Author/ Jiandong Hu, Giorno Organizational Vitality Product Line
From Jordan to Kobe Bryant, and now James and Curry, why is there always so many good players in the NBA in every period who can lead the times? This is thanks to the fact that NBA teams have a perfect "bench plan", which promotes each team to continuously improve, filter, and eliminate players to ensure that they can "play players" at any time.
To be as talented as an NBA team, companies need to have their own "bench plan" - a succession plan for cadres.
We have investigated many companies in the past, and many entrepreneurs have said: "There are so many talents in other companies, why is our company unavailable and the talent is exhausted?" "The long-term stability of enterprises requires an excellent cadre team, and it is especially important to have complete succession management."
What is the "Bench Plan"?
NBA teams aren't content with the stars of the year, and teams are constantly looking for talent who can inherit their star and starting position so that they can accumulate practical experience. Therefore, no matter how good the players are, there will definitely be substitutes, so that when the main player is absent, they can also be made up in time to maintain competitiveness.
Chinese star Jeremy Lin, who previously trained in NBA subordinate teams, brought a huge role after returning to the team, helping the team win a wave of consecutive wins and turn around the decline when the major general was lacking, and the role of bench players can be seen.
In enterprise management, the construction of talent echelons is equally important. The establishment of a talent succession mechanism can be used as an effective means of talent reserve management. Talent Succession Planning refers to the search, identification and continuous development of talents who may be qualified for these key positions after the enterprise has identified key positions according to strategic priorities, so that they can be qualified for the requirements and responsibilities of key positions in the future, and ultimately bring about the sustainable development of the company's business.
Why do "bench planning"?
For NBA teams, if they want to be continuously competitive in the league, they need strong reserve players and a steady stream of fresh blood. Injuries to the main players, player trades from competitors will affect the competitiveness of the team. Therefore, there are enough players in all positions of the team who are ready to play, so that the team can continue to fight.
Existing talent is important for companies, and they play a crucial role in the current development of the company. However, with the development of the industry and the change of market competition, whether talents in key positions can maintain enthusiasm and stability has become an uncertain factor for enterprises. Therefore, the talent reserve of enterprises is particularly important, and the succession plan for cadres came into being.
Replacement talents for key positions are the key factor in undertaking the future strategic development of enterprises.
The NBA's "bench plan" is the best way for many players to show themselves on the NBA stage, allowing players to plan their career development path from the perspective of career development, enter the reserve team of career improvement, and thus obtain opportunities to accelerate growth; The team can also prepare players for each position at any time.
The same is true for companies, where succession planning is an opportunity for employees to gain exposure to the top of the company, allowing employees to plan their career development path from an organizational perspective; It can also help enterprises identify key leadership positions as early as possible, discover the gap in talent demand, and avoid/respond in advance to the risks brought by the departure of core personnel or insufficient talent reserves to the business.
So succession planning has two significant implications:
1. Ensure that important positions can be supplemented by outstanding talents on a priority basis, promote the flow of talents across regions/departments/systems, realize the effective deployment of talents, and form an efficient and profound talent reserve;
2. Stimulate existing cadres, promote the positive performance of on-the-job cadres, and make them have a sense of crisis and hunger. "The deeper the bench, the harder the existing players", and the same is true for enterprises, the better the succession plan, the harder the cadres.
What exactly is a succession plan for cadres?
So how can companies make effective succession planning? We can also take cues from the NBA's "bench plan."
In the NBA, the fierce competition for each game is essentially a competition for talent between teams. The development of "bench" players is an important factor in the continuous competition of a team every season.
NBA teams have affiliated or affiliated teams in the Development League, and any team can promote players to the NBA in the Development League, or delegate players from their own team to the Development League for training. As a result, the "bench plan" allows the main players to maintain lasting motivation and dare not slack, because there is a group of "wolf-like" bench players behind them.
For enterprises, succession planning can be summarized as "four points and one line".
(1) Business strategy
Enterprises first clarify their own strategic planning, clarify their goals and market positioning, evaluate their advantages and disadvantages with competitors, so as to guide the business strategy on the needs of the organization and talents, and then examine the health of the organization's current talent structure.
Just like NBA teams, first clarify whether your goal is to compete for the championship or make the playoffs, and then evaluate the competitiveness and health of the team's various positions to determine the team's "bench plan."
(2) Requirements for organization/talents
After clarifying its own strategic planning, enterprises clarify the requirements for organization/talent according to the main contradictions and business focus, and then identify the talent needs of key positions.
