SUCCESSION PLANNING Jonathan P. Ruff, P.E. Environmental Manager

SUCCESSION PLANNING Jonathan P. Ruff, P.E. Environmental Manager City of Plattsburgh, NY [email protected] 518-536-7519

Agenda What is Succession Planning? Why is it important? How do we do it? Case Study

Houston, we’ve got a problem.

Crisis Background 78 million Baby Boomers turning 65 in 20 years 16% of workforce is over 55. 25% over 55 by 2020. Retiring en-masse. Insufficient replacements available.

Employees Leave – They always do Preparation for that day is Succession Planning

I understand that most of you are from relatively small organizations. I’m going to lay out the “traditional” approach that large organizations typically use and then come at it with a modified approach that tries to account for the needs/constraints of smaller organizations. Disclaimer

Succession Planning Introduction/Definitions Context Developing the Plan Implementation

Succession Plan The process of developing a systematic approach to building replacement workers to ensure continuity, by identifying potential successors in critical work processes.

Succession Management The integrated approach to workforce recruitment, development, and retention to ensure that the organization has candidates whose present and future potential contribute to their individual success and the success of the organization.

Knowledge Transfer Processes and strategies that allow an organization to: Document key data and policies for critical work processes Exchange key process data and information from one individual or group to another Define how vital and important information will be retained within the organization despite attrition

Context Employer – Ensure a sufficient supply of talent for key roles and tasks. Employee – Provide clear opportunity to grow, learn, evolve, advance. Customer – Results. Employees who are reliable, knowledgeable, and meet their expectations.

More Context Civil Service Leaders need to prepare in advance to create smoother implementation and more options. Create a partnership with Civil Service in advance Identify key personnel who can help Share your goals with them Get them involved in your planning process.

Developing the Plan Basic Steps Institutionalize the process and capture stakeholder support Conduct assessments of organizational needs Develop the succession planning model Implement succession planning strategies Continuously measure, evaluate, and adapt

Step 1 Institutionalize the process and capture stakeholder support Gain commitment from decision makers Demonstrate why it’s needed and benefits Gather resources Senior leadership HR/Civil Service Union representative Employees groups Identify the strategic vision and goals of the organization Make succession planning a priority Strategic plan will determine # future employees and skills needed What will succession program look like? What will it do for organization? Incorporate succession planning into your organization’s values Clearly define the objectives for the program

Step 2 – Assess Organization’s Needs As is To Be Gap Analysis

Step 2A – “As Is” Assessment Collect and analyze organization and demographic data Retirements? New leaders being developed? Are you identifying new leaders? What is average age and tenure of current employees? What are attrition and vacancy rates? Identity and prioritize key work processes/positions Which are most critical? Which have the least amount of resource depth? Which processes are documented? Are future leaders prepared? Identify condition and availability of resources and systems What items are needed to do work? Maps, policies/procedures, training guides? Are they accessible and up to date? What technology systems are currently in use?

Step 2B – “To Be” Assessment Analyze future requirements for services Future demand Customer expectations Regulations What are the goals of the Strategic Plan Demand placed by SP How will SP change workforce/leadership requirements What are upcoming changes in the industry? What demands will technology place on organization?

Step 2C – Gap Analysis How does “as is” organization fall short of “to be”?

Workforce Do current organizational demographics look like the future ones? Are you prepared to handle shifts in demographics? Do we have the people skills to keep up with the change? Processes Which ones are most susceptible to changes in personnel? Where are we most susceptible to losing essential knowledge? Systems/Resources What info will we need or not need in the future? What information needs to be more accessible? How will technology change our resource needs? Determine the talent needs on the long run Identify the core leadership KSAs to bridge the gap. What will future leaders look like? What skills and behaviors will make them successful?

Step 3 - Develop the Succession Planning Model Determine which employees or levels of employees will be involved in program. Build leadership pipeline. Identify internal talent with critical competencies (KSAs). Analyze external sources of talent. Identify training and development strategies. Formal professional development. Coaching and mentoring. Use cross training/multi-skilling. Job shadowing. Identify career paths. Develop retention strategies. Create knowledge management and transfer strategies.

Model Page 28 Model. Step 3 outlines the model. Not one size fits all. Adapt to your organization.

Step 4 - Implement Succession Planning Model Determine resource needs for implementation. Identify barriers to implementation. Update or develop job descriptions. Prepare organization for change. Establish communication plan. Connect with stakeholders and get their buy in. Identify and establish peer and leadership champions of change. If needed, implement strategies on pilot basis. Link succession strategies with HR. Recognition Workforce planning Assessment strategies Recruitment strategies Train staff as necessary.

