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In this one-hour webinar, Allan Church, Ph.D (Maestro Consulting and former senior HR executive at PepsiCo), and Erica Desrosiers, Ph.D (global talent executive), discuss how to evolve succession planning. While many insights are offered, a few highlights include: strong performance over time is table stakes (the price of entry) before assessing potential—defined as how well someone is expected to perform in more complex roles. Allan distinguishes among three types of potential: 1) General (everyone can grow to some degree), 2) Leadership (ability to succeed at higher levels), and 3) Destination (readiness for a specific role). Destination potential is especially relevant for succession planning—potential for what role? Both Allan and Erica note that readiness for assuming a specific role (destination potential) is a loose and difficult concept to define or measure, often limited to arbitrary indicators such as “time to readiness.” One approach I’ve used to help gauge readiness is by determining the number of development moves away—the distinct and critical experiences a successor must complete before being considered “ready enough” to move into a targeted role. This approach emphasizes the development needed to accelerate readiness and prompts more intentional decisions beyond simply stating a vague timeline. With this as the backdrop, here is my one-page cheat sheet that can help identify the number of development moves for a successor.
