Managing Talent and Succession Plans

Finding, developing and keeping top talent

Whatever your business, location or situation, having the right people in the right roles is essential for success. Talent management and succession planning ensure that there is a steady supply of the right people with the right skills and approach.

Good employees are hard to find and, with declining populations in developed western countries, it is becoming harder and more competitive to find talented people with the right attitude and skills. The solution is talent management: attracting, developing and retaining the right people. It also needs succession planning – the ability to deploy the specific capabilities in the right place at the right time.

Nurturing, developing and retaining the most talented people requires constant attention and action in several ways – this checklist explains how to ensure success.

Length: 21 pages

Contents:

The Benefits

Action Checklist: Establishing a Talent Pool and Talent Management Process

• Talent assessment and entry to the talent pool
• The talent proposition
• The talent contract
• Ongoing assessment and segmentation

Avoiding Problems – this includes techniques to help avoid potential pitfalls and ensure that common problems are pre-empted or swiftly resolved.

Dos and Don’ts

Key Questions

Things You Can Do

• Explain why talent management matters
• Develop and communicate guiding principles
• Invest in teams and make them stronger
• Inspire trust
• Differentiate free agents from loyalists
• Manage the head, heart and hands
• Organize a high-level succession planning conference
• Provide leadership development opportunities
• Provide talent pool members with career counseling and support
• Coach talent pool members
• Support personal development planning – use the self-development cycle
• Personal development planning

Best Practice: the Leadership Pipeline

Best Practice: Talent Management Roles and Responsibilities

Further Action

Further Information

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