Study of the Extent of Readiness of the Iranian Public Organizations for Establishment of Management Succession Planning

Transcription

1 Study of the Extent of Readiness of the Iranian Public Organizations for Establishment of Management Succession Planning Mohammad Zakeri 1, Abol Hassan Faqihi 2, Karamollah Danesh Fard 3 ABSTRACT Present study aims to examine the extent of readiness of the Iranian Public organizations for initiation and implementation of management succession planning. To this end, after conducting an exploratory study, 12 factors were identified related to evaluation of organizational readiness. After confirmation of these factors by relevant experts using Delphi technique, a sample of 384 managers from four Iranian public organizations were chosen for the study based on cluster sampling technique. Study and analysis of survey data based on confirmatory factor analysis showed that 12 factors mentioned above were appropriate for evaluation of organizational readiness for implementation of succession planning process. As t-test data analysis for existing situation of the sample organizations showed, the Iranian public organizations were not of adequate readiness for implementation of succession planning process. Keywords: succession planning process, organizational readiness, Iranian public organization 1 PhD Candidate, Public Administration Department, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 2 Professor of Public Administration, Public Administration Department, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (correspondent author) 3 Associate Professor of Public Administration, Public Administration Department, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 INTRODUCTION Among challenges facing today organizations, demands for intelligent and competent employees may be mentioned because global labour market and increased competition force organizations to become more flexible in reacting to rapid environmental changes (Gould-Williams, 2003) and human resource by focusing on talent pool may be a source for competitive advantage (Bayo- Moriones, 2002). Because of this fact, succession planning has been the focus of considerable attention over the last decade in such a way that recruitment and employment of talented and intelligent staff is done as a source of competitive advantage in today organizations. Succession planning is a part of human resource planning consistent with general strategy of the organization (Beaver & Hutchings, 2004). Also this system is one of the most important mechanisms to ensure development of internal employees by organizations so that their future workforce is obtained. Succession planning is a process designed to ensure effective and sustained operation of organization via employment and improvement of employees and managers in key positions in the organization (Weathers Group, 2008). The process of Succession planning is based on the fact that organizations should have necessary readiness before implementation of this system. Meeting a set of requirements in terms of readiness is conductive to implementation of succession planning. Undoubtedly a systematic and effective literature review is a key factor contributing to identification of new dimensions in research activities. In the following, the factors influencing the organizational readiness for establishment of succession planning system as a central issue is presented. Implementation of talent discovery and succession planning, like other similar programs and processes, requires presence of some relevant preparation and conditions. Many of such programs fail to achieve expected aims as a result of inadequate readiness and ignoring appropriate conditions. A set of reliable studies show that about 70 percent of plans and efforts aimed to create transformation in organizations (including qualityoriented, customer oriented, productivity improvement and participative management plans) experience this failure. The most important reasons for failure of these plans are as follows: a) The intended plan is not able to demonstrate its relation to organizational strategic goals. b) The intended plan is not able to attract and retain required supports from organizational culture. c) Non-systematic look towards the plan and missing the necessity of a systematic perspective resulting in a situation in which other dimensions and plans of the organization do not supplement the intended plan. (Abol Alaei and Ghaffari 1939). With respect to operational experiences in this field and theoretical bases proposed in this context, the following suggestions are provided: (a) Continuous support from organizational senior management (b) Positive and optimistic look of managers towards human resource (c) High Number and ratio (percentage) of older experienced managers besides high number and ratio (percentage) of young, educated, and growth seeking experts (d) Stability of senior management team (e) Serious intention by the organization to implement merit- selection (f) Clarity of organizational strategy and strategic goals (g) Protection of organization against political pressures in relation to employment and appointment (h) Presence of an active and wellequipped human resource management department in the organization (i) Growing trend of organizational activities (Qoli Pour et al 2011). Huang (2001), in his study titled Succession management systems and human resource outcomes studied management succession planning systems using ten measures for succession planning skills and four key measures for human resource outcomes including employees ethics, organizational climate, employees turnover rate, organisational commitment and job satisfaction. The study showed that some characteristics including line managers commitment, nonpolitical succession planning measures, trustworthiness of succession planning personnel, revision and feedback, and effective information systems influenced human resource performance. Tracy Taylor and Peter McGraw (2004) conducted a study titled Succession management practices in Australian organizations on 711 human resource professionals in Australian organizations and found that half of the studied organizations implemented succession planning and all of them were initiated during recent five years. The most importance incentives for these plans were improvement of business outcomes and obtaining new skills for the organization. Also a positive relationship was observed between organizational size, structure and operational field and willingness to implementation of succession planning. The most important factors influencing success of these plans were high commitment of organizational senior management, 15

