TEKsystems Survey: Companies Facing Succession Planning Cliff

Jun 12, 2013 | HANOVER, MD | For media inquiries, please contact us at media@TEKsystems.com.

Hanover, Md. – June 12, 2013 – TEKsystems®, a leading provider of IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services, today released new research that illustrates organizations are facing significant shortcomings in regards to succession management plans.

The study, conducted as part of TEKsystems’ IT Talent Management Survey Series, surveyed more than 1,500 IT leaders and more than 2,000 IT professionals. Key findings include:

Important but Not Effective

• Importance: Ninety percent of IT leaders and 65 percent of IT professionals believe succession management is important to their organization’s overall success.
• Ineffectiveness: Just 68 percent of IT leaders and only 40 percent of IT professionals believe their organizations’ programs are effective, highlighting that both groups feel the programs are not achieving the desired results. 
• Uncertainty: Nearly half (49 percent) of IT leaders and more than half (57 percent) of IT professionals indicate no formal program exists or are unsure if one exists, indicating a void of succession planning throughout organizations. 

 

Biggest Pain Points Preventing Success

• Succession planning cliff: Planning drops precipitously in lower management and key positions. Only 38 percent and 20 percent of IT leaders and IT professionals, respectively, indicate succession planning takes place in lower management positions. For key line positions (security, engineering, etc), just 22 percent of IT leaders and 16 percent of IT professionals say succession management happens.
• Communication failure: Both groups say lack of communication negatively affects their organization’s succession management program, with 82 percent of IT leaders and 79 percent of IT professionals indicating the program is not discussed frequently enough.
• Lack of evaluation criteria: More than half (52 percent) of IT professionals do not believe that criteria for a high-potential employee are clearly defined by the organization.
• Measurement mismanagement: Seventy-nine percent of IT leaders and 78 percent of IT professionals indicate that the lack of program measurement or evaluation negatively affects their organization’s succession management program.

 

“Attrition, promotions and organizational changes are inevitable. Strong succession management programs help to ensure business continuity while also recognizing and developing high-potential employees waiting to step up,” says TEKsystems Director, Rachel Russell. “The best succession programs integrate with other talent management practices, clearly define ‘high potential’ employees and are evaluated periodically to keep pace with evolving business demands.”

TEKsystems' Rachel Russell is available for additional commentary. For more information about the survey or to schedule an interview please contact Rick McLaughlin (TEKsystems@daviesmurphy.com).

About TEKsystems

People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At TEKsystems, an Allegis Group company, we understand people. Every year we deploy more than 80,000 IT professionals at 6,000 client sites across North America, Europe and Asia. Our deep insights into IT human capital management enable us to help our clients achieve their business goals–while optimizing their IT workforce strategies. We provide IT staffing solutions and IT services to help our clients plan, build and run their critical business initiatives. Through our range of quality-focused delivery models, we meet our clients where they are, and take them where they want to go, the way they want to get there.