This is a loaded question — Yes or no, depending on the person.
Succession planning, despite the recent emergence of contrarian views, is still a good exercise to go through. Once you’ve done the analysis, completed the profiles and have your charts ready to go, the critical question remains whether you:
You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. Keep it secret, and you risk losing the benefits of the mentoring that can occur as part of being included in a mentoring program, not to mention the retention factor that can present itself by ensuring an individual knows you think highly of them and have plans for them.
Of course, telling a person they’re a part of the plan, and what that means, can work against you over time. Take a look at companies like GE for proof, where talented executives leading billion-dollar operations left the mother ship when they found out three to four years in advance that they were out of the “replace Jack Welch” sweepstakes. Additionally, see the Brett Favre saga for the havoc an incumbent can have on an organization when pre-agreed on retirement timelines fall to the wayside.
With that in mind, I’m an advocate of the following communications plan with succession plans:
So, tell them you love them, but say you love them generally (not for a specific position) and forever (meaning they shouldn’t expect the big diamond ring at any point in the next two years).
And don’t forget to take them out to lunch. Let them order off the menu, no buffet.
Unless you’re in Vegas…