Page 38 - midJersey Business - April 2015

Your Business

BEST PRACTICES AND OUTSIDE-THE-BOX SOLUTIONS

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Management

sary training, education, and practical
experience to prepare them for the require-
PREPARING THE
ments and challenges of these roles.
Putting together a team of outside

NEXT GENERATION
Succession planning requires goal setting, a gap professionals to help coach you in plan-
ning both inancially and structurally can
analysis, and efective training or recruitment |
help ease this sometimes daunting task,
especially for closely held or family-owned
by Michael Rofman, CPA, and Jeanette Gribbin
businesses.

Creating a succession plan should focus
on a one-, three-, and ive-year business

outlook, taking into consideration three
essential elements: developing an under-

standing of the company’s existing work-
force potential, performing a gap analysis,

and implementing efective training or
recruitment.

When considering workforce potential,
a common pitfall is not assessing everyone

within the organization with an eye toward
the future. Good business decision-making

shouldn’t prioritize either external candi-
dates or promoting and hiring from within.

Developing leaders from within can be

rewarding, but it takes time and efort.
This may not be feasible when companies

need roles illed before the next generation
is ready.

With the beneit of a longer horizon, the
use of a skills gap analysis can be beneicial

to assure that an individual is trained in M
weak areas. For instance, if an identiied

lender was never exposed to negotiating a any well-run middle process. It’s also critical to approach this
contract or dealing with a vendor selection market and family- planning as more than a family afair.

process, you can make sure to include him owned businesses spend Are you preparing for the next genera-
or her in the process to gain hands-on expe- their succession plan- tion of plant managers, warehouse fore-

rience. External candidates can provide
ning eforts focusing on men, and other key management positions
a diferent vision that’s untainted by the buy-sell agreements or
who are the heart and soul of what makes

legacy of current management.
gifting of shares, but is it enough? your organization successful? Very often
It’s vital to have a visible succession plan Succession planning is more than
the second and third tier of key employees

in place. When your organization has a grooming the next generation to take over are overlooked when it comes to planning

visible plan, it signals to your employees your ownership of the business. It requires for the future. Statistics show a decreasing
that you have planned for their long-term goal setting, preparing a structure and a number of these leaders in our workforce.

future, protecting the organization in the functional timeline, and having milestones It’s up to you to identify successors within
case of an untimely death or other unwel-
in place to monitor and control the overall
your organization now and ofer the neces-

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