BEE Partner, South Africa Economy Watch

Succession planning

A QSE that is a larger organisation with a formal management structure will have various top management positions available. In this scenario, succession planning is paramount to successful BEE implementation. Succession planning involves considering age, skills requirements and the interests of the employees. Perhaps most importantly, succession planning requires consideration of the candidate’s personal objectives. Implementing a succession plan for someone to become a financial director when that candidate has no interest in occupying that position will result in failure.

Succession planning is most commonly implemented by fast tracking. When fast-tracking people it becomes questionable whether the candidate should be told of the company’s intentions for them or not. Telling the candidate may result in misguided expectations and overconfidence. Not informing the candidate may result in ineffective preparation for the role.

In a situation where management consists of older people nearing retirement age, the company is presented with more realistic possibilities. Black performers can be flagged at an early stage and groomed to take over the upcoming management positions.

When a position in senior management opens up and a Black replacement for that position is not available, the entity may consider appointing a temporary replacement. Temporary replacements are often available in the form of semi-retired people. In volatile markets, larger financial centres often rely on temporary replacement staff and there is no reason why the same practice cannot be used for bridging BEE appointments.

The ultimate solution must be to have a positive contribution to the bottom line together with meeting transformation objectives. Achieving this is the art of implementing BEE in business.

Fast tracking

Companies often choose a Black candidate and create hype around that person’s ability in an effort to drive the grooming process. Unfounded hype leads to the Black party discrediting the employer and questioning their judgement. Black people want to achieve on the basis of merit as much as their white counterparts. Misplaced hype also carries the possibility of generating overconfidence where the candidate has little chance of fulfilling the intended role. The approach needs to be tailored to the individual.

Do not appoint a Black person to a position that they are not read_y for. The person will be incapable of filling the role, leaving b_oth employer and employee unhappy.

Identify someone who has the potential to grow into a role. There is no economic logic in promoting anyone beyond their level of comp_etence. It is still common practice in modern business to promote people based on their period of service in a company. Effective management principles should be to promote people based on their ability to handle, or grow into, the new management role. BEE provides an opportunity to shift focus to promoting on ability and potential as opposed to the outdated concept of promoting on length of service.

Promoting a Black person to senior management purely for empowerment purposes, when that candidate can clearly not grow into the role within a reasonable time period, will not be well received by the market and clientele. There are numerous examples of such practices resulting in the Black appointee looking more like a clown than a top manager. The unintentional consequence is to discredit Black people who are trying to build up operational experience to take over key roles. Fast tracking is essential, but promoting people beyond their level of competence is tokenism. In BEE, tokenism is known as fronting.

For BEE to work, talent needs to be recognised early and nurtured in a hothouse environment. Arguably the most effective implementation of fast tracking is to identify the candidate. Ask that person if they are interested in the position and establish whether the candidate is amenable to undertaking a rigorous training schedule to achieve the position. The candidate has to be prepared to work much harder than other employees to achieve the level of competence required to handle the position.

The best example is the analogy of a pilot. To qualify as a pilot a trainee needs to achieve a certain number of hours flying time. There is no alternative. Until the hours are completed, the licence will not be granted. To fast track the process the trainee must forgo downtime for flying hours and the company must provide the trainee opportunity to gain more flying hours. The trainee still needs to complete the same ground training as colleagues, but is given added opportunity for flight time while other colleagues are enjoying downtime.

Sourcing Black top management and board members

When a business does not have a suitable candidate in the organisation there are a few suggestions as to where to look for top managers^.

In the QSE environment it is not as easy as in large business because _smaller businesses cannot compete with the salaries offered by large businesses. Consider the following:

• someone who has recently retired from local government who has experience in management
• the Black Managers Forum (BMF)
• the various chambers of commerce such as the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (NAFCOC)
• professional societies for attorneys and accountants whom you can approach to establish whether any articled clerks or trainees are looking for commercial experience
• personnel agencies.

The need for transformation of management is an uncomfortable objective. Change is rarely welcomed with open arms but it is necessary. The most efficient manner of incorporating Black management is through growth of the business. Growth opens up new opportunities to employ top management. Black top management does have the ability to increase growth, notably by realigning the company into a position where it can cater for the Black market.

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