Consider this common (often difficult) conversation: a customer service associate who was hired six months ago at a high-volume, luxury retail store approaches her store manager who is being promoted and asks, “Do you think I should apply for the store manager position now that you’re leaving?”
The cashier has a business degree, but limited retail management experience. How should the store manager respond? Is it possible to respond authentically and protect the needs of the business and keep the employee motivated?
We've all probably asked for an opportunity before we were 'ready." And how do we define readiness to begin with? For early career and less tenured employees, they may simply not know what a leadership role requires. At the same time, promoting an employee too soon may not only set up that person for failure and a difficult experience. We know employees rarely stay with a company after a transition back to a team member or non-management role (trying to avoid the sad d-word here). That d-word also leads to a whirl of confusion and lost productivity for all employees affected by the frequent swings in leadership.
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Of course we can think of outliers. There are times when a “too-soon” promotion benefited the business. There are heroic stories of new leaders stepping up in a crisis that we often hear about.
But that doesn't negate the fact that lacking clear and consistent standards (and teaching and coaching in how to use and apply them) not only lowers the success of newly promoted leaders but also your ability to build and retain the entire team.
Consistently executing your customer experience starts with crystal clear standards that are understood and believed in across the organization. This is why succession planning tools, and processes for employee and leadership development are so critical. When built on your culture, these they strengthen and promote internal candidates who not only meet the experience requirements but also have the competencies needed to navigate the years ahead.
Succession planning, and leadership development that comes from it, establishes clear standards for employees to move from one position to the next. It's helpful whether you're a healthcare organization located across five geographical regions or a one-unit restaurant. Succession planning builds bench strength for key positions – and shared beliefs about success and how it is achieved (we can all think of leaders who struggled on that last part).
What do you need in each role to reach success in the manner you want to reach it? From here, you can create a leadership model focusing on core competencies that can form the foundation for everything from job descriptions to daily coaching and support. With these tools in place, an organization can develop its internal talent to be the company’s successful leaders of the future.
Effectively Using Succession Planning
Another extremely effective use for succession planning is to apply the organization-specific leadership competencies to help employees understand their current strengths and opportunities. Then they are equipped to understand requirements of them to move to the next step and beyond. While employees might not be ready for leadership, or even the next step in their careers, the number one gap in employee feedback for most organizations is not devoting enough energy and communication to development.
Learning and growth remains among the biggest drivers of engagement and intentions to stay. This includes frontline workers and is particularly strong among early career employees. By showing entry-level and hourly employees specifically what it will take to rise through the ranks, you build trust, commitment, and potentially bench strength, as high potentials place greater value and importance on continuing their journey with your company.
Think back to the scenario we started with: if the company in question has succession planning tools in place, the conversation will be much easier for both the store manager and the cashier. By referring to the specific job descriptions and then discussing the leadership competencies required to be successful in each role, the store manager and cashier can have an active and meaningful conversation. This helps set a clear picture of the employee’s actual skills today and those necessary for future growth. The cashier will leave the conversation feeling supported and with an actionable plan in place for her development, instead of feeling frustrated and under-valued.
Unsplash+ In collaboration with Getty Images
It is easy to consider the initial face value of having development and succession-orientated conversations with your employees – informed and well-cared for employees are happier! In addition to improving employee engagement, companies who successfully implement these tools have seen decreases of up to 21.5% in turnover and a reduction in errors by more than 40%. Simply put, making your employees’ development and career paths a priority will help them feel inspired, engaged, and motivated to support the core values of your enterprise.
How We Can Help You
Of course, you don’t need to wait for situations such as the scenario above before making employee development and career-pathing a priority. There are many potential solutions to help you get started that range from paper-based processes to online tools designed specifically for succession planning. At Corvirtus, we have a portfolio of solutions we can connect to keep your employees engaged and inspired contributors to your team.
Featured image photo by Unsplash+ In collaboration with Alex Shuper
