Succession Planning in a Civil Society Organisation does not mean planning success, although it actually does.
The words “succession” and “success” have the same Latin root: from sub– “next to” + cēdō “go, move” (Wiktionary). Indeed, proper succession planning often defines the success of an organisation.
Succession Planning is a critical element for sustainability of any civil society organisation (CSO). It is a strategic approach to ensure smooth transition at leadership positions (volunteers and staff) and prevent any crisis because of unexpected leave of people. Thus, it should be well thought over, planned and executed as part of ongoing organisational culture.
Succession Planning goes tightly with other systems of organisations: strategy, governance, education, motivation, organisational culture, human resources management, risk management, etc. A proper succession planning ecosystem is not just a set of separate elements but an all-embracing interrelated complex which ensures continuous development and sustainable impact.
Thus, it mostly embraces the elements of other systems which directly lead to healthy continuity of leadership. It is not possible to achieve it separately.
Succession planning typically involves continuity in key leadership positions: Board, President, Chief Executives. Although the skillsets, processes of nomination and recruitment are different, the overall approach and major elements are the same.
Here we provide key components of succession planning culture in a non-profit organisation.
“Mere change is not growth. Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, and where there is no continuity there is no growth”. C. S. Lewis
Values and Culture of a Civil Society Organisation
Each organisation defines their own list of key values and how they see their implementation. They are linked with the mission, vision and culture. Although the lists may vary, civil society organisations usually have democratic principles embedded in their governance systems. Governance itself is defined as a system of accountable mechanisms ensuring division and turnover of power. This is not possible without a proper approach to succession planning.
Values and culture of CSOs typically illustrate the attitude and intention of a movement towards the constant self-evolution, power turnover and talent development. Moreover, for YMCA as a youth focused organisation, it is critical that youth empowerment becomes a cross-cutting perspective in all areas of a CSO.
Strategic planning
Strategic plan outlines the key directions of development of an organisation, both impact wise and internally; it determines the action plan. Strategic priorities let you shape specific skill sets which are needed for the strategy implementation. It is normal to review job descriptions after a new round of strategic planning; it is normal to invite new experts according to the needs of an organisation.
Skill set determination and proper recruitment
Clear vision of relevant skill sets help to settle the profiles of the Staff team, as well as the Board. Practically it is implemented through the job descriptions reviews and a proper recruitment process if necessary.
When we speak about the Board recruitment, this process should be clearly defined in the Nomination/Election procedure. This is an independent Nomination Committee which deals with this process to avoid a conflict of interests. The skill set of Board members mainly consist of three components:
- soft skills: how a person communicates, approaches conflicts, thinks positively and constructively, ability to analyse and make conclusions, ability to take decisions, etc.;
- governance: knowledge about democratic governance, division of power, Board functions, responsibilities of Board members, key documents, etc.;
- hard skills: specific skills relevant to the development of an organisation and implementation of the Strategy such as strategic planning, risk assessment, innovations, human resources development, financial management, social impact, etc. Typically, these are professional skills which is a huge added value if volunteers possessing them enter the Board.
There are many factors which determine the skill set and a profile of a Chief Executive/Secretary General. They are the mission and structure of an organisation; its size and number, positions of other professionals involved; strategic priorities and key results which should be achieved; financial status of an organisation, etc. What can hardly vary are the critical soft skills and management skills sets:
- soft skills: efficient communication, managing conflicts and finding win-win solutions, emotional intelligence, creative and innovative thinking, strategic and systematic way of thinking, ability to appreciate the diversity of people, etc.;
- hard skills: planning, monitoring and evaluation; human resources management; legal knowledge; digital skills; financial management; peculiarities of management and fundraising in a CSO; partnership building, etc.
Typically this is a separate Selection Committee which is established by the Board to deal with the recruitment of a Chief Executive/Secretary General. It should include the President and several Board members; it can include external experts in spheres of human resources, psychology, management; it can include trustworthy volunteers possessing good vision of the organisation and understanding the job description very well; it can include trustworthy external partners. The Board should create the Terms of Reference for the Selection Committee clearly defining its responsibilities and tasks, timeframe, composition, voting rights, etc.
