Career Planning and Succession Management: Developing Your Organization*s Talent--for Today and Tomorrow

Many organizations are scrambling to prepare for an expected wave of retirements. Almost twice as many job openings are occurring from people retiring as from economic expansion—a direct function of a steadily aging workforce. The implications for businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, and educational institutions are enormous, as organizational leaders maneuver to fill the talent pipeline. In this context, organizations are stepping up their investments in career planning (training and development programs to help employees hone their skills and qualify for advancement) and succession management (programs designed to ensure the continuity of leadership). To date, however, these programs have generally been treated in isolation.

Drawing from a survey of 1,000 human resource practitioners and a wide variety of case examples, the authors demonstrate how to create that crucial link between succession and career development programs—developing one's organization's talent from the bottom up and the top down simultaneously. Featuring numerous diagnostics, checklists, and other interactive elements, Career Planning and Succession Management will become an indispensable guide for leaders and human resource professionals looking to align individual and organizational goals and ensure their economic future.

Many organizations today are scrambling to prepare for an expected wave of retirements. Almost twice as many job openings are occurring from people retiring than from economic expansion—a direct function of a steadily aging workforce. The implications for businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, and educational institutions are enormous, as organizational leaders maneuver to fill the talent pipeline. In this context, organizations are stepping up their investments in career planning (training and development programs to help employees hone their skills and qualify for advancement) and succession management (programs designed to ensure the continuity of leadership).

To date, these programs have generally been treated in isolation, and the combined effects of attracting, developing, and grooming talent from the bottom up and the top down are being lost. Drawing from the authors' decades of research and practical experience, a survey of 1,000 human resource practitioners, and examples from a wide variety of organizations, Career Planning and Succession Management shows readers how to create that crucial link between succession and career development programs. Showcasing the most current theory and practice, the book address such hot-button issues as: how to prevent top performers from leaving, how to balance the competing needs of promoting from within versus bringing in new blood, and dealing with unexpected retirements in an age of corporate scandal. Featuring numerous diagnostics, checklists, and other interactive elements, Career Planning and Succession Management will become an indispensable guide for leaders and human resource professionals looking to align individual and organizational goals and ensure their economic future.

WILLIAM J. ROTHWELL is Professor-in-Charge of the Workforce Education and Development program in the Department of Learning and Performance Systems at Pennsylvania State University and President of Rothwell and Associates, a full-service consulting firm specializing in succession planning and management. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of over 50 books and dozens of articles on human resource management, training, and development. As a consultant, he has worked with a broad array of organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in the United States and internationally.

ROBERT D. JACKSON is Senior Consultant for Career Development, Center for Performance Excellence, for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Adjunct Instructor in the Training and Development Masters Program at Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg.

SHAUN C. KNIGHT is the Career and Business Solutions Associate for the School of Information Sciences and Technology at Pennsylvania State University. He has had extensive experience in career development counseling, planning, and placement, working with many Fortune 500 firms.

JOHN E. LINDHOLM is Compensation Manager in the Department of Human Resources at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Previously, he served in compensation, performance consulting, and instructional design positions at Pennsylvania State University, Compaq Computer, and Polaris Consulting.