Career and succession management is undergoing far-reaching change. From being a process which focused on replacing a company’s key positions, it is evolving to focus its efforts on retention, development and employee commitment at every level of the organisation.
The recent “Report on Career and Succession Management”, published by the Top Employers Institute, with data from 600 organisations with over 3,000 employees certified in more than 100 countries, has identified four key trends:
1. Career and succession management, a consolidated practice
Career and succession management has become a consolidated Human Resources process, at first in large companies but also more recently in smaller organisations. While the emphasis continues to be on critical positions at executive levels, the processes are no longer exclusively for those roles, and are increasingly being used for specialised positions and those not in leadership.
Moreover, career and succession management is key for improving the commitment of Millennials, who require greater transparency on available opportunities, and support from managers on their next career steps.
2. Employee preferences are changing
New generations have a more lateral vision of career progression. They do not pursue purely linear development. Flexibility, mobility and the possibility of offering diversified careers may make the difference when it comes to attracting better talent. A sense of purpose and mission should furthermore be offered.
Career development plans have to facilitate the mobility of talent, rotations, lateral work changes and open career opportunities. Professional itineraries should progress in all directions: vertically, horizontally and laterally.
3. The need for internal mobility
Internal mobility should be promoted, with a more integrated and dynamic approach to employee development and an improved understanding of their aspirations. What we observed in our report is that this recognition – which is so necessary for maintaining engagement levels – does not always occur. Certain managers are too focused on day-to-day operations and forget to help their employees develop from a more overall business point of view.
Managers must take the responsibility to discover and develop their employees' potential, investing time in getting to know them and in finding out what they want, with regular career interviews, support with coaching and feedback, and identifying career opportunities.
Moreover, they must strike a balance between local and overall needs. Integrating career management throughout the organisation contributes to finding optimal combinations and offering employees broader career perspectives.
It must also be clear to employees what requirements and skills are needed for performing other roles within the organisation, by standardising competencies and using a common language. They must be offered information on specific skills for each role, and helped in reaching their objectives based on competencies such as client orientation, results orientation, innovation, open communication and people management.
4. Integration with other talent management processes
Career and succession management is increasingly being integrated with other talent-management processes such as learning and development, performance or staff planning. In step with consolidating career and succession management, it makes sense to align this with all of these processes. The information generated in any of these process may serve to improve the other.
Moreover, with increasing intensity organisations are using integrated technology (talent suites) for supporting these processes. This therefore contributes to creating a uniform user experience, thus ensuring the visibility of relevant data and employee involvement.