(3) Job portrait
After identifying key positions, enterprises can establish job portraits for each key position, clarify the business and characteristics/challenges, key ability pursuits, key experience requirements and other characteristics of the position, clarify the training direction of cadre talent echelon construction, and enable key positions to adopt targeted talent development strategies.
(4) Cadre echelons
Through inventory and identification of more cadre resources, ensure the health of the talent pipeline, and have its own "bench players" and "development leagues". Benchmark companies ensure the competitiveness and stability of reserve forces through unique succession plans. The current cadres of the company are the starting players of the NBA, acting as the main force for creating value and achieving strategic goals.
For the talent echelon inventory, reserve talents can be divided into three levels according to the degree of succession readiness level:
1．Ready-now
Talents who have reached all the standards required for the target position, can be on the job at any time, act as cadres, and have excellent key abilities and sufficient experience.
Enterprises can adopt a precise strategy, empower key positions based on their key responsibilities, and even directly put these talents on the job to learn and improve their practical capabilities in specific businesses.
2．One-job-away
It means that talents lack 1-2 key capabilities in key positions, which are not enough to take on the responsibilities of the post, and need to experience more and improve key experience.
Companies can adopt a development-focused strategy and develop a personal training plan for the next 1 to 2 years.
3．Two-job-away
It means that talents still lack more key capabilities from the key position standards, but they have shown certain potential and can be developed in the long run.
Companies can take a potential-focused approach, identify the gap between talent and key roles, and use a 3- to 5-year career development plan to develop the key experience and capabilities required.
How to use the succession plan after it is completed?
After completing the succession plan, enterprises must first pay attention to the cultivation of talents, whether it is one-job-away or two-job-away reserve talents, they must be put into the corresponding positions to make up for the missing experience.
Through the flow of cadres, the training and practice of different positions, so that they can grow and experience. Companies also need to pay more attention to these employees to maintain maximum vitality and ability to be closest to business needs at all times.
At the same time, companies should take a routine look to make succession planning "live". Take out the talent echelon at a fixed time and repeatedly inventory to ensure that the succession plan can always meet the company's current strategic development and the organization's talent needs.
Companies can learn from the NBA's fixed "bench moves" at fixed times, before the start of the season and in the middle of the season, the team will make personnel adjustments at specific times, and also have the power to promote players from the development league to the roster at any time when the roster is incomplete.
Therefore, enterprises should also have their own "quarterly review" and "annual review" to ensure that the succession plan of the enterprise meets the latest strategic goals and organizational capability requirements, and also ensures the construction of the reserve talent echelon, always close to the development of the business, and real-time planning of the expected cadre changes, so that the talent echelon can always maintain maximum vitality, drive the growth of employees, and also focus on the development of the enterprise.
The key to the survival of cadres
The succession plan is the "bull's nose" for the construction of the cadre management system and the "general headquarters" for the specific work of cadre management. But how can we do a good job of succession planning?
In order for succession planning to really play a positive role, it is necessary to grasp three key points.
1. Prioritize key positions based on middle and senior management, and invest resources to make succession planning
The resources of the enterprise are limited, and the succession plan should give priority to those key positions that are most closely related to the company's strategy, and the company should take stock of key positions and alternate talents, and carry out proactive intervention and risk management. Invest company resources in important positions to make efficient and correct succession planning.
2. Identify key experiences and key needs to improve succession and transition efficiency
Enterprises need to generate positive traction for incumbents through succession planning, convey positive pressure, and enable talents to create value more effectively.
Companies also need to accelerate the gap between successors and key positions in terms of capabilities and experience. Combined with the company's strategic needs and talent training requirements, carry out targeted cross-departmental mobility, and add the assessment of key position ability and experience improvement in the work arrangement.
3. Do a good job in appointment management and sort out the succession plan charter
Succession planning must be seen as an important strategic move for the company, taking a holistic view of talent development, not just talent supply.
The company needs to have a set of standardized articles of association to standardize the procedures, clarify the division of responsibilities for cultivating succession, and let the succession training of current cadres in key positions be implemented in their own job responsibilities and assessments, so that succession planning truly becomes a regular measure that accompanies the growth of the enterprise.
One of the necessary ways for companies to embrace change and plan ahead is to have a clear and effective succession plan. It's like the NBA, "the more players you have on the bench, the more players on the court." Only by aligning with the strategy, using standardized methods to inventory the talents within the organization, and creating an excellent reserve talent echelon, can we cultivate more "future" key talents.
Historical experience always tells us that the present is not really good, and the future is always good!