Succession Planning

You might have thought that having a succession plan in place should your CEO suddenly depart would be common sense. But an astonishing proportion of companies don't seem to agree.

Despite the ageing population and a global battle for talent, many American bosses are still doing precisely nothing when it comes to thinking about who is going to step into their shoes.

Careful succession planning is critical when those at the helm of a business decide to hand over responsibility to new management. So if you want to boost the value and saleability of your business for the future, start planning for and building the next generation of human resources right now.

Why do so many business leaders find it difficult to hand over the baton to their successor? That's the issue best-selling author and renowned executive coach, Marshall Goldsmith, explores with us as he joins Wayne Turmel for the first Working Week podcast of 2008.

One in four family-run British businesses expects to change hands in the next four years, but a lack of planning and foresight means that, for many of them, the process could become a complete nightmare.

We all know that employers face a skills shortage as Baby Boomers leave the workforce. So why do so few organizations ensure that they can pass on the vital knowledge these employees possess?

Despite acknowledging the importance CEO succession, new research has found that a remarkable proportion of U.S. organisations have failed to put succession plans in place.

As the West's workforce demographic changes, managing and retaining senior level talent is becoming an ever more important priority for CEOs. But they don't trust HR and personnel to get it right.

British managers are often confused about who should take responsibility for training and development, fail to develop proper succession planning procedures and rely on the corporate "grapevine" for communication.

Companies that replace their CEO need to move quickly to appoint a replacement as new research finds that poor succession planning is wiping £2 billion a year from the value of FTSE 350 companies.

Almost a quarter of UK firms are having to wait up to six months to fill key job vacancies as a growing skills gap puts a squeeze on business growth.

The first employees recruited by small firms tend to climb the corporate ladder faster than those who join later. But favouring the 'first born' is fraught with peril, according to those who have seen the results.

Entrepreneurs are shunning family members when setting up a business and increasingly setting up new ventures with friends rather than relatives.

In the boardroom the handover from one leader to another is often surprisingly brief. But rushing top people out of the door can cause real problems for organisations, says Nic Paton.

Will the retirement of the 'baby boom' generation lead to a labour shortage in the U.S. or will there instead be a skills shortage and increased unemployment as organisations offshore jobs in search of cheaper skilled workers?

American companies risk an exodus of organisational knowledge and experience because they are failing to put in place formal employee development programmes to compensate for the retirement of millions of working Baby Boomers.

Power in the corporation is permanently shifting away from CEOs, as a global study reveals a growing haste – particularly in Europe - to remove CEOs who fail to deliver strong results in the first few years of their tenure.

Chief executives are being fired more frequently, and sooner into their reigns, than ever before. But these dismissals are harsh short-term decisions.

Harry Stonecipher's resignation demonstrates how important it is for companies to be on top of succession planning. Because it a truism that the unexpected often happens.

Every manager should possess firm and well-informed opinions on the subject of management itself. Everybody has been unfortunate enough to work for a bad manager but hopefully also experienced a good one.

As CEO churn increases, more and more firms are seeking outside help to manage their leadership transition successfully, says Martyn Sakol.

The future of tens of thousands of small businesses across the UK is in doubt because their owners are failing to put in place effective succession planning.