HOW TO PREVENT EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT

Unethical behaviors can plague a workplace, whether an executive steals money from the company or an
associate falsifies documents. Unethical behaviors can damage a company's credibility, causing the business to
lose customers and ultimately shut down. However, business owners and their management teams can work
with employees to prevent unethical behaviors.

Create a Code of Conduct

A written code of conduct provides employees and managers with an overview of the type of conduct and
behaviors the company expects. It outlines what behaviors are unacceptable and what measures are taken if an
employee violates the code of conduct. For example, a company with a social media policy in place prohibiting
company discussion may need to discipline or fire an employee who violates the policy by ranting about a new
workplace initiative.

Lead By Example
Employees look to business owners and managers for direction on how they should conduct themselves. As a
business owner, make ethics-based decisions and monitor the individuals you put into leadership roles at your
company for the same values. If you see a manager violating company practices, such as a policy against
workplace relationships, intercede immediately to retain credibility with other workers.

Reinforce Consequences for Unethical Behavior

Business owners must hold their employees accountable when they act unethically. Start by informing new
employees of the rules during their orientation sessions. Make sure all new workers know the consequences of
policy violations. If an employee acts unethically, refer to the code of conduct and take the necessary measures
to warn or terminate.

Show Employees Appreciation

Loyal employees feel that a company values the hard work they put into accomplishing tasks on a daily basis. A
loyal employee is less likely to act unethically. Show appreciation to workers on a regular basis to encourage
loyalty. Consider offering an extra day off per quarter or year to top performers or institute a bonus program in
the sales division to reward hard work.

Welcome an Ethics Speaker

Schedule an ethics trainer to visit your work site to discuss ethical behavior and explain why it is important in
organizations, regardless of the size or industry. Ethics trainers use role-playing, motivational speaking, videos
and handouts to illustrate the importance of ethics in the workplace.

Create Checks and Balances

Rather than putting related responsibilities in the hands of one employee, create a system of checks and
balances to minimize the opportunities for unethical behavior. For example, a sales associate rings up customer
purchases, while an accountant balances the books to ensure that all payables are received and documented. Use
an annual audit to verify established procedures are being followed and develop new policies to address any
unique situations that arise during the year.
Hire for Values

When business owners hire employees, many seek to bring on individuals who have the education and
experience that prove they are skilled workers, capable of handling the tasks at hand. Employers who want to
prevent unethical behavior also look at candidates' values to ensure they mesh with the company's culture. Make
sure a new employee believes in working diligently to earn a salary and are ready to comply with company
policies.
When it comes to managing poor behaviour among your staff, prevention is better than cure. Setting clear
expectations and creating a positive and open culture can go a long way to keeping employee behaviour on
track. If a line is crossed, however, you’ll need to manage the misconduct following a disciplinary procedure.
Before it gets to that stage, here are a few steps you can take to reduce the risk of staff misconduct.

Clearly outline your expectations

If you expect a certain standard of behaviour from your staff the first thing you need to do is be clear about what
your expectations are. Using policies and value statements you can outline standards of performance,
responsibilities, accountabilities and the workplace conduct that you expect. If this is the first time you’ve
considered HR for your business, don’t panic! We’re here to help with policies such as a code of conduct, and
grievance and disciplinary procedures.

When onboarding a new employee, make sure you explain the processes that you use should anything go
wrong, so they know what to expect should a situation arise. It goes without saying that there’s an element of
trust and an employee should not knowingly break the law whilst working for you.

Create an open and communicative culture

Creating an open culture will benefit your business in countless ways, not least in terms of how you handle
misconduct issues. When employees feel at ease to speak up about inappropriate behaviour they’ve spotted,
then you can address issues quickly and prevent them escalating outside of your business to a potential
employment tribunal.

To instill this kind of culture, it’s important to lead by example, this can be as simple as communicating and
discussing plans with your team, offering informal feedback and generally demonstrating that the channels of
communication are open.

Allow for mistakes

Try to avoid blaming people when they slip up in some way. If something goes wrong, it will work out better
for everyone if your team feel they can speak up without being blamed or shamed (or fired!). A culture of
supportive problem solving is far better if you’d like to keep misconduct problems to a minimum and dealt with
effectively in-house.

