Strengths & Weakness of Human Resource Succession Planning

Human Resource Succession Planning is very critical for maintaining and sustaining healthy working environments in the organization. Whenever an impending top managerial vacancy looms in the organization, the HR department and top management work together in close alliance to find a suitable candidate for the job. This exercise comprises of shortlisting a few deserving candidates, training and polishing them, and equipping them to undertake jobs of higher authority and responsibility. At the end of the training period, the team evaluates all the shortlisted candidates again, and the organization picks the best candidate.

Succession Planning functions on the rationale that the absence of any one particular individual must not disrupt the work in the organization. The organization knows well in advance that the employee will leave the organization and so can plan and organize its human resources aptly and effectively through succession planning. The shortlisted and chosen employee receives rigorous training to undertake the future job opening. The departing employee then supervises the selected employee to provide hands-on training.

The selected employee is one who has been with the organization for some time now. He understands the hierarchies, work flows, ethics, ethos and authority-responsibility structures well. He knows of all the processes and people and their strengths and shortcomings. He is able to gel well with the organization. The employee is very productive to the organization as his motivation levels are very high. He feels the organization has lauded him for all the past hard work and is therefore driven to outdo his performance in the future too.

For the proper functioning of the organization, it is sometimes imperative to induct new employees. The new employees bring with themselves new ideas, objectivity and perspectives. This opportunity is lost when the organization trains and elevates an existing employee to a higher position and stature. In this case, the functioning of the organization progresses at a slow pace, and it continues to do so even under the management of the selected candidate.

Only one employee makes it to the higher rung in the organization after several receive training for the position. This breeds a lot of discontentment and dissatisfaction in the minds of the deselected employees, which can give way to bad blood and bad office politics in the organization. The deselected employees stop functioning to the fullest of their capacities, resulting in losses. Many times these employees search for jobs elsewhere and leave the company.