Job hunting is rarely a fun experience, but it is even less so in a trying economy where unemployment is hovering near 10%.   If you read the papers and watch the news you hear that jobs are out there, but those out of work often do not have the skill sets that these open positions require.  So, the question for a job seeker is how do you gain, and more importantly portray, that you have these skills to a potential employer? read more »

A Nine-Box matrix is typically used in succession planning to plot the potential of an employee to move up in the organization on one axis and performance ratings on the other axis.  This allows you to compare, contrast, and desk check that you are considering as many individuals as possible for succession plans.

But, why should we stop there?  Aquire is implementing some great creative usage in the 9 box to help solve many business and talent-driven decisions.  I bet you would love to see performance rating on one axis and the scale of salary or raise % within a 9 box.  It allows people to fall directly into the 9 box and you can see the outliers during your bonus planning.  It is very powerful. read more »

What has the succession department and teams looked like at BP for the last few months?  I am sure they have been busy and they were not proactive, it has been excruciating painful to live in  their shoes.  It was apparent early on that the public would want to see somebody at BP personally pay for the gulf disaster and as Hayward became a repeat offender of the ‘foot in mouth award’, it became obvious that no matter how well he runs the company, he was going to go.

But besides all the rabbit holes we could go down for that specific topic, let’s talk about the needs for succession planning.  Do you think that 6 months ago BP thought they would be discussing the replacement of their CEO this summer?  Do you think that there is only one person being replaced at BP? – NOT  What about the people that specifically managed the work around regulations to avoid building a relief well?  I would bet these less visible positions will be turning over quickly too. read more »

Succession planning discussions aren’t limited to HR industry magazines and websites anymore – just Google search “Yankees succession plan” and you’ll get a host of hits from a wide range of sources. Clearly this is more than just buzz – it’s top of mind in the business community, as I believe it should be. A sound succession plan keeps organizations on the path to success.

So why do we hesitate to create that crucial blueprint? Confusion? Dread? Lack of resources and tools? Too many of us get bogged down in the concept of managing the process instead of focusing on the plan itself.

This is a subject that I’ve been tackling head on lately. So, I thought I’d put all of our recent succession planning resources here. I hope you enjoy! read more »

It is amazing to me how many businesses McKinsey & Company find that have not built succession plans, even for their CEO. That’s nearly half in the study. Considering that 100% of us die at some point in time, and 100% of us eventually leave our jobs in one way or another, it’s unbelievable anyone would consider not building a succession plan immediately for their CEO and key employees throughout the organization. What are they scared of that could possibly be worse than a gap in their leadership? read more »