What we’ve been learning

Last month, I had two great opportunities and wanted to share some learning from these.

Hand drawing of a light bulb, Photo by rawpixel.com from PxHere

 First, I was part of the faculty presenting in a national succession planning bootcamp for other nonprofit consultants organized by The Third Sector Company. They organized the curriculum and event, and I am proud to have been part of a formative group in earlier years that began to establish some of these evolving standards.

 Second, Laurie and I were part of a cohort of local consultants who completed certification in the Building Movement Project’s Building Blocks for Change, a nonprofit assessment tool for building more racially equitable workplaces.

 Why is this important to nonprofit organizations? Here’s what I learned:

 It’s time for a common definition of “succession planning.” Right now, when the term “succession” comes up, there is no common definition across the nonprofit world. When a front-line supervisor, an ED, a Board Chair or a funder asks about “succession,” it’s quite likely that they’re thinking about different components of a larger picture. This boot camp painted a larger, more complete picture of succession and is what we’ve been working towards at Clarity Transitions. In our own words:

 Succession planning is the full set of plans, commitments, and actions that create an equitable pipeline of skilled people to ensure mission continuity today and through tomorrow’s changes.

 This full range of succession planning includes emergency planning, committing to and delivering on a strategic focus on equitably developing people, and preparing the organization for change.

 Some useful framing from Third Sector Company is separating career planning for individual people, transition planning for specific positions, and succession planning for the whole organization.

 Much of “succession planning” has immediate benefits before any of those eventual transitions occur. Strong cultures with intentional people building strategies encourage retention. Developing an equitable pipeline must address the culture of inclusion, equity and diversity within an organization. And -- as we enter hurricane season-- many of the steps in preparing an organization for transition (prioritizing communications, developing an operational checklist) also prepare an organization for an emergency event.

 Another bit of useful framing came from Building Blocks for Change: We need to reset expectations away from an “arrival culture.”  Lasting and significant change doesn’t have an exact ETA.

 As always, we’d love to talk with you about the full set of plans, commitments, and actions that create an equitable pipeline of skilled people to ensure your mission’s continuity today and through tomorrow’s changes.