Of course, if an employee is repeatedly causing a major issue or behaving with gross misconduct, this is a
different matter, but generally speaking, a calm approach to positively solving poor conduct will mean that you
can nip issues in the bud before they get out of hand.

Keep up to date with your business operations

If you have a feeling something’s off, then it probably is – rather than brushing things under the rug, do some
investigation and you may uncover a very small and easily solvable issue rather than an ugly monster six
months down the line.

Consistency in your approach is key. Standard procedures make sure everyone is treated fairly, everyone is on
the same page and nobody (no matter how experienced) gets to wing it. If someone is behaving in a way that is
not consistent with your company values, politely let them know and explain why the behaviour isn’t
acceptable.

How your brand and values will help

CIPD defines employer brand as ‘…a set of attributes and qualities, often intangible, that makes an organisation
distinctive, promises a particular kind of employment experience, and appeals to those people who will thrive
and perform best in its culture’.
Being clear on this and outlining it in a value statement is a great way to attract the right kind of people to your
business in the first place. A statement about certain behaviours, such as working with honesty and integrity
clearly demonstrates your brand intentions and instructs staff on how to act from the start. These “rules” will
help your team to police their own behaviour.

If it all goes wrong despite your best efforts and you feel you have a valid reason to dismiss an employee, it is
vital that you follow the correct procedure.

SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD

The essence of this habit is a temperament that favors curiosity, open-mindedness, empathy, and patience — all
rolled into one. In order to really seek to understand, you cannot have already judged a person or situation. You
need to develop a desire to understand — meaning a desire to see things from others’ point of view, to see their
reasons, and feel what they feel.
The great thing about this habit is that it not only makes you a better friend, co-worker, and partner to those
around you, it provides tremendous benefits to you as well. Here are but a few that I have found, as I try to
employ the strategy of seeking first to understand:

1. You learn better

Being a lifelong learner is important. If you’re reading this, you have probably read a few of the thousand
pieces on the internet that talk about just how important it is to be continuously learning. Well, there is little that
you can do to more effectively cultivate the mindset of a lifelong learner than to seek to understand.

When you seek to understand, you admit that you don’t currently understand. Which means you admit that you
are not in possession of all the relevant information. Which means you’re effectively ready to learn it.Boom!
Life Learning!

2. You prevent yourself from saying things you’ll regret

Few things can get you into more trouble than being too quick to talk. You can end up committing to things that
you shouldn’t, saying things you don’t even mean, and generally killing your credibility. In many cases, we
speak first and speak often because we’re looking for people to understand us.

If we seek to understand others first, we’re more likely to listen before we speak. When we do that, we can
avoid saying things that on reflection we shouldn’t have. We also tend to ask more questions, rather than
making statements, which keeps us from over-committing and contradicting ourselves.

3. Your emotional intelligence skyrockets

Emotional intelligence is all the rage these days. Everyone from leaders to up-and-comers are being told just
how important it is to be able to read people’s emotions (as well as their own) and react to them appropriately.
Doing that effectively will require a disposition to desire to understand how others feel. You will have to seek to
understand the feelings of others, just as much as you seek to understand your own.

4. Your ability to influence improves dramatically

When you seek to understand others, and begin to act accordingly, two things will likely happen.
First, you’ll gain a rapport with them. They will be more likely to talk to you about various things, and you will
be more likely to be privy to information that can be helpful to you. When your’e trying to achieve ambitious
goals, build a team, and get buy-in, rapport is everything.

Second, your words will tend to hold more weight with people. For those that you have made a point to
understand better, when you tell them something, it will tend to carry more weight. After all, you’ve proven that
you care about understanding their point of view, so it becomes easier for them to give you the benefit of the
doubt.

