Get Your Team Succession-Ready

Source: The Managing Partner Advisor

In this article, Gary Adamson explains how to build your bench so you can be ready for succession. Following are highlights of Adamson's recommendations:

Recruiting

• Recruit constantly. Choose to have room for talented people so you can strengthen your team over time.

• Have a campus recruiting process. Be consistent, have a campus presence, a social media and web presence, get to know the professors, and promote your firm.

• Create an internship program. Look for interns you would be able to hire and who may be able to serve more than one internship “season.” Be willing to pay the going rate or better.

• Establish a staff bonus program to recruit experienced talent ($5,000 or more at the time of hire and a matching amount after some time has passed).

Growth and Development

• Define the roles at your firm and communicate how to advance to the next level.

• Clearly communicate the career progression at your firm and what the ladder looks like. Be honest with people if they have reached their potential with your firm and are not a candidate for partner.

• Nurture new hires by initially assigning them a “buddy,” then giving them a mentor to serve as a career counselor, and then providing a sponsor who will really invest in developing them and helping them succeed.

Inclusion

• Articulate and communicate the firm's mission and vision.

• Add young team members to task forces and committees.

• Develop opportunities for firm leaders to communicate with the team (meetings, lunches, etc.).

For the complete article, read “Building Your Bench for Succession – A Few Ideas to Help You.”

From The Managing Partner Advisor, the newsletter of Gary Adamson, CEO of Adamson Advisory, http://adamsonadvisory.com.