This is a common practice that organisations search for suitable candidates both internally and externally. The internal pool has a high potential to select people with fully matching organisational background and motivation. An external talent search can help to bring new points of view and fresh approaches. Only a clear vision of change and set of criteria can guide the selection process.
Relevant policies and procedures
Any organisation should be ready with updated documents to be able to implement succession. Here is the list of documents which are necessary for this process:
- Updated Constitution and By-Laws with clear definition of membership, voting rights, responsibilities (who elects and hires whom) and terms limits;
- Nomination procedure for Board election with the following things defined: when the process starts and finishes; eligibility of candidates; conflict of interests; who determines desirable profile; representation and diversity approach, etc.
- Terms of Reference for Nomination Committee indicating responsibilities and tasks, timeframe, composition, accountability, etc.
- Procedure of hiring the Chief Executive/Secretary General. It describes who is responsible for the process and the decision, how the process is happening, by whom and when.
- Job Descriptions for Chief Executive/Secretary General, the President, the Board members should be in place to ensure division of power and clear understanding of needed profiles.
- Transition protocol can be helpful to define the transition process from one Chief Executive to another (period of time, remunerations and responsibilities).
- An Emergency Succession plan should exist for understanding actions in case of unexpected leave of senior leaders.
Evaluation of performance
Self-evaluation and evaluation should be part of organisational culture. This is healthy when the Board performs annual self-evaluation in two ways:
- to monitor if the planned results are achieved or not, why;
- to observe the performance of the Board as the governing body.
Sometimes the President initiates evaluation of each Board member through conversations or/and questionnaires.
The President and the Board should run an annual assessment of performance of the Chief Executive/Secretary General. Typically it is done in the following ways:
- the Chief Executive/Secretary General makes a self-evaluation;
- the President and the Board make an anonymous assessment;
- the President puts the assessment item to the agenda at the end of the year, discussion takes place without the presence of the Chief Executive/Secretary General.
This is also a common practice when Chief Executive/Secretary General and the President evaluate each other’s performance and provide constructive feedback to their areas of work.
An organisation should have approved templates for the assessment for both Board and Chief Executive. Examples of templates can be found here.
The Chief Executive/Secretary General runs an annual evaluation of performance of all hired staff. Based on it, the plans for professional development with reskilling and upskilling for each personnel is set.
Training and development
This is typical for civil society organisations that skilled and motivated volunteers become Board members, Presidents and Staff. This is a natural way, as far as the volunteers have sufficient knowledge and experience, share the values, and have a high level of motivation. It is critical to facilitate this process by ensuring a system of training and development of people. Each organisation finds their own unique ways on how to do it, but often this system includes opportunities for different generations and levels of experience such as:
- basic leadership training (history and structure of organisation, efficient communication, conflict resolutions, working in a team);
- specific skills development such as project management, governance, advocacy, fundraising, communications, etc.;
- seniour leadership training (role of CSOs, mission, strategy, human resources, financial management, partnerships, etc.);
- a system of coaching and mentoring to support the development of new generations of leaders and people freshly coming to positions.
Constant system of education of volunteers and staff impacts the quality of performance and level of motivation highly. Moreover, it helps to identify and grow talents. It helps people to understand and shape their own missions and channel them in the best possible way for organisational purposes. It creates a win-win situation for a personal/professional growth and development of an association.
