the future – those people who

have been earmarked as high potential and

put into the talent pool – are the ones sitting

in middle management right now. Often,

they are honing their skills in key operational

roles, which are absolutely critical to the

day-to-day running of the business.

They are being groomed for bigger and

better things – but is anyone ready to

step into their shoes when they move on?

How near are the people in their teams or

specialist areas to being ready and able to fill

the gap their eventual promotion will leave?

Depth, timing and the health of the talent pool

are three critical issues that organisations

need to consider when they are fine-tuning

their succession planning activities.

Depth

To have a plan with adequate depth means

making sure there are enough potential

candidates for a key senior role. In an ideal

world, an organisation would have at least

two or three names ‘pencilled in’.

But it also means looking right down into

the next layer of management. Are there

enough people with the right skills and

qualifications to cover the critical operational

roles that could potentially be left empty?

What kind of development needs to take

place further down to make sure the

business isn’t leaving itself exposed?

When organisations start to look more closely

at this issue, they often find two things:

Over-reliance on certain individuals: So

there might well be three people earmarked

as possible successors for a particular

leadership role – but they have also been

highlighted as possible candidates for a

number of other roles too, and there’s

only one of them to go round!

Under represented roles: These are the

roles that are important but more difficult

to plan for, either because they are less

‘popular’ roles (i.e. not many people are

interested) – or because they demand a

specific and hard to find combination of

skills, qualities and specialist expertise.

4 - Mind the Middle Management Gap



Mind the Middle Management Gap - 5

Timing

Timing is also a key issue. It’s not just about

who’s ready – it’s about who’s ready right

now, who will be ready in six months time

and who will need to get at least another

year’s experience under their belt.

It might be the right time to parachute

someone out of middle management into

a key leadership role – but the wrong time

for them to leave because none of their

likely successors are quite ready to step

up to the mark.

The impact can be far reaching. Morale in

the team can plummet, performance can

take a dip and the department’s ability to

provide a quality service to its customers

can be compromised.

Technology can play an enormous part in

helping organisations put the pieces of this

jigsaw together successfully. It can help

them plot likely moves and see what the

impact will be further down the organisation.

It can give a clear picture of how the timing

fits together and can highlight where there

are gaps in succession that need to be

tackled right now.

Health of the Talent Pool

Talent pools need regular ‘maintenance’

to ensure they remain healthy and fit for

purpose. Many organisations fall into the

trap of allowing their talent pools to become

static. But business is constantly changing

– and regular reviews need to take place to

make sure succession planning is in line

with shifting organisational scenarios.

Are there people in the talent pool who

are ‘at risk’ because opportunities haven’t

emerged in the expected timescale? Are

processes in place to ensure that ‘hidden’

talent in the middle management ranks

becomes visible? Is the age profile of

the talent pool appropriately balanced?

These are the kind of questions that an

organisations need to ask themselves on

an on-going basis so that they can regularly

‘sanity check’ their talent pool and fine-tune

their succession planning processes.

Key Questions

• Does your organisation’s succession

plan have enough depth?

• Have you considered the impact

of potential moves on critical middle

management roles?

• Is the business in danger of becoming

over-reliant on a few individuals?

• Are there roles that are not

adequately covered?

• Do you have a clear picture of how the

timing of possible moves fits together?


Encouraging International Mobility

“A well-designed system can help you see exactly how

well some of your internal talent management initiatives

are working.

One of Cezanne’s global clients was surprised to find that

a programme to encourage international mobility wasn’t

as successful as they had thought.

Managers in the talent pool were telling the organisation

they were willing to take on overseas roles or assignments.

But the reality was that when these opportunities were

offered, they were frequently turned down.

Managers clearly felt that if they ruled the possibility of an

overseas posting out, it would have a negative impact on

their career progression. But when push came to shove, they

didn’t want to uproot their lives and families and move abroad.

Deeper analysis of the data in the succession planning

system highlighted this pattern, and helped the organisation

to see that although the programme looked good on paper,

the numbers weren’t stacking up and they needed to review

their strategy.”

Julie Windsor, Cezanne

Joining up the Dots

Effective technology is the

key to a succession planning

programme that really delivers

the information and interpretation

that the business needs.

