In our previous article, we have discussed three critical losses that companies will suffer when high potential employees quit. These high potentials (HIPOs) are the lifeline of the organisation, the future leaders that you don't want to ignore.  

Time and again, the term "leadership development" is vaguely defined, confusing both employees and top management, preventing organisations from developing effective leaders.

The road to succession planning is fraught with pitfalls. Most short-sighted businesses view it as merely a “nice trend” to follow and cannot grasp the true nature of succession planning. Others give up getting buy-ins from members of the Board and top-level management. Some lack adequate tools to streamline the process.

A budget is a quantified version of your strategic goals. Therefore, having a sound budget in place is instrumental in driving your profitability and also in averting any number of adverse consequences that may arise as your business grows.  

Dominic Barton, global managing partner emeritus of McKinsey once commented on the importance of having a well laid out succession planning in an interview with Forbes: “There’s never been a more important time for leadership because of the volatility in the world today.” Yet, many businesses continue to ignore its importance and choose to march on without any formal succession plan in place.   

Great leaders are the backbone of any organisation; but at some point these key incumbents will depart and leave behind vacant critical-mission positions that need to be filled. That is why succession planning is of utmost importance. By honing your talent to their full potential beforehand, you build a leadership bench strength that is ready for coping with any challenge and responsibility. 

In a previous article, we discussed the urgent need for a leadership development program in a Marketing Agency context. In the article, we mentioned that nearly 70% of agencies struggle to fill their vacant positions. However, instead of promoting internally, these agencies seek to hire people from the outside.

Nonprofit organisations operate in a vastly different way from for-profit companies. They do not put any product or service on sales but instead accept contributions in various forms (grants, donations, gifts, etc.) to fund their activities. As a result, having an accounting system in place that allows the organisation and their contributors to obtain complete visibility of the entire organisation performance is utmost important. 

About 85% of organisation will have a significant leadership shortfall within five years. Remember, the ultimate goal of succession planning is to not prepare one person with the purpose of filling a specific goal. The goal of succession planning is to nurture a pool of talented individuals and prepare them for future critical positions.

We have provided a clear guideline on how to sketch your own leader persona in the previous blog post. You already had a map, now there needs to be a compass.