By: Paul Croteau
Date: April 25, 2010
The Winnipeg Sun

The whole world is still reeling from the sudden, tragic and devastating loss of the Polish president and so many of his senior government, armed forces and banking leaders. While government officials have been quick to reassure world leaders that the Polish government will continue to be stable, it doesn’t take much to recognize the turmoil such a tragedy can cause.

At the same time, no business or organization, no matter in which country it resides, is immune to such horrific tragedies. Yet many small and medium sized businesses as well as not for profit organizations fail to prepare for even the slightest disruption, let alone plan for the sudden loss of one or more of its company leaders.

What would you do if your leaders were accidentally killed leaving no one to deal with the immediate and practical matters of running the business? How would your organization carry on if one of your senior leaders or key departmental leaders was arrested for fraud or corruption? On the other hand, in less tragic terms, are you prepared for the inevitable when a key senior manager or technical specialist simply resigns and moves to another organization?

While thankfully tragedy on the scale of Poland’s president is rare, there is simply no guarantee that employees will stay loyal and live out their career with your organization. Let’s face it, things happen. Yet there are still too many organizations that are ill prepared to deal with the risk and potential tragedy of the loss of personnel. And that is only one of the many crises an organization might face. Unfortunately, when tragedy or crisis strikes, organizations and employees alike quickly enter survival mode. Dramatic change, loss and perhaps outright corporate failure can result.

Interestingly enough, all of these potential issues are all elements of the talent management process. Talent management is all about having the right people with the right skills doing the right job at the right time. And, it’s all about succession and replacement planning; in other words, knowing that you have the backup skills to fill a gap should a gap appear.

Talent management requires that leaders are very strategic and comprehensive in their planning. The following are some key elements that must be included in this plan.

Comprehensive business and HR plan – you need to identify your strategic direction and the skills required to get you there. Compliment this with the HR plan which includes elements of recruitment, training, and retention strategies.

A strenuous recruitment and selection process – hiring the right people in the first place is critically important. Define your skills, develop a candidate profile, and then search a broad base of potential candidates. Apply psychometric assessments and cultural fit to be sure the candidate is the right fit.

Effective compensation and rewards – retaining good employees requires that you pay and reward them well. This means recognizing accomplishments and developing a sense of employee ownership.

Succession and replacement planning – every job needs to have identified individuals who could step into the role on short notice. This means cross training and continual upgrading of employees. Focus on a blend of technical training and career development.

Conduct of risk assessment – it is important to know where your organization is vulnerable and which jobs need more attention than others. Can skills be quickly learned or will it take time? Are there specialist jobs that would create greater risk than usual? How can this be overcome?

Develop a set of contingency plans - seek out resources that can be put in place quickly. Know the experts in your industry, keep in touch with professionals who could step in and help and/or, at the very least, could recommend resources to you.

Talent management is a comprehensive and integrated process that should not and cannot be effectively dealt with in the middle of a crisis or tragedy. While succession planning might be as uncomfortable a topic as the family will, it is not something that should be neglected. To do so creates further risk for your organization.


Research and Review by 6P Marketing

Paul Croteau, B.Comm., CMA, FCMA is a partner with Waterhouse Executive Search Partners, a Canada-wide executive search firm. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 204-934-8821.