But many organisations are still tinkering

around the edges of technology – and failing

to take advantage of the enhanced level

of understanding that a specialist system

can bring.

The best technological solutions can help

the organisation join up all the pieces to

form a coherent whole, so that they can

make decisions based on quality, robust

and in-depth information.

Succession management technology

can help the business fill critical gaps in

its knowledge about what talent is available

and how it can be maximised going forward.

Technology allows the organisation to:

• Gather data about wants and needs

from a wide variety of sources – from

individuals, line managers, departmental

or divisional heads, HR and the Board.

• Align information from key organisational

processes. Systems can bring together

data from appraisals, career plans and

learning and development programmes

and demonstrate how these connect

with resourcing and succession plans

for individual teams, departments and

the organisation as a whole.

• Identify possible areas of risk or conflict.

There may, for example, be several

people ‘ready’ to take on a particular

role, but no opportunities are likely to be

available at that level for some time. An

effective system will help the organisation

identify other roles that would meet those

individual’s aspirations and lessen the

likelihood of them leaving the business.

• Plan effectively for the future – but retain

enough flex to cope with the unexpected.

The best systems can show you where

your key people are, indicate their level

of readiness for their next role and

demonstrate the impact of moving

them – so that you can respond

quickly to changing circumstances.

Organisations are sometimes concerned

that a technological approach will make their

succession planning programmes too rigid.

Others expect technology will give them all

the answers and they can just input the

data and sit back and relax!

Neither is true. The key is to supplement

what the system tells you with an on-going

dialogue between individuals, their

managers and HR.

It’s about recognising that individuals may

well have aspirations they haven’t voiced

or an agenda that isn’t immediately obvious

– and making sure these are unearthed

through face-to-face discussions and

factored into the plan.

It’s also about understanding that line

managers sometimes need help to look

beyond the obvious. Are they overlooking

a potential candidate who doesn’t stack up

on paper but could perform really well in

the job? Is there a gap in their team for

someone with a more creative approach,

even though the job profile might lead them

in the direction of someone more analytical?

No system alone can give you all the

answers. But organisations who learn

how to capture the data and exploit it to

best effect will be the ones who will get

the best return on their investment.


6 - Joining up the Dots



Joining up the Dots - 7


Swarovski Case Study

Swarovski is the world leader in precision cut

crystal. The company, which was founded in

1895 in Wattens, Austria, employs 22,000

people and has a presence in more than

120 countries worldwide.

People development is a key strategic priority

for Swarovski and it is committed t o investing

in the growth and development of its employees.

However, like many global organisations, the

business has a number of different HR databases

across its international operations. This meant that, with so many disparate systems, it was extremely

challenging for the Swarovski corporate HR team to manage key talent processes – such as career

and succession planning – on a company-wide basis.

“Although Swarovski were using an in-house Access database to support our career and succession

planning process, I knew that we could manage the process much more professionally and gain a much

better understanding of our global talent pool by using a specialist talent management system,” says

Remko Verheul, Global Head of Talent.

After a rigorous selection process, the business decided to work with Cezanne Software, who were able

to provide a global talent management solution which could be configured in line with its evolving career

and succession planning processes.

The system was implemented within a tight frame frame and rolled out to all of Swarovski’s HR managers in

40 countries. They now have a single, consistent view of their top 1000 employees across the globe, which

includes information about performance, potential, leadership, teamwork, functional expertise, international

mobility, strengths, development areas and succession planning.

The benefits are already being felt. Remko explains: “By utilising Cezane’s talent management software

we support and improve the quality of Swarovski’s HR decision making process. One of our most important

HR decisions is when a line manager appoints a certain person to a certain position. If you take a wrong

decision then the impact could be critical to the business.”

As well as succession and career planning software, Swarovski is also taking advantage of Cezanne’s

integrated organisation charting solution to provide it with the tools to view key data on people, positions and

performance in a very visual and accessible way. The organisational charts, together with talent and succession

trees, will provide key HR metrics and allow managers to see issues and opportunities more quickly. Importantly,

this information will support the decision making process in critical areas of Swarovski’s business.

