Succession Planning OR Business Continuity Managment



A friend of mine was sharing with me that he is still searching for his successor. Having said that for at least a year or more, I was surprised that he is still not able to identify that someone.

I asked "why did it take so long, when he was voicing, with urgency, all the while, the need for a successor". The answer was " he was busy as he was wearing many different hats in his Company". Business is growing at accelerated pace and relevant resource is lacking.

Thus, he was greatly concerned that should any mishap happened to him, there would no one who would understand or continue to drive his business.

Thus, I said to him, was that "what he should have is not succession planning, at this stage,  BUT, "Business Continuity Management (BCM)" program in place."

Succession planning is essential, not only at the top level, eg the CEO, but also at all senior management level. Human talent must always be identified, trained and retained for organisation development and growth.

Business Continuity Management (BCM) is about, management of an Organisation when disaster strikes as a result of either natural (death of a CEO or a curfew imposed because of an earthquake, tsunami or disease eg Ebola etc) or other causes (riot, fire etc) .

BCM will then "kicks in" with "the level (grade) of response", "who should take charge", "who should be contacted in terms of priority", "how would the business be managed, how should the Company respond, who should communicate to the public and staff on the situation of the Company etc etc etc"

Thus, a responsible Organisation should have a BCM in place to manage disaster and to add "human value" and "order" in disaster management. The Organisation would definitely recover from speedily and maintain its integrity and image to the public and staff.

/12-09-2014

Disclaimer: Views or opinions expressed are solely those of the Author and should be used with discretion. The Author shall not be held liable for any acts or omissions arising from the use of the information. The user will be personally liable for any damages or other liability arising hereof.

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