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Perpetuation! Is your agency really prepared to proceed with perpetuation if something happened to the agency principals or owners? Have you given serious thought which agency staff members would replace the agency principal? Have you properly evaluated these successors and reviewed their goals? Have you reviewed your procedures to make sure the agency is operating properly after its succession? And have you properly trained your successors? These are just a few questions to ask yourself when evaluating your office's succession and the well being of your agency's future.
Deciding to review your succession strategy and making plans for perpetuation can be a difficult task for somebody who's near retirement or, to put it delicately, more than ready to retire. Often, we have a young, energetic, curious successor in the company of the ready-to-retire executive who just lay his hands off any function. The successor (even one who's a family member) is getting so frustrated that he or she is considering to either start his or her own agency or work for another agency. The energetic successor is so full of vigor and eagerness to bring in new business, while the retired executive holds the strings! Make the decision to let go, and your agency will start to live again!
Once you have designated successors in your agency, evaluate each individual carefully. Review their future goals: when they plan to retire, what they want to do with their life, where they want to go. You may be surprised to hear that a major key successor wants to retire earlier than you expected or change professions. Select your candidates carefully after you have sat down with these key players and had a one-on-one talk. Don't be surprised if a candidate you may have been grooming for some time no longer fits a specific position. Take a close look at your successors and make sure they all fit.
Once you have selected your key successors, you must review and document all procedures in-house to make sure your principles and policies continue after you have retired. Meet with staff members and management to review all procedures, and document everything! Listen to everyone's suggestions and comments to give your perpetuation plan continuity.
Finally, train, train, train! Train your successors on everything. Take them along for visits to key customers, insurance companies, business conferences, and civic group meetings. Make sure they actively participate and slide into their new role. Then evaluate, evaluate, evaluate to determine whether the successor is really enthusiastic about the job. A wrong decision can cost your agency millions.
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