Business Succession Planning Tim Greenhill 2010 IIR Holdings, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The Forum Corporation.
Questions How do you value your business today What has changed in recent times in the way you or others value your business What are the key succession factors that you currently consider What is your current succession plan(s) What do potential purchasers look for when evaluating your business
Business Challenges Clients More Demanding Need to Acquire New clients New Channels More Sophisticated/Changing clients Increase Loyalty/Retention Skills and Capability Developing Sales People New, Complex Solutions to sell Pace of change internal and external Staffing New/Losing Seasoned Marketplace Globalisation Commoditisation Intense Competition Market shrinking Financial and Organisational Margin Pressure/Costs Organisational Change/Growth New Technology Regulation/Economy 3
Getting your views: three questions As business leaders, what keeps us from thinking about, planning and taking action for our succession planning? What gets in the way? If your business succession plan is successful, what are some of the benefits you anticipate? 4
Business Succession Planning: What is it? Why do I need to focus on it? 2010 IIR Holdings, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The Forum Corporation.
Business Succession Planning is about the selection and training of successors, with a focus on the impacts to your business by not having succession plans. 6
Things to Consider The Baby Boomer population is now reaching retirement age Cluster groups and other resources are available to help with information and finance arrangements With the increased number of insurance brokers approaching retirement, preparing your business for succession planning is more important than ever Keep in mind, the responsibility to develop your business well lies with you. If your business has the right technical skills and insurance industry experience, then these other three areas: The right focus The Four Lenses The right assessment The right feedback skills will help you get the right price for your business, at the right time! 7
Things to Consider (continued) The longer you wait, the more businesses may be on offer at the same time as yours which means increased risk of only getting a lower price. If you start working on your succession plan, assessing your employees, developing them and preparing the business you are more likely to get the best price at the best time that works for you. 8
Areas of Assessment 2010 IIR Holdings, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The Forum Corporation.
Employee Potential Assessment Ability Succession Planning Aspiration Engagement Adapted from Corporate Leadership Council research, 2006 10
Ability Mental Mental / cognitive agility Technical / functional skills People Skills Interpersonal Skills Emotional Intelligence Ability is usually assessed by the manager Adapted from Corporate Leadership Council research, 2006 11
Aspiration Longer term vision and career plan: what does this employee want to do with his/her future? Desire for the following: Longer term vision and career plan Prestige and recognition in the business Advancement and influence Financial rewards Work-life balance Aspiration is first assessed by the employee Adapted from Corporate Leadership Council research, 2006 12
Engagement Emotional Commitment the extent to which employees value, enjoy and believe in the business Rational Commitment The extent to which employees believe that staying with the business is in their self-interest Discretionary Effort Employee willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty Engagement is first assessed by the employee Adapted from Corporate Leadership Council research, 2006 13
The Four Lenses 2010 IIR Holdings, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The Forum Corporation.
Low Potential Assessment High Four Lenses of Employee Capability Keepers : Coach and develop Growers : Next business leaders Movers : Underperformers Blockers Steadies : Retirees and Steady Workers Who is getting ready to retire? Who benefits the business? Why? Low Performance Results 15 High Adapted from Johnson & Johnson s Folio Map - Corporate Executive Board, 2007
Potential Assessment The Four Lenses High Potential, Low Performance Assess; Discuss their aspirations and engagement Where do they see themselves? Give regular feedback, both reinforcing and constructive Regularly review progress Coach and Develop High Potential, High Performance Assess; Discuss their aspirations and engagement What technical and interpersonal skills do they need to lead the business in the future? Regularly review progress Business Succession Planning Low Potential, Low Performance Identify why they are low performers; If you can t change your people, you might need to change your people Performance Management Think Strategically Low Potential, High Performance Assess; Discuss their aspirations and engagement Steady workers: give regular feedback; not everyone needs to be a superstar The right role and the right time Performance Results 16
Low Potential Assessment High Activity - My Business - Who is where? Keepers Growers Movers Steadies Low Performance Results 17 High Adapted from Johnson & Johnson s Folio Map - Corporate Executive Board, 2007
Reinforcing Feedback and Developmental Feedback 2010 IIR Holdings, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The Forum Corporation.
