Implementation of a Successful Talent Management & Succession Planning Governance Framework

It is crucial for an integrated talent management and succession planning strategy to have close ties to organizational strategy and buy-in from the senior leadership. However, often the onus of applying these processes lies solely with the human resource function thereby not involving the line managers in the process. The purpose of this paper to present a best practice model to effectively integrate management personnel in the talent management and succession planning framework thereby fully utilizing them in ensuring optimal development of the talent pipeline.

In order to make the senior leadership active stakeholders in driving the process, we instituted ‘Talent Review Committees (TRC)’ at various levels to drive Talent Management and succession planning. The brief structure and role is as follows:

ADNOC Group level - chaired by ADNOC Group CEO with all Directors as members. Key positions considered - Directors and Group Company CEOs

Directorate level (one per directorate) - chaired by the director with all related group company CEOs as members. Key positions considered - SVP & equivalents

Group Company level (one per group company) - chaired by the Group company CEO with all SVPs as members. Key positions considered - up to VPs and technical positions

These committees review and approve the key positions, select potential successors, review their level readiness and recommend and monitor development activities. The output of these TRCs is combined at the corporate level to deliver a coherent talent management solution.

Since ADNOC is a group of independent companies it is necessary to unify the talent management strategy in order to have a group-wide talent pool so that the need for capable leaders and specialists across the Group is continuously met. Multi-level governance structure to drive the talent management and succession planning process helps us in efficient identification and utilization of talent, making succession planning effective and accurate. The key results and conclusions are as follows:

• Identification, assessment and development of group-wide pools of internal candidates to improve their readiness to compete for future openings in key positions

• Availability of qualified successors and improved readiness & performance in target position

• Accurate data availability to facilitate cross function/ company mobility and development opportunities

• Ensure that leadership continuity is in place and that strategic and operational capacity is sustained.

The paper offers an insight into the framework of multi-level talent review committees (TRCs) instituted across the ADNOC group as an effective model for integrating senior leadership into the talent development and succession planning framework.