It makes sense. Even as the churn rates for top leaders rise to record levels, succession management itself is churning. In fact, two-thirds of organizations with formal succession planning programs intend to change them in coming years, according to a recent survey of 799 organizations. A mere 9% say they have no plans to make changes, and a quarter aren't sure what they're going to do.
Most of the planned changes boil down to three factors: integration, technology, and objectivity. The survey, which was sent to members of the Human Resource Institute (now co-branded as the Institute for Corporate Productivity i4cp) and HR.com in August 2006, found that among organizations that intend to change their programs, fully three- quarters cite the need to 'integrate succession management with other talent management processes.' Over half (55%) plan to use new technologies, and 52% want to make evaluations more objective.
