Business Succession Planning

Small business owners usually forget about planning for the future. Maybe you haven't thought about plans to transfer ownership or appoint a family member to take over the business after you decide to leave.

It doesn't matter if you're just thinking about it now. You can always start an expansion plan as a business owner. Likewise, in a company operation, there needs to be a solid succession plan to prevent failure. You can prepare talent with talented potential and ready to take over.

What is a Business Succession Plan?

Succession planning is the process of determining whether to take over a business in the future when you retire or something unexpected happens. This process is usually closely related to small, family-run businesses.

However, succession planning may also appear within the scope of an organization or company. The focus is aimed at retaining existing talent to be able to fill vacancies in crucial positions in the organization.

Business leaders and human resource practitioners believe that succession planning is a complex process and requires sophisticated systems for large companies. However, employee management programs in small organizations tend to be carried out formally and more structured.

How to Do Succession Planning

Preparing leaders who can take over the company can help your business recruit potential workers. Without having to carry out a complicated process, here is how to carry out succession planning in your company.

1. Be proactive with a plan

You probably already know that high-achieving employees will be difficult to replace. Even so, retirement is the most likely plan when the employee is elderly. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare a plan so that you don't panic when the time comes.

2. Determine succession candidates

Once you understand the potential ripple effects when an employee leaves the company, select team members who could potentially fill that position.

The successor to a position may be the person next in line on the organizational chart, but don't ignore the potential of other promising employees. Look for people who demonstrate the potential skills to thrive in higher positions, regardless of their current title.

Don't just assume you know how employees view their career goals. You may have someone in mind for a senior management role, but they're not interested in the idea. Remember to always discuss succession plans with the person concerned so that the transfer of responsibility takes place well.

3. Increase professional development

Ideally, you need to invest in the career development of selected candidates as part of the succession. Candidates' readiness needs to be improved so that they gain additional knowledge and experience. One way is to provide mentors who can provide leadership skills such as communication, empathy and diplomacy.

4. Test your succession plan

Succession candidates' abilities should be tested as soon as possible before the company is in a crisis situation. Ask the successor candidate to assume some of the responsibilities of the manager who is on vacation or rotating for a while.

The experience given to employees can be accepted as a challenge or opportunity for development. On the other hand, companies can assess the employee's abilities and prepare training for skill gaps that still need to be addressed.

5. Integrate succession into the recruitment process

To be able to prepare potential succession candidates, you should also prepare employees from the recruitment process. Know the skill gaps that may need to be refined when you recruit employees for potential positions in the organization.

In general, it needs to be understood that labor is not a fixed asset that can always be there for the company. As a business person, you must always be ready to be able to prepare a strategy when an employee resigns or retires.

You can hone the abilities of succession candidates to face dynamic situations through the Strategic Business Analysis program. Potential succession candidates will hone their abilities to be agile so they can compete and maintain business in the future.