As leaders and human resource professionals consider an organization’s succession plans, they often classify prospective promotees in three buckets: Ready in 3-5 Years, Ready in 1-2 Years, and Ready Now.
This classification points to how much more experience and development leaders need before they are ready to take on a top job.
The best organizations are highly thoughtful about the development opportunities for leaders on the runway toward a bigger role, but they often scratch their heads when it comes to Ready Now leaders waiting for a top job to open up.
Retaining the talents of Ready Now leaders is of critical importance to the long-term viability of any organization.
Senior roles and positions are typically hard to come by in most organizations, so there are usually more Ready Now candidates sitting in the queue than is ideal.
The options of how to engage these leaders so they don’t leave for more senior positions elsewhere are worth considering. Let’s review them.
First, many organizations implement a co-head structure of leadership to create the room for more senior leaders.
By having units, divisions, groups, and functions led by two people, organizations double the opportunities for Ready Now leaders.
While this approach has its downsides and must become a part of how most groups are structured, it is an increasingly popular avenue to retain more top talent.
Another path to retain talent is to incorporate an experience that all Ready Now candidates must complete before being promoted.Such experiences buy time and allow an organization to further evaluate the leader to find the right position for them.
Some organizations require a 1-to-2-year leadership role in another culture across the world.
Others have leaders serve in a particular capacity for an extended time, such as a plant manager, a regional head, or leading a SWAT or catastrophe team.
Of course, experiences are organization-specific, but most workplaces are ripe to create them.
Increasingly popular is for organizations to create a developmental role for 18-24 months where Ready Now leaders can see the organization from a different vantage and get themselves set.
While they utilize different labels and names (such as Executive Director or Project Chief), these roles usually ask Ready Now candidates to serve as the number two or special projects leader in another division or unit unfamiliar to them.
Learning from an experienced mentor in another area and serving as their liaison has the added benefit of expanding their acumen and knowledge.
Ready Now leaders can rightfully become impatient while waiting for a top job to materialize.
Losing them to a competitor is a lousy outcome for the organization. Retaining their talents while the organization shuffles the deck chairs requires creativity and planning.
Great succession processes build this into their design. A succession plan without a talent retention strategy for Ready Now leaders isn’t much of a plan at all.
