Succession Planning: Building A Roadmap For The Future

1. Succession Planning: Building A Roadmap For The Future Presented by Deborah DeBare, National Network to End Domestic Violence Adapted from WORK by Ellen Yin-Wycoff & Michelle Dixon-Wall, Resource Sharing Project

2. Learning Goals In this workshop, participants will learn the following: • The different models of Succession Planning. • An overview of agency-wide Succession Planning and how it can enhance the agency’s overall infrastructure and capacity. • How to develop an action plan for Succession Planning.

3. Who’s In the Room? • Staff Role? • Board Role? • Your organization/the Coalition?

4. What is Succession Planningand Why Is It ImportantFor Your Agency?

5. Models of Succession Planning • Crisis Succession Planning: Thoughtful, prepared plan for key positions (like ED) when an unexpected departure occurs with minimal notice. • Departure-defined Transition Planning: Action plan developed by Board, ED, and/or management staff when key staff begins thinking about leaving the agency. • Strategic Leadership Planning: This ongoing process identifies core competencies, skills, and knowledge needed by your agency in the next 5 years along with a plan to develop/recruit those competencies in your existing staff (and board).

6. What is Succession Planning? • Succession Planning is about planning for transitions for all staff and board positions, (not just leadership positions), in order to promote the sustainability and stability of a nonprofit organization. • It focuses on solid organizational planning in preparing for any staff and/or Board transitions. • Succession planning leads to overall organizational sustainability as the organization creates and institutionalizes systems and processes to solidify its operations at all levels.

7. Succession Planning Leads To … • Institutionalizing the agency’s core values, philosophies, and history that should inform all agency’s programs, services, and functions, so it’s not dependent on individual personalities but rooted for all staff. • Easing the successor’s learning curve • Ensuring the continuity for the staff, Board of Directors, & the agency • Ensuring the smooth transition for the departing staff person • Setting priorities and communicating the agency vision and the staff’s roles/functions • Sharing the information across staff • Providing consistency/transparency of goal setting • Ensuring stability of the agency’s programs and services

8. Succession Planning Focuses on the 3 P’s: • People • Process • Product (or services for nonprofits) Source:Marcus Lemonis from The Profit, CNBC.

9. Personal Reflections LEGACY

10. Small Group Discussion • Why Do We Need to Include Anti-Oppression & Anti-Racism Work in Succession Planning? • What are the benefits in including Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism Work in Succession Planning?

11. Who’s Responsible? • Board of Directors • Executive Director • Staff

13. Preparation Checklist • Mission statement, Core Values, Philosophy & History • Staff job descriptions and work plans • Organizational Chart • Checklists for each staff position (deliverables, resources, & contacts) • Passwords for email, social media, voice mail, cell phone, bank/credit cards, etc. • Key contact info or relationships with partners, funders, etc. • Training plans for staff development or specific job orientation processes • Procedures for client service plans, specifically for terminating or transitioning a client to another staff person.

14. Sample Staff Workplan Source: NCCASA

15. Action Planning • What are the items that you have in place from the Preparation Checklist for Succession Planning? Where and how are these items kept in your organization? Who keeps them and where are they stored? • What are the missing items? Who has them or do they need to be developed? What are the next steps in the process and who needs to be responsible for them? (think of the 3 P’s)! • Do you utilize staff work plans at your agency? What are the benefits of implementing staff work plans for your agency?

16. Key Organizational Assessment Questions for Succession Planning • Where does the agency want to be in the next 5 years? 10 years? • What does the agency need to get there? • What does the agency have in place not to attain the 5 year goal? The 10 year goal? • What are the gaps that need to filled? • What are the agency’s services and strengths? What supports these strengths? How are they documented or institutionalized so that new staff, board, or leadership will know? • Does everyone at the agency have all the information they need to successfully do their job? What’s missing and how can you improve the process? • What is the existing orientation training process for staff and Board? Is it informed by the mission, history, core values, and philosophy (incl. anti-oppression/anti-racism)?

17. Steps to Integrate Succession Planning • Annual Performance Review Meetings • Staff Work Planning & Supervision Meetings • Strategic Planning & Visioning Meetings • Staff and/or Board Training Sessions • Ongoing Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism trainings for Staff and Board • Regular Board Meetings (as a check-in item) • Regular Staff Meetings

18. Action Planning Thinking of the 3 P’s, please respond to these questions: • What are the top 2 things or areas, you’d like to work on when you return to your agency to begin the Succession Planning for your agency? • What are the challenges that you may encounter in addressing these top 2 areas? What do you need to overcome these challenges? • How does it impact the people, process, and product (i.e., services) of your agency? How will it benefit the 3 P’s?

19. For More Information • Succession Planning Toolkit for Nonprofit Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Organizations by the Nonprofit Sustainability TA (NSTA) Project, http://www.resourcesharingproject.org/succession-planning-toolkit-nonprofit-sexual-assault-and-domestic-violence-organizations • Deborah DeBareddebare@nnedv.org