Developing employees is about having regular conversations that reinforce behaviour about things done well and providing developmental feedback about things to improve. 19
Reinforcing Feedback Focus on what people do well in specific situations is an essential but underused coaching practice that has a powerful impact on developing capability Helps people know what their talents are, how they contribute to the success of the business, and where they are progressing toward results Is a strong motivator that keeps people focused on performance Only takes a minute; time shouldn t be an excuse 20
Guidelines for Reinforcing Capabilities Seek opportunities Be specific Let it stand alone: avoid the feedback sandwich Be authentic Seize the moment 21
Guidelines for Developmental Feedback Assess the degree of difficulty Be specific, descriptive, and non judgmental Be future focused Engage the other person Do not under- or oversell your feedback 22
Elements of Developmental Feedback Determine the Ongoing Plan 23
Getting Off Track: Example One State Observations John, our office meetings are running overtime in part because we seem to get off topic. Offer Suggestions I think there are ways to control these discussions and help people stay focused. For example... Determine Ongoing Plan Why don t you try these out at the next meeting, and we ll go for a coffee afterwards to debrief how it went? How does that sound? 24
Cold Feet for Cross-Selling: Example Two Describe Importance Sarah, as you know, one of our major objectives this year, is to expand our existing business. What this means is that all of us need to be looking for opportunities to offer more services to our clients. Seek to Understand My guess is that you don t feel particularly comfortable with this. Am I right? Offer Suggestions I would like to help by working out a training plan with you. What this might include is time observing Jan on some of her calls, as well as specific coaching on identifying customer needs and talking about our services. What are your thoughts? 25
Better Late Than Never?: Example Three State Observations Describe Impact Joe, you have been late to join our conference calls several times this month. What s up? It holds up the whole team when we wait for you, and these calls are costly. Seek to Understand Ask for the Change What s going on? Would you make a point of getting to the call on time? 26
Generational differences 2010 IIR Holdings, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The Forum Corporation.
Give Me What I Need: Employees and how they learn VETERAN (born before 1946) BOOMER (1946-1964) X ER (1965-1981) Y ER (1982-2000) STYLE Formal Semiformal Not so serious; irreverent Eye-catching; fun CONTENT Detail; prose-style writing Chunk it down but give me everything Get to the point what do I need to know? If and when I need it, I ll find it online CONTEXT Relevance to my security; historical perspective Relevance to the bottom line and my rewards Relevance to what matters to me Relevance to now, today, and my role ATTITUDE Accepting and trusting of authority and hierarchy Accept the rules as created by the Veterans Openly question authority; often branded as cynics and skeptics OK with authority that earns their respect DESIRED LEARNING APPROACH SPEED Traditional, instructor-led, reading, homework teach me Attainable within reasonable time frame Traditional, group effort, expert driven, self-driven lead me to information Team-driven, collaborative, wisdom of crowds, peer-to-peer connect me to people Give context and meaning, make it fun, search and explore, entertain me connect me to everything Available; handy Immediate; when I need it Five minutes ago FREQUENCY In digestible amounts As needed Whenever Constant
Business Succession Planning: Summary The right assessment: diarise a time now to sit down and review each employee. Assess their Ability; then ask to meet with them to discuss their Aspirations and Engagement. The right focus: use the Four Lenses to figure out which employees sit in which quadrant. Make a plan for each person, based on the assessment and their performance and potential. The right feedback skills: as the leader of the business, you are best positioned to help develop each member of the office. Consider: how often do I give reinforcing feedback? Constructive feedback? How can I improve my skills, and thereby improve the quality of my employees, and therefore my business? Keep generational differences in mind. Remember, setting aside time for business succession planning means you have the best chance of getting the best price for your business at the time that suits you. 29
Questions and thank you Tim Greenhill, Facilitator Emily Nicholson, Senior Consultant tim.greenhill@forum.com +61 414 356 144 +61 2 9955 4877 30