Better Succession Planning—How to Make Internal Changes Smoother

Does your organization have a plan for succession? When high performers are looking for their next challenge, they have a choice. They find it elsewhere in another company and role or they move to the next stage of their career journey in your organization. But without a solid plan for succession from your leaders, it’s often the former option that people take.

In this episode, recorded live at a recent event, Anita and Vanessa sit down with Jessica Zwaan, the Chief Operating Officer at Talentful and author of the brilliant book, ‘Built for People: Transform Your Employee Experience Using Product Management Principles.’

Jessica shares her unique perspective on transforming employee experiences using product management principles. We dive deep into the differences between succession planning and growth planning, and Jessica offers valuable advice for HR leaders, especially those in small teams. She highlights the importance of understanding the business' economic outlook and how HR can directly contribute to making or saving money.

Jessica explains that when leaders help to develop their own successors, this is a far better investment than bringing new people in to replace those who leave. She explains how this ties into the Employee Customer Acquisition Cost (ECAC) and how factors like tenure and performance can be powerful levers in improving this metric.

Key moments: 

• Jessica explains the topics in her book
• Advice on succession planning for teams of one
• The differences between succession and growth planning
• Why business leaders and HR need to know the business fundamentals
• How we can incentivize leaders to grow their successors
• Why succession planning is a better investment than acquiring new talent
• Succession when tied to tenure and performance
• Building a strategy around succession planning
• How employees can learn and develop
• Focusing on the bigger picture when asking for a tech solution
• Why succession planning needs to happen from day one if you’re a growing company

Key links: 

• Subscribe to HR Unplugged Series: https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/podcasts/hr-unplugged/
• Join HR Heroes Slack Community: https://join.slack.com/t/hrheroesworkspace/shared_invite/zt-21ad3f1r8-dkWC2EdmyhxUAHw9cGLdQw
• Bamboo HR Homepage: https://www.bamboohr.com/
• Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamayzwaan/
• Learn more about Jessica and her book: https://www.jessicamayzwaan.com/