Succession planning is often viewed as an organizational issue that can only be resolved by those in the top positions. In reality, there is much that can be done at the bottom rung to facilitate this. Dr. Ed Sherman shares his insights on how to effectively conduct succession planning by investing in the team members’ career development through mentoring.

Dr. Ed Sherman has 40 years of experience in public safety having served as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, and paramedic. He is currently an organizational consultant, executive coach, and leadership development specialist helping both law enforcement professionals and organizations.

This session’s specifics include:

• Common notions associated with succession planning and mentoring, who the traditional mentors are, and redefining the mentor-mentee dynamics.
• How mentoring supplements the process of succession planning by ensuring key positions across all levels are filled by the most suitable team members.
• The need to create more structured mentoring programs in organizations that can directly impact succession planning.
• Steps and guidelines to create your organization’s mentoring and succession plan program.
  • Building a strong case that considers the cost and benefit of the program for both the people and the organization.
  • Establishing realistic and reasonable program goals that focus on areas where it is likely to succeed.
  • Identifying potential challenges and proactively preparing to address these.
  • Soliciting decision-makers and other stakeholders’ feedback in an effort to gain buy-in and involvement in the program.
  • Determining the roles and positions where the program is likely to have positive outcomes once implemented.
  • Identifying the best candidate mentees and potential mentors.
  • Implementing the program by staying focused on utilizing mentoring as a means to succession planning.
  • Measuring the effectiveness of the program based on the desired outcome of developing individuals who are able to advance in their career and fill the vacant key positions.
  • Managing people’s expectations and articulating that the program is not a guarantee for promotion but an opportunity to prepare for advancement.
• The value in handling performance issues promptly and providing those who are struggling with the enhancement, opportunities, and support needed.
• The importance of investing in the farm team and how mentoring can provide them with optimism, enthusiasm, interest, and opportunities that will be valuable throughout their career.
• How a mentorship relationship can improve outcomes in the personal and professional aspects of both the mentors’ and mentees’ life.
• How a structured leadership mentoring and succession planning program provides a win-win solution and has exponential positive effects for both the employees and the organization.

Points tackled in the Q&A were about:

• How mentoring programs can help address issues on turnover and retention.
• The need for true meaningful connections in the professional sphere.
• Preventing leaders from selecting just their favored individuals to be a part of the mentoring program.
• How mentoring programs can be leveraged by leaders to keep a pulse on what’s happening within the organization.
• Setting clear parameters on who gets to be a part of the mentoring program.
• Time limitation for mentoring programs.
• The most important steps to get started on implementing your organization’s mentoring program.

Other Webinars with This Speaker

• June 29: The Leader’s Dilemma: How to Balance Two Important Needs
• Sept 1: Decision Making: Maximizing Best Outcomes
• Oct 20: Leadership Mentoring: Successful Succession Planning (this webinar)
• Feb 15: Dealing with Challenging Staff Members
• March 17: Ask Me Anything… About Dealing with Challenging Staff Members

Resources and Handouts

• Handout: Key Points
• Book: One Minute Mentoring by Ken Blanchard and Claire Diaz-Ortiz
• Article Referenced: The Great Attrition or Great Attraction? The Choice is Yours. by Aaron De Smet, Bonnie Dowling, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi and Bill Schaninger. McKinsey and Company.

Audience Comments

• “Employee retention- how important it is to have in-person contact with employees outside of evaluations or disciplinary conversations.” — Andrea
• “Ed validated my thinking with regard to the need for formalizing a structured system to mentor team members and employ succession development.” — Frank
• “I liked how Dr. Sherman talked about realistic expectations and outcomes for mentorship. Obviously not everyone can promote who is eligible, but that doesn’t make mentorships any less worthy to have in place. A system based on learning to be better employees is more desirable to me than an organization that is full of people just wanting to move up. Also, moving up isn’t always what is best for an employee or the organization. Leadership can happen in any role.” — Jennifer
• “Everything that Dr. Sherman states was on point.” –Serida
• “It is critical for the administration to be aware of what is going on in all units; the morale and communication is important. It will be important to devise a succession plan that can be used for future positions.” — Tracy
• “Information provided was invaluable. It is my belief that mentorship is integral to any organization which was eloquently highlighted by Dr. Sherman’s presentation. Additional content regarding this topic would be helpful.” — Tracey