How to engage business leaders in succession

As an HR professional, you know that effective succession management is critical if you’re going to prevent unplanned talent losses from disrupting business operations. But who must own the succession process if it’s going to work optimally and support organizational goals?

The answer isn’t HR. It’s your line-of-business leaders.

But do your leaders share a common understanding of what it means to own the succession process? Do they understand why the company goes through the exercise? Do they know that an enterprise-wide, leadership-driven succession process is a best practice among top-performing organizations?

If you can show your line-of-business leaders how succession planning benefits them — and support and guide them in the process — they’ll be more engaged, the process will reap greater rewards, and you’ll be better able to support your leaders in reaching their business goals.