Let’s face it, whether it is through retirement, promotion or staff attrition, every business will lose leadership talent over time. The leadership vacuums always happen at the worst time. They always seem to come when the company really needs the leadership and management talent to get through a rough patch.

To avoid this vacuum printers need to start preparing now. When key leadership positions (CEO, executive management or even key supervisory staff) need to be quickly filled, the business should have a management succession plan in place for these jobs with little or no disruption.

So how to do it?

The best succession plans work around developmental activities like mentoring, coaching, job rotation, traditional educational programs development – including special assignments – action learning, and web-based educational activities. Computer-based technology has expanded the ability of every business to effectively monitor developmental activities.

It is pretty much the 70:20:10 rule. First, there is 70 per cent takes that place on the job. Smart printers will have special assignments or action learning program in place. One of the most common and effective approaches is having assignment based on real and significant issues confronting the organisation.

The 20 per cent comes from mentoring and guiding.

And the 10 per cent is a mix of internal and external university-based education and development courses.

The printer also has to consider the employee’s ambitions. The idea is to look closely at employees’ career preferences and try to match their interests and career development to a future job within the company.

What is important here is for the CEO is to look at where the business is going to be in two to five years’ from now.

Print business owners should take stock of the people they now have on hand and see whether they could be promoted. This is where the performance management system become critical. It should tell you how people are going against the key results they should be delivering and against the core competencies you have established as being necessary in your business.

The printshop owner should also think of it in terms of how exposed they are to emergency replacements. What happens if someone leaves tomorrow?

That means the print business owner has to identify gaps for the longer term replacements. Once they have these gaps identified and effective planning in place, they can start to generate the skills and abilities that can tackle short term problems. Gaps can be filled through development and recruitment.

It also means having many options to look at including coaching, mentoring, project work, secondments and part-time study. The solutions will vary depending on the business and people involved.

Here is a tip: if you already have the expertise in the business you want to preserve – start now with a plan to transfer that knowledge and skills to your potential new leaders.

It is critical for every business to have a clear succession plan in place. More attention needs to be placed on this issue at times when employees are insecure if the future of the company is unclear.

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