3 support from senior management, participation of line management in nomination of candidates, development relevant programs and linking succession planning to business strategies. Results obtained by Saber Emami (2008) in his MA thesis in public administration in Bonab Branch of Islamic Azad University, with Naser Sadeq Pour as his supervisor related to the factors influencing readiness of public organizations of Iran for establishment of management succession planning (case study of young consultants of the Iranian president) showed that the influence of continuous support of succession planning programs by senior management and organizational tendency towards merit selection as two factors contributing to readiness of public organizations for establishment of a succession planning system in the organization was rejected by employees and confirmed by managers. Also study of the existing documents and information on other hypotheses showed the influence of high ratio of older experienced managers to young educated ones and stability of senior management teams on readiness of organization for establishment of succession planning system. Results from another study titled: Evaluation and clarification of requirements for implementation of succession planning in the government of Islamic Republic of Iran and providing a desirable model based on the goals of the 2025 Vision, by Malikeh Beheshtifar (2011) as her PhD thesis in public administration in Kerman Branch of Islamic Azad University, with Masoud Pour Kiani as her supervisor showed that requirements of succession planning system including management commitment, appropriate organizational culture, organizational readiness and management capabilities had a positive and significant relationship with succession planning. Based on a review of the relevant literature and research background, a model comprising of 16 measures for evaluation of the extent of the Iranian public organizations readiness for implementation of management succession planning was formulated and the factors and relevant references are shown in the following table (Table 1) Table1 Components Organizational readiness Succession Planning Process Operational Measures Line and senior management commitment, compatibility to organizational strategies, supportive organizational culture, costbenefit analysis, identification of organizational expectations, participation of relevant departments and individuals in the process, pilot study, stability of senior management team, organizational tendency towards merit selection, protection against political pressures, presence of an active human resource department, appointment of personnel to key positions References Huang (2001), Taylor and McGraw (2004), Emami (2008), Beheshtifar (2011), Tropiano (2004), Groves(2007), Sabok Roo (2009), Dehqan Pour Fara Shah (2011), Bageli (2008), Abol Alaei and Ghaffari (2014), US Policy (2005) Research Methodology Present research began with problem statement and some questions to demonstrate the necessity of research in this field. Then the first conceptual model for the study was developed after conducting exploratory studies and through a review of research background in domestic and foreign literature on one hand and exploratory interviews with relevant experts on the other hand. First statistical population of the research comprised of all experts having knowledge on dimensions, components and criteria of management succession planning in public sector. Given the fact that the experts interviewed in present research should have adequate knowledge and experience on public sector human resource, university teachers and professionals and senior managers with experience in the field of public human resource and its specific issues were considered as experts who their opinions may be exploited to purify and modify the conceptual model of the research. Thus the inclusion criteria were set as the following: - The relevant experts should have PhD degree in the field of public administration and also they should have the experience of teaching and research in the field of public human resource. - They should have experience of activity in the fields related to human resource management in pubic organizations at professional and senior management level. In the next step, the research model was purified using experts opinions on the factors influencing readiness of the organization for implementation of success planning process using Delphi techniques. 16

4 Second statistical population of the research comprised of those professionals who were working at public organizations as managers and the survey part of the present study was conducted based on a sample of this population. Using a cluster sampling method, among four ministerial groups of Islamic Republic of Iran the following organizations were chosen: in the first group, the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice, in the second group, the Social Security Organization, in the third group, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, and finally Organization of Tax Affairs in the fourth group. In each of these four organizations, 120 questionnaires were distributed to the managers at various levels and totally 405 completed questionnaires were collected (response rate: 84%). Among them 384 ones were usable for data analysis. In the final step of the study, the model obtained from experts opinions based on Delphi technique was evaluated so that its effectiveness is also confirmed by managers and professionals in public organizations. To this end, a number of managers in the statistical population were chosen using sampling methods and questionnaire copies were distributed to them and finally data obtained from the questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modelling (path analysis method) via LISREL software. Findings The following diagrams show the components of the organizational readiness in standard and significance states. Figure1. Measurement model for dimensions of environmental factors using second-order confirmatory factor analysis in the standard state 17

5 Figure2. Measurement model for dimensions of environmental factors using second-order confirmatory factor analysis in the significance state Figure 2 shows the significance values for all variables and since these values are beyond interval, thus membership of all variables in the group is confirmed and there is no eliminated question in this dimension. Also as seen in figure 8.4, (fit indices), model fit is confirmed because RMSEA is less than Other fit indices of the model are also at standard level. In models like the above, the ratio of is a general criterion for model acceptance which should ideally be equal to 1 and in general it should be less than 3 so that the model is accepted. In present model this ratio is less than 2 representing goodness of fit of the model. Also the indices GFI, AGFI, NFI, CFI, and IFI are in the range of 0-1 and the closer their value to 1, the higher the model goodness of fit to the data. In the next step, the results from the questionnaires were evaluated in terms of current situation of the studied organizations with respect to readiness for implementation of succession planning and data were analyzed using univariate t- test. The results are shown in Table2. Table2 Variable Readiness N 384 M ST. Dev Standard error test value: 4 t-value df Sig. 000 Difference (95% CI) Upper level Lower level The above results show that mean values of factors forming the organizational readiness for implementation of succession planning in sample organizations are significantly lower than the determined average mean; thus it can be said that public organizations in Iran are not sufficiently ready to implement succession planning for managers. Discussion and Conclusion In present study, after a literature review and examination of research background, 12 factors were identified to evaluate readiness of the Iranian public organizations for implementation of management succession planning. Using Delphi technique, 24 relevant experts confirmed these factors. Then the identified factors were evaluated using survey questionnaires distributed to 384 managers from four Iranian public ministries so that the factors are confirmed and readiness of public organizations for implementation of succession planning is identified. Results from analysis of survey data approved suitability and relevance of all identified factors and lack of readiness in the studied organizations to implement succession planning. 18

