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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Enabling success: talent management

Orrin Engineering's board is reviewing its succession plan. Three senior engineers are identified as ready successors for the technical director, but none has experience of the commercial side, which the new strategy emphasises. Which action most appropriately aligns talent management with the strategy?

The board should develop the candidates through measures like commercial secondments and reassess readiness against the revised role profile. Succession planning must reflect strategic needs, so the competence gap is closed through targeted development rather than ignoring it, abandoning the internal pool, or relying on pay alone.

  1. AKeep the plan unchanged because all three are technically ready
  2. BReplace the plan with an external search because internal candidates lack commercial experience
  3. CBuild planned development for the candidates, such as commercial secondments, and revisit readiness against the revised role profileCorrect
  4. DIncrease the technical director's pay to retain the current post-holder

Explanation

Succession planning must be tied to strategic requirements; when the role profile changes, candidates need development against the new competences. Abandoning internal candidates immediately is premature and wastes talent pool investment, while ignoring the gap or using pay does not close it.

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