Succession planning Strategic HR
By instilling confidence and
cementing their capability in
these ways – strategic focus,
commercial acumen, visibility,
proactivity, courage – HRDs can
win the ear of the CEO and gain
their trust when it comes to
succession planning, more than
any other function.
HR heroes
It should be remembered that
for most CEOs considering their
own succession or would-be
CEOs wanting to step up, this
is a time of some emotional
upheaval. This can be an
opportunity for HRDs to build
trust with key executives even
further, as they can take on
a coaching role essential to
the smooth running and
commercial health of the
business during transition.
For the HRDs already in
this position, where they are
valued highly by the CEO and
board, the new regulations are
a no-brainer.
“The way I see it is that if I’m
doing my job and operating well
then I’m automatically going to
be following the principles of
the Code,” says Jill Tennant,
group HR director at Diploma.
Tennant has been in her role for
eight months and describes
succession planning as the
“number one thing that
occupies my mind”.
In all of the companies she
has worked in she has seen the
challenges of CEO succession
planning and the disruptive and
expensive consequences when
things go wrong. They hit home
the vital importance of the HRD
in the process. Having never had
an HRD before, her company is
100% behind her drive to put
good succession planning at the
heart of the business.
“It’s hard for a board to really
get under the skin of a business
and understand what skills are
required. HR plays a critical
Leadership for
the 21st century
Simon Linares,
HR director at Direct
Line Group
“A good succession plan
is when a business
anticipates its leadership
needs of the future and
puts in enough time to
plan for a smooth
transition. The longer
you can plan ahead
the better, but it’s good
practice to look at least
three to four years into
the horizon so that
when there is a
change the change can be an orderly transition and not a
disruptive distraction.
“When done well there will be a clear continuity plan that
everybody from the board to the executive team knows and
understands, and which anticipates and prepares for any
future changes.
“The single biggest reason fi rms historically haven’t been
great at this is that there can be a discomfort of having open
and honest conversations. This comes from both sides.
Executives need to feel comfortable about their future and
when they would like to do something different, and the
nominations committee needs to feel comfortable that they
can talk to executives about business needs and plans that
go on beyond their tenure.
“By not having those conversations succession planning
often only starts when somebody resigns. This can be
disruptive and reduces the pool of successors available to
choose from.
“There is also an instinct to replace the person you are
losing rather than fi nd the person that will be needed for
the future, yet this should not be the case given the
inevitability of evolving businesses meaning challenges will
not be the same.
“Companies need to make sure they have a process that
genuinely fi nds the right person rather than somebody who
would historically ‘meet the mould’. If you want to be truly
diverse then you need to value and seek somebody who is
different to others within the team; somebody who can offer
a different perspective and refl ect its employee and
customer base.
“There is also now a broader focus from investors around
whether an organisation is well run. This shift will cause more
boards to expect HR to better support them in having better
conversations about succession planning, focusing on
behaviours and CSR agendas.
“Investors can see the difference between sudden
departures and the well-planned orderly succession that
happens when there is a good handover and steady
confi dent leadership of the business.”
hrmagazine.co.uk February 2020 HR 25
/hrmagazine.co.uk