Project Manager: I understand you've been offered a new growth opportunity on the program. Who do you recommend as your backfill?
Me: [Team member] is my first choice. [Alternate team member] is my second choice.
The project manager (PM) looked at me, surprised I had an answer. The PM wasn't accustomed to people having that answer. We talked through my rationale behind my two choices and why I thought one was a clear choice over the other. I'd been having regular conversations about their desired career growth. Choice A had clearly expressed interest in a role like the one I was about to vacate. I'd been providing them with opportunities to practice skills that would make them successful in such a role. I'd intended for them to get a bit more experience first, but I knew they'd be able to stretch into the role. Person B had expressed interest. They'd identified some key soft skills they wanted to develop to improve outcomes in conversations with folks at a higher pay grade. I'd been providing a combo of mentoring and coaching, with visible results. They also could have stretched into the role if needed but they would benefit from a bit more skill refinement before stepping into that type of role. The situation my backfill was stepping into came with some delicate nuances and the PM agreed with me that choice A was the better fit at the time.
My growth opportunity came up quite suddenly and much sooner than I'd anticipated moving into a new role. Internal growth opportunities often happen on a timeline that's not ideal to the effort the person is working.
I'm the type of person that thrives in situations where I'm learning and challenged to stretch a little. I know that in any given role I'll reach the point where I've learned what I can and it'll be time to tackle a new juicy problem. When I'm making an internal move, the easiest way to get folks on board is to have a transition plan with a successor in mind.
As a leader, it's my practice to have periodic conversations with my folks about their career growth and what new things they might be interested in trying in the future. This helps me have a sense of how soon they might be looking for something new and who might be ready to step into their shoes. This is a tool that helps keep me ready for expected and unexpected situations.
Succession planning has a variety of benefits:
- Partnership with employees in their growth - Open discussions about what's next puts the leader in a position to be a partner with and advocate for the employee. This is a superpower when it comes to retention. When I talk with folks looking at opportunities outside their organization, lack of a growth trajectory is hands down the most common reason.
- Opportunity for Key Training - In my world, getting targeted training before stepping into a new role is a luxury. Having a succession plan in place opens up opportunities for folks to get exposure to the future role and to learn from their predecessor. They are able to move into the role gracefully rather than being thrown right into the deep end.
- Vacation and Emergency Coverage - A named successor is the perfect person to step in to provide vacation or emergency (let's face it, life happens!) coverage. These situations are also great practice runs, giving the successor an opportunity to get a feel for where they are comfortable and where they have opportunities to grow before taking the role on a permanent basis.
- Smooth Transitions - The smoother the transition, the lower the impact on everyone involved. In the story above, my successor was already familiar with the work the team was doing, known to the stakeholders and able to ramp up quickly. With a minimal handoff, I was able to move forward into my new role with limited reach back support.
I've seen many situations in which folks become stagnant in their jobs for fear they will become replaceable, they struggle to see a growth trajectory and/or because their leader is not invested in their growth. To me, succession planning is the secret key to creating strong relationships with the team, low hanging fruit for employee retention, and a tool for employee development. Win. Win. Win.
How do you support employee development? Do you engage in succession planning for yourself or key team members? What tools do you use for employee retention?
I'd love to hear from you. Please comment below or send me a note via the Connect section of the home page.
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