It’s time for habit five of seven in our 7 Habits of Highly Effective People blog series!
If this is the first time you have heard about this series we’re sharing, the aim is to provide a reminder of
Covey’s ever-valuable habits, with a personal leadership twist. Each blog gives you insight into each habit and
provides tools to help you develop these highly effective behaviours.
Collect all seven habits crib sheets (links at end of this post) for a complete guide to developing effective
personal leadership through the lens of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The habit we’re honing in
on this week is number five, Seek first to understand then to be understood.
What is Habit Three?
Seek first to understand then to be understood
Let’s define it
This habit is 100% concerned with listening – listening attentively and not jumping to ‘advice’ or ‘solution’
mode too hastily.
What does it mean?
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” – Stephen Covey
It’s likely that, naturally, you seek first to be understood. We are often so intent on getting our point across in a
conversation that we only partially listen to what the other participants are saying. In doing this we are not truly
communicating, which leads to confusion, mixed messages and a lack of clarity (not good communication!)
What Covey suggests we do is listen emphatically. Listening emphatically is listening without jumping to one
of four responses: agreeing/disagreeing, asking (often loaded) questions, advising and interpreting the situation
in your way.
Why is it important?
Communication is one of the most important skills in life and one that is absolutely crucial to successful
business.
When we listen emphatically we try to understand the situation through the other person’s eyes and in doing
this, we can create more win-win situations.
I hope there are some useful things in here for you to take away and have a think about. Look out for the next in
our ‘seven habits’ series, ‘Synergise.
People really don't listen.

People are just either not that interested in what you're saying, or they are too focused on their own agenda. It's
ridiculous to see two people acting like they can’t really hear each other — by choice.

In "The Significance Principle," authors Les Carter and Jim Underwood posit that we should listen past where
the other person has finished. We should even pause before answering. Let them get their point, their story, their
compliment, and even their criticism out. Completely.

Then, before preparing your response, ask more about what they said. Get engaged. Understand what and why.

Stephen Covey defines this as the fifth habit in his bestselling book, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." It's
critical: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Seeking real understanding affirms the other person and what they have to say. That's what they want. That's
what we all want — to be understood, valued and affirmed.

What if you seek to understand but others don't? Two things come to mind. One person truly listening is
generally better than none. More important, one person listening generally leads to two people listening. Let’s
be honest, if I honor you with my ears, you’ll be more likely to reciprocate. Others learn the habit through our
example.

Do you want to be a better leader, salesperson, parent, spouse or friend? Be a better listener. Let’s avoid the
habit of collective monologue by really listening — with the intent of understanding, appreciating, and
affirming.

The ability to hear is a gift. The willingness to listen is a choice.

EFFECTIVE MANAGER

Effective management has always been a key part of working life for employees. If sufficient management is
lacking, it is easy for teams to lose motivation, enthusiasm, and productivity, which can lead to professionals
seeking new opportunities. The relationship between a manager and their reports has a direct impact on the
morale and success of the team.

It is often said that people don’t leave businesses, they leave managers, which is why it is so important to get
this relationship right. If an individual doesn’t feel supported, or can’t have open and constructive conversations
with their manager, it is likely that they will get frustrated in their role. This will have a flow-on effect in
regards to their performance at work.

A manager is not only responsible for a team’s output, but they are also responsible for supporting the
individuals within their teams. This means understanding what drives and motivates them, what their strengths
are, and how to guide them in areas they need to develop. Great leaders are good communicators and display a
high level of emotional intelligence.

So, what are some of the behaviours that a good manager displays and what should managers be doing to
encourage the best possible performance from their team?

How to be a good manager

Being a good manager is all about continuous learning. This means for yourself and the people that report into
you. Everybody is different, so you should be aiming to constantly develop your communication skills, adapting
the ways you are motivating people, and improving the working relationships within your team, and externally.

Successfully managing people and making your team members feel as though they are doing a good job is key,
but it is also very important to invest your time in the personal progression and development of your team.
Utilising performance reviews productively can ensure that the development of individuals in your team
continues, in line with their career aspirations.

Here are our top tips for becoming a good manager, based on the positive qualities of effective leaders.

Communicate clearly
When leaders are good communicators, they are better able to manage their teams. The delegation of tasks,
conflict management, motivation, and relationship building (all key responsibilities of any manager) are all
much easier when you are a strong communicator. Strong communication is not just the ability to speak to
people, but to empower them to speak to each other. Facilitating strong communication channels is key.
Listen
A central part of communication is being able to listen. As a manager, a key part of the role is to provide
support to employees working within a team. The ability to listen and understand the wants, needs, and
concerns of your team, and the individuals who report into you, forms an important part of your responsibilities.
Everyone within a team should feel that they have a voice and that their opinion will be listened to.