Step 5 - Continuous Measurement, Evaluation, and Adaptation Define measures of program success Determine how frequently the program will be evaluated. Design the reporting process. Track progress, communicate and celebrate program success. Get stakeholder feedback on strategy success. Adjust or adapt programs based on evaluative results. Ensure top management stays engaged and provides support and attention to program. Make 3 to 5 year succession plans part of organization’s strategic planning process.

IMPLEMENTATION Develop pilot program in one department. Track and measure how it’s working: Turnover Employee survey results Participant satisfaction # Individuals promoted vs. outside hires # “ready now” candidates Diversity of talent pools Size of talent pools Communicating Program Share with everyone how it’s going. Use multiple methods

Costs/Benefits Costs – highly variable and hard to quantify Consultant, in-house time, lost production. Employer Benefits Stabilize performance Ensure continuity of leadership Develops pool of skilled workers Minimizes disruption during change Enhances knowledge transfer Makes “employer of choice” – gets you the better workers Employee Loyalty/Commitment Opportunity for skills development/training Increased organizational resiliency/capacity Employee Benefits Improves communication and morale Improved effectiveness Improve working relationships Personal/Professional growth Customer Benefits Improved staff knowledge More efficient service Increased staff responsiveness/pride Better run organization

Common Pitfalls Keeping it a secret Underestimating talent within Narrow minded thinking – too old/young, rough, different Focusing exclusively on hard skills Not offering training/development opportunities Expecting employees to self-identify – help them see what they can be. Not holding managers accountable for succession planning. Considering only upward succession. Lateral? One size fits all program. Producing too many candidates for too few spots.

Program Participation Recruit and develop bright career minded individuals who appreciate recognition. Voluntary opt-in. Provides self-directed careers.

Leadership Competencies Defines attributes desired. What an employee must achieve to show proficiency at each level. Effectiveness, communication, ethics, knowledge, developing people, flexibility/adaptability, strategic initiative, effective decision making, customer orientation, achievement orientation, team orientation.

Knowledge Transfer and Retention Strategies Document processes and records. Hire new person before old one leaves. Rehire retirees part time. Make videos of people doing work. SOPs, standardized record keeping formats, archiving and data retrieval systems. Cross training existing staff.

What’s a small organization to do? Create organizational chart. List age, years of service. When do you expect people to leave? Where do you expect to get replacements? If they’re abundant and readily available, ok. If not, where will they come from? Need to develop in advance? Recruit for exam?

Mission Critical Identify “Mission Critical” positions/tasks. If this skill set, expertise, license, person is suddenly unavailable, we can’t function or something really bad can happen.

It might be something that’s not readily apparent. Payroll, IT, pesticide applicator’s license, CDL.

How many positions/people can perform this task? If only one, “Houston, you have a problem.” You need to plan for back up or when they leave. Try to figure out when they plan to leave. You need to develop a plan for that event. In the meantime, you still need to provide back up for while they’re there.

Some Possibilities Cross training Multi-skilling Retiree/Part timer Outside sources of talent Contractors

Contracting Possibilities? Electrical I&C Payroll Retirees Redundancy, training, transition, sick/vacation.

Institutional Knowledge SOPs: Have employees write down how to perform MC tasks from the perspective of someone who knows nothing and needs to be able to do it. Have them create a video that demonstrates and it.

Case Study – City of Plattsburgh WPCP WPCP 16 mgd 23 Employees Compost Plant 140 wtpd 7 Employees Now No Compost WPCP – 11 Employees

2000 – Many retirements looming Significant system changes

Developing the Plan Basic Steps Institutionalize the process and capture stakeholder support Conduct assessments of organizational needs Develop the succession planning model Implement succession planning strategies Continuously measure, evaluate, and adapt

Assessment Staffed 24/7 7 Operators 6 Maintenance Workers 6 Lab Technicians Flows dropped Loads dropped Revenues dropped

WPCP Organizational Chart

Saw retirements coming. Stepped back and looked at the work. Had everyone list what they did all day and how long it took. Evaluated whether all of the work actually needed to be performed. Were able to eliminate much of the work and reorganize how it was done.

Don’t have as much work Only needed 8/7. Significant lab reduction. Not as much actual maintenance as we thought. Still needed operators for required certified coverage. Decided to go operator heavy and maint/lab light.