Next year’s talent management process will start again in early March and Swarovski is already looking

forward to the next stage. Remko says: “We are moving in a good direction but the process never stops.

So far the focus has been on the implementation and go live date. The next step is to come up with a plan

to look at how best to maintain and evolve the system. We will also analyse and review this year’s

succession planning process and work out how we can improve and adjust it to make it more effective.”


8 - Keeping Development on the Radar

The training budget is often one

of the first to fall under the axe

in difficult times. But suddenly

calling a halt to development

activities can have a serious

impact on an organisation’s

ability to survive and grow.

When times are tough, organisations

need to make sure they are making the

most of the talent they have been able to

retain. But if your people’s development

is stifled, they will be less well equipped

to take on new responsibilities and more

difficult challenges – and less motivated

to pull the stops out for you.

Culling learning and development can

also have a longer term impact. If managers

are not given the opportunity to continually

develop their skills and competencies, the

organisation will be less fleet of foot when

it comes to future growth.

The key is for organisations to ensure

that their succession plan is actually drivingtheir development programme. An effective

succession plan will not only identify possible

paths for high potential people – it will also

pinpoint gaps in their development and

allow the business to prioritise its learning

and development activity accordingly. If the

board can see that money on training and

development is being spent in line with what

the business actually needs, they are less

likely to make damaging cuts.

There is no doubt that budgets for learning

and development have been squeezed

during the current downturn, although

perhaps not quite as badly as had been

predicted. Around a third of respondents to

the CIPD’s 2009 Learning and Development

survey said funding for training had been

cut, with just over half saying budgets had

remained the same.

What did emerge from the research was

that the pressure on budgets had led to

some highly innovative development

approaches. Organisations are finding

new ways of building on the skills and

capabilities of their managers and keeping

them motivated.

The following list of thought-starters may

stimulate your thinking about how to keep

development high on the agenda when

budgets are under pressure:

• Mentor – upwards, downwards and

sideways! Yes, get senior managers to

act as mentors to people in your talent

pool – but also think creatively about

how you can use mentoring to help your

people share experiences and develop

their own skills.

• Run ‘bite-sized’ refreshers on key

business topics. Could some of your

senior managers share their knowledge

in a short internal workshop?

• Pool information and resources. Ask

people to recommend books, websites

and on-line groups they have found

particularly useful.

• Use coaching to help your high potential

people prepare for the transition to their

next role.

• Build learning and development alliances

with other like-minded organisations.

Can the managers in your organisations

learn from each other by sharing insights

and experiences through facilitated

discussion groups?

Keeping Development on the Radar



Keeping Development on the Radar - 9


• Organise ‘work’ exchanges. Can you

broaden your people’s thinking by giving

them short, focused experience in a like-

for-like work swap with a manager from

another industry or sector?

• Investigate funding or grants that

may be available to help support

your learning and development activity

(i.e. Train to Gain or grants available

through bodies such as Regional

Development Agencies).

• Consider voluntary placements. Look

into opportunities for your up-and-coming

talent to hone their skills by working on

projects with voluntary organisations or

social enterprises, either in or out of work.

• Stretch your people with challenging

internal assignments. Get them involved

on business critical projects where they

can add a fresh perspective whilst

building their skills.

• Organise job shadowing to give people

in your talent pool a deeper insight into

the challenges facing their more senior

colleagues.

• Share the learning. Encourage your

high potential people to share their

insights and stimulate each other’s

thinking through a bulletin board or

blogs on your intranet.

Keeping Line Managers In The Loop

Line managers have to be involved

in succession planning activities

because quite simply, they are

the ones who know the people.

It just isn’t feasible in any sizeable

organisation for the HR team

to have a detailed knowledge

of employees and what they

might be capable of.

Many organisations, however, still pay lip

service to line managers – keeping them

on the edges of succession planning activity

rather than allowing them to become fully

involved in the process.

Some of this reluctance is down to concerns

about transparency. It really isn’t that long

ago when succession planning was regarded

as something that should be shrouded in

secrecy. The Board, the HR Director and

a chosen few others knew who the high

potential people were and what they were

destined for, but everyone else was kept

in the dark.

