Succession Planning 101
If there’s anything we’ve collectively learned over the past couple years – it’s to be prepared to expect the unexpected. Leadership transitions at a nonprofit can certainly be an unexpected surprise, but you can be prepared and weather the transition period successfully by having a written succession plan in place.
If your organization does not have a succession plan yet written – you’re not alone. In fact, according to the National Council of Nonprofits, only 27% of nonprofits surveyed by BoardSource research had written succession plans in place. This suggests that nearly three-quarters of nonprofits have had to come up with a plan on the fly when faced with an unexpected vacancy on their staff or board, which is definitely not a desirable position to be in.
By taking this step, and preparing a written succession plan long before it’s actually needed, you’ll not only find yourself with an easier, smoother transition period whenever that moment arises, but you’ll also be taking positive steps toward the long-term sustainability of your organization.
Here are six basic steps to keep in mind as your craft and draft your succession plan.
1) Engage your key stakeholders in the process, and communicate openly with them.
This means ensuring your board and staff members are aware of the process and their role in it. It may be that your board’s bylaws stipulate that the board has oversight of the executive director’s role, and thus may have to be responsible for initiating succession planning for the executive director/CEO role. In this case, help them to understand that having a written succession plan in place is an important risk management strategy to ensure the organization’s long-term sustainability. Your board’s governance committee or even an ad-hoc committee can be tasked with overseeing the process.
2) Map out your organizations assets and challenges
…and take clear inventory of your organizations ‘givens’ and ‘unknowns.’ This also includes an assessment of any upcoming and/or potential vacancies among your board or staff. Use your findings to help answer the question, ‘Who is an ideal leader for our organization,’ and generate a list of the kinds of attributes a successful candidate would have. If you do find that a vacancy will be forthcoming, be sure to start your search for a candidate early – ideally 6 months or so in advance for a key leadership position.
3) ‘Deepen’ your bench of future potential leaders
by identifying and following through on leadership development opportunities for your current staff and board. As much as possible, cross-train current staff members in different positions in order to minimize disruption from unexpected staff changes.
4) Understand that communication will be key.
Consider the necessary four communication stages of a leadership transition, as well as your organization’s ideal timeline for these stages: pre-departure announcement planning, departure announcement, progress communications, new executive introduction.
5) Adopt an Emergency Leadership Transition Plan
to address the timely delegation of duties and authority for whenever there is an unexpected transition or interruption in key leadership.
6) Establish a clear onboarding process.
Finding the right candidate is only the first hurdle. Your succession plan should clearly establish how a new member of your staff or board will be on-boarded to your organization. A good onboarding experience can truly make or break the success of the transition.
The National Council of Nonprofits has a great list of resources on their website if you want to delve deeper into this topic: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/succession-planning-nonprofits-managing-leadership-transitions
If you need some help creating your leadership succession Plan, Spark Group can help. Reach out today!
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