Question

Here's what we know:

-companies have lost loyalty from employees due to the quest to cut costs which has resulted in layoffs as well as hours and benefits being cut. This has resulted in employees leaving an employer for a better paying job elsewhere.

-Companies engage pay freezes while paying big money to fill 'key' positions.

-28% of Americans get no paid vacation and another 24% get a week or less paid vacation.

-51% of people leave their job voluntarily because of their manager/supervisor

-1 in 6 quit the first week and 1 in 3 within 3 months of starting a new job due to a lack of onboarding, support, clear guidelines in their job.

-Employees in general are expected to over-work and make the company their #1 priority.

All this is is very bad for organizations obviously because clearly it shows that management do not understand the workforce. I say 'understand' because I would rather not consider that they just don't care.

So, accepting that the above mentioned facts indicate that things are not at a good place and need to change do you feel a Succession Management System (SMS) where we grow our own leaders internally is the way to go?...what are the pros and cons of a SMS in your opinion?

Would you prefer creating an understanding company identity through a mentoring program where senior people in the company advise junior people in a different area of specialization on their career development? (this creates an informal information channel to top execs to help them understand their people).

Or, do you think we should promote High potentials over High Performers?

Answer 1

Solution:

Succession Management systems are a way to go because it helps in identifying the leaders within the organization and boosting the confidence within the workforce about a fair chance of advancing to the leadership position in the same organization leading to a better workforce results and reduced attrition.

The pros and cons of SMS are as follows,

• Pros:
  - Leader from within the organization boosting the confidence of the workforce
  - The leader will already be aware of the market and business hence being beneficial for the company
  - Cost of hiring new talent at key positions will be reduced.
• Cons:
  - A leader can become myopic to the changing business needs
  - A leader may not be able to provide a fresh perspective on business needs.

I believe the mentoring programme will have a lot of benefits leaving the junior employees with words of experience from the senior management. This may also lead to a rigid and narrow way of thinking towards the business due to mentoring by senior executives on the same lines of their leadership styles.

The company should provide people with high potential because if high potential employees are not given appropriate growth opportunities then they will most likely lead to exiting the company and work with competitors.