Ultimate Performance: Measuring Human Resources at Work

Metric One: Vulnerability Scan

Value. Succession management is an exercise in forecasting future events. The Vulnerability Scan is a tool that can be used to measure the succession situation and identify the vulnerable areas of the organization. It will allow management to prioritize those areas that need attention.

This analysis should embed context into the report; managers can’t make a decision on succession management in a department without having perspective into the business impacts, financials, and future anticipated need for the company.

Audience. Senior executives and impacted hiring managers.

Data elements. For each job title that you suspect has a succession risk to it, gather the following types of information:

• Job Title/Job Group. Group your at risk jobs into competencies or use single roles where appropriate.

• Strategic Impact. What type of job is being evaluated? High financial impact? Low? Sales? Management of a business line?

• Total number in title. What is the business impact of this position? Does it contribute disproportionately to revenue? To profits?

• Total number in cross-over titles. This is the total number of employees in a job title that is transferable into a job.

• Talent Depth. Gather information about potential successors to this job. How many A players are possible? B players? The goal is to get a basic assessment of bench strength for the position, which may help determine the overall exposure on the position.

Presentation. Use the grid shown in Table ...