Getting off to a good start in just about any endeavour is often a key to success. There are no guarantees of course; there are many examples of organizations or teams that did not begin as well as they would have liked, but found a way to recover and succeed. This is reassuring and is a testimony to our ability to change, grow, and adapt. But most would probably agree, that given the choice, it is better, and more cost-effective in the long run, if a new venture begins well.
This past weekend the Calgary Herald ran an article on succession planning. The main point of the article was that companies are realizing how important it is to start this kind of planning earlier rather than later, or in other words, to get off to a good start. It was also pointed out that often promoting from within could be a good way for an organization to maintain stability and strength in their leadership. “Ongoing training and development helps keep the talent pipeline moving and ensures there is a competent pool of employees to promote from within.”
Two other areas that I often talk about, and where I think getting off to a good start is a key element, are transition planning and on boarding. In a business world where mergers and acquisitions are common, doing some solid groundwork before the transition is essential. There are the obvious plans regarding the physical logistics of a move, but beyond that, giving some thought about how to merge two different organizational cultures is also very beneficial. A possible key indicator as to how well this is happening for an organization could be retention after merger. It is generally assumed that there will be some measure of job change after two companies come together, but perhaps this rate does not have to be as high as we often accept.
Like-wise, introducing recent hires to the company’s culture and values can also pay great dividends. Again, new people need to know the basic logistics of how our organizations operate. But in addition to these concerns, understanding why we do the things we do, can go a long way to raising the level of commitment to the job and organization and the satisfaction that often goes with these.
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Getting Off To A Good Start
This past weekend the Calgary Herald ran an article on succession planning. The main point of the article was that companies are realizing how important it is to start this kind of planning earlier rather than later, or in other words, to get off to a good start. It was also pointed out that often promoting from within could be a good way for an organization to maintain stability and strength in their leadership. “Ongoing training and development helps keep the talent pipeline moving and ensures there is a competent pool of employees to promote from within.”
Two other areas that I often talk about, and where I think getting off to a good start is a key element, are transition planning and on boarding. In a business world where mergers and acquisitions are common, doing some solid groundwork before the transition is essential. There are the obvious plans regarding the physical logistics of a move, but beyond that, giving some thought about how to merge two different organizational cultures is also very beneficial. A possible key indicator as to how well this is happening for an organization could be retention after merger. It is generally assumed that there will be some measure of job change after two companies come together, but perhaps this rate does not have to be as high as we often accept.
Like-wise, introducing recent hires to the company’s culture and values can also pay great dividends. Again, new people need to know the basic logistics of how our organizations operate. But in addition to these concerns, understanding why we do the things we do, can go a long way to raising the level of commitment to the job and organization and the satisfaction that often goes with these.
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 25th, 2010 at 12:11 pm and is filed under Comments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.