Make decisions
Being decisive is fundamental to effective management. Employees will look to their manager to make
decisions on how to progress projects, solve issues, and steer the team towards its goals. The ability to give
clear direction to a team and make key decisions can set a good manager apart from a mediocre one. The
inability to make decisions can be indicative of a poor manager and can lead to a lack of confidence within a
team.

Show trust in your employees

Effective managers are always good delegators. They can distribute tasks to their team as well as ensuring that
their own time is well used for management issues and important tasks. Employees that feel trusted are better
placed to achieve their potential and are given an incentive to ensure that they perform well. In a team, it’s
important to build mutual trust between line managers and team members, as this will enable delegation to
happen more effectively.

Set a good example

Employees are looking for a leader that they can look up to and, down the line, emulate. However, for
employees to buy into the direction of their manager, they need to respect them professionally. By setting a
good example, proving skills and knowledge, and being a high achiever, a manager can gain the professional
respect of their employees and ensure that they have the backing of the team.

Protect the team

As a leader, it falls on you to take responsibility for the success and failures of their team. However, a good
leader shares the successes and absorbs the failures. Empowering the team to drive for success and sharing any
wins is an important trait. More importantly, is taking responsibility when mistakes are made and team goals are
not met. Leading from the front. Showing the team that you are willing to step in for them when things get
tough is all part of effective management.

In a team environment, there are many different variables that can alter the way you work with people. Whether
you are the head of a team, you are responsible for a small or a global team, you will need to be considerate of
the different people that report into you. Unique personalities can change a team dynamic, and learning how to
work with different people is what makes a good manager.

For more advice on developing your team, browse our development and retention articles. Alternatively, get in
touch with your local Michael Page office today to discuss your career options.

Are you a manager looking to make a difference in your workplace? Do you want to be a leader that will
positively influence your team? Whether you manage five or fifty employees, being a manager comes with a lot
of responsibility.

Here’s your guide about how to be a successful and effective manager at your job:

Leadership
In order to be an effective manager, you need to be able to lead your employees in an efficient manner. A lot of
responsibility comes with being a manager, and being able to lead a team is required.

Experience
If you don’t have experience working in a professional environment and leading a team, it will be hard to step
up as a manager. A great way to gain experience in a management role is to volunteer, either within your field
or with a nonprofit. Ask to help manage and produce events, whether it’s raising money for an organization or
organizing an event.

Communication
Being able to communicate with your team is required when being an effective manager. This not only means
communicating job responsibilities and expectations, it means listening to your team and working with them to
produce results within their position.

Knowledge
Experience as a manager is a must but so is knowledge. There are many different degrees offered for managers,
including a bachelor’s degree in business or a master’s degree in leadership or project management. You can
also get a certificate in project management, entrepreneurship, ethics, or human resource management.

Organization
If you aren’t organized in your position, there’s a good chance that the employees you manage won’t be either.
There are many resources online that can inspire you to get organized. You can also buy a personal planner or
download an app on your phone that can remind you of meetings, tasks you need to complete every day, etc.

Time Management
Another key factor in being a successful manager is time management. If you’re late every day, your employees
might think it’s acceptable to also be late. Time management is also important when it comes to prioritizing
your day, making sure you have time to communicate with your employees, and accomplishing goals
throughout the week.

Reliability
A manager that is leading a team has to be reliable. This means being available for your employees, getting
things done that you said you would, and supporting your team however needed.

Delegation
If you don’t know how to delegate projects and tasks, your role as a manager will be a lot more difficult. Don’t
be afraid to ask your employees to help complete a task. You might think it’s easier to do everything yourself,
but this will add more time to your already busy schedule, and you won’t be allowing your employees to do
what they were hired to do.

Confidence
To be an effective manager, you need to be confident in your abilities, experience, and decisions. This doesn’t
mean you have to be arrogant or feel that you’re better than your employees. But you’re in a management role
for a reason, so be proud and be an inspiration to your team.

