A MODEL FOR REAL TIME

SUCCESSION MANAGEMENT

FMCG INDUSTRY
 1. From slow to fast, from annual to real time
 The succession management process should be a lot faster. In fact, you would like to be able to
have real time insight in the quality of leadership and the leadership bench. Not only
leadership, but also in other critical capabilities.
 Speed is also important, as most succession management issues are issues of today, not of the
future. When movement is required for one of your global key positions, you want to be able to
act fast.
 2. From fragmented to integral insights
 The process should allow us a more integral insight, and not so fragmented as in the past.
Example: in former succession management reports it often looked good on the surface (e.g. an
average of 1.2 successor per key position), but when you looked a layer deeper the picture was
less gloom, for example because top potential A was mentioned as a potential successor for five
positions.
 3. From a rigid to a flexible process
 The process should be flexible and adaptable. Example: especially when you are acquiring a
new company, succession management becomes very important. What is the strength of
leadership of the new company? Do you foresee short-term succession issues? If it takes
months to gather the information, the window for the deal might be closed.
 In a company I recently spoke to, more than 50% of the employees has a tenure of less than two
years. That meant that you are always catching up, if you stick to your traditional process.
 4. From a focus on positions to a focus on talent pools
 Most succession management processes are focused on listing potential successors for
individual positions. The trend is to look more at the composition and strength of the pools
with candidates for clusters of strategic capabilities and related positions. E.g. pools for product
management, marketing and sales, leadership is Asia etc. By focusing on pools, you move away
from the traditional lists of potential successors per position. If your pool is strong enough, you
know you will be able to find people with the right profile when you need them.
 5. From secret to transparent
 Succession management used to be an almost secret process. Only the executive board had total
insight (except when it came to their own position). Now more transparency and openness is
required and beneficial.
 6. To an increased employee involvement
 In the past, the ‘subjects’ of the succession management process were hardly involved in the
process. They were sometimes consulted (“Are you internationally mobile?”), but most of the
time their involvement was limited. As people are more and more driving their own career, you
want an increased involvement. Example: most of the personal data in succession management
systems is not up-to-date. In LinkedIn, the open career network, most of the profiles are up-to-
date, as the participants have a clear interest to keep the system up-to-date. More and more
companies use LinkedIn as their internal database, because it is more reliable.
 7. Considering external candidates
 You want the process to be more open, and not only restricted to employees currently on the
pay roll of the company. Many good candidates are part of the network of companies, and not
necessarily on the payroll today. You want to include them in your search and considerations.
 8. Consider individuals, teams and networks
 Most succession management processes focus on individuals. Today the networks the
individuals have, inside and outside the organisation, are also very important. You want to be
able to map these networks and to attach a value to them. In addition, it might be worthwhile to
sometimes transfer teams, and not only individuals. If a team has been successful in
introducing a new product in market X, this might be the best team to repeat this is market Y.
 9. From subjective to objective, from gut feel to data driven
 More objective criteria are required. Success criteria are often not so clear. The assumption is
that a high score on the leadership model and a good track record are good predictors of
success, but is this really true? You would like to be able to develop a more objective view, based
on available data.
 If you can use more objective data, you also become less dependent on the subjective opinions
and limited line of sight of senior managers.|
 10. From the usual suspects to surprising appointments
 The succession management process can be improved. With the help of modern technology and
people analytics tools it will be possible to redesign succession management in such a way that
it is more effective and impactful.
MODEL CHECKLIST FOR SUCCESSION
MANAGEMENT