Succession in a Time of Crisis

Selecting and preparing tomorrows leaders is an initiative that often requires a long timeline. But good succession planning also considers the company's needs within a more immediate window that of crisis response. History shows that its all too possible for organizations to unexpectedly lose essential personnel to fatal accidents, diseases, scandals, political turmoil, terrorism, or a number of other calamities. Such incidents can call succession plans into play at a moments notice.

Negative chain of events

Companies that are unprepared for a crisis can suffer a chain of events that have negative implications well beyond the initial event, suggests Helio Fred Garcia, executive director of the Logos Institute for Crisis Management & Executive Leadership, in a recent interview. Ineffective responses to an emergency can have an impact on employees, management, customers, investors, regulators and even competitors. Employees productivity and loyalty tend to decline during times of trauma, and managers often become distracted and unfocused. Customers and investors may shy away, affecting the bottom line. And regulators may involve themselves more closely during a crisis, adding to the disruption of business. In addition, competitors may try to capitalize on a company's troubles by pursuing its most talented employees, its customers and its share of the market, warns Garcia (Garvey, 2006).

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