Respect for Employees

If you don’t respect your employees, there will definitely be tension in your workplace. Be cognizant of their
time and abilities, be able to listen and communicate with them, and be a resource of knowledge and guidance.

IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY ASSURANCE

Quality assurance is a process used to learn if your product or service is up to standards, and whether you are
giving customers the kind of product or service that will keep them returning. The idea is to deliver a product or
service that consistently keeps up a high quality. It’s a proactive approach where defects are detected before a
product or service goes public. This is vital to customer satisfaction. When customers are happy, your company
is in a much better position to do well.

How Quality Assurance Works

Quality assurance is a system intended to demonstrate to company leadership and to the public that a product or
service is up to standards of quality, often set by industry or regulators. It is sometimes called quality control,
although quality control has more to do with the product after it’s made. Quality control became commonplace
in manufacturing in the 1920s as a way to define and control the quality of products. In the 1950s, quality
assurance became important in public health and public safety.

Today, quality assurance measures the standards that go into a product or service before it goes out to the
public. Quality assurance uses auditors, sometimes independent and sometimes in-house, to evaluate the
methods that go into making products and providing services. When a company has a good quality assurance
team, that lets corporate management, customers, regulators and government officials know that a product or
service meets quality requirements.

Why Companies Use Quality Assurance

Quality assurance should never be overlooked in order to finish a job in a hurry. The process lets you know if
you are using your resources the way you should. You don't want to cut corners with any part of your product’s
quality. Cutting corners could result in lost client faith, shrinking profit margins and eventually, your company’s
ability to attract talented employees. Good quality assurance procedures allow both company owners and
employees to take pride in their work.

Benefits to Quality Assurance

Quality assurance helps a company meet its clients’ demands and expectations. High quality builds trust with
your customers, which, in turn, makes you competitive in the market. It saves costs and fixes issues before
problems become larger, and it helps to set and maintain quality standards by preventing problems to begin
with. Investing in quality assurance is indispensable in many industries today. It is most effective when it’s in
place from the start. When quality assurance is done right, it provides confidence, tests the product and lets
companies market their products with few worries.

Reduces Cost and Waste

Having quality assurance in place is especially helpful to small businesses. It allows them to reduce extra costs
that come with retesting, replacing and reselling faulty goods. When customers aren’t satisfied with a
company’s products, the backlash can damage the company’s reputation, and negatively affect future products
and even the entire company. Quality assurance might also save a company money in legal expenses, especially
if its product isn’t up to industry standards.

Creating and Managing a Team

If you choose a specific employee to do quality assurance, look for someone with the ability to handle repetitive
tasks, be perfection-driven and willing to look deep into the root of an issue. The effort should be well-
organized, with requirements for each case specified clearly. Track progress regularly and provide the tools
needed to do the job well.

Purposes of Quality Assurance

A business can build a positive reputation for reliability and consistency when it ensures a level of consistent
quality in its products or services. This bolsters consumer trust and confidence in the business and helps the
business compete with others in the same market.

Developing a Need for Oversight

Early concepts of quality control can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the rise of guilds. A craftsman
could access a network of connections with other craftsmen and suppliers by joining a guild organization. He
could then benefit from the reputation of the guild based on standards of quality in the products produced by its
members.

The Industrial Revolution brought about more specialization in labor as well as mechanization. Quality
assurance evolved with quality assurance practices being established around specialized tasks performed by
workers. With the introduction of mass production, the need to monitor the quality of components being
produced by large numbers of workers created a role for quality inspectors.

Statistical quality control or statistical process control was developed during this period, utilizing statistical
methods to help ensure quality. The modern concept of quality assurance was introduced during World War II
when the inspection and testing of munitions became vital to war efforts.

Quality Approaches
Quality assurance methods focus on establishing good processes to produce products with the quality already
built-in, rather than going through an unmonitored production process and trying to “inspect quality” to a
product that’s already been finished.

The approach to quality assurance differs depending on the type of industry. For example, a hospital might
implement QA methods to improve the quality of healthcare. This could include defining quality by
understanding core activities in effective patient care, setting quality benchmarks, and measuring quality by
designing surveys, performing audits and conducting supervision visits.