Motivation
Most civil society organisations take the motivation aspect seriously because they are volunteers’ based associations and depend on time, skills and other resources of people. This sphere requires a special approach and a system as well, it can not be limited by spontaneous actions or birthday cards. People want to join teams where they feel noticed, appreciated and like belonging. They want to be proud of the group they are part of. It applies to staff positions as well, although there is tendency to think that money remuneration is enough. When you create an approach to deal with motivation of volunteers and staff, you can consider the following aspects:
- Remunerations of correlated expenses (travel, food, accommodation, etc.);
- Educational and development opportunities;
- Networking opportunities;
- Keeping a personal contact, interpersonal communications;
- Involvement into decision making, consultations, asking opinion, building ownership;
- Traditions of an organisation;
- Safe space for work supported by needed policies and healthy working environment;
- Organisational culture which supports open constructive conversations, feedback, initiative, creativity, diversity and constant development;
- Merchandise;
- Birthdays, anniversaries and key holidays;
- Corporate gatherings, teambuilding and celebrations;
- Certificates, tokens of appreciation, prestigious nominations, etc.;
- Gift certificates, subscriptions to fitness, corporate language courses, membership discounts for family members, etc.;
- Recommendation letters, meaningful contributions to CV building, etc.
More information can be found here.
Knowledge management
This is a critical and often overlooked element. The current market is overwhelmed with various digital tools, with free and paid options. Not all organisations come to agreement on the joint tools they use and provide access to digital spaces they operate in. It often leads to the situations when volunteers and employers utilise their own clouds for storing the files. And when they leave, all information goes aways with them. New people at the same positions need to start from scratch. Thus, the system of knowledge management is crucial to be established and monitored.
Moreover, it is highly recommended to create a comprehensive induction guide or an online session. It will embrace all relevant aspects of an organisation such as history, structure, responsibilities, mission, values, code of conduct and other important internal policies, strategy, activities, etc. This easy tool will let you pass crucial knowledge efficiently and in the same way to everyone.
Youth Empowerment
This aspect is particularly important in youth organisations. Having young people as target groups and main focus it is not always obvious that youth is included in all areas of organisational work: decision making, strategic planning, staff positions, task force groups, etc. “Nothing about us without us!” – claimed youth of YMCA in 2010 at World Council of YMCAs. Establishing a specific Youth Engagement Policy can be a solution, where value-based principles and ways of engagement are described.
More information can be found here.
Risk Management
It is recommended for a CSO to have a risk management plan, which indicates all potential risks generally and for the upcoming year, the level of likelihood, the level of harm it would bring and means of mitigation.
Unexpected leave of staff and volunteers at key positions should be included there. The organisation should know what to do in case of unexpected loss of people, both volunteers and staff, at critical positions. The system should be adjusted accordingly, having positions of deputies and mid-level staff.
Diversity, Inclusion and Representation
These values typically should be embedded to all organisational processes. Recruitment of volunteer and staff positions is not an exception. A Succession Plan should promote diversity and inclusion, reflecting YMCA’s commitment to human rights, youth empowerment, equity, intention for balance and representation. The team of an organisation should reflect the society it operates in and represent different backgrounds. Some best practices on the topic can be found here.
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All mentioned tips seem obvious and well-known. The problem is that they are rarely looked at from the perspective of succession planning. These are helpful lenses which allow an organisation to avoid a number of risks, such as:
- too many things depend on specific personalities, when they leave – an organisation collapses;
- not enough candidates or wrongly skilled ones for Board and Staff positions;
- low diversity and representation in teams;
- no terms limits and risk of power abuse;
- stagnation in ideas and approaches, low impact;
- loss of legacy and knowledge;
- spontanious decisions instead of strategic systematic approach, etc.
Some organisations create a separate document “Succession Plan” when shaping an approach for Board and Staff Teams development. Apart from the mentioned elements it includes such specific components as actions, time frames, responsible ones and resources for it. This is a living document, which is adjusted according to numerous circumstances including the results of succession planning evaluation. The evaluation of the implemented succession planning process will let the organisation learn from the gained experience and build the capacity to ensure continuous leadership.
There are many approaches on how to ensure succession planning. But there is one important thing every organisation needs to start with. The first essential step for efficient succession planning is to start thinking about it and put this item to the agenda of the next meeting of the Board.
This article is created within YMCA Europe’s Movement Strengthening approach aimed at strengthening organisational capacity of YMCAs for the sake of their impact enhancement in local communities and globally.
More resources can be found in YMCA Europe Movement Strengthening Library.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
