Creating a Temporary Succession Plan to Ensure Business Continuity During a Pandemic
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This mission-critical process will maintain your business in the face of a worldwide health emergency
The Coronavirus is here and any one of us can catch it. It has already exposed our country’s poor planning and put many businesses at risk. So, what happens if one of your leaders get sick? Do you have a plan?
Ask yourself: Do you have bench strength or redundancy for key roles? Is information siloed? If a key leader is out suddenly, will there be an information, communication, skills, or leadership vacuum?
As we are all scrambling to stay healthy and shore up our businesses, now is a critical time to identify who will step in if one of your key leaders gets sick. I’m suggesting a temporary succession plan because there isn't time to develop this person. This is about business continuity and execution.
Key thoughts:
For each leader, identify an interim successor. For the C-suite, identify more than one, in case the interim gets sick.
Immediately change your communications. Anyone who is identified as a potential successor should be included in communications to create redundancy and uninterrupted workflow. This may require a major cultural shift: in a time of crisis, siloed communications should be avoided, as companies should endeavor to be more transparent and open.
Identify critical skills that are possessed by only one employee. What happens if they become ill? Consider quickly cross-training workers or identifying others outside the organization who may be tapped to fill in. Identify your bench, train them, and get them in the loop, so they can step in if needed.
Are there employees who have all of the information pertaining to a critical matter? Get them to give you an update. If they are already sick, ask their permission to record a verbal report so that you can get and retain the information that you need. Identify and implement ways to get continuous reporting from key employees, so there are no information deficits.
Identify leaders who do well under stress, will inspire confidence, have strong communication skills, and are compassionate, flexible, innovative, and energetic. And then communicate your plan to the rest of the organization.
Your employees need to know that there is a plan and what that plan is. Let them know that this is a leadership opportunity that could lead to being slated in the long-term succession plan, with further opportunities for development.
Don’t’ wait. This is critical to the success of your organization.
Carrie Trabue Is President of Carrington Legal Search, a different kind of legal & compliance executive search firm—one with a history of finding innovative solutions, partnering with clients, and supporting them through both good and bad times.