Integration Key to Effective Succession Planning

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Integration Key to Effective Succession Planning
by Shelly Heiden

Whether attempting to crown the next CEO or determine which workers to tap
for promotion to the company's managerial ranks, an organization needs a
comprehensive view into the workforce's skills and talent in order to make
the best talent and business decisions. Integrating learning, performance
management, compensation management and career planning can facilitate
effective succession planning.

A successful succession plan should answer the following questions for each
candidate:

a) Learning: What does the candidate know (knowledge)? What is he or she
qualified to do (skills)? What training has the candidate completed?

b) Performance and competency management: How well has the candidate
performed in the past? What does past performance indicate about areas of
strength and/or weakness? Which competencies has the candidate attained or
still need to ascend to the next level? Which positions in the organization
map to the competencies demonstrated by this candidate?

c) Compensation management: What is the candidate's compensation history?
How does the candidate's compensation map to his or her performance and
achievement of corporate goals?

d) Career planning and development: What are the candidate's future career
goals? Where does the person see him or herself professionally, one, three,
even 10 years down the road? Is the candidate willing to relocate in order
to accept a new or existing position? How much is he or she willing to
travel?

To answer these questions, organizations must have insight and visibility
into organizational talent. By integrating and aggregating information about
an employee's learning, performance management, compensation,
career-planning activities and history, organizations can generate a
comprehensive snapshot of each employee or of an organization's entire
workforce.

Further, this integrated approach serves to match employee career goals with
organizational staffing needs, allowing companies to more effectively
leverage existing talent.

Historically, the enterprise-technology platforms available to manage this
employee data have been largely cut off from one another, each confined to
its own silo of functionality. Traditional learning management systems
(LMS), for example, automate the delivery and management of training and, in
some instances, competencies. Traditional employee performance management
systems (EPM) automate performance management administration and, in some
instances, career planning.

This siloed approach has made it nearly impossible to integrate the
information necessary for effective succession planning. But talent managers
now are driving the evolution of a new class of enterprise software.

According to a June 2007 research report titled "Learning Management Systems
2008: Facts, Practical Analysis, Trends and Vendor Profiles" from research
firm Bersin & Associates, the integration revolution already has begun.

The report said the "convergence of learning and performance management
systems is still in its early stages," but LMS features are evolving and
"continue to snowball at an incredible rate." Further, in response to
customer demand, nearly every major LMS vendor "has developed a new set of
capabilities for performance management, succession planning, and competency
management."

According to Gartner Inc. the same phenomenon is occurring in the EPM
market. When Gartner Research Vice President James Holincheck wrote the
update to the research firm's "MarketScope for Employee Performance
Management Software" in late 2007, he said EPM systems are no longer being
evaluated on their own, and customers are increasingly selecting EPM
solutions that are "more integrated with compensation and succession
management."

In response, Gartner not only broadened the scope of its research to include
all three areas, it expanded the very definition of EPM, from focusing only
on performance management to include succession management and compensation
management.

With succession planning moving to the forefront of the corporate agenda,
the time has come for stakeholders to evaluate their succession planning
strategies and solutions in the context of broader talent management
capabilities and goals.

[About the Author: Shelly Heiden is executive vice president for Global
Field Operations at Plateau Systems.]