Another business, such as a nutritional supplement manufacturer, would have completely different methods to
assure quality since its product parameters are completely different than healthcare. For example, the company
would guide its processes based on guidelines for active pharmaceutical ingredients.

International Quality Assurance Standards

An international federation of organizations known as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
was founded in 1947. ISO consists of standards organizations that represent over 100 countries. It maintains an
effective quality assurance system for manufacturing and service industries.

ISO 9000 is a set of standards first published in 1987, designed to help organizations meet statutory and
regulatory requirements for product quality as well as consumer needs.

ISO Certification
Manufacturers and businesses can become certified by fulfilling the requirements defined in ISO 9001. This
offers independent confirmation of an organization's adherence to quality standards. More than one million
organizations around the world are ISO 9001 certified.

The management of an organization develops goals for quality assurance in order to be certified. These are
codified into policies and guidelines specific to its business and manufacturing processes, often with the
assistance of a consultant. These guidelines are then implemented by the organization and the systems are
assessed for compliance with ISO 9000 standards.

The results of the assessment identify any areas that fall outside of the standards and that the organization must
address within a given time frame. The organization is certified after standards are met.

CAREER PATHING PLAN

What Is Career Pathing? Understanding The Answer To Today’s Biggest Workplace Problem
Employee engagement is the holy grail of the modern workplace. Despite insights into the problem of a
disengaged workforce, however, statistics on engagement have hardly changed in more than a decade. (On
average, two out of three employees remain disengaged.) New evidence, however, supports the growing
conclusion that career pathing may be the answer to improving those numbers.

What Is Career Pathing?

Career pathing is the process through which an employee charts a course for career development inside a
particular organization. It focuses on identifying vertical and lateral opportunities for advancement or
progression for each employee, and on understanding the skills, experiences, and personal and professional
competencies necessary for success in each new role. When designed and implemented effectively, career
pathing dramatically improves employee engagement, thereby offering extensive benefits to both individual
employees and organizations as a whole.

Employee Retention

Unlike workers from the past, today’s workers desire far more than a paycheck and benefits. They want
personal and professional fulfillment. They want to learn and grow in a position that enables them to truly
utilize their strengths. More, according to Gallup’s most recent State of the American Workplace report, if they
feel they can’t do this within their current companies, they feel little hesitation to leave them. In fact, two of the
most common reasons for employees to leave a job are a lack of career growth opportunities and a feeling their
current job is a poor fit for them personally.

Career pathing addresses both concerns. An effective career pathing program offers clear insights into skill gap
shortages and provides resources to address those gaps. It also provides detailed information into various paths
for advancement. Together, this ensures opportunities for growth, learning, and fulfillment are available – and
readily accessible – to each employee in an organization, from entry-level to upper management. In 2017, when
51% of employees are searching for new jobs and/or watching for new openings, this keeps your high potential
employees where you want them – with you.

Succession Planning and Longevity

Successful companies identify and coach high potential employees across various roles and departments to take
over key positions. They don’t focus only on those employees in direct line for promotion. Career pathing helps
companies identify both the employees best suited for key positions and the skills and training those employees
need in order to excel. This enables organizations to move high potential employees into key positions
effectively, with as little downtime as possible, which helps cement organizational longevity.

Productivity and Profitability

Lost productivity from disengaged employees costs U.S. employers between $483 billion and $605 billion each
year. Career pathing boosts employee engagement, helping bring an individual organization’s engagement
numbers far above the 33% average. (In some instances, as high as 70%, according to Gallup.) With
engagement, productivity rises, and profitability soon follows, due to fewer turnover costs, fewer missed days,
more positive interactions with customers, and less employee theft. In fact, recent research shows that
employees within the top quartile of engagement are 17% more productive and sell 20% more than employees
in the bottom quartile. They also are 21% more profitable and miss 41% fewer days of work.

Taken together, the evidence is clear: An effective career pathing program empowers employees by giving them
the insight, motivation, and guidance they need to set goals and propel themselves toward success. Engagement
rises. In turn, empowered and engaged employees bolster company profitability and ensure long-term financial
success. Building an effective career pathing program, then, should be a top priority.
For information on how to best create one, visit our career pathing software page or browse our learning center
for webinars and other content. Ready to get started? Request a demo today!

