Selecting internal talent for promotion

Headhunters are having difficulty finding candidates to fill a management post after a long-time employee retired this year. Aside from headhunting, what’s the best way to find a suitable replacement? — Blind Mice.

I’m using the name “Blind Mice” (jokingly) to highlight what you’re missing in the process of succession planning to ensure business continuity. Talking to executive headhunters suggests that they don’t have a program designed to discover and nurture internal candidates.

Even without a formal succession plan, you should have known a long time ago that someone is retiring. That means you should have actively prepared some people as a possible replacement, assuming that your management decides to distribute the tasks to those who can perform them, which you need to explore as an option.

You can’t hide behind the excuse that the organization lacks internal talent. There’s no such thing if you know how to discover and nurture people so they can fit into management roles later on. Even if there are many internal candidates, the best approach is to send them to an external service provider who can assess their readiness for the job.

SIX STEPS
Forget the headhunters for a while. Instead, let’s focus on the many options that you can pursue under the circumstances. First and foremost, you must promote someone from within the organization. There’s no better choice but to look for talent inside the organization, even if the soon-to-retire executive believes no one can replace him yet.

Ignore him. After all, he shares the blame for the lack of talent and the unpreparedness of potential successor to assume the job. Now, do the following:

One, formalize the internal job vacancy announcement. Give applicants a reasonable timeline — not more than three weeks — to apply so potential candidates do not drag their feet. This allows candidates from other departments to come forward and bid for the position.

Outline the application process so internal candidates will know how to proceed, including the need for all applicants to undergo external assessments and the relevance of their performance over the last five years.

Two, require applicants to undergo a competency test. This is the best way to ensure objectivity in the process. Even if there’s only one candidate, it’s best for him to undergo such evaluations so that your organization will know if they’re fit for the job. If there appear to be many potential candidates, a service provider can recommend their number one choice for the job.

Three, ensure the completeness of the provider’s system. Central to this is the assessment center approach that includes the in-basket experience, case study and analysis, group discussions and role-playing, among others. All this must include the most common situations that are often experienced by the incumbent.

The more difficult the simulated situations are, the better that all candidates be put through them.

Four, decide on the result of the competency test. Even if all candidates fail the test, choose the candidate with the highest rating. Don’t stop there. Validate your decision by reviewing the performance of that candidate over the last five years. You may also include other job requirements but ensure they’re all objective and are included in the job vacancy announcement.

Five, consider other relevant leadership factors. This includes the candidate’s critical thinking skills, amiability, ability to work in teams, attitude, willingness to volunteer time and many more. Again, these requirements may be included in the job vacancy announcements so that candidates know where they stand at the outset.

Six, use seniority as a tie-breaker. Candidates with the most years of service must not be considered automatic shoo-ins for any promotion, especially if they show an average performance rating or poor attendance.

Last, create an ad hoc management committee to decide. You may include the incumbent executive in the committee. But be cautious about how the incumbent could derail the process or delay the proceedings. Remember that he was part of the problem for not ensuring that a successor is ready to come onboard anytime.

If you suspect as much, prepare for any eventuality. At any rate, I’m sure the department heads have a better sense of what to do, especially if they know that the outcome of the process will greatly benefit the organization’s future.

Bring Rey Elbo’s leadership program called “Superior Subordinate Supervision” to your line leaders. Chat with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter) or e-mail elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com