PROJECT WORK

Career Development Planning

SALES SUCCESSION PLANNING Project

Essential For Engagement and Good For Business

Having robust succession planning in place is a common aspiration of many companies.  The reason for this is that we know that having a succession plan in place provides essential career development opportunities for key talent and is good for business.  Yet it’s rarely done well and often occurs haphazardly and in isolation of essential components.  The primary reason for this is because succession planning is only one part of a broader career development planning process and depends on having roles and competencies defined, and having development planning in place as part of the performance management process.  Undertaking succession planning in absence of roles being defined in context of required competencies leads to what is typically a group of managers weighing in on individuals based on highly subjective opinions and experiences, and also comes across to associates as such.

The Downside Of Not Having Succession Planning in Place

Valued associates do not see a path to their future with your company and they leave.

Associates are unclear as to what it takes to get promoted, or believe promotions are based on whether a manager likes them or not.

Associates are not clear on which roles or skills they require in order to take on increased levels of responsibility.

Associates are not clear on how various roles compare in terms of skill requirements and level of responsibility.

Managers are not equipped with a common set of language to describe the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of their staff. This results in management team talent discussions that are inconsistent and often not actionable.

The quality of career discussions between manager and employee is highly dependent on the manager’s individual skill in this area and often ends up being highly inconsistent between groups, teams and managers.

It is difficult to attract top talent in the marketplace if a robust career planning process is not in place.

When a person quits who is in a critical role, managers are left scrambling to fill the role fast and perhaps with someone who is not the best candidate.

Customers and Clients experience angst and concern over whether the ‘right’ person is looking after their business.

Key Elements of the Career Development Process (in project scope)

Roles Are Well Defined

Roles are constructed for career development; Competencies that are required to move into these roles are defined; Background and experience required to move into these roles are defined.

Competency Model is Entrenched In Ways of Working

Development planning evolves around the competency model; Both leadership and functional competencies are defined.

Succession Planning is Robust

Critical roles are identified.  Role requirements are well defined.  Talent is assessed with clear next steps as output (future roles identified and development plan identified).

Development Planning Occurs

Development planning occurs regularly.  It evolves around defined competencies, and a model is used to capture planned learning and action plan.

What this project entails

I will lead the following work either wholly or in-part, and work with key stakeholders to achieve the following outputs:

Project Scope and Breadth

The scope of this project can vary.  It can range from starting with the Sales function only, and then also expand to include marketing, finance or other functions.  The depth of this project can also vary.  Both the scope and breadth will depend on what processes and tools are already in place at your company and the level at which they are entrenched and communicated.  The project can also take a phased approach, where some parts are introduced and remaining ones follow.

What I Bring

experience

20+ years leading sales teams in CPG.  Hands on leadership experience defining sales roles both in terms of background, experience and competencies required for each role, and also defining them in terms of mission critical roles.

knowledge

Strong working knowledge of the Lominger competency model.  I’ve also worked with a variety of company specific competency models given my broad CPG company experience.  Ownership experience with 9-box talent assessment models. 

best practice

A defined set of both functional and leadership competencies for all CPG sales roles.  Best practice development planning tools and model.

passion

A tremendous amount of passion for this topic and lots of experience doing this work.  Over 15 years leading sales teams and a proven track record of developing others.

a call to action

Contact me to discuss implementing succession planning with your team