SUCCESSION PLANNING

Succession planning is the process where an organization ensures that employees are recruited and developed to
fill each key role within the company. In this process, you ensure that you will never have a key role open for
which another employee is not prepared. This is also significant as you develop your talent bench strength
within your organization.

Sure, you will have an occasional situation arise for which you are unprepared, but for the vast majority of
employee movement, your succession plan is in place. You will have had a systematic process for preparing
employees to fill key roles as they become vacant.

Importance of Recruiting
Through your succession planning process, you recruit superior employees, develop their knowledge, skills, and
abilities, and prepare them for advancement or promotion into ever more challenging roles in your organization.

The preparation for the employee's next role may also include transfers to different jobs or departments and on-
the-job shadowing, so the employee has a chance to observe various jobs in action.

Actively pursuing succession planning ensures that employees are constantly developed to fill each needed role
in your organization. As your organization expands, loses key employees, provides promotional job
opportunities, and increases sales, your succession planning guarantees that you have employees on hand ready
and waiting to fill the new roles.

Who Needs Succession Planning?

All organizations, no matter their size, need succession planning. While it is less likely that you will have
potential successors for every role in a ten-person company, you can minimally cross-train.

Cross-training ensures that employees are prepared to babysit the key job when the employee resigns. This
keeps responsibilities from falling through the cracks. This will keep the mission on track if a key employee
leaves. It's not as effective as having a fully trained employee, but that is not always possible for every role.

Filling Succession Roles

Many companies have not introduced the concept of succession planning in their organizations. Others plan
informally and verbally for succession for key roles. By this type of process, for example, Eric is identified as
the strongest player on Mary's team so he is likely to succeed Mary when she is promoted or leaves.

In other conversations, senior leadership teams put forth the names of employees they believe are strong players
with great potential in their organizations. This helps other senior leaders know who is available for potential
promotion or reassignment when they are looking for an employee to fill a key role.

The advantage of a more formalized system is that the organization exhibits more of a commitment to mentor
and develop the employee so that they are ready to take over. In the above example of Eric taking over Mary's
role if she leaves or is promoted, developing his skills is a priority.

Organizationally, it allows all managers to know who the key employees are in all areas of the organization.
This allows them to consider strong players when any key role opens up.

Advantages for Employees

Employees who know that the next role awaits them receive a boost to self-esteem and self-respect. This
enhances their efficacy and value as an employee. Knowing the organization's plans for your next potential
opportunity—and that there is one—reinforces your desire for career development and career opportunities.
This development is one of the areas that employees want most from their employers.

You can identify the skills, experience, and development opportunities necessary to help the employee become
prepared for progression when the next job opportunity turns up. The employee benefits from the ability to
work with their manager or supervisor to make sure that the employee has a career plan that moves them in the
direction of their next opportunity. This person is key to an employee's ability to get the experience and
education needed for career progression.

The employee's value is shared with the rest of the organization so that if an opportunity comes up, the
managers can consider the employee to fill the role. In an informal system, managers organization-wide may
not know the value of the employee and their skills. (Even if the current manager has shared this information, in
a busy world it's tough to remember.)

Advantages for Employers

You rely on staff to carry out the mission and the vision and to accomplish the goals of the organization. The
loss of a key employee can undermine your ability to accomplish these important objectives. You need prepared
employees to step into roles as your company grows and expands its offerings and services. Or, your lack of
developed employees will stymie your growth plans.

The need to have replacement employees ready if you decide to promote employees or redesign your
organization enables you to make necessary changes without being hampered by a lack of replacements.

Knowledge about key, skilled, contributing employees is shared with managers organization-wide. This
information allows managers to consider the widest number of candidates for any open job. It also emphasizes
with your employees that your organization provides the career development opportunities they seek.

The Baby Boomer generation is in the process of retiring. They are taking with them 30-40 years of knowledge,
experience, working relationships, and information. You want to capture that knowledge before it walks out of
your door.

Effective, proactive succession planning leaves your organization well prepared for all contingencies.
Successful succession planning builds bench strength.

Develop Employees for Succession Planning

To develop the employees you need for your succession plan, you can use such practices as lateral moves,
assignment to special projects, team leadership roles, and both internal and external training and development
opportunities.

