Businesses change often and quickly and because of this they need to be prepared for almost anything. One example of a being prepared is going to be employee retention and succession. With all of the different jobs that are out there and all of the different companies that are doing similar, if not the same, work that you do, why would your employees want to stay with you? There are of course, many reasons for this including loyalty, money and security, but intertwined in each is the hope for advancement. People want to know that they are going to have the opportunity to move up in the company, that they aren't going to be stuck doing the same thing year after year. There are exceptions of course, but most people will leave a place after a while if they aren't given more responsibility, more power or at least more money. The question at this point is, how do you set that up, how do you decide who should be moved up? And of course, how do you train that person fast enough? Your answer is automated succession planning.

Succession planning is a pretty simple concept. The idea is that you will plan out which person will replace each person above them. That way, if you have a manager that quits, you already have a person selected to take that person's position. The great things about having a succession plan is you won't have to worry about training someone completely new to do a job at a completely different job than they used to work. This means less time training new managers or supervisors.

Speaking of training, the succession plan isn't all that needs to be done. What will be done is the person that you selected to promote should begin receiving training now. They should work with the person they will eventually replace and should learn from them. This will allow for a smooth transition into the job for them. They will understand how the person before them did things and how they will do it. This allows for less complications and issues and it also give that person a reason to stay at the company. It really is a win, win.

The difference between succession planning and automated succession planning is the manner in which it is done. In automated succession planning you will fill in questions about different people. You will talk about their qualities, desires, seniority, and almost everything else that determines their abilities. This will nearly take the guess work out of things. This will assist you in determining which of your employees should be given what job. It will also track their progress so you know what they are learning, and what they are not learning. And if they aren't learning it, then they should be trained again. This keeps an open line between the employee and the employer of what the plans for the employee are and what the employee's progress is.

With this type of program you can save yourself a lot of time, especially if you have a large business already. In the end, succession planning is an amazing tool. After a while you will be impressed at how much harder they will be working because they suddenly have direction for their work, a reason to continue and hopes for advancement are becoming more realistic to them.

Author: Success Galore

About the author:
Use Winner Business Planning Software to develop your business strategy. For details visit http://www.successgalore.com

Article source: Free Management Articles.