Training Industry Magazine - January/February 2019 - 3

PERSPECTIVES
KEN TAYLOR

LEARNING AS A SUCCESSION
PLANNING STRATEGY

This issue of Training Industry Magazine
focuses on the various strategies
that support a robust succession
planning strategy for learning-centric
organizations. I see the focus on skills
gaps or potentially even performance
gap remediation solutions at the heart of
a great learning and development (L&D)
team's strategic focus.
Understanding the role L&D should play
in succession planning is similar to the
analysis that any good manufacturing
leader goes through when deciding
whether to "make or buy" a product
or service. "Make" would suggest the
product is developed in-house by your
own team and resources and assumes
you have the capability and means to
develop the product. It also assumes that
the version you will make is current with
competing products in the marketplace,
and controlling the development of the
product is integral to its success. (Think
Apple operating system in the PC world.)
If the analysis sways you to "buy," then
this suggests that there is a competing or
existing product or service that you could
buy now (or when you need it) that will
meet the needs of your customers when
incorporated into your go-to-market
product or solution. Of course, that is a
simplification of the analysis, and you
could consider many related factors in the
decision, but I believe it illustrates the role
of L&D versus recruiting in a company's
overall succession planning strategy.

If an organization decides to "make"
or develop successors for certain roles
inside the organization, they must
ensure they have the ability to develop
people who will match or hopefully
exceed the performance capabilities
of those candidates available in the
market. The challenge for L&D is not
only to develop successors for key roles
according to the current operating
expectations for the position, but also
to consider the movement in the market
and develop successors beyond the
role's current incumbent's skill set to
ensure the company keeps pace with the
marketplace. That suggests we should be
very diligent and limit the number of roles
to very strategic ones when we step up to
that challenge.

DEVELOPING PEOPLE
(MAKE) TO FILL A
SUCCESSION FUNNEL
FOR EVERY ROLE
ISN'T A VIABLE
BUSINESS STRATEGY,
SO RECRUITING FOR
ROLES (BUY) MAY
OFTEN BE THE BEST
STRATEGY.

As we believe at Training Industry, training
isn't the solution to every business
problem. Similarly, developing people
(make) to fill a succession funnel for every
role in the organization isn't a viable
business strategy, so recruiting for roles
(buy) where the market is generating
great candidates may ultimately be the
best strategy.
As always, we would love to hear your
thoughts about the perspectives shared
in the magazine, and please feel free to
send along any suggestion for future
editions of Training Industry Magazine to
consider.
Ken Taylor is president and editor in chief of
Training Industry, Inc. Email Ken.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - THE ROLE OF L+D IN SUCCESSION PLANNING 20 19 I WWW. T RAININGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - January/February 2019