Through your succession planning process, you also retain superior employees because they appreciate the time,
attention, and development that you are investing in them. Employees are motivated and engaged when they can
see a career path for their continued growth and development.

To effectively do succession planning in your organization, you must identify the organization’s long-term
goals. You must hire superior staff.

You need to identify and understand the developmental needs of your employees. You must ensure that all key
employees understand their career paths and the roles they are being developed to fill. You need to focus
resources on key employee retention. You need to be aware of employment trends in your area to know the
roles you will have a difficult time filling externally.
What is Succession Planning and What Are the Benefits?
Understanding strategic business goals and preparing for future growth is what drives the succession planning
process.

An adequate succession plan prevents organizations from taking a reactive approach to filling vacant roles.
Instead, it proactively prepares a smooth transition plan to ensure leadership changes don’t interrupt major
business initiatives. The planning process and the resulting plan also deliver other benefits, including:

 Motivating employees by creating growth opportunities

 Identifying skill gaps and talent development needs
 Adapting the organization to demographic and talent changes
 Transitioning highly specialized skills into key roles
 Preserving institutional knowledge.

Building a Strategic Succession Planning Process

It’s important to know that succession planning is about more than filling gaps or finding replacement
candidates. Rather, the goal is to ensure a smooth transition.

In preparing for growth, development, and transition, lay the foundation for an effective succession plan using
the following targeted processes.

1. Align Succession Planning with Business Goals and Values

Your succession plan cannot be developed in a vacuum.

In other words, the successors you identify and develop will guide your organization into the future. So choose
them with the business roadmap in mind.

Equally important, your succession plan should align with company values. This can have deep implications for
your company’s success, ensuring your organization stays true to its principles and preserving its financial
health and reputation.

2. Establish a Culture of Transparency

Your current—and future—leaders need to know their people’s goals, their teams’ objectives, and the
opportunities open to them.

Foster an open dialogue with employees regarding career aspirations and institutionalize this information as part
of an optimized performance management process.

Transparency throughout your succession plan development can prevent misinterpretation of its intended
purpose. Otherwise leaders and managers (or anyone else in a position requiring a succession plan) may assume
their future in the organization is at risk.

3. Take a Comprehensive View of Internal Talent

While you may need to recruit externally to fill some roles, your current employees are already familiar with the
company’s processes, goals, and mission. Retaining and growing them should be a top priority.

By looking for successors within your organization, you can consider critical qualitative factors such as
employee satisfaction with professional development, employee performance, and manager assessment of his or
her readiness for an expanded role.
4. Focus on Targeted Development
As noted, succession planning is more than just identifying future leaders. It’s also about mapping out their
development to ensure they’ll be ready to assume leadership roles when the time comes.

Assess your high-potential employees, then prioritize and individualize their development needs. This will
highlight a path for their internal mobility and growth.

Be sure to consider employees’ career aspirations. Many companies get succession planning wrong by
assuming everyone wants to be on a leadership track. For employees who don’t, you can still tailor development
plans to ensure the organization has skills to serve its goals over the long term.

5. Establish Leadership Accountability for the Talent Pipeline

Your succession plan won’t work if your organizational leaders, board members, and CEOs don’t take
responsibility for the selection, development, and ascent of their employees. Holding them accountable means
ensuring leaders

Revisit and revise succession plan goals and processes annually

Define roles and expectations for each individual
Outline clear, measurable goals against which to gauge success of their planning efforts.
Ideally, your succession strategy will be a regular topic of discussion in executive meetings.

6. Create a Mentoring Framework

Another proactive strategy is to cultivate mentorship programs between employees currently in critical roles and
employees who are positioned as qualified successors.

A key component of modern, continuous learning, mentorship can reduce learning curves, training costs, and
employee development time. Leaders can pass along knowledge and skills gained through experience, and then
nurture these employees as they prepare for future advancement and promotions.

Take Your Succession Plan to New Heights

There’s no doubt about it, building a scalable and dependable leadership pipeline is difficult.

But organizations that invest in succession planning are primed for competitive advantage, and will be more
prepared for turbulence in a rapidly changing economy.