Succession Planning for Security Departments

Survival of the fittest may work in the animal kingdom, but grooming the next generation of CSOs requires a substantial investment of time, a sincere interest in employee development and a dash of humility. Are you ready for succession planning?

At British American Tobacco, succession plans are mandated throughout the company, and tied to the organization's career development meetings (CDMs) that take place between all employees and their managers. CDMs address an employee's performance as well as his potential and identify individuals with leadership prospects. Once a year, Burrill meets at corporate headquarters in London with a member of the board and a senior executive from human resources to discuss employees within security who are prepared to succeed into senior executive positions. This ensures that Burrill's hottest prospects are discussed with senior management while keeping him accountable for their continued development and progress....And Build from the BottomOn the other side of the spectrum, CSOs need to be diligent about attracting individuals with leadership potential into security and making it appealing for them to stay on and build careers there. The problem is that managers and executives tend to value people who are like them, says James Redeker, chairman of the Employment Services Practice Group at law firm Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen. And that fact is often reflected in hirings and promotions. This can be particularly true in security organizations, which tend to be populated by people with similar backgrounds such as law enforcement, three-letter government agencies and information security.

"The danger is that you start to create clones," says Burrill. "If everyone is trained the same way and everyone agrees with each other, then nobody is going to ask the rogue questions." Burrill values a staff with diverse backgrounds. "We want our security managers to come from the military, from law enforcement and the state department. We want some to be brought up through the business side and some who have never been in any of those groups. They all blend together to create a pot of gold," he says.

Building your own leaders also presents some unique challenges in the security world. Unlike other business units, security tends to be small and there are limited opportunities to break into management. Consequently, part of the price of building a strong succession plan with solid future CSO candidates is that you have to be willing to lose them. "Most security organizations are lean and mean until you get to the major companies," says Bill Wipprecht, CSO of Wells Fargo. He believes in cross-training his people to ensure that they have the leadership skills that will prepare them to take over when somebody leaves or retires. But he acknowledges that sometimes those opportunities will come up at another company before they do at Wells Fargo. "If somebody comes to me and says he's going to be security director at another company, that makes me proud," he says. "I don't mind promoting people out like that because it's a positive thing for the industry."