Succession Management (Download)

Case Study

The CEO of a $3.5B, global specialty chemicals company contacted WJM Associates and requested a meeting to discuss the organization’s goal in identifying and developing a potential CEO successor from a short list of three internal senior executives. All three reported directly to the CEO and were long term employees of the organization.

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The best performing companies in the world agree that organizational success comes from attracting, developing and retaining the right people.  These companies manage their leadership talent portfolio as proactively and as strategically as they would any tangible asset and have Succession Management strategies that are inextricably tied to both leadership development and recruiting - strategies that do not occur by accident.  Top talent developers adopt a highly strategic approach rather than a reactive one, especially during times of accelerating organizational change in challenging market conditions. 

Recent studies show it takes about three years to identify a high potential and another 10 years to prepare them for the executive suite.  WJM believes that it is not enough to have great leaders at the top—continuity in developing great leaders is what truly separates high performing organizations from the rest.  To achieve this, a match needs to be created between the organization’s future needs and the aspirations of talented individuals, and to provide these executives with growth opportunities that keep them stretching and finding more promising opportunities internally than they might otherwise find elsewhere.

Effective Succession Management Systems:

  • Identify high performers and keep them motivated and engaged so they do not seek external opportunities
  • Promote a continuous and deep supply of talent
  • Respond to the demand for new skill sets and capabilities
  • Shorten executive learning curves
  • Clarify performance standards

The Best Succession Management Programs Are:

  • Developmentally oriented
  • Unified and simplistic
  • Effective at spotting gaps in talent and at identifying important “linchpin” positions
  • Continually evaluated against customer satisfaction metrics, market share and financial performance, and then improved upon.


WJM Associates Inc., the foremost experts in executive assessment and development, offers a highly strategic and pragmatic Succession Management methodology for continually identifying future leaders and providing them with meaningful and measurable development.  Our objective is to help you build and retain an organization of successful individuals.
 

 
The WJM Succession Management Process

WJM conducts in-depth interviews with the senior leadership team to understand the organization’s vision, strategy and culture. WJM identifies succession planning objectives and reviews and/or develops leadership competencies required to support the organizational strategy, as well as specific technical competencies required for any specific roles in question.  Ground rules for the assessment process, confidentiality and key success factors are also explored.
 
WJM interviews each assessment participant focusing on:
  • Fit within the organization’s culture
  • Leadership competency assessment
  • Technical competencies specific to role
  • Management style
  • Leadership ability
  • Interpersonal effectiveness

WJM utilizes a variety of diagnostic assessment tools, when appropriate.  Often, these tools include personality and/or leadership styles instruments that assess the candidate's abilities to successfully perform within the organization in the specified role, as well as WJM’s proprietary 360º process.  WJM can advise our clients on which instrument(s) best suits the organization within the context of the succession planning objectives.
 
 

Feedback of the assessment results is delivered to each executive in a clear and constructive manner with the executive's development as the primary focus. A triad meeting is conducted with the WJM Consultant, the executive and his/her manager to review the outcomes of the assessment.  Our guide is the Leadership Proficiency Evaluation™ (LPE™).  The LPE™ provides a summary of the information gathered from the face-to-face interview, diagnostic assessments and 360⁰ interviews. The intent of the written report is to offer a clear and concise evaluation based on the interviews and tests in which the executive has participated.
 

WJM presents a summary report on the executives and organizational themes to leadership, HR and/or the Board of Directors. We make recommendations on developmental options, leadership actions and organizational effectiveness.
 

WJM works with the executives to improve performance and to strengthen the connection between the leader and the organization’s vision for the future.  In essence, this phase assists high potentials in developing the required competencies for the future, enabling the succession plan to reach its objectives.  WJM’s approach is a proven process that enhances the executive's value to the company and provides an attractive return on the investment in human capital.
 

WJM works with our clients to continually refine and adjust the succession management system.  We incorporate changes to the process in response to feedback from line managers, executives and participants.  WJM incorporates dialogue and debate about talent and the succession process so that its utilization and value can be improved over time.