If you run a business or organization in the Kawarthas, think about your employees as if they are a pro hockey team.
Hockey careers are short, competition for players is intense, and turnover is constant. The key to a pro hockey team’s success is its bench strength, achieved by recruiting young players combined with an excellent training, mentoring. and development program.
When it comes to businesses and organizations, succession planning is just as important to ensuring long-term success.
Employers need to find and hire the right people, develop and retain key employees, and identify existing employees with the potential to take over leadership roles when existing managers leave or retire.
Succession planning has become even more critical with the aging of the labour force in Canada, which is on track to having one of the fastest-aging rates recorded among economically developed countries. According to Planning for an Aging Labour Force, a March 2019 report released by the Workforce Development Board – Local Employment Planning Council (WDB/LEPC), four in 10 working-age Canadians could be aged 55 or over by 2026.
Combined with other factors including robust economic growth and lower unemployment rates, this presents a significant challenge for organizations in the future.
Through succession planning, employers can develop existing employees with leadership potential, so they are ready to be promoted to critical roles when needed so there isn’t a gap in service and organizations can save money on recruitment.
In his 2016 book Succession Planning That Works, management consultant Michael Timms writes, “Succession planning answers arguably the greatest talent management question of the 21st century: how will organizations fill the void left by the baby boomers?”
Research conducted by Deloitte in 2014 finds that, while most employers recognize this emerging issue and consider succession planning an urgent or important priority, only 14 per cent believe they are doing it well.
That’s why WDB/LEPC is offering two options for succession planning support for owners, managers, and directors of any type and size of business or organization in Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, or Northumberland, including a series of free succession planning workshops and focus groups.
The workshops/focus groups take place at the following locations and dates:
- Peterborough – Tuesday, October 15th in the board room at the Peterborough Public Library (345 Aylmer St. N., Peterborough)
- Haliburton – Thursday, October 24th at SIRCH Community Services (49 Maple Ave., Unit 4 Haliburton)
- City of Kawartha Lakes – Thursday, November 21st at VCCS (370 Kent St. W. Unit 5, Lindsay)
- Northumberland – Thursday, November 28th at the Business & Entrepreneurship Centre Northumberland (600 William St. Suite 700, Cobourg).
Two sessions are available on each date: one from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. and another from 7 to 9 p.m. To register for your preferred date and session, visit wdbsuccessionplanning.eventbrite.ca. There is no cost to attend.
Project manager Carrie Wakeford will begin the session with a focus group, where employers can share their opinions about succession planning needs and learn more about succession planning in the process.
This will be followed by a practical succession planning workshop led by business coach Colleen Carruthers, who has extensive experience training business leaders. In the workshop, employers will have the opportunity to work on their business’s or organization’s own succession plan.
For more information, contact Carrie Wakeford at carrie@wakeford.ca or 705-745-1607.
If you are unable to attend a workshop/focus group, you can also complete a voluntary online survey on succession planning available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/WDB_Succession.
By completing the survey, you will learn about succession planning and help guide WDB/LEPC in developing succession planning support. The survey will take under eight minutes to complete, and all responses are confidential.
As a bonus, all participants in the workshops/focus groups and the survey will receive a tip sheet, templates, links to online training, as well as a list of local succession planning services.
