A key strategy to ensuring a company’s continued strength and growth is succession planning and mentoring, which is the process of identifying and developing new leaders who can replace old leaders when they leave, retire or die. Succession planning and mentoring prepare experienced and capable employees to assume these roles as they become available.
What is Succession Planning?
While companies frequently implement succession plans to ensure smooth transitions within their organization, they are faced with several challenges in implementing them. These include identifying talented candidates for leadership succession, developing candidates to become suitable leadership successors, and retaining leaders and succession candidates long enough to ensure that key positions will be successfully filled according to plan.
What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is a vital component of succession planning. It helps with developing career paths and transferring knowledge from within – one employee to another – ultimately helping companies avoid onboarding a new employee who will need extra time to familiarize themselves with the company and its key selling points. By mentoring an existing employee, companies can also increase morale by showing their employees they are willing to invest in their future career paths.
Benefits of Succession Planning and Mentoring
- Allows more exposure to talented employees. If mentors see them performing at a high level, this will be communicated with other coworkers and senior executives.
- Creates leaders to fill the gaps of a company’s succession plan. The majority of great leaders today give credit to a mentor for passing on key leadership competencies.
- Engages employees to commit to your company, eventually becoming a part of your succession pipeline.
- Identifies who is next in line to fill senior positions. Leaders can groom these people to become the next generation of leaders to stay competitive.
Online Human Resources Degree
Succession planning and mentoring is a primary responsibility of a company’s Human Resources Department. It is increasingly becoming a facet of HR in companies of all sizes and can be of great value to smaller organizations that have fewer resources available for knowledge management programs and the structured development of employees. Replacing a company leader with highly specialized knowledge is costly and time-consuming. Succession planning and mentoring alleviate the effects of an unanticipated vacancy in a principal position.
Human Resources has several important functions, including recruitment, performance management, development, and, as emphasized here, succession planning and mentoring. In pursuing Ottawa University’s online Master in Business Administration degree with a Human Resources Concentration, you will enhance and cultivate your skills in strategic planning, entrepreneurship, and change management in this program designed to provide the knowledge needed to thrive in start-ups or well-established organizations. The Ottawa MBA program holds esteemed accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), showing the high levels of business teaching within this degree. U.S. News & World Report has ranked Ottawa University and its online programs near the top of the best colleges in the institution’s adult markets of Kansas City, Phoenix, and Milwaukee.
Career Advancement in HR
Working professionals – in HR or another area of business – who have a desire to further their careers and be poised to help their existing or future company with succession planning and mentoring can obtain the skills needed with Ottawa University’s online Master in Business Administration degree. The curriculum of OU’s MBA will help you gain the real-world education and skills you need to impact your organization’s corporate strategy in a leadership or expert role. Our 100% online MBA program provides working adults maximum flexibility with a curriculum that incorporates personal values and professional ethics. Furthermore, Ottawa’s business administration graduate degree features a Human Resources Concentration as one of eight concentrations that can be selected to tailor your MBA for future corporate strategizing.
Career advancement awaits with one of the best, fastest, and most affordable online Master of Business Administration degree programs. Why not take the first step now? To learn more about earning your online MBA at Ottawa University, contact us today!
See Also:
Benefits of Training and Development
Best Master of Arts in Leadership
What Careers Can You Pursue with a Masters Degree in Human Resources