Organisations were concerned that

transparency about who was in the talent

pool would demotivate those who hadn’t

been put on the fast track – and raise

expectations among the chosen few that

the organisation might not be able to meet.

There are organisations who still struggle

with the concept of openness, although

thinking does appear to have shifted.

Research from Ashridge suggests that

only seven per cent of front-line managers

believe that being open about who is

regarded as high potential results in

resentment among peers.

Lack of line manager involvement also stems

in part from a lack of understanding about

‘how to do it’ on the ground. Technology has

now advanced to the point where systems

offer the capability for multiple users to

enter, analyse and utilise data.

But organisations are struggling with

the practicalities – and often lack real

understanding of the groundwork that

has to take place to get line managers

both engaged and involved.

What’s in it for Me?

A key issue that needs to be recognised is

that line managers may actually be reluctant

to engage in a succession planning process

because, quite frankly, they can’t see what’s

in it for them.

There’s a perception that if you tell everyone

in the organisation about your best people,

they will be whisked away to bigger and

better things, leaving you with a huge hole

to fill.

That’s not too difficult to understand. Line

managers may have spent a great deal of

time building up a high performing team

that’s delivering great results.


10 - Keeping Line Managers in the Loop

“Line managers need a top down message and organisational

wide involvement before they can play a full part in succession

planning. That means that clear communication, driven by

HR, is critical for engagement.”

Julie Windsor, Cezanne.



Keeping Line Managers In The Loop - 11


They are getting lots of internal kudos, are

being rewarded, financially or otherwise for

their efforts, and it’s all working very nicely

thank you.

What line managers need before they

will fully engage is reassurance that the

organisation isn’t going to leave them up

the proverbial creek without a paddle.

They need, first of all, to see that there’s

commitment from the top. That the

organisation’s leaders have made a

strategic decision to identify and nurture

high potential people, and that they will be

recognised for playing their part in that.

They need to understand that someone who

can identify and nurture talent in their team

– and let go of it at the right time – will

themselves be valued highly.

On a practical level, line managers also

need reassurance that the organisation is

looking at the bigger picture. They want to

know that the business will support them

fully in quickly plugging any gaps left if a

key member of their team is taken off to

pastures new.

Willing and Able

Of course being willing to support

succession planning isn’t enough

– line managers also need to be ‘able’.

The CIPD’s recent War on Talent survey

suggests that identifying and developing

talent in a downturn is an area where

managers definitely need more support.

Only six per cent of respondents felt

managers were well equipped to manage

talent, 51 per cent said they were only

partially equipped and 13 per cent felt

they were not equipped at all.

Part of the issue is around managers’

competence to conduct meaningful

appraisals, make judgements about

people’s ability and potential and find

ways of developing their people.

But there are also issues around consistency

of assessment. Some line managers may

consistently over-rate people in their team,

because it makes them look good and they

can bask in the reflected glory.

Others may, deliberately or sub-consciously,

under-rate people in their team because

they want to keep hold of them or are

afraid of exposing weaknesses in their

own performance.

There is a clear need for organisations to

focus on raising the ability of their managers

to manage performance and assess and

develop potential.

But technology can also help organisations

adjust the ‘tuning’, so that they wipe out

any bias and get a clearer picture. The best

talent management and succession systems

can, for example, pick up ‘rogue’ data and

highlight where a pattern of consistent over

or under-rating is emerging.

Tackling both these elements together is

the key to getting successful line manager

involvement – putting the groundwork in place

while also making sure the capabilities of

technology are being exploited to the maximum.

Checklist

• Send a clear ‘top down’ message about your talent

management and succession strategy.

• Re-assure line managers that the business

is taking a holistic view.

• Communicate clearly about the exact role

you want line managers to play.

• Emphasise that their contribution will be

valued and rewarded.

• Equip line managers with the skills they need

to assess and develop potential.

• Maximise technology to supplement and adjust

the data you receive from the line.

Robust Systems And Processes


The idea of implementing

technology based succession

planning can seem daunting for

those who are new to the concept.

Organisations are often concerned

about how it will fit with their

existing IT systems and how

secure their data will be.

