In today's world, business leaders are deciding the fate of corporates. These leaders need well-groomed successors to pass the baton tomorrow. Training incumbents for key positions is fast assuming importance as lifetime employment for people is becoming a thing of the past. Furthermore, it has been seen that unforeseen situations can bring a company to a standstill. Thus, it is becoming almost mandatory for key persons to share their domain knowledge with their potential successors. This article examines succession planning in family-owned Indian companies.

The 1996 plane crash in Bosnia, carrying US Secretary Ron Brown and more than 30 executives from major US corporations, was a wake-up call to corporate boards, CEOs, and HR managers around the globe. It led many corporations, government agencies, and even non-profit enterprises to resuscitate otherwise dormant succession planning programs. Closer home, the aircraft crash which led to the untimely death of Ashok Birla, one of the Birla scions and more recently the case of Amol Chauhan, Director, Parle Products dying in the aircraft crash in Kenya made Corporate India fast acknowledge that no matter how good are systems and people at revenue projections or economic predictions, no one can truly plan for disaster.

Whether it's an unforeseen illness, a natural disaster, or a CEO's decision to suddenly retire, the reasons for having a succession plan in place before it is needed are endless. So while there can be no plan for disaster, a series of contingency measures can be put in place which will help the company stay afloat if catastrophe strikes. One of the important segments of this contingency plan is to have a succession plan in place for the top and key positions in the organization.

Succession planning is the process of identifying and preparing suitable employees through mentoring, training and job rotation to replace key players such as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) within an organization as their term expires.Wendy Hirsh defines succession planning as `a process by which one or more successors are identified for key posts (or groups of similar key posts), and career moves and/or development activities are planned for these successors. Successors may be fairly ready to do the job (short-term successors) or seen as having longer-term potential (long-term successors).'

HRM Review Magazine, Succession Planning, Crisis Management, Organizational Culture, Human Resource Systems, Succession Planning Process, Talent Management, Information Technology Systems, Family Business Council, Assessment System.