Recruitment and Succession Plans

One of the hottest topics in the business sections of various Medias three years ago was the skills/competencies shortage experienced by companies in Canada, and the prediction that this would become a larger issue over the next ten years. It seemed that not only was there a skills shortage, defined as not enough people with specific skill sets and experience, but that there was a perceived shortage of people to fulfill roles, skills or no skills. Given the current global economic downturn and massive layoffs, is the skills/competencies shortage still a critical factor? If you talk to business leaders about their organizations succession plans it appears that the shortage of skills/competencies still exists.

The shortage is to some degree related to ineffective or non existent development plans, and the failure to include the competency commitment to learning in the hiring process, rather than the size of the available labour pool. Is your organization developing short-lived strategies to lure skilled workers to your business? Alternatively, are companies looking to the future and developing solid succession plans?

An effective recruitment system does not stop at the actual hiring of a new employee. It seems that the need for an effective orientation process is a well-accepted practice these days. Nevertheless, is the need to link a succession plan to the recruitment system a practice at all? Listening to leaders as they discuss their specific leadership and labour shortages, I begin to wonder how many even have succession plans. Moreover, it is not just leaders; a casual coffee with friends reveals that many are noticing the gaps in experience and skills sets within the organizations they work for, whether they are in leadership positions or non-leadership positions. When asked about the succession planning process for the organization, the answers are similar….well I’m not sure there is a succession plan.

A good succession plan should be a solidly linked component of the recruitment system, not a stand-alone program. There are many reasons why there are labour and leadership shortages, and the entire problem cannot be attributed to any one reason. However, organizations can begin to inoculate themselves from the impact of such shortages by looking at developing a recruitment system that links every aspect of an employee’s career development beginning with the recruiting action through to the succession plan of the organization. It is true that not everyone hired will ultimately be part of the leadership succession plan, but everyone hired is expected to contribute to the success of your business, so it makes sense to consider development of all your employees in some form.

When you audit the competencies available in your organization for current training and development needs and succession planning, do you also audit the competencies available in your organization for the future, to adapt to the changes coming in your industry? Are you reading this thinking that in your industry, change doesn’t occur that rapidly and you don’t need to be as concerned about employee’s commitment to learning? Have you looked beyond your specific industry/current target market to be aware of forces that may affect your revenue streams? How far ahead do you plan/predict future competency needs?

The ability of organizations to adapt to changing needs requires that HR work collaboratively across the organization to identify and develop the competencies/skills required to support the business in the future. HR programs must be clearly and solidly linked not just to other HR programs but to fully support and integrate with non-HR projects and activities throughout the organization.

HR Vision

Challenging assumptions means questioning the everyday things you take for granted and getting away from old ideas. This may be one of the most effective things that those in the HR Profession can do to improve their performance in the workplace. The concept of Paradigm Shift was popular in management literature about eight years ago. It was adapted from the theory developed for science by Thomas Kuhn (1962), The Structure of Scientific Revolution, into a broader social context. “Think of a paradigm shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It is a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It does not just happen, but is driven by agents of change. We all look at the world around us in accordance with a certain paradigm. The paradigm we use depends on what we believe is reliable and true.” (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift)

HR articles often note that HR Professionals want to have a ‘seat at the table’ but are not attaining the respect required to get there. As any business leader will tell you finding the right balance to priority setting means developing multiple competencies. There have been many articles and seminars over the past several years advising HR Practitioners on how to develop competencies such as business acumen and HR metrics that should be integrated as part of the basics of the role of HR. Perhaps it is time for HR Leaders to begin to shift some of their focus to vision. Successful leaders have a vision; they use creativity and innovation combined with their other leadership skills and knowledge to develop a vision for the organization. HR Leaders need to be able to develop a vision for the contribution of HR to the success of the organization. This vision must clearly support the overall organizational vision and goals, and the HR Leader must adapt this vision as various change drivers, both internal and external will create the need to adapt.

Creating a vision requires big picture thinking. One must be able to assimilate the forces of change and trends that will impact the business and develop a flexible goal that will ensure the employees in the organization will thrive productively.