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by Rebecca Brinkley

Did you just spend the last 40 years building a company to hand it over to the highest bidder? That question may seem harsh, but the lack of succession planning threatens manufacturing’s future.

As the last of the baby boomers round their way up to 60, companies are slowly realizing that their retiring leadership is leaving gaps in intelligence and historical knowledge that threaten the future. 

When you have someone who is good at their job, and she or he has done it for 30 years without sharing information to the next person in line, you risk losing everything tied to that one “irreplaceable” person. You risk your business.

Consider these indicators that your succession planning needs more attention.

You Don’t Delegate Enough    

Have you written down your job description recently? It seems silly to think about doing that when you know you aren’t leaving your own company. However, sometimes business leaders don’t realize that they are taking on more than they should. 

They either have made a habit of doing the work themselves—micromanaging—or they genuinely don’t have confidence in their employees. Regardless of the reason, you will one, burn out faster that way, and two, find yourself without a successor.

Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford University’s professor of organization behavior, says it best in a recent Harvard Business Review: “If you asked most managers how they spent their day, they are not going to be able to recall it accurately,” said Pfeffer. “You’re likely to find that a lot of time is spent on low-leverage activities that can be delegated.”

You Haven’t Hired the Right People

Part of micromanaging extends into having trust in your workforce. With manufacturing companies of all sizes, recruiting employees is a top-level concern; there is a real skills gap that contributes to taking in people out of necessity and not being careful with hiring the right people for a long-term fit.

If you have not sat in on a recent interview, it might be time. Making sure that your HR team or hiring manager is asking the right questions can improve your bottom line and help you prevent turnover. This will also allow you to see the pool of candidates for a future succession plan and develop a culture that sees your vision.

You Are Not Developing Your Successor

Consider this shocking statistic shared by Forbes: 58 percent of managers say they did not receive management training. The magazine said that “most managers in the workforce were promoted because they were good at what they did, and not necessarily good at making the people around them better.”

This tells us our workforce is made up of leaders who cannot lead.

If you want a successful succession, you need to teach your employees how to lead your business and the people who work for you. Bring them to board meetings, have them go to the conferences you attend, and introduce them to the right people so they can cultivate their own relationships. 

Make it possible for your potential successors to build their own foundations. This kind of development is not beneficial for just you; the employees feel valued and naturally take ownership.

There is No Clear Company Vision

This might seem like a basic concept for a larger company, but smaller manufacturers often don’t have long-range plans. With technology changes, automation, 3D printing, IIoT and blockchain, your factory floor is having a bit of an identity crisis, and your employee profiles are changing.

Planning for the future is about more than hiring the right person. It is about preserving your vision for the company, which requires defining strategies that are understood and supported at all levels of the organization. You can bring up the right person, but if your actual business plan is not properly put into place, there is no roadmap to keep everyone on track after you’re gone. 

If you find yourself stuck here, bring in a consultant—someone less wrapped up in the current structure—to help you outline the future.

You Are Afraid to Talk About it 

Discussing succession planning is just as important as having a plan. Many leaders say they are the face of their business and their company is one of the most important things in their lives, yet they are afraid to ensure the company lives on beyond them. Whether that stems from an ego issue or fear, being transparent in the succession process can help.

An XpertHR survey of more than 500 executives said that 40 percent of organizations have no formal succession planning process, and another 20 percent don’t have adequate talent to back up critical positions. 

As a manufacturer, can you afford to have down time on the plant floor? No. The same should be said with leadership positions; customers will not wait while you figure out the sustainability of your company. Talking about the plan with your HR department, employees and even your industry peers can ease the transition for the entire company.

The biggest takeaway regarding succession planning is that you need to think about it now, years before you plan on leaving or retiring. If you care about the business or want to be a steward for the industry, worry less about your legacy and more about the health of the organization without you. 

Rebecca Brinkley is director of marketing and communications at the . Copyrighted 2019. Informa.