Succession Planning

Succession planning is the procedure of identifying potential leaders in an organization to fill important positions in near future. It is important for an organization to find the right people who will fill key positions. Any organization needs to select the candidates carefully, as they would in key positions and strategically significant roles with great responsibility and power. Thus organizations need to adopt a detailed and broad system of selection, inspection, grooming and orientation.

This process of succession planning enables organizations to:

•  Assess if they have the right skills mix to achieve company goals – and determine what gaps exist that must be closed. 
• Identify talented employees and provide education to develop them for future higher level and broader responsibilities 
• Identify which employees are at risk of leaving. 
• Retain superior employees 
• Build “bench strength."
• Determine where people belong on the bus. 
• Determine if they should be on your bus - or someone else’s.

Succession plan ideas can be

• Strategic succession plan - It is done when organization knows about any upcoming key vacant position. Generally at such situations, current (or outgoing) key role holder is involved in the lookup for a successor and also gives initial guidelines about the role.
• Emergency succession plan – It is done when a critical key role holder departs unexpectedly due to illness or accident.

Also, succession plan depends upon the company policy.

• Some organizations prefer to use the talents within the company to grow and lead
• Some companies adopt talents outside the organization to avoid collision amongst employees

Further, strategic succession plan can be

• Immediate (0 – 1 year)
• Mid-term   (2-5 years)
• Long term  (beyond 5 years)

Key elements of succession planning:

• Identification of key position
• Identification of key talent
• Assessment of key talent
• Grooming and development
• Support through transition

Steps to ensure Effective Succession Planning

• HR and business leaders should monitor succession plan.
• Rather than just recording performance, potential for future roles need to be assess. 
• Manage succession data on individuals and talent pools.
• Balance talent development and acquisition in achieving future objectives.
• Integrate succession planning systems with other businesses and HR systems in the organization to achieve efficiency, consistency and impact.

Barriers to succession plan

• Projected shortage of talents
• Cost and Time
• Talent retention 
• Conflict within employee and employer
• Insecurity feeling
• Lack of learning opportunity
• Expectation of organization

Green HR

Modern day organizations are becoming environment conscious and adopting thinking green initiatives; environment management is being included in business operations. Green initiatives are practices that help in natural resource conservation by reduction in usage of raw material, energy and water or elimination of pollutants. Thus reducing employee carbon footprints. Green HR involves two elements: environment friendly HR practices and the preservation of knowledge capital.

It is done as promoting and implementing – ‘Going digital’ by using teleconference or videoconference, virtual interviews, virtual training, printing less paper. Also, it includes recycling, reusing resources, car-pooling, energy efficient office, sapling plantation, etc. Green HR is about retaining, recalling, preserving, and growing talent, therefore reducing and/or eliminating workplace inefficiency. Along with creating a more efficient workplace, retaining knowledge capital forces employers to properly evaluate their staff and look for the best options available. HR efforts on the same include increasing process efficiency, revamping HR procedures and tools. A lot of HR processes need bulk paper documentation; hence it adds cost and challenges the green initiative. Organizations should adopt online applications as online attendance and leave record, employee personal data, online pay slips, online assert and manpower requisition, travel plan, team reports, PF details, Form 16 etc.

Green ideas and concepts are commencing to grow in HR domain, acting as add on to sustainability-based initiatives. Tangible benefits of Green practices are - contribution to environment, employee education and awareness, brand image of company, improve productivity and efficiency.

Mitch Albom's ''The five people you meet in heaven"- Book review

From the author of bestseller ‘Tuesday with Morrie’ Mitch Albom, ‘The five people you meet in heaven’ gives an idea that heaven is more than the story told with floating clouds and white angels, and unforeseen life connections.

Eddie, an old wounded World War II veteran living an uninspired life. He works at an amusement park as maintenance man. On his 83rd birthday he died in a horrible accident while saving a little girl. He wakes in his afterlife and find himself traveling with five people to reach his heaven. Here, heaven is not the same place for all souls; heaven is also not the destination.

Eddie meet five people at their heaven; he knew some of them, some were unknown but have connection in his life. He met them one by one from his childhood till old age; together they revisited earth and Eddie learns something new about himself, significance of their encounters and life. He is enlighten by to his own worth and value of his life.

The story gives insights about life, love, sacrifice, human connection but at times emotions are forced, as a reader might feel emotionally manipulated by different five characters. The book had aimed to reach a message of humanity with simple story in afterlife.

Happy Independence Day!!

Happy 65th Independence Day India!!!


After uncountable known and unsung heroes sacrificed for the future of country we got this freedom. Our military, police and similar organizations still fight to maintain that freedom. But are we really free, do we know what freedom is?

How can we be free in a country divided by caste, inequality, injustice, fear and terror?

A country where an infant girl still doesn’t have right to birth; where a girl still doesn’t have freedom to live with honor; where honor killings exist; how free is that country?

64 years back our freedom fighters freed the land from foreign rule and gave us the base to recreate the golden bird. We are still a young country and racing fast to development, but as we develop we are gradually missing out important and necessary segments to develop. We still lack the basic medical and education facilities. There are many untold and unknown barriers against freedom. I feel it is a pity as every second Indian blames only the governing bodies for any problem and issue faced is it a pothole in road or garbage overflow from any dustbin or any other (starting from the minimal).

Freedom is not free; we have paid for it and must bear the responsibility for it.
Take account of your responsibility and create a better tomorrow.

Again, Happy Independence Day!!

My march as I pave my road...