They worry that installing a new system

and training people to use it will be time-

consuming and expensive.

Technology based succession planning

systems are, however, now a widely proven

concept. Thousands of organisations

are using them successfully to track

the potential, mobility and readiness

of their key talent to support the future

development of the business.

There are a number of issues, however,

that organisations need to bear in mind

when buying-in systems, to make sure

the technology delivers exactly what

they need and provides the maximum

return on investment.

Plan Carefully

A system will only ever be as good as the

information you put into it. So think carefully

about exactly what data you need to support

your decision-making, where it is going to

come from and what controls you may need

to put in place to ensure the information

is accurate and authentic. You need to

be absolutely clear about why you are

undertaking succession planning and what

you are hoping to achieve before you can

gain maximum benefit from the technology.

Start Slowly

A phased approach to implementation can

help to ensure you are getting it absolutely

right. Consider piloting the system with a

small key population first, so that you

can see how it is functioning, make any

necessary adjustments or iron out any

glitches early on.

Exploit the information

There is only value in putting information into

a succession planning system if you take it

out and use it effectively. Make sure you are

exploiting the data you have at your fingertips

to its fullest extent. Systems can be set up

to show you much more than the ‘surface’

information about capabilities of your talented

people. It can help you see, for example, how

many of your succession ‘plans’ are actually

translating into reality. Or it can help you

assess whether any diversity initiatives

you may have in place are really working.

12 - Robust Systems And Processes

“A clear understanding of critical

data will help you move the picture

from black and white to colour.

It provides businesses with the

tools to make accurate and

informed decisions.”

Julie Windsor, Cezanne.



Robust Systems And Processes - 13


Make it Scaleable

Organisations are constantly evolving and

you need to make sure you are buying in a

system that can change and grow with you.

So make sure your succession planning

system can scale up when required – and

also that it can be reconfigured to fit around

your internal HR processes as they evolve.

Measure ROI

The organisation will need to know that

it is getting the maximum return on its

investment in succession planning. It’s

best to think about how you are going to

demonstrate this right up front, when the

system is being configured. If the evaluation

process is an integral part of the system

itself, you will be able to extract better

quality data. Think carefully about what

measures you want to include. Could you

make a comparison between the costs

of losing a key player or investing in their

development? Could you show the savings

to be made by making an internal rather

than external appointment? Bringing indirect

costs – such as time spent on interviewing

and induction – into the equation can also

help you make a business case.

Getting Fit For The Future


As UK Plc slowly emerges from

the recession, it will become

more important than ever for

organisations to ensure they

are maximising their talent.

Those who have continued to focus

on developing their people despite the

downturn will already be a step ahead

and ready to grasp new opportunities

as the economic climate improves.

A public commitment to investing in people

will also help organisations build a positive

brand and develop their reputation as an

employer of choice.

The changing face of business, however,

presents new challenges on the talent

management and succession planning front.

These are some of the issues organisations

will need to consider as they move forward.

Fit for the Future

Times remain turbulent and no-one can

predict exactly what is around the corner. But

if organisations have a clear understanding

of what the business looks like now – and

where it is likely to head in the future –

they will be able to develop resourcing

and succession plans that will help them

get ‘fit’ for the future.

Fit for the Job

Finding people who are the best ‘fit’ for the

job is an issue that many organisations still

struggle with. HR teams need to help line

managers get better at job profiling so that

they can paint a clear picture of exactly

what is required in a particular role. They

also need to equip managers with the

confidence to look beyond the ‘obvious’

candidates for roles. This will ensure that

people with potential don’t get overlooked

just because they appear not to ‘fit the

mould’ on the surface.

Flexibility

Organisations have a tendency to think

that once they’ve implemented a succession

planning system they can sit back and let it

do the work. But businesses are not static,

and talent management processes and

systems shouldn’t be either. They need

to keep evolving as the organisations

changes and grows.

