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Is succession planning and career planning the same thing?
I am working for an IT company that is relatively new and in its initial stage. I want to understand what career planning is? How to do career planning of an employee? And is succession planning and career planning the same thing? Thanks in advance.
Best Answer
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- Trevor Usken
In my mind they are two different things although arguably on the same rentention coin. I see one as the 'push' and one as the 'pull'. Career planning is employee-centric and may involve lateral not just vertical career choices. It is designed to engage staff and retain staff - although some creative (and higher risk) approaches include career mapping outside the home organisation to better build the employee's skill set. Sucession planning is organisation-centric to build in redundancy to roles. Crudely, it allows for a seemless transition when there is staff turnover in order not to lose productivity. Good succession planning incorporates tools common to career planning, but will usually target specific skill sets for development. Successful organizations invest in both. Hope this helps.
- Recommended by:
- Trevor Usken
Succession Planning when done right,is designed to assure that current and future job demand will be supplied by the most competent people.They can be from either inside or outside the organization.
Career Planning when it's done right is designed to assure that the organization's supply of employees are developed for current and future job demands.In a perfect world the supply is always right for the demand.
Most often,unfortunately,organizations do a so so job at supply development and a less than so so job at demand planning.
Succession planning is useful when you have good sources of candidates for higher positions inside the company. There are also cases when the gap between the skills currently possesed by the employees of one department and the ones required for the higher position is too large. In such cases, succession planning (preparing a person for the higher job) may be too costly. It is more useful to headhunt from other companies in case a manager leaves the position.
Anyway, succession planning is very motivating for the employees and should help you increase the retention.
There are some questions that you have to answer to find out whether or not you need succession planning in your company:
1) Is there a high turnover in management positions? Or, in your case, do you anticipate a high turnover?
2) Is a manager easily replaceble from within the company/department?
3) Is it costly to prepare someone for the job? How long does it take?
4) Is it costly to recruit someone from outside the company? Will, a new person adapt easily to your environment, procedures, etc? What would be the effects of bringing a manager from the outside on the employees of the department?
Liviu
Succession planning ties in with corporate strategy and is driven by the organisation. Succession planning is about ensuring that the key jobs to deliver the strategy will always have the best people in them. Filling the key positions is what the succession plan is built around.
Career planning is typically a part of the 'performance review' conversation. In many places its not done particularly well - or a conversation takes place and not a great deal of action follows it up. Career planning is about ensuring the individual staff have a plan of what they will do in the organisation and what skills/knowledge they will need to do it.
Liz
I would agree with the majority of the respondents but I'd make one change right off the bat. When organizations use the term "Succession Planning", they usually drift to the lowest common denominator in thinking. Said another way, they often look for "replacement planning"; filling an unexpected vacancy in more senior level positions. I think a more healthy way is to look at "succession management" which emcompasses more. It is here that you look to a development pipeline, ongoing assessments, high level talent reviews, developmental assignments and the rest. Managing that process provides a greater source of available talent than the old replacement charts that were once common.
Career Planning may also be a misnomer. It's tough to "plan"
a career in the type of business environment that many of our companies are presently in. You might think in terms of Career "pathing", defining possible alternative job paths an individual may pursue given his/her experience, education and interests. If you have a reasonably well developed competency-based job system, an employee can take the initiative to pursue his/her own career goals by working toward the competencies of the desired position. The emphasis and responsibility is on the employee in this case.
I have also heard this question answered in a short fashion by merely saying that:
Succession Management is Top Down.
Career Planning is Botttoms Up.
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Succession planning is driven by the organization and career planning is driven by the employee.
Succession planning is about ensuring the continuity of key roles within the organization. Ensuring that the incumbents of these roles have the knowledge, skills, ability and potential to meet the organization's future needs. It is a strategic component of a talent management process, which should incorporate employee development in preparation for future, expanded roles.
Career planning is the individual's focus and efforts to direct his/her career progression and direction. The employee is driving his/her education, work experience and development agenda to move his/her career towards a defined goal.
When done well, succession planning is taking into consideration the career goals of the individual. As such, the organization and individual then work in tangent to ensure that the right assignments, work experiences, education and development occurs to meet the mutual objectives of the company and the employee.