You’ve probably heard the saying that a company is only as strong as its people. But what happens when the people at the top are gone? If your organization doesn’t have a clear plan for who will fill those roles, you’re not in a great position. But there’s a solution: succession planning. This is the practice of identifying and developing future leaders before you need them, and it all starts with HR executive search. Let’s explore why.
The Cost of Reactive Leadership Transitions
Most companies don’t think about succession until they’re forced to. So when a senior leader steps away, everyone suddenly scrambles to fill the role. And rushing the process can result in, more often than not, the wrong person in the wrong seat.
And to replace them, the cost could be anywhere from 50% to 200% of their annual salary. At the high-paying senior level, that cost can hit your budget hard.
Overall, reactive succession planning, meaning you wait until there’s a vacancy to start looking, puts your organization in a permanent state of catch-up. Proactive succession planning, on the other hand, builds a pipeline of leaders before a seat ever goes empty.
Why Proactive Succession Plans Center on HR Leadership
So you want to shift to a proactive succession plan, but you can’t do that without strong HR leadership. This is because HR drives workforce strategy, leadership development, performance management, and the organizational design decisions that shape who gets promoted and when.
When HR leadership is weak or absent, your succession plan is basically a document that sits in a folder. Whereas when HR leadership is strong, succession planning becomes a living process that’s embedded in how your company grows.
That means if you want to get succession planning right, one of the first questions you need to answer is whether your HR leadership is equipped to own that process. And if it’s not, you have an HR leadership gap to fill before you can fill anything else.
What Strong HR Leaders Do for Succession
A strong Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) or HR Director builds the systems that make succession planning work. Here’s what that looks like in practice.
They Identify High-Potential Employees Early
Strong HR leaders build assessment frameworks that identify who’s ready to step up, who needs development, and who’s a flight risk if they don’t see a path forward.
They Align Talent Strategy With Business Strategy
Your HR leader understands where the business is going in the next three to five years and builds a talent pipeline that matches that direction.
They Manage Leadership Development Programs
You can’t promote someone who isn’t ready. HR leaders design and oversee the development opportunities that build your future leaders.
They Create Documentation and Process
A succession plan that lives only in someone’s head isn’t a plan. HR leaders put structure around it so that it survives leadership transitions, not just prepares for them.
They Work Across Departments
Succession planning impacts every part of your organization, and a good HR leader works cross-departmentally to smooth the impact. They can partner with the CEO and department heads to make sure the plan reflects organizational priorities across the board.
The Problem With Filling HR Leadership Roles the Wrong Way
A lot of organizations make the mistake of filling HR leadership roles with whoever’s already available internally. Promoting from within has its merits, but only if the person you’re promoting actually has the skills to lead at the executive level. The fact is that HR leadership at the executive level requires a different skill set than HR management or HR generalist work.
Without the right HR leader in place, you won’t have the infrastructure to identify successors, develop them, and help them move up.
How Executive Search Changes the Equation
The standard hiring process isn’t built for hiring an executive HR professional. Posting a job description and waiting for applications puts you at the mercy of whoever happens to be actively looking. In reality, the best HR executives often aren’t actively looking. They’re already employed and performing well somewhere else, but they’re open to the right, exciting opportunity.
Executive search firms help you find and onboard these ultra-qualified professionals. Here’s what executive search brings to the table for HR roles specifically:
- Executive search firms have access to passive candidates through networks and the outreach capability to surface those candidates.
- A firm that specializes in HR executive search understands the role-specific expertise you’re after, selecting professionals who are perfectly suited to your company’s culture and expectations.
- Executive search firms operate at speed without sacrificing quality because it’s their whole job.
- Executive search lets you manage the sensitive organizational change discreetly, which is something job boards can’t offer.
What To Look for in an HR Executive Search Partner
By now, you understand why succession planning starts with HR executive search if you don’t already have a qualified CHRO or HR director in your company. You also understand that partnering with an executive search firm is the best way to hire this HR executive as quickly and successfully as possible. So now only one question remains: How do you know which search firm to partner with? Here’s what to pay attention to.
Specialization
A generalist search firm can fill a lot of roles, but HR executive search requires specific market knowledge. You want a partner who has placed HR leaders before and understands what separates a good hire from a great one at the executive level.
Process Transparency
A good search firm will walk you through their process upfront, telling you how they identify and evaluate candidates and giving you clear timelines. If a firm is vague about how they work, that’s a problem.
Cultural Fit as a Priority
The right HR executive for one company might be completely wrong for another. Your search partner needs to understand your company culture and your leadership style so that they can place the kind of professional who will thrive in your organization.
Long-Term Relationship Building
The best search firms aren’t just trying to fill a seat. They’re also interested in whether the placement works out and will provide support if it doesn’t.
Get the Foundation Right
Your organization’s future depends on the leaders you develop today, and your HR function is the engine that makes that development happen. You can’t build a reliable succession plan on top of weak HR leadership, and you can’t get the right HR leader by accident.
When you’re ready to move forward with an executive search for an HR director, contact The Christopher Group. We bring the HR-specific market knowledge, candidate networks, and process discipline to help you find someone who can build your leadership pipeline the right way. Let’s talk about what your organization needs and how we can help you find the right person to lead it.