Plan Keep operators. Cross train/certify maint/lab staff to transfer as operators retire. Eliminate their old position. Now: 6 Operators 2 Maintenance No lab techs SOPs

Act Created draft plan Shared with employees and union Got their feedback Modified plan Conveyed that plan was dynamic Created schedule for implementation Created schedule for review and revision

Now Looking at Management All 3 managers plus admin gone in 5 years. 140 years of experience. Identified all mission critical tasks and licenses. Scary list. Compliance sampling and reporting. Industrial pretreatment. Decision making. Scheduling Payroll Process control Data management Computers Project management, bid specs 4A Certification

Developed Progression/Succession Program. Staff can volunteer to learn mission critical tasks. Once proficiency developed, recognition and pay bump. Provides: Back up/Redundancy Pipeline Continuous learning environment Excitement/Competition Organizational capacity/resiliency.

Step 1 Institutionalize the process and capture stakeholder support Gain commitment from decision makers – ME! Demonstrate why it’s needed and benefits – less Gather resources – CPO, Lab Manager, ME! Senior leadership – CPO/Lab Manager HR/Civil Service – Talked to both Union representative – Pulled in shop steward/Prez Employees groups Identify the strategic vision and goals of the organization Make succession planning a priority – Yes. Strategic plan will determine # future employees and skills needed – Looked at actual work. What will succession program look like? What will it do for organization? More cross trained operators, less maint/lab Incorporate succession planning into your organization’s values – Imposed. Clearly define the objectives for the program – fit # workers to actual work.

Step 2A – “As Is” Assessment Collect and analyze organization and demographic data Retirements? Many coming, across titles. New leaders being developed? Huh? Are you identifying new leaders? Round 2/3. What is average age and tenure of current employees? Old/Forever. What are attrition and vacancy rates? Nil. Identity and prioritize key work processes/positions Which are most critical? Operators. Which have the least amount of resource depth? Which processes are documented? None. Are future leaders prepared? No, round 2/3. Identify condition and availability of resources and systems What items are needed to do work? Maps, policies/procedures, training guides? All. Are they accessible and up to date? Some accessible, not up to date. What technology systems are currently in use? Old ones.

Step 2B – “To Be” Assessment Analyze future requirements for services Future demand - Lower Customer expectations – Controlled costs Regulations – always getting stricter What are the goals of the Strategic Plan Demand placed by SP – less staff, 8/7, cross train How will SP change workforce/leadership requirements – move to ops, develop decisions What are upcoming changes in the industry? - ? What demands will technology place on organization? More computer savvy, IT

Step 2C – Gap Analysis How does “as is” organization fall short of “to be”? Wanted mostly operators. Progress from Lab/maintenance to operations. Develop critical thinking/decision making skills. Develop Lead Operator training. Cross train Ops to maintenance and lab. Develop technology skills.

Step 3.1 - Develop the Succession Planning Model Determine which employees or levels of employees will be involved in program. Lab/Maint Build leadership pipeline. Identify internal talent with critical competencies (KSAs). ID’s specific people with promise. All ops got turns as Lead Operator Analyze external sources of talent. Reviewed Civil Service lists in advance. Recruit for exams.

Step 3.2 - Develop the Succession Planning Model Identify training and development strategies. Formal professional development. Certification classes, in-house, proficiency program, NYWEA. Coaching and mentoring. Trainees teamed up. Use cross training/multi-skilling. Lab/maint, project management, decision making.

Step 3.3 - Develop the Succession Planning Model Develop retention strategies. Not an issue. Create knowledge management and transfer strategies. Inventory documents, plans, reports. Develop/Update SOPs. Some videos.

Step 4 - Implement Succession Planning Model Determine resource needs for implementation. Managers. Identify barriers to implementation. Staff/Union, Civil Service, DEC, MUs, alarms. Develop or update job descriptions. Reviewed. Ok. Prepare organization for change. Establish communication plan. Meetings to explain what/why. Connect with stakeholders and get their buy in. DEC, MUs, EOs. Identify and establish peer and leadership champions of change. ID’d ambitious employees, existing leaders

If needed, implement strategies on pilot basis. Too small. Link succession strategies with HR. Recognition – Stars, acknowledgement at staff meetings, personal thanks. Workforce planning – Looked at actual work, what can we reduce/eliminate, practice/dry runs on tasks. Assessment strategies Recruitment strategies Train staff as necessary.

Step 5 - Continuous Measurement, Evaluation, and Adaptation Define measures of program success. Compliance/safety Determine how frequently the program will be evaluated. Routine staff meetings. Design the reporting process. Informal. Track progress, communicate and celebrate program success. Monthly. Get stakeholder feedback on strategy success. ? Adjust or adapt programs based on evaluative results. Yes! Ensure top management stays engaged and provides support and attention to program. Managers. Make 3 to 5 year succession plans part of organization’s strategic planning process.

Questions/Comments? Jonathan P. Ruff, P.E. Environmental Manager City of Plattsburgh, NY [email protected] 518-536-7519