1.
Best Practices
Tita Datu Puangco is the CEO and President of Ancilla
Enterprise Development Consulting, a major training and
organization development company in the Philippines with an
Asian reach. It specializes in enterprise transformation,
executive coaching, corporate leadership and functional
training, human resource systems, corporate academies, learning
events and management of business training centers
Best practices in succession planning | Inquirer Business

2.
• One, is to engage all relevant stakeholders. It means they have to buy into
the process and are regularly updated on the results of assessment and
development opportunities. Have the CEO and Board own and commit to
the process.
• Two, is to start with the identification and assessment of internal
candidates for key and critical positions. These assume that the
competencies for the key positions have been developed as primary
criteria for selection. All candidates undergo assessment, preferably from a
third party to ensure fairness.
• Three, regular reviews. An annual check ensures an updated succession
map and considers the changing external environment factors thereby
aligning of business strategy
What are the best practices that will ensure
successful succession planning?

3.
• Four, use the pipeline approach. A number of industries have developed
and trained talents at all levels in so called “leadership academies”
ensuring a continuous pipeline of successors.
• Fifth, assess candidates for competency, achievement and potential. They
use a variety of means to assess candidates.
• Sixth, commit to development spending time and resources to ensure
successors likely to succeed.
• Seven, follow the logical process of: identifying the mission critical
positions, recognizing and developing the competencies of outstanding
performers, committing to succession management strategies, developing
and implementing the succession plans, and monitoring and evaluating
results.

4.
Conclusions

5.
• A key position is a position that is critical
to the viability and continuity of a
cooperative .
• Identifying key positions takes a holistic
approach and needs the input of key
stakeholders regarding the critical
KSAOs (knowledge, skills, ability,
outcomes), current and future
competency and environmental
scanning to identify opportunities and
obstacles.
5
Key Position

6.
• It is also important to ask not only who is ready now, but who maybe
ready in 3-5 years.
• Otherwise organization are depriving themselves of longer term pool
diversity.
• Organizations will need to determine relevant competencies and
experiences necessary for each of the potential areas of succession.
Assessment
• An employee self assessment can also be an
invaluable component of gap analysis.
• This activity becomes a catalyst for productive
conversation as well as agreed understanding of what
gaps should be addressed.

7.
Succession planning involves preparing
employees for possible future roles; it is
not pre-selection. If the succession
planning program is rooted in diversity
and equal employment opportunity, the
ultimate selection of employees to fill new
roles will reflect that focus. (Gender,
PWD, ethnicity).
Equal
Employment
Opportunity

8.
a. Job development requires incumbent employees be
suited for a series of positions; matching individual
talents with required tasks.
b. A job analysis that reveals the knowledge, skills and
abilities required for each role allows determination of
practical succession steps.
c. Identifying skill complements allows for easier
transitions between roles, creates options for
placement, reinforces desired performance of those
skills and supports development-centered staff training.
d. Succession planning differs from career pathing; it
equips incumbents with wide range of skills in
preparation for potential roles, in contrast to fast-
tracking, which moves them through a linear path of
jobs.
Matching
Talent to
Tasks

9.
During the succession planning process,
choose positions generally filled from within, work
to identify a number of potential feeder roles and
incumbents, and ensure everyone knows that
succession planning is intended to match the
organization's needs with the employees'
interests and that it makes no promises.
No Promises
No Compromise

10.
• A consistent practice of giving honest
performance feedback, for an immediate
correction.
• Educate managers about the legal and
ethical reasons for giving honest feedback.
• Employees deserve to know when their
behavior or performance is meeting
expectations. They also deserve the
chance to improve their behavior or
performance when it does not.
Honest &
Timely
Feedbacking

11.
• Compensation, benefits, bonuses, merit
increase, going to the right person
Reward
Strategy

12.
• Succession planning is a 12- to 36-month
process. Encourage team members and
leaders to think long-term and big-picture
during the program development. Reinforce
the concept of preparation, not pre-selection.
• A carefully prepared succession plan which
is periodically reviewed helps a cooperative
avoid prolonged and costly vacancies, thus
succession planning must be a priority task
that should be integrated into the strategic
plan of the cooperative.
Promote a Long-
Term View

13.
Knowledge transfer of processes and
strategies that allow an organization to:
1) Document key data and policies for
critical work processes
2) Exchange key process data and
information from one individual or group
to another
3) Define how vital and important
information will be retained within the
organization despite attrition.
4) System Access
Knowledge
Transfer

14.
Responsorial
psalm
The right people, with the
right knowledge, attitudes,
skills, at the right time, right
place and the right cost.