A change in leadership is a time of flux and change for everyone – the leader and the team. These transitions create potential risks at every level of the organization and profitability, productivity and morale can be negatively affected. In fact, research has shown that nearly 50% of leader transitions fail.
It is crucial that businesses look at decreasing and preventing key challenges leaders in transition are facing.
Leader transition research conducted by Kathleen Ozmun and Marielle Gauthier, found a number of opportunities to ultimately lower the risks, increase productivity and quality of work, and foster better stakeholder relationships, all of which impact the bottom line.
Businesses that enhance their support for these transitions position themselves to gain benefits such as:
- Reduce risks and costs
- More resilience as a business
- Business continuity
- Maintain revenue stream
- Better relationships with key stakeholders
- An engaged and informed workforce
- Maintain productivity and high quality work
- Consistent excellent customer service
- Smoother organizational changes
Gauthier and Ozmun recommend a comprehensive multi-faceted approach for a successful business leader transition. Initial actions as a starting point are:
- Create a leader transition support team to accelerate role effectiveness
- Equip leaders to nurture and build strong stakeholder relationships
- Develop a cross-training program aimed at building the skills of employees in the company
These articles will help you assess your current business situation, the risks and impacts of your leader transitions, and ways to support leaders in transition.
Find out more about the risks of leader transitions and actions to take at the free ‘Leader Transition Is Risky Business’ Lunch and Learn, January 27, 2021.
