Hospitality succession planning

Determine the jobs requiring succession planning

Two types of roles require succession planning:

1. Critical roles.
2. Leadership roles.

Critical roles

Critical roles are those which require extensive experience to execute well.

Specific roles in an integrated resort which Change Factory believes are critical include but are not limited to:

• Reservations Manager.
• Conference and Events Manager.
• Corporate Golf Manager.
• Front Desk Manager.
• Golf Maintenance Supervisor.
• Banqueting Manager.
• Restaurant Manager.

The management team should conduct and analysis of the critical roles.

The analysis should consider the degree of experience required to undertake the role. Where extensive knowledge and or skill are required to execute the processes to achieve a good result for the attendant key performance indicators, the role is likely to be “critical”. Typically, the skills and knowledge required for the “critical” roles are in short supply and require careful succession planning.

Leadership roles

Roles which require the incumbent to display a high degree of leadership need to be identified for succession planning.

Typically these roles will be senior management roles. Specific roles in an integrated resort which Change Factory believes are leadership roles include but are not limited to:

• Board of Directors.
• General Manager.
• Finance Manager.
• Information Technology Manager (if there is such a role).
• Human Resources Manager (may be a critical role dependent on the size of the organisation and the level of HR management undertaken by the line managers).
• Food and Beverage Manager.
• Executive Chef.
• Golf Maintenance Manager.
• Golf Operations Manager.
• Sales Manager.
• Conference and Events Manager.
• HSE Manager.

Other considerations

Succession planning is not just about making sure that there are enough people to eventually fill important roles as they become vacant. It is also about developing the staff who may one day fulfil one or more of the roles. Few of you will have the luxury of ready made replacements. A proactive development plan must be put in place once the potential successors have been identified.

Succession Planning Process

The succession planning process needs to identify both:

1. Roles which require succession planning.
2. Individuals whose career should be planned at least in terms of their broadening experiences.

For each role requiring succession planning, it is ideal to have three alternatives at any given period of time. As well as identifying the individuals who will fit into the predetermined roles, consideration must be given to assessing the competency gap that exists between the roles and the identified individuals. The succession plan must include developmental opportunities to reduce the competency gap before succession is necessary.

The developmental opportunities will include but not be limited to:

• Specific training.
• Cross functional project team membership.
• Specific analytical tasks.
• Assignments up to a month in duration.
• Selected reading.

The succession plan must be updated quarterly. It is acceptable to discuss and debate succession for roles on a rolling basis considering one quarter of the roles every three months.

The succession plan must be documented, for example, using The Change Factory Succession Planning Template.. The talent identification process can be recorded individually on people’s personnel record. The summary of the plans for individuals and plans for jobs should be meshed into the succession strategy for each job.

Sometimes, the succession strategy may be to recruit from outside, as the gap in competence between likely candidates and the requirements of the job is too wide.

When this is the case, circulate the job requirements to recruiters as early as possible.

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