Key individuals and positions include the executive director, senior management, staff members, and volunteers that would be hard to replace due to their skill or experience, capabilities, and/or requirements. Ask yourself which positions would need to be filled almost immediately to ensure your organization continues to function effectively.
Examine your strategic and operational plans to articulate priorities clearly. Identify and list the gaps between positions, individuals, and needs. Ask questions such as:
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The evaluation can be formal or informal and can include performance reviews, 360-degree assessments, and informal conversations with the individuals under consideration.
The executive director may be aware that an employee is willing and able to be promoted. This may be an opportunity to recognize this goal and support it.
Be open to the possibility that those with lived experience and/or those with job experience who may have encountered barriers to access to education may still have the skills, knowledge, and expertise required to do the work.
Take this opportunity to give less experienced team members a chance. So often, those with less experience enthusiastically enter the nonprofit sector and then leave when they can’t find opportunities to advance. Address this turnover potential by matching their interests to opportunities provided through effective succession planning.
There are many perspectives to consider when deciding whether or not to share your succession plans. Knowledge of succession plans can lead employees to feeling a sense of belonging and advancement — it can also lead to feelings of tension, competition, and frustration.
If you make your succession plan transparent, you have to be clear about how you conduct your evaluations. Use clear measures that demonstrate how you arrived at the plan, along with a description of the conditions under which the plan might change, including individual performance factors and environmental factors.
Decisions based on incomplete or biased information could lead to grudges and negative claims such as favouritism or nepotism.
Succession plan needs can change rapidly, leading to staff feeling cheated or misled if they are not informed of a change in plan. Therefore, the plan needs to be updated in real-time. Factors that can affect succession plans include:
Be prepared to address issues such as concerns of staff who have not been selected for career advancement. Ensure alternative paths are identified to allow all employees interested in career enhancement to be given some type of professional development opportunity.
Professional development can include such wide-ranging activities as formal education and training, workshops and seminars, and less formal learning opportunities such as the chance to represent the organization at a consultation.
Important: To avoid a potential constructive dismissal or other claims, include a statement to specify that a succession plan is not a guarantee of a position; rather, it represents a developmental plan to prepare an individual should opportunities arise within your organization.
If possible, move people into different areas for experience and training before they’re needed in critical positions. Have individuals job shadow for an agreed-upon time to give the successor a real sense of the responsibilities and to allow your organization the chance to determine whether the individual is well-suited for the new position.
Organizations that work on processes as a team are more familiar with each other’s work and how the pieces all fit together. Succession planning can also mean crafting organizational structures that are more resilient to change and the movement of personnel.
Based on the evaluation and the requirements of your strategic plan:
The mix of activities included within the action plan should be linked to timelines and specific outcomes. The plan must be capable of adapting as individual and organizational needs change. It must also consider the particular needs, learning styles, and personalities of the individuals involved to be effective.
As people leave and new people assume their responsibilities, the plan will have to be updated to identify the next person to be developed for promotion and the requirements of their action plan.
When identifying an individual from a diverse background, please know that peers and other members of management could target them as being seen as a “token” hire. Please ensure that you have ample evidence to back your selection to avoid such experiences from occurring. If such allegations are made, please ensure that the employee being targeted is supported in an authentic and dignified manner.
There may be board members or volunteers in other positions within your organization with the talent, knowledge, and experience to effectively transition to a paid position.
As a result of a shift from core funding to project-based funding, more and more project staff move from organization to organization with short contracts. These people will often have gained information about your organization’s operations and could move seamlessly into a core staff position.
New employees are often found in other nonprofits. While some may view this as poaching, the reality is that employees who aren’t being challenged or aren’t happy will leave your organization for a better opportunity. In some cases, employees have been known to leave for a position in another organization but return years later with new experiences and skills.
Keeping exceptional employees in the sector by allowing them to move around to develop their careers ultimately benefits the sector’s capacity.
An innovative approach would be to develop a pool of candidates with other organizations and develop a rotational program to allow key employees to move from one organization to the next. This approach would ensure key individuals remain challenged and motivated while a group of nonprofits all benefit from the expertise.
While most consultants may prefer to stay in their line of business, some would like to become staff members if asked. In some cases, consultants worked for a nonprofit before becoming a consultant and are interested in moving back into the sector to work.
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