It is going to be a month soon. I finally started a new step to do my post graduation.

I was a software engineer working in a SWITCH company, realized am missing a lot in my life and my journey to discover me started as in here. For almost a year I converted as a homemaker, HR blog reader: D, learnt new cuisines, read more than 50 books I always wanted to read, watched all the movies I always wanted to, earned online, started reading and following fashion blogs, painted again as here and decided what I want from my life.

This post is to unleash the words hold tight for so long. I decided to become a person, who would drive an organization, grow with it and help it to grow more. I decided to be a HR. I fall for it, more than my last love for coding and Oracle but it ended soon. So, to be sure that it is not going to be a just another encounter I networked and read about people in the field.

When I became more than 200% sure this is the thing I want to be in, I joined my current alma mater Madras School of Social Work, Chennai. Now I want to be a superstar HR.

Hope I can contribute my 2 cents here.

Wish me luck!

Innocent Smiles @ Bala Vihar

Have you ever seen the blissful smile of new parents? Have you ever realized the satisfaction and love of your parents when you smiled, giggled, spoke, walked and reacted for the first time? Many might have already experienced those feelings. They can understand its difficult to express all those emotional arouses in 2-3 words.

Today I felt am lucky enough to be born this way, I can speak, express and communicate to people. I am independent (how you read on..), I can understand and respond. You might be wondering why am penning these stuffs. I can get it. Today I was privileged to meet some beautiful souls at ‘Bala Vihar’.

Bala Vihar, a unit of Guild of Service is the home for special persons (mentally challenged but very special). Bala Vihar was born in 1953 and has come long way to care, protect and rehab special children and adults. It had a humble beginning with 5 residential students. Today they have 350+ special people with them, children till the age of 18-years stay at the Kilpauk wing and adults at Veppamputtu.
I have been to their Kilpauk branch today and met children who addressed us (class participation) as ‘Akka’ or ‘Anna’. They have the most innocent pair of eye ever seen. Many children came forward to interact with us, smiled beautifully and greeted us.

Those children were either born with it, or suffer Down syndrome and/or other causes. Their IQ is below 70. People suffer from severe mental retardation are unable to their daily routines independently. Such persons need extensive care and support through out their life. Here at Bala Vihar children are taught about daily living skills like getting dressed, using washroom, etc.
At Bala Vihar, they train children (residential and day-scholars) in self-help skills, socialization skills i.e. communication and interaction, basic academics and hygiene. They also provide rehab programs as physiotherapy, speech therapy, vocational training, etc at very reasonable fees. They quote their achievements as the pass-out students who have been rehabilitated and have become independent workers earning a comfortable livelihood.

Now, you (readers) can understand how privileged we are to be independent, have our own view and express it amongst million other benefits and advantages. I feel we owe them and society the “privilege of being us” and need to pay it back.

You can help Bala Vihar here contribute.

Weekends Special Time - 'Saara'

Big round shining eyes, a cute smile, scattered bangs and her squeals accompanied with clapping will catch your attention once you enter her zone. Basically she rules that home – her zone.

Saara, my friend’s a year and half kid, always full of energy and ready to ‘buui’. Buui can be translated as outing/ short trips to adults.

Usually we (my husband and me) spend weekend evenings together but then all shares her playtime. Her parents and us fight to get her attention, which is mostly won by her dad L. But recently I earned an evening with her, happy enough to say that! When its 7 pm Saturday Saara-Hour begins.

First rearrange her playground a.k.a their bedroom space or living room filled with soft toys, books, and her tech gadgets. Her tech gadgets include a 10-inch laptop and mobile. OMG! Techie-girl! Cell phone can be ignored but she needs that laptop more than anyone else. Its when little lady demands her relatives to be online @ skype.

Her non-stop laughter performance will make you forget time and play with her. At times like a teen girl she would comment at your look and bag – ‘bhala’ (nice). We friends wait to hear that bhala word from her even more than our spouse.

Be it her new language words or buui or bhala….her laptop demands, and not to forget she is a sheila-fan (alas for munni). She controls our weekend evenings. Saara has the power to diminish work-life worries almost to lose its existence.

Aha!! This baby is apple of our eyes.

Charity or Scam

Multiple knocks at the door, at times repeated doorbells makes you run marathon. Almost every first week of each month I go through them. Those days the visitors are not family or friends of mine, neither are salesperson urging to buy their products. They are small children aged around 8-18 years, as groups or individuals claiming being deaf and dumb students. They expect financial help from us. Their eyes will make your heart bleed and make you feel sympathetic towards them. At times you might even be kind enough to do that charity.

But is this really a charity/donation and not any scam? The donor has almost no proof to believe that this kid is poor and desperately need your help. Kids usually display a printed letter where it is mentioned that they are poor, deaf and dumb seeking help undersigned by some name quoted as principal of XYZ school.

As a donor (or now victim) shall I go with the choice to contribute without any receipt or bang the door back? Would I qualify as a human if I send them off? If it is a fraud one my honest feelings are crushed.

Finally I decide to show them cold shoulder but still hurt self. But most of the times their eyes overshadow my doubts and make me act as their wish. Anyways I might not be bright enough to any RCA (root cause analysis/ deep analysis) for self-satisfaction but I do contribute my share of humanitarian help to needful every year in my way, with my budget.

So, conclusion even if I feel sorry when I refuse them, still it wonders me what they really are. Are those pitiful faces exploited? Does any school really send its student to collect money for school fees, even when they right to education?



P.S: Its only my view, no hard feelings!