In order to build the workforce of the future, a holistic approach to recruitment, engagement and retention is needed by companies, as well as by the state and by local governments. This approach should include succession planning. This is an essential process whereby an organization ensures that employees are recruited and their skills developed to fill key roles within the company.

It’s very hard to have a successful business without great people running it. Companies that manage succession well have been investing in the leadership of their people in conjunction with developing their businesses.

Here’s how other companies have benefitted from succession planning:

Apple’s Succession Plan

The late Steve Jobs, iconic CEO of Apple Computers Inc, and the company’s public face for more than a decade, became ill in 2003. Between that time and his eventual stepping down as CEO of Apple, he prepared a succession plan, the result of which was Apple University. Founded in 2008, Apple University now has an excellent leadership curriculum with content and materials that are based on Jobs’ experiences. Its purpose is to develop future leaders who embody Apple culture.

Before Steve Jobs passed away, speculation was rife about who would eventually step into his shoes, but for its own reasons, Apple would not divulge its succession plans. Management experts opined that organisations that strive to embody sound judgment and values, and good decision-making, should do everything in their power to avoid a motivational and management vacuum. Succession planning would revitalise, refresh and reposition the organisation in a rapidly changing environment. Since an organisation depends on its stakeholders – workforce, leadership and clients/customers – having a succession plan in place becomes one of the chief characteristics of a successful business enterprise.  In accordance with these principles, Steve Jobs decided to prepare Tim Cook for the position of CEO.

Cook took on a variety of different operational roles, including manufacturing, distribution, sales, and supply chain management before working directly with Jobs to gain experience in the role of CEO. In his resignation letter, Steve Jobs wrote, “As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.” In a recent interview, Tim Cook shared his view on succession planning, saying, “I see it as my role as CEO to prepare as many people as I can to be CEO, and that’s what I’m doing. And then the board makes a decision at that point in time.”

Apple is a prime example of an organization that boasts a successful succession plan, with a strong long-term strategy that ensures there will be no problems when it comes to future leadership in the company.

Unilever

In 2008, Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch multinational corporation, and the world’s second largest consumer group, was looking for a new Chief Executive. For the first time in their 78-year history they found themselves looking at an outsider to fill the role because they had been unable to find the right candidate among their own ranks.  Unilever, at the time, was rife with internal politics, endless reorganizations, and an aging portfolio of brands. Whoever succeeded to the post of Chief Executive would be inheriting a moribund company with declining revenue and profits. With 28 years of experience at both the major rivals of Unilever (26 years at Procter and Gamble and 2 years at Nestlé), 52-year-old, Dutch-born Paul Polman was considered the ideal candidate. Despite his impressive experience, and his excellent communication and operational skills, there was much debate about whether Polman, being an outsider and a finance person, would be able to lead Unilever successfully. He eventually took over in early 2009 and moved quickly to globalize Unilever. He set the bold targets of doubling its revenue from 40 billion Euros to 80 billion by 2020 and of increasing its share of business from emerging markets to a stunning 70 percent. It turned out this outsider was a good bet after all because his efforts thus far have paid off and Unilever is once again winning the race.

Polman has said, “The only true differentiation between companies is the quality of leadership.” For this reason, he has put a lot of effort into building Unilever’s global leadership team. Importantly, he raised the bar for Unilever leaders, encouraging them to be authentic and high-performing. He created the Unilever Leadership Development Plan (ULDP), putting its top 900 executives, globally, through a customized leadership program in cohorts of twenty leaders. Furthermore, he invests strongly in succession planning and believes that “Leaders that are purpose-driven, authentic and want to leave a positive legacy for future generations will play a huge role in achieving our sustainable growth ambitions.”

No successor, No promotion

In fact, Robert Kaplan, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, felt so strongly about succession planning that he would not promote anyone to a bigger job if they hadn’t developed a successor. He said they would go through names and talk about their strengths and their weaknesses and whether they fit this job and then they’d get to, “Okay, who’s going to take their place in that job?”  If the reply was, “There’s no one,” he’d ask, “There’s no one?  How could there be no one?  Is there something about their leadership style that explains why they have no one?”

https://bigthink.com/videos/succession-planning

Planning for the Future

Does your company have a succession plan in place? Have employees been placed on pathways? One suggestion might be to run a “business simulation” that predicts the world 10 years from now. It lets leaders experiment with their decision-making safely and, at the same time, see the impact that the decisions they make now will have on the future.

Succession planning can help maintain growth and stability as well as encourage retention and promotion from within. The examples of Apple and Unilever are just two of many which bear testimony to the effectiveness of succession planning. These companies were thoughtful, strategic, and set their plans with intention. They gathered candidates with the right amount of experience, expanded their resumes, and invested in their employees. These plans also required willing and helpful leaders who stepped back to mentor as they prepared to exit. Leaders at any company, or in government, can benefit from these lessons.