Irreplaceables

An acquaintance of mine, someone for whom I gladly serve as a sounding board on management and career issues, recently attended a European client review with her team. The event was a success, the client gave her firm high marks and the team did a superb job. At the conclusion of the event she sat down with a member of her team, not a direct report but someone who reported to her senior team lead.

First, some background. The individual she sat down with had been in their current role for nearly 3 years. They were the primary point of contact for the client, a global relationship with dozens of team members in 14 countries driving a mid-eight-figure annual revenue stream. At one point, this individual had looked to change roles but had settled back into their current role. Crucially, they held nearly all of the critical information and knowledge of the client.

During the discussion, nothing more than a routine skip-level check-in (and something I encourage all leaders to do with their extended teams), she heard a number of interesting things. The individual was "generally" happy; was "more or less" challenged by the role; had "confidence" in the team's leader; and wasn't "actively looking."

Red flags. Not a single overly-ebullient compliment. No ringing affirmation of job satisfaction. Instead, a rather mundane, almost lukewarm response from an associate to a senior leader that things were "ok."

When my friend shared her story, she asked about my impressions. My first reaction might have been "What's the big deal? An employee isn't overly thrilled with their current role but seems to be safe. Happens all the time." It wasn't.

Instead, I posed a simple question: "Who do you have ready to step in if this individual leaves tomorrow?"

Pausing, my friend could sense the importance of the question. "No one," she said. "This person isn't going anywhere for at least a year."

"Ok," I replied. "Who are you grooming?'

Long pause.

Would that be your answer? Do you have one or more key team members directly reporting to you or (worse) reporting to one of your direct team who are so integrally involved in a client relationship that their departure would cause material damage to the business? Do you have a structured, formal succession planning process in place to ensure you have no de facto "irreplaceables" on your team?

"Succession Planning" is a fancy term most people associate with CEOs and Boards. The truth is, preparing to replace all key team members on a team is among the most important actions any leader can take. I once had a boss who told me the very first thing he did after assuming leadership over a new team or organization was look for candidates to be his own replacement. The very first thing.

The reasons for this should be obvious and have been part of classic military training for centuries. Every team should be able to slot in a replacement for any team member at any time. That means identifying and training high potential associates for their next job while they are still contributing to their current job.

Think about it. "Nancy" is a high performing team member who controls the key client contacts at a major relationship. She leaves for a higher paying job with just two weeks notice. You have no ready-made replacement. What happens?

First, you scramble. You attempt to talk Nancy out of a decision she's already made. Bad move - you should have known she was susceptible, or acknowledge she's leaving for completely valid reasons.

Second, look for someone available to step in. You can promote someone who is not quite ready, or move someone fully ready in from another role (which you will then have to backfill). You can take over the role yourself, and give up precious time for the other 100 things you're already not getting to. Perhaps you can hire from the outside, which means at least six months from posting of the role to fully-ramped employee.

Here's the bottom line. The result of poor succession planning at all levels of an organization is most often poor team performance, translating into higher turnover and overall instability. If you and your team leaders are not spending 30%-40% of your time developing your teams and preparing for replacement at all key levels, you're not managing for the future.