6 Organizations are successful in implementing succession planning projects if they have capability to implement appropriate infrastructure and incorporate succession planning as one of their human resource development projects in their human resource strategies, link it to their general strategic plan, take measures to implement it based on short- and long- term goals, formulate appropriate and objective plans and guidelines based on these goals and allocate adequate financial and human resource to them and exploit an active human resource department. Theoretically based on the research results, the structural factors were not at reasonable level to make it possible to implement succession planning in the studied organizations in current situation. Behavioural factors influence implementation of succession planning through developing appropriate perceptions and incentives in staff and line and senior managers, inducing changes in individual and group behaviours and contributing to participation of individuals and groups in this process. Environmental factors including employment and administrative rules and regulations influence organizational commitment to succession planning on the one hand and on the other hand they may contribute to make the organizations ready to implement succession planning by reducing decision points and developing willingness towards succession planning in the organization through stabilizing senior management team and protect the organization against political pressures. Taylor and McGraw (2004) emphasized the relationship between such factors as size, structure and operational field of the organization and organizational tendency towards implementation of succession planning. Results from Emami (2008) are also consistent with those of present research in terms of demonstrating the influence of staff ratios, stability of senior management team and senior management commitment on organizational readiness for implementation of succession planning. Results from Naveen (2006) showed that organizational size, diversity and structure are related to inherent tendency of organizations to make their employees ready to assume senior management positions, جرجیتا (2006) found that political, economic, cultural and technological changes have effect on tendency of organizations towards succession planning and preparation of the grounds to implement it effectively. Also it found that success of governments in their reforms is dependent upon their readiness to implement succession planning. References 1. Bol Alaei. Behzad, Ghaffari, Abbasi, (2014), Future managers, theoretical bases and scientific experiences of management talent discovery and succession planning programs, Tehran, Industrial Management Organization Press, first edition, Emami, Seyyed Saber, (2008), Study of the factors influencing readiness of the Iranian public organizations for establishment of management succession planning system (case study of young consultants of the Iranian president), MA Thesis in public administration. Islamic Azad University, Bonab branch, Bonab, Iran. 4. Beheshtifar, Malikeh (2011), Evaluation and clarification of requirements for implementation of succession planning in the government of Islamic Republic of Iran and providing a desirable model based on the goals of the 2025 Vision, Public Administration PhD Thesis, Islamic Azad University, Kerman Branch, Kerman, Iran. 5. Dehqan Pour, Fara Shah, (2011), Development and validation of a measure for the extent of succession planning management based on classification of best experiences, Public Administration PhD Thesis, Allameh Tabataei University, Tehran, Iran 6. Qoli Pour. Arian, Pour Ezzat. Ali Asghar, Sabok Roo, Mahdi (2011), Applying force field model to succession planning, Biquarterly of HR Management Research Imam Hossein Comprehensive University, 3(1), pp Beaver G, Hutchings K (2004). The big business of strategic HRM in SMEs in Stewart, HRD in Small Organisations. Routledge Research Studies in HRD Series. Routledge. London Beheshtifar Malikeh, Nekoie Moghadam. Mahmoud, (2011), Studying the Competency-Related Models in Succession Planning, European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, Issue 34, pp Derr B. (2006) Succession planning: Encyclopedia of Career Development, SAGE Publications, California 10. Groves, K.S. (2007), Integrating leadership development and succession planning best practices, Journal of Management Development, Huang TC (2001). Succession management systems and human resource outcomes. International journal of manpower, 22(8): Rothwell William J. (2005) Effective Succession Planning, Ensuring Leadership 19

7 Continuity and Building Talent From Within, American Management Association, New York. 13. Taylor. T, McGraw.P(2004), Succession management practices in Australian organizations, International Journal of Manpower Vol. 25 No. 8, pp Tropiano M (2004). Effective succession planning. Defense AT&L: May-June: US Department of Human Services (2005) Building Successful Organizations Workforce Planning in HHS, Guideline for Operating Organizations 20