The maritime sector relies on plans: voyage plans, maintenance plans, commercial plans, dry dock plans, inspection schedules and so on. Nothing happens without a plan. All the more remarkable, then, that succession-planning for key roles is so often overlooked. In place of a real plan is often a vague hope that the external market will provide the perfect candidate, at a reasonable price just when they’re needed, or that person x will develop just enough over the next few years to be just ready, just in time.
Four questions worth asking
Stonefort Marine is not saying that all organisations should have some grand, elaborate people strategy. Far from it. A few simple actions from a leadership team, willing to invest time discussing key capabilities and people, will return huge value in the longer-term. Even for smaller companies (<500) - especially where key roles are likely to be critically important with little organisational depth - it’s worth giving succession-planning serious thought.
- In our company, where are the critical capabilities and roles?
- How likely are we to retain current incumbents in these roles (and can we do anything to keep those who might be thinking of leaving?)?
- If current incumbents were to leave, how deep is the internal people / capability pool from which I can draw replacements?
- How intentionally are we identifying and developing competent talent to refresh this internal capability pool? stonefort’s article on [swiss-cheesing talent looks at diverse, non-traditional talent to enlarge this pool].
Each of these questions provides opportunity for healthy discussion and some simple planning. The result? When critical roles are left vacant, as they invariably will be from time-to-time, prospective candidate slates will have viable external and internal candidates.
Where we help
Stonefort Marine works closely with companies to develop simple, effective succession plans. Please contact Mark on markfortnum@stonefortmarine.com to find out more.
