Articles

Plan for succession
Author says leaders err when they try to groom people like themselves
Dave Murphy, Chronicle At Work Editor
Sunday, August 4, 2002
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle.

As more Baby Boomers prepare for retirement, companies will have trouble replacing top executives because they have no effective method of grooming talent, says author William C. Byham.

Traditional methods of succession planning - when a supervisor would identify a potential replacement and try to groom that person for the job - have proven to be ineffective and time-consuming, says Byham, co-author of "Grow Your Own Leaders: How to Identify, Develop and Retain Leadership Talent." He said supervisors look for successors like themselves, even though the jobs and organizations have changed so much that people with different skills would be better.

Traditional programs also take a long time, he said. One company estimated spending 250,000 executive hours a year completing and discussing replacement- planning forms.

And companies that try to hire from outside make mistakes nearly half the time, says Byham, chief executive officer of Development Dimensions International, a Pennsylvania consultant specializing in developing leaders. The book is written with two other DDI executives, Audrey B. Smith and Matthew J. Paese.

"There is a huge failure rate when going outside," Byham said. "There is too much relying on the headhunter screening the person."

Hiring from outside also can mean that the executive will take several months to learn about the job and the company, and that workers down the ladder will resent the lack of promotional opportunities, Byham said.

"Nobody would say you should get everybody from inside, either," he said, adding that companies need a good mix of promotions and outside hires.

Companies face a crisis because many top managers are near retirement, and businesses have cut middle management so severely that few potential in-house replacements can be found, Byham said. Even the middle managers who remain often don't have what they need to move up.

"They haven't been moved around. They -don't have the depth of experience."

Byham suggests creating acceleration pools, taking a few top workers at all levels and grooming them for promotion - not for one particular job, but for eventually becoming leaders.

"It's the people who will benefit most from development," Byham said. Some candidates for promotion wouldn't be in the pool because they already have the necessary experience. "The main thing you're doing is giving them experiences."

Byham said that what often happens now is that potential executives never learn how to change their behavior, even with extensive training.

"Unfortunately, most people who go through 360-degree feedback or an assessment center never do anything about it."

He said people in the acceleration pool would get assignments to help them learn about the organization, tackle various challenges, develop leadership skills and overcome any potentially dysfunctional behaviors.

People with those assignments report to their regular boss and a mentor, someone higher in the organization. The three meet at the beginning of the assignment, discussing the worker's goals and how the manager can help, then the manager and mentor give a progress report to top management every six months.

The assignments are temporary, but Byham said they are based on the worker's development rather than a set time period, so people can't just coast and wait for another move. "Here we're saying, "You're not going to move until you're successful in this job.' "

One major concern Byham frequently hears is that because the pools have to be small, many talented workers can feel left out. He understands that, but says companies need to focus on keeping top talent, even if it means losing people in the second tier.

He said, too, that people from outside the pool still will be promoted, and other workers can earn their way in.

"You can enter the pool at any time. It's not like traditional talent pools, where you have to get in at the beginning or you're not in at all."

E-mail Dave Murphy at dmurphy@sfchronicle.com.

©2002 San Francisco Chronicle.