The skills, competencies and qualities

an organisation needs today may be very

different to the ones that will be required in

the not too distant future. Organisations who

14 - Getting Fit For The Future

“We have been looking at what

policing looks like now and what

does the changing nature of the job

mean in terms of the skills we are

going to need in the future? What

are the hours and patterns people

are working to, how many people

are going to retire and who is going

to fill these positions? We have to

be able to develop people with the

right skills and attributes for a very

fast changing world – we are

dealing with different sorts of crimes

and working at a different pace –

so we have to make sure we are

preparing people for that.”

Angela O’Connor, Chief People Officer, National Police

Improvement Agency.



Getting Fit For The Future - 15

fail to recognise this and adapt their systems

accordingly will be in danger of developing

high potential ‘clones’ who no longer deliver

what the business actually needs.

Fleet of Foot

HR needs to become more ‘fleet of foot’

in helping the organisation paint a picture

of the skills it will need in the future. HR

people need to position themselves at the

heart of the strategic decision making

process, so they can take a pro-active

approach to identifying and developing

the new skills that will be needed as the

business moves forward.

Forward Looking

The cost of not planning for succession is

a real issue organisations need to consider.

Developing and implementing an effective

succession planning process can be a

difficult journey. The board have to be

convinced of the value of the exercise,

line managers have to be engaged with

the process and communication with

employees needs to be carefully managed.

Cezanne’s experience shows, however,

that investment in succession planning –

particularly in programmes that are supported

by the latest technology – can pay huge

dividends over the long term. Organisations

that place high priority on succession

planning, report they are making significant

savings in recruitment costs, experiencing

higher levels of retention and are better

equipped to deal with the challenges

facing them.

Software-supported systems are now no

longer solely the preserve of huge, global

organisations. Thanks to a radical shift in

delivery models over recent years, they are

now accessible to a much broader range of

organisations. The advent of software as a

service, where users pay a monthly

subscription for an externally hosted system

rather than a hefty up-front licence fee, has

now made systems much more affordable

and accessible to organisations who want to

develop a real advantage in the talent stakes.


About Cezanne

Cezanne Software is a leading supplier of global HRC and Talent

Management software systems delivered on both a Software as

a Service (SaaS) and on premise basis. Headquartered in the UK,

Cezanne Software has over 20 years’ experience of working with

some of the world’s leading organizations. Today, it supports over

700 organizations, including companies as diverse as Vodafone,

HM Prison Service, Swarovski, TNT, Heineken, LINPAC, & TSYS Europe.

The company’s integrated suite of Human Resource systems include solutions for people

management, succession and career planning, employee performance management,

survey, training administration, recruitment, salary analysis, pay review and budgeting,

and reflect many years’ experience of working with clients, independent consultants and

academics at the forefront of best practice in HR, talent and compensation management.

Designed around modern web technologies, Cezanne’s HR systems offer extensive

support for manager and employee self-service and can be deployed in house or on

a Software as a Service basis, providing significant benefits in terms of both cost and

speed of deployment.

Cezanne Software’s focus is to provide flexible, people-centred Human Resource systems

that improve the day-to-day execution of HR and business strategies, help drive critical

employee performance and reward processes and enable companies to achieve and

sustain a competitive talent advantage.

16 - About Cezanne

Further Information

France - Cezanne Software S.a.r.l.

T: +33 (0)1 44 09 71 21

E: [email protected]

Italy - Cezanne Software S.p.A.

T: +39 080 549 84 11


Portugal - Cezanne Software Ibérica S.A.

T: +351 21 3562024


Spain - Cezanne Software Ibérica S.A.U.

T: +34 91 7684080


USA - Cezanne Software, Inc.

T: +1 617 418-3945

(from USA 1 800 CEZANNE)


Venezuela - Cezanne Solutions C.A.

T: +58 212 959 87 16


For other locations please email

[email protected]

or visit www.cezannesw.com

Cezanne’sKnowledge Bank

Case Studies

www.cezannesw.com/customers/case-studies

Latest News and Press Releases

www.cezannesw.com/news

Cezanne Online Newsletter

www.cezannesw.com/newsletter

Free Webinars

www.cezannesw.com/webinars

International

Contact Details




http://www.cezannesw.com/customers/case-studies

http://www.cezannesw.com/news

http://www.cezannesw.com/newsletter

http://www.cezannesw.com/webinars









succession planning: the missing ingredients

Documents