Succession management refers to the process in which a suitable candidate from the corporate talent pool is tapped to fill a pending senior vacancy. It is a practice that is gaining the increasing attention of CEOs.

William Byham, the founder of the theory and system of succession management, is busy giving advice to CEOs worldwide on training and developing leaders for their companies.

More than 1,600 organizations in 60 countries currently utilize programmes and services provided by Byham and the employees of his company, Development Dimensions International Ltd (DDI), set up in 1970.

The human resource (HR) managers and professionals in Shanghai greeted Byham and his delegation with great enthusiasm. They also wanted to share DDI's worldwide experience on assessing and developing local leaders.

At present, expatriate leaders account for a large proportion of the top-level management in multinational companies (MNCs) in the city.

However, the worldwide economic slowdown has made the recall of expat managers inevitable as companies try to reduce costs. Thus, developing the skills of local executives is becoming a priority for MNCs.

Byham said, with Shanghai's economy growing fast, both local and multinational corporations are facing a shortage of talent in the area of senior management. Providing leaders with the right skills, motivations and experiences to assume senior positions is crucial to sustain healthy growth.

According to Anthony Mak, general manager of DDI China/Hong Kong, in Shanghai some 10 MNC offices have inquired about succession management projects with DDI, and Roche and Shanghai GM are now implementing projects in their organizations.

Andy Lock, HR manager of Roche Shanghai, said: "Byham's view on business expansion in Shanghai is correct. In the last three years, Shanghai Roche has established joint ventures and subsidiaries in succession. Senior managers are in great demand."

Roberto Siu, HR director of Shanghai Roche, said over 100 candidates in Shanghai Roche have been put into the assessment system set up by both DDI and the HR department of Shanghai Roche.

Anthony Mak said: "Assessing is an inseparable part of succession management, as it assures that the pool of candidates is made up of the best and brightest people.

DDI's statistics show each day more than 1,000 leadership candidates around the world are assessed through the DDI process.

The consultants from DDI designed simulation tests for Shanghai Roche and acted as testers to gauge the responses of candidates.

Lock added: "As DDI's consultants are not influenced by the candidates' past work performance, their result is more objective than the internal judging panel of Roche."

Group efforts needed

Nevertheless, many HR managers in Shanghai still encounter problems in the process of developing and implementing a successful succession management system.

Both Hansen Hu, senior HR manager of Eli Lilly Asia Inc, and Madelaine Zhang, group HR manager of Dow Corning Co Ltd, feel it remains a challenge to persuade top level management that building a succession management system is not only a task for the HR department.

The system cannot work successfully without the support of top-level management. Andy Lock agrees it is difficult to solve conflicts of interest between current job objectives and objectives put forward by leader training plans for the candidates.

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