Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and Building Talent from Within (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "How is your organization handling succession planning and management (SP&M)?..." (more)
Key Phrases: key job incumbent, individual potential assessment, present work requirements, The Act, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you're looking for a quick, easy, and fun guide to constantly cultivating from within your organization the talent to move up and fill positions left behind by others, don't look here. Written by a human resources expert who teaches at Penn State, Effective Succession Planning must surely be one of the driest books ever written on this topic, from its aggressively unsexy title and jacket to its college-textbook format and arsenal of supplementary checklists, flowcharts, and exercises.

Having said that, it's also probably one of the most thorough books on the topic (and a fine complement to The Leadership Pipeline), incorporating methodical and meticulous guidelines to preparing for and quickly filling crucial vacancies at all levels of the organization, from top management to sales, administrative, technical, and production positions. Not only does it lay out a plan for instituting a long-term succession planning program that includes everything from early action steps to ongoing evaluation and revision, it also shows how to develop, monitor, and evaluate talent and skills in individual employees in order to promote effectively from within (although it acknowledges that sometimes the best choices come from outside, and offers key steps for optimizing the outside-search process as well).

Everything is covered here, from the legal implications of hiring and firing and online and high-tech resources to major trends that will affect succession planning in the years ahead. And, thank god, the author has incorporated some case studies--both fictional/composite and those of several large real-life companies--to add some names and faces to a volume that's about as dry as the Sahara, and (for human-resource professionals, at least) potentially as welcome as a fresh supply of water if you happened to be stuck in such a place. --Timothy Murphy --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

"...a valuable resource." -- HR Professional --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 2nd edition (November 26, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814402062
• ISBN-13: 978-0814402061
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,475,763 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Helpful, August 28, 2005

By	Laura, EVP (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and Building Talent From Within (Hardcover)

Rothwell provides not only an excellent review of the current literature but countless worksheets for practice. If you are interested in succession planning issues this book is a must. I would also recommend "The Leadership Pipeline" by Charan, Drotter, & Noel. And buy a copy of "Strategic Organizational Learning" by Beitler. Beitler has several free articles on his website "[...]" that are also helpful.

Laura Taylor
Baltimore, MD

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, July 15, 2002

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and Building Talent From Within (Hardcover)

In exhaustive detail William J. Rothwell shows you the hows and whys of succession planning and management in this second edition of his landmark book. Given the general corporate predilection for systems and bureaucracies, top executives and managers of both large and small businesses will revel in the way Rothwell lays out his well-researched plan. His ample how-to lists and charts can be adapted to fit almost any industry. Despite the author's scholarly credentials and depth of information, his writing is not academic. We from getAbstract recommend this book to executives and managers, particularly if your company doesn't already have a succession plan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a lot of other things---it's only as good as you apply it, May 12, 2007

By	J. Brodnicki "TranceMeister" (Hendersonville, TN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity And Building Talent From Within (Hardcover)

The need for succession planning is reaching crisis proportions, yet few organizations are willing to face the crisis and do something about it.

There's nothing magic here---just a realistic, comprehensvie, flexible approach to get the job done. The strenghts in this book:
- Finding the right devleopmental activity for the right level of management
- Design, gain support, and implement, and maintain your succession process.
- Lots of extras, including assessments and a plan to devleop a mentoring program.

A great value.