Succession Planning Procedure

Succession Planning Procedure

Catherine Richardson

Columbia Southern University

Succession Planning Procedure

Succession planning is an important part of the organization as it ensures that employees are recruited and developed in time to fill all the key roles within the company which may be vacated by senior employees. IT Developers often play a critical role in the organization as they are the ones who ensure that all the firms’ infrastructural technology is up to date using the latest cutting edge technologies.

The position of the Chief IT Developer is often hard to fill and most organizations tend to struggle when such a position is vacated. This is because the critical knowledge, skills, and abilities of this position have to be developed over time. The critical knowledge required to be an IT Developer is extensive theoretical or practical understanding of technology and all the latest developments in the field of technology(Byrd & Megginson, 2013). The IT developer must also have developed his skills through training and experience in this field so as to be able to fill such a f role. The IT developer also needs to exhibit innate abilities like being a good decision maker, a risk taker or a team player. It is hard to find a person that ticks all these boxes at once and thus it is important for the organization to make a succession plan in advance.

To be able to fill the hole that will be left by the chief IT developer we will need to select and train individuals from our IT team who have demonstrated that they are able to fill such boots. We will assess the individual competency levels throughout their careers, the way they interact with others etc. The individuals will then be given career development training programs and mentorship programs to help them sharpen their knowledge skills and abilities so as to assume office with ease(Byrd & Megginson, 2013).

To ensure that the selected successor does not leave the firm, they will be given a new contract. This new contract we will be an upgrade of what they have to the amount of financial compensation and bonuses will be increased dramatically to meet the status of the job. The candidate will also be given new responsibilities so as to create new challenges and learning opportunities for them so that they feel that their roles are stepped forward in enhancing their knowledge and skills. The new successor will also be provided with a good working environment to work in comfort and carry out his duties. He will also be given a seat at the table and will be provided with support from the management to ensure that he is successful in running his duties and implementing his ideas and programs within the company (Kumar, 2015)

We will use the strategic leader development process in our succession planning. This is because this process promotes the development of talent within the organization. This is important as it ensures that the company creates a leadership development culture within the company. This process is also good as it will be able to provide as with a wide pool of talents within the workforce to be able to fill for any outgoing high-ranking employee. Furthermore, this type of succession planning galvanizes the company in cases where there occurs a need for emergency succession due to sudden deaths or instant dismissals or resignations (Kumar, 2015). This succession plan is also beneficial as it ensures employee retention because it provides every employee with an equal chance of developing and furthering his career. The succession plan for the IT chief will thus be carried out in this manner and the outstanding candidate will be selected and given extra training so as to be able to fill in for the soon retiring chief IT developer of the company.

References

Byrd, M. J., & Megginson, L. C. (2013). Small business management: An entrepreneur’s guidebook. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Kumar, M. J. (2015). Before the oath: How George W. Bush and Barack Obama managed a transfer of power. Baltimore (Md.: John Hopkins University Press.