Steve Ballmer abruptly stated in August 2013 that he would resign as CEO of Microsoft as soon as a replacement could be identified. Thus began one of the most important CEO searches in the last decade.
Following the announcement, it became evident that this well-respected global technological firm had no plan in place to replace Steve Ballmer, despite the fact that he had underperformed for years, according to most educated observers.
What’s wrong with Microsoft? What kind of succession planning was in place?
The practice of identifying critical jobs within a company and establishing action steps for persons to assume those posts is known as succession planning.
An organization's talent management requires careful succession planning. It allows people to identify important roles and relevant talents and posts that must be filled promptly. It also enables organizations to manage in-house recruitment, which reduces recruitment expenses.
After the company spent time, money, and effort recruiting from the outside, Satya Nadella, a Microsoft insider, was named the company's third CEO in history. What took them so long? Why didn't management appoint Satya in the first place?
This highlights how important succession planning is. What's more, it brings to light that succession planning can be an integral element of business continuity.
In order to satisfy the work flow and complete the business deliverable, a solid business continuity plan has identified both primary and backup resources for certain positions within the plan. Three easy actions can be followed to plan for day-to-day business succession or continuity.
One, BCM identifies essential positions and capabilities. These jobs are usually related with processes or functions that must be kept at any costs in order to meet client expectations. Understanding the processes/functions and their required competencies need to be in place. When considering candidates for these positions, having this information on hand will help set expectations for the tasks and performance required to be successful.
Second, BCM develops succession planning strategies. This planning might involve internal training and development.
Lastly, BCM creates a succession action plan. This stage is to organize the succession planning strategies that have been identified.
Advanced succession planning allows time to design suitable measures, ensuring that organizational business interests are protected through expedited response and recovery times in satisfying internal or external customer service level agreements. And with that, BCM next enters the picture.
BCM next activates principles to practice. We can help you craft suitable measures in your business continuity efforts, ensuring consistent successful successions.
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