Succession Planning - How Military Does it Differently?

Here's a confession - I do not plan and think a lot before I write. Most of it is done impromptu and basis a certain trigger and a latent need identified in conversations with my clients. So, the trigger for this one, my conversation with my erstwhile boss, about " how does Military nail leadership and specifically exploring the area of succession planning.

The trio of organisations that make up the Indian Armed Forces – the Army, Navy and Air Force – are each the size of a Fortune 100 company and have their own leader responsible for managing tens of thousands of people and billions of pounds of budget and assets. While the role of a CEO may be comparable to the topmost brass of the Forces, the military chiefs earn 10 times lesser if not more than the CEO of a fortune 100 company. Here is another difference: And in contrast to the intensely competitive CEO recruitment market in the commercial world, the heads of the Armed Forces were all internal successions, having progressed through the ranks from humble beginnings as Officer Cadets to come to the topmost hierarchy.

The Armed Forces rely entirely on internal succession through promoting their existing talent base. A recent report by Deloitte on succession planning said that only 2 out of 10 companies say that they are adequately prepared for succession planning.

How do the Forces ensure a steady pipeline of high-calibre leaders when, unlike private corporations of a similar scale, they cannot recruit externally?

Far from the traditional route to a CEO – an MBA followed by climbing a commercial or finance function – the DGAFMS (has thus far) traditionally started their career as a young captain. How do you take someone predominantly trained to fight and deploy military tactics re-orientate them to lead a large, complex organisation? It’s a transition the military has mastered, and one that businesses can take valuable learnings from.

1.The Focus on a Formal Structure and Process

From officer cadet to senior rank, the Armed Forces have a highly structured career track that is constantly identifying, preparing and pushing individuals through the process. The sheer rigidity of this approach and the continual upward pressure on internal talent contrasts with the sometimes half-hearted, unorganized and standalone process that the corporate follows. The constant assessment of individuals in the military, against well-defined KPIs (that extend beyond the numeric computations that are increasingly relied upon by corporate organisations) at all levels, creates an ever-evolving pipeline of highly able people who are noted for their leadership potential.

The good part is that the Armed Forces weave in flexibility with rigidity. In fact, it is the wide, flexible exposure to different roles and tasks that prepares individuals for promotion much faster than in the corporate sector.

2. Identify Leaders Early

The process of identifying future leaders in the military begins on day one.

This search for individuals with talent and potential beyond their current role is unceasing, and in the early-to-mid phase of their careers officers are sent on long residential courses designed to build on their managerial experience to date. They are encouraged to elevate their knowledge and apply it in the next stages of their careers. Crucially, however, the courses inform the ‘appointers’, those responsible for deciding people’s career paths, of individuals’ leadership potential, intelligence and adaptability.

The military is always looking at people with extra potential.

“The military system is such that there is always somebody else thinking about your next move,” and therefore, there is a huge rigour in the process. While in the corporate careers, more often than not, people are struggling to protect their won careers.

3. Equal Weightage to Performance and Potential

Appraisals in the Armed Forces are written with a clear divide between performance and potential. The equal weightage given to performance and potential takes care of lot of subjectivity and short term outlook to really identify the bets of the best.

The Armed Forces also use training interventions as a chance to identify talent and objectively assess people’s leadership potential on a level playing field. For instance, they will put all officers across the army, regardless of speciality, on a single training course where everybody is then subject to the same challenges and opportunities. The average senior military officer spends 20-30% of their career in training. While it is not realistic to match those levels of training resources in the corporate world, using training as a talent spotting tool is certainly an opportunity that could be tapped more. While corporate organisations do invest in training, rarely have I seen the reports from this training be utilized to assess the future potential of the incumbent leaders

4. Trusting People to Deliver

Once the potential is identified, the officers in succession pipelines are given stretch assignments as well as entrusted with greater responsibility even when do they do not have the necessary experience. The implicit faith that they will learn, adapt and braoden their experience while in the corporate, there can often be an obsession with ensuring somebody is completely qualified for a particular role which robs them of internal talent.

When Individuals feel invested in, that both their work and potential are being recognized, and that their progression is being constantly observed and looked after. In turn, the Armed Forces get greater loyalty and a strong pipeline of highly engaged talent.

The fact is also that this is partly down to necessity; there is simply no option to recruit externally, yet strong military talent is critical to the success of our whole nation.

While the corporates will always have access toa wider talent pool, the success of the military approach lends valuable insight at a time when many companies are keen to improve their retention and internal talent pipelines.