Developing a Succession Plan

Career Escape Velocity: Why Some Careers Soar While Others Stall Why do some careers plateau while others skyrocket into decades of influence and success? The answer lies in career escape velocity—a concept that separates lifelong impact from early obsolescence. Having observed thousands of careers over 20+ years as a consultant, I’ve noticed a clear pattern: most careers follow an arc—growth, peak, and decline. But a select few break free and keep soaring. The Career Trajectory Breakdown 1. CEOs & CXOs: Hit escape velocity, continuing as board members, advisors, or mentors long after retirement. Their expertise is always in demand. 2. Business GMs & Operators: Their career arc peaks unless they transition into C-level roles. Many still achieve financial stability before decline. 3. Middle Managers: Their trajectory initially mimics CXOs, but many plateau due to lack of capability, drive, or ambition. 4. Individual Contributors: Their careers span longer but with slower progress. The Career Arc & Resistance to Change When enterprises undergo transformation, those whose careers are on the decline resist change the most—because they have the most to lose. Successful transformation requires identifying and transitioning these "zones of resistance" before they derail progress. The 4 Traits of Leaders Who Achieve Career Escape Velocity 1. Relentless work ethic – They are always “on.” 2. Strong mentors/advisors – They have people who advocate for them when they’re not in the room 3. Comfort with discomfort – They constantly push beyond their comfort zone 4. Ambition-driven decisions – Their personal choices align with career acceleration. Now a bit more controversial observation: Even though we read about how people skills are very critical for leaders, my observation is there is no direct correlation between people skills and once ability to reach career escape velocity. Which of these traits do you think is the hardest to develop? Drop your thoughts in the comments! #Zinnov #Leadership

Who Does What in Risk Management? 🤔 In a large organization, risk management isn’t a single job or even a single department, it’s a network of different roles. To make sense of it all, here’s a breakdown mapped to the Three Lines Model that most organizations follow. 1️⃣ Governance – Board & Committees 👉🏻 Board of Directors - Approves the organization’s risk appetite statement. - Oversees enterprise risk strategy, ensuring it supports long-term goals. - Holds senior management accountable for risk performance. 👉🏻 Board Risk Committee - Reviews major risk exposures and management’s mitigation plans. - Monitors emerging threats and regulatory changes. - Acts as the main interface between Board members and the CRO. 👉🏻 Audit Committee - Oversees the Internal Audit function. - Ensures financial reporting integrity and key control effectiveness. - Receives audit reports and monitors remediation progress. 2️⃣ Leadership & Oversight – Second Line 👉🏻 Chief Risk Officer (CRO) - Proposes the risk appetite for Board approval. - Aligns risk strategy with business priorities. - Consolidates enterprise-wide risk reporting for decision-makers. 👉🏻 Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) - Oversees regulatory compliance frameworks and policies. - Conducts monitoring and testing for adherence. - Liaises with regulators when required. 👉🏻 Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) - Owns the cybersecurity strategy. - Oversees security testing, incident response, and resilience planning. - Drives security culture across the organization. 👉🏻 Operational Risk Head - Leads the operational risk framework. - Oversees risk events, emerging threats, and operational resilience planning. 👉🏻 Specialist Risk Leads - Third-Party Risk Lead – Ensures vendors and partners meet risk and compliance requirements. - Business Continuity & Resilience Lead – Maintains readiness for disruptions. - Model Risk Lead – Oversees model governance, validation, and monitoring. IT Risk Lead – Addresses technology risk beyond cyber - Fraud Risk Lead – Designs fraud detection and prevention frameworks. 3️⃣ Operational Execution – First Line 👉🏻 Business Unit Leaders - Accountable for the risks and controls in their functions. - Integrate risk considerations into business planning and execution. 👉🏻 Control Owners - Maintain specific controls to reduce risks. - Keep documentation and evidence for audits. - Monitor and test control effectiveness. 4️⃣ Independent Assurance – Third Line 👉🏻 Chief Audit Executive (CAE) - Reports functionally to the Audit Committee and administratively to the CEO. - Oversees the Internal Audit team. 👉🏻 Internal Audit Teams - Test control design and operating effectiveness. - Evaluate governance processes. - Recommend improvements and track remediation. #RiskManagement #Governance #Compliance #Audit #CyberSecurity #OperationalRisk #RiskCulture #BusinessResilience #GRC #3prm #tprm

A capable person should be given a chance to lead,not rewarded with more work. Too often, high performers are overloaded simply because they are reliable. The result? They become exhausted, not developed. They execute more, but grow less. From an HR perspective, capability is a signal — not for exploitation, but for succession planning, leadership grooming, and trust. If someone consistently delivers: Give them responsibility, not just tasks Give them authority, not just deadlines Give them exposure, not just pressure Leadership is not built by piling work on the strongest shoulders. It is built by allowing capable people to make decisions and lead others. Otherwise, organisations don’t lose talent because of pay they lose them because growth was never offered. #LeadershipDevelopment #HRPerspective #TalentManagement #SuccessionPlanning #PeopleStrategy

The Cure Becomes the Disease – When Risk Management Starts Managing Itself Sometimes I wonder how far modern societies have drifted from the simple needs they were built to serve. All this complexity, including laws, taxes, corporate structures, and compliance systems, is just so that people can eat, sleep, and live. We build systems to create order. We then develop additional systems to manage the existing ones. And soon, we are managing complexity, not life itself. As Luhmann observed, systems rarely simplify reality; instead, they reproduce their own complexity to survive.   Risk management is a perfect microcosm of that paradox. What began as the simple idea to improve decision-making under uncertainty has evolved into a multi-billion-dollar consulting, insurance, and software industry. Many risk professionals sense this tension.   Risk management has evolved into a discipline focused on fulfilling requirements, maintaining documentation, and meeting reporting deadlines while drifting away from decisions that matter. This is not born of wrong intent. It’s a systemic design issue. Frameworks that were once meant to master uncertainty are now consumed by their own complexity.   Could you take the Three Lines Model? It was developed to clarify roles and responsibilities in governance and assurance. Although the 2020 revision emphasizes collaboration and value creation, early evidence from multi-method studies suggests that many organizations still struggle with the complexity and structural inertia that the model was intended to address.   Or consider ISO 31000. It is one of the most thoughtful frameworks ever published, integrating risk management into decision-making processes. It was never meant to be a formal checklist, but a guideline for achieving objectives. However, in their pursuit of formal assurance, many organizations overlook this original intent. The problem lies not in ISO 31000 itself, but in its institutionalization.   If risk management is to remain relevant, it must reclaim its cognitive role, helping decision-makers think more effectively in uncertain situations. That means, for example:   - Using numbers to reduce uncertainty in business decisions, such as pricing, investment, and strategy, rather than populating heat maps.   - Integrating risk dialogue into planning and budgeting. The most valuable “risk measures” are strategic conversations that happen early, not risk reports that come too late.   - Turning assurance into a learning process. The purpose of oversight isn’t to document everything, but to manage relevant uncertainties. Every internal audit, ORSA review, or risk report should address what we have learned about uncertainties.   Indeed, every business decision is a bet on an uncertain future. Risk management is designed to help decision-makers make better decisions, not replicate formal complexity. Institut für Finanzdienstleistungen Zug IFZ Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts

The first thing that hit me when I joined this mid-sized engineering company as a CHRO was the lack of structured #SuccessionPlanning. At an organizational growth rate as steep as it was, the importance of a robust #SuccessionStrategy to keep our growth momentum on track and ensure continuity in leadership was very clear. To this end, I initiated my work with a critical review of our current leadership structure, #TalentPools, and future organizational requirements. I met senior leaders and key #stakeholders to identify critical roles for which #SuccessionPlans should be developed. This review identified several gaps and potential risks. Some of the huge barriers were #ResistanceToChange. To many senior leaders, succession planning was an unnecessary complication rather than a strategic necessity. Secondly, our #TalentManagementSystem lacked the necessary analytics to effectively predict and plan for the #leadership needs of the future. The next challenge in the process was to make the process inclusive and unbiased. We did not only need a system that would identify the #FutureLeaders, but one that would also be fair and transparent in the development of their capacity. Knowing these challenges, we established a comprehensive #SuccessionPlanningFramework that includes both quantitative and qualitative tools. #TalentAssessmentTools: We used #PsychometricAssessments, performance reviews, and 360-degree feedback to assess the current leader in finding a successor. Tools like #HoganAssessments and #GallupStrengthsFinder helped us truly understand individual capabilities and suitability for future roles. #LeadershipDevelopmentPrograms: Based on assessment results, customized development programs for potential successors have been designed. This includes #mentorship, #coaching, and focused training sessions to get over the shortcomings in competencies and groom them for the leadership role. #SuccessionPlanningSoftware: We implemented succession planning software in the HR system— #SAPSuccessFactors and #CornerstoneOnDemand. These tools enabled us to track potential successors, review development progress, and evaluate succession readiness. It runs scenario planning and #SuccessionModeling to simulate organizational changes and what would be affected in such scenarios. Our succession planning strategy, therefore, bore its first benefit: a strong #LeadershipPipeline ready for the challenges ahead and improved employee engagement through clear career pathways. It also enhanced the organizational agility required for smoother transitions. Our organization is more resilient, with a strategic approach toward developing leaders that places us in good stead for the future. #CHRODiaries #SuccessionPlanning #LeadershipPipeline #HighPotentialEmployees #PerformanceAssessment #360DegreeFeedback #ChangeManagement #CareerProgression #EmployeeEngagement #StakeholderBuyIn #OrganizationalGrowth

Five Ways to Keep Employees from Job Hunting Q. Hi Liz, I have a great team and I’m grateful for them. Several of our employees have been with us for 10 years or more. We have a big (although challenging) year coming up and I want to keep everyone happy and on board. Can you recommend some steps for me to take? A. Great question! Here are five steps to keep your employees feeling valued and on your team this year: 1. Boost Flexibility At the top of the list right after pay and benefits, employees value flexible work - meaning both their work hours and where the work gets done. If you value retention and engagement, now is the time to add flexibility to your employees’ schedules and embrace work from home as much as your business allows. 2. Add Visibility & Input These are scary times for a lot of working people. They wonder how their employer’s business is doing and whether their job is secure. Fill them in on your business results. Let them know what the year ahead looks like, what your challenges are, and how they can help reach your goals. Make it easy for them to have input into your plans. The old top-down management style doesn’t work anymore. You need all available brain cells, heart cells and good energy to get where you’re trying to go. 3. Honor Their Commitment Turnover is low in your shop, so you must be doing a lot of things right. Hats off to you! You want your teammates to stick around for the long haul, but if there were a downturn and you had to lay people off they might struggle to pay the rent next month. Honor their commitment to you by committing to them with a severance policy that pays at least a couple weeks of severance per year they’ve been with you. Your lawyer can draft simple agreements that make your severance policy a real commitment your employees can rely on. Taking this step will buy you more commitment and engagement than any pizza party, company outing or teambuilding event. If you want your employees focused, make sure they are covered if things don’t go as planned. 4. Define Career Paths Internal career growth has plummeted in large and small organizations - one reason many people change jobs every two or three years. Sadly, some organizations would rather keep high performing employees stuck in their roles than promote them into more responsible, higher paying jobs. That is short term thinking. To keep employees focused on the future, define career paths with them. Let them know that an entry-level customer support rep can grow with the company into an inside sales or marketing assistant job, and then to a marketing analyst or manager job. 5. When We Win, We All Win When you lay out the plan for 2024 and the challenges ahead, let everybody know that if you win, they win. That could mean chunky bonuses, stock options or something else folks will stick around for. Get creative. You need your team focused on the win, so make them part of it!

Most companies approach Succession Planning poorly. They produce a document once every few years, review it, and file it away. The exercise is not future-proof. At Nissan, we built something different. Every manager at every level was required to submit 5 successors for their own role, ranked, updated every year. The process was confidential, but people knew it existed. This created several things at once. First, managers had to actually know their people’s capabilities. You cannot produce a ranked list of five successors if you have not been paying genuine attention to how colleagues are developing. The exercise forced real talent assessment throughout the organization, not just at the top. Second, it built a pipeline of readiness. At any given time, we knew who could step into critical roles. When a position opened, we had candidates who had been identified, and already prepared through expanded responsibilities. Third, it became one of the most effective #retention tools we had. People who knew the organization was preparing them for advancement had a reason to stay. We applied this framework directly to our women in #leadership goals. Every succession list had to include at least one woman. This created ongoing pressure to develop female candidates and made the exclusion of women from the pipeline a visible management failure rather than an invisible one. The reward is highest for the candidates who have historically been overlooked. Someone who breaks into a new level in an environment that had previously excluded people like them brings energy and loyalty that is rare. They become ambassadors. They bring in more talent like themselves. The virtuous circle runs itself. A company that cannot replace any of its key leaders on short notice is carrying a significant hidden operational risk. Most organizations discover this only after the #crisis has already arrived. The succession plan is not a human resources document. It is a strategic tool. Treat it that way. How robust is the succession pipeline in your organization right now? Could you replace your three most critical roles within ninety days?

𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 ! 🔑 Students who scored higher on Presence and Agility (linked to Extraversion and Openness to Experience) were more likely to step into leadership roles. 🤝 Sociability and intellectual curiosity — long studied as drivers of emerging leadership — remain powerful predictors of who rises to lead. ⚡ Personality‑based agility measures show that comfort with switching gears under pressure, even at the risk of mistakes, reflects the adaptability leaders need most. 🎯 Interestingly, those who spread their effort across multiple smaller tasks (rather than focusing only on high‑reward ones) showed a stronger propensity for leadership. 🧭 And at its core, leadership is about making decisions with limited information, balancing potential rewards with unknown consequences. Understanding how someone approaches risk—strategically, emotionally, and cognitively—can offer valuable clues about their leadership approach, according to a fascinating research published by a team of researchers from Korn Ferry Wharton Neuroscience Initiative Student Society, and Lazul.ai using data from students at the University of Pennsylvania. ✅ 𝙈𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬:  I believe these latest amazing findings could mark a real turning point for organizations striving to build stronger leadership pipelines. If we can identify leadership potential, early before years of experience accumulate, it opens up entirely new ways to nurture and support future leaders from the very beginning of their journey. It also means we may discover high‑potential talent in places we’ve overlooked. Someone who doesn’t fit the “traditional mold” might still carry the adaptability, curiosity, and resilience that great leaders need to thrive. What excites me most is the shift from relying solely on résumés (CVs) or past achievements to looking at real‑time behaviors and mindsets: 🔍 How people adapt under pressure 🔍 How they balance risk and reward 🔍 How they stay engaged across multiple priorities 🔍 How they bring presence, agility, and curiosity into the moment By combining personality insights with behavioral data, we gain a fuller, richer picture of how leadership takes shape often long before it’s made official with a title. Thank you 🙏 Korn Ferry Wharton Neuroscience Initiative Student Society, and Lazul.ai researchers team for these insightful findings: Amelia Haynes Sarah Hezlett Elizabeth Johnson, PhD Jean-Marc Laouchez James Luria Lewis, PhD Michael Platt, PhD, PMP Winston Sieck 🔑Are we overvaluing experience and undervaluing adaptability when identifying future leaders? #Leadership #Agility #Adaptability #PeopleDevelopment

The quiet crisis nobody's talking about is that 66% of your employees are mentally checked out at work. 😳 I've been analyzing engagement data and the numbers are alarming. Only 34% of workers feel truly engaged and the rest are just going through the motions while updating their LinkedIn profiles. When I dig deeper with leaders, they're shocked by what disengagement actually costs them: • $4,129 per employee replacement (conservative estimate) • 44 days of productivity lost during hiring • Countless hours of institutional knowledge that walks out the door But what fascinates me most is the companies bucking this trend aren't throwing money at fancy perks or office ping-pong tables. They're doing something much simpler… Showing people a future. When employees can see their career path within your organization, 94% will stay longer. & not just a little longer - YEARS longer. Growth-oriented companies are crushing their competition with 26% higher profits and significantly better customer satisfaction scores. Why? Because humans crave progress. When we can't see forward movement, we look elsewhere. Most companies get this completely backwards. They wait for annual reviews to discuss career growth (if they discuss it at all). But your people are thinking about their future DAILY. If you're not part of that conversation, someone else will be. The leaders winning the talent war are making growth pathways visible, accessible, and concrete. They're asking better questions: ↳ "What skills does Sarah already have that we're not utilizing?" ↳ "Which adjacent roles could David move into with minimal upskilling?" ↳ "How can we create stepping stones between entry-level and leadership positions?" The ability to map and communicate career paths is no longer an HR nice-to-have. Because the companies that retain institutional knowledge while their competitors constantly onboard newbies will dominate their markets. How visible are your internal career paths? #EmployeeEngagement #TalentRetention #CareerGrowth #WorkforceStrategy

Have you ever been mentored by someone 10 years younger than you? 😲😲 I have. And I highly recommend it.😊✨ During my time at L'Oréal Australia, I had the chance to speak at a leadership event where they had built an entire program around reverse mentoring. Not a buzzword. A real structure where junior talent mentored senior leaders. On everything from how Gen Z thinks, to emerging tech, to what inclusive culture actually looks like in practice. And honestly? It’s one of the smartest things a company can do. 👉🏻👉🏻 Why? Because: – Interns are closer to consumer shifts than the boardroom – New grads know TikTok and AI tools like second nature. – And junior team members often see the cultural blind spots leaders miss. The Times article on British Airways hit the nail on the head. - 80 pairs - Junior staff mentoring the C-suite. - Game-changing insights that are shaping how the airline leads from within. I have first hand seen Reverse mentoring flipping the script. It humbles leadership. It future-proofs decision-making. And it brings in the voices that matter most. At a time when everything’s evolving from platforms, behaviour, expectations, listening isn’t optional. It’s the new superpower. 💪🏻💪🏻 👇🏽 CEOs, here are my 3 actionable ways to start reverse mentoring today: 1. Form intentional pairings: Pair junior talent with leaders and set up dedicated time when these two can connect. 2. Make it safe: Set clear expectations and remove the pressure to impress. Authenticity > polish. 3. Turn insights into action: Don’t let the conversation end at “good point.” Bake learnings into culture, strategy and product. So here’s my question: When’s the last time you learned something from someone just starting out? #ReverseMentoring #Insights #GenZ #AI