Succession and Succession Planning Best Practice 2 – Rotational Development Plans
Integral to every succession plan is the ready supply of qualified talent to replace outgoing position holders. While some talent will come from outside the organization, many should come from within.[wcm_restrict plans=”40935, 25542, 25653″]
More senior positions within every organization necessarily demand an increasingly expansive knowledge and experience base commensurate with the role’s span of control. For truly senior positions, the needed knowledge and experience becomes multidimensional; covering several functional areas. In order for internal succession candidates to be successful, they need to gain this multidisciplinary knowledge and experience earlier in their careers. One way to accomplish this for those growing up within the organization is through rotational assignments.
Consider the position of plant manager. This individual is typically responsible for all production and administrative functions associated with the plant’s operations including:
- production
- maintenance / work management / outage management
- engineering
- facilities management
- supply chain management (procurement, inventory management, and warehouse management)
- finance
- human resources and training
- information technology
- administration (communications, document and records management, business planning, administrative support)
Subsequently, the plant manager must have some minimum level of knowledge and experience in each area in order to be able to effectively oversee the various functions and execute effective decision management.
Rotational development plans help ensure a continuous stream of talent receives the experiential opportunities needed to make each succession candidate ready for their next assignment. Without a deliberately executed plan, an organization risks not having individuals with all of the requisite experience needed to fill a vacant senior position. Some considerations for developing a rotational development plan include:
- rotational assignments should be substantial leadership positions, either the group manager or assistant manager
- 2 year tenure in each position (based on the author’s personal experience and that of the many organizations for which strategic staffing practices have been evaluated)
- candidate should demonstrate strong performance in each position held
- time spent in both operational and support functions is important
- corporate roles are beneficial for site managers prior to assuming that position
- rotational development plans should be communicated to the maximum extent possible with all those involved
- inclusion in the succession and rotational development plans does not guarantee promotions or assignments
Final Thought…
An individual need not hold every subordinate position prior to assuming a senior role. Rather, it is intended that the individual have enough knowledge and experience to fully appreciate the intricacies, complexities, and interrelationships between all of the subordinate roles so to enable the individual to provide proper oversight – to be able to recognize and ask the right questions – to ensure successful organizational performance. As such, rotational assignments can be augmented with other developmental opportunities, such as managing select projects/initiatives and participation in a significant role within an industry and/or professional association(s), to ensure the prerequisite experience is obtained.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”40935, 25542, 25653″]
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Advancement, transfer, retirement, resignation, and termination are all causes of position vacancies. Regardless of the reason for or timing of a position opening, the organization must continue to function through the subsequent transition. Organizations proactively positioning themselves for personnel changes maintain a higher degree of business continuity; realizing a shallower and shorter productivity dip and pursuing performance improvement more rapidly.
and Chairman of Crenshaw Associates, shares with us his insights regarding:
Nat Stoddard, author of 
Special Edition 11 – 
Marshall Goldsmith, author of 
. In 2006, Alliant International University recognized Dr. Goldsmith’s achievements by naming its schools of business and organizational psychology